Welcome aboard, young Samuel Kirk Nobles!

Well, my little brother Zack and his wife Alev now have two children running around the house.

Well, their oldest son – Isaac – is running. Samuel Kirk was born just this week, so I doubt he’s doing much of anything other than crying, eating and being – well – a baby.

The little nipper was born at 4:16 a.m. on Oct. 26 and weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces (he was a few days early). Oddly, my brother and his wife didn’t name the kid until about Wednesday and that came after months of struggling to find a name.

We’re glad to see young Samuel and – as you can see from the photo above – he seems healthy enough (and notice how tired my brother looks). With Alev and Zack in charge, I have no doubt he’ll grow into a fine young man before long. Those two can take care of all problems from “A” to “Z",” after all. Heh. “A” to “Z.” Zack and Alev. Funny stuff.

It’s late and I’m tired, so have a little mercy, huh?

A fascinating thing about this kid is that my brother and sister-in-law opted to have him at home. That sounded a bit on the pioneerish side, but the child was delivered with no problems and Alev got to rest comfortably at home instead of in a hospital. Perhaps those two knew what they were doing.

I love the middle name of “Kirk,” too. Every time I hear that, I’ll think of the Spizzenergie song in the below video:

“Y” City by Wade Rivers

While shopping at the Harps here in scenic Benton the other day, we met a fellow Arkansan who is an author.

His name is Wade Rivers and he is a Realtor over in the west Arkansas town of Mena. He’s a heck of a nice guy and his novel is “Y” City, a thriller set in the small Arkansas town of (you guessed it!) “Y” City.

Rivers said his book relies on plot, action and such like rather than a bunch of crude language and suggestive situations to move along the story. My wife and I picked up a couple of copies (one as a gift) and Rivers was kind enough to sign them.

What was he doing at Harps Foods? The CEO of that Arkansas-based outfit said he wanted to carry Rivers’ books in all of his stores. Hastings Entertainment here in Arkansas has picked up his book, too.

I’ll have to admit I haven’t gotten through the novel yet (my wife has decided that she will read it first, see?) but I have read the prologue and the first chapter. Good stuff so far.

If you’d like to take a look at that first chapter, head on over to WadeRivers.com and read, read, read. If the book appears to be something you’d like, order a copy while you’re at Rivers’ site.

I’m mentioning all this, of course, because Rivers is a nice guy and I always like to see nice guys do well (particularly if they are from Arkansas).

Yay for The Boy!

My son has been pestering me for a guitar for years.

He’s 12-years-old and is in the school band, so I figure maybe he’s old enough and has the musical inclination to learn how to play guitar. We went to a local guitar shop, looked around at what they had to offer and he settled on an Affinity Telecaster by Fender.

Folks, I couldn’t be happier. I’ve got an American Deluxe Stratocaster but I’ve always missed the Japanese Fender Standard Telecaster I had through college, law school and through my years of practicing law (I finally had to sell it to pay rent – that just about killed me).

That little Telecaster my son likes looks exactly like the one pictured at the top of the article. The neck feels great, the thing looks great and the guitar sounds a lot like my standard Telecaster did (well, before I changed out the pickups, at least).

It did my heart good to see the kid get so excited when I plugged in the Telecaster and banged out a few chords on it. The kids got good taste and he seems to prefer that vintage, single-coil vibe to a guitar that’s set up to scream like a banshee. Good for him.

The trick to picking out a starter guitar for a child has to do with balance. If you get a guitar that’s too cheap, the kid will lose interest in playing. If you buy one that’s too expensive, you’ll hate yourself if the kid loses interest.

The Telecaster my son picked out seems to be the perfect guitar for a kid in my son’s situation. It’s a nice little guitar that sounds and feels great and – at a mere $180 or so – it’s not one that will break the bank. If the kid does get good at playing guitar, he can run that one through just about any amp and it will sound good. He can change out the pickups if he wants a “better” sound or he could graduate to a full-blown American Standard Telecaster (or whatever else he wants) one day.

So, he’s got his Christmas present picked out and that’s a great thing. I reminded him that he won’t get it if Santa thinks he hasn’t been a good boy – it might wind up with me instead.

Or, I could just buy my own Telecaster and customize it so it sounds exactly like the one I pawned off years ago. There’s an idea…

Funniest thing I’ve seen in at least a week

Take a good look at that photo over to the left that was taken by a radar camera in Arizona.

That’s right – that’s a fellow driving a Subaru and wearing a monkey mask. Why? According to this story, the man is Dave VonTesmar and he has racked up 37 tickets in Arizona as cameras have caught him speeding and engaging in various traffic-related shenanigans.

Apparently, he’s been trying to avoid detection by putting on a mask while breaking the law (that ploy hasn’t worked as the police have, obviously, identified him). VonTesmar enjoys variety, seemingly, as he’ll put on a giraffe or gazelle mask from time to time.

Of course, the authorities in Arizona have dubbed him an outlaw and he has somehow evaded the law so far. Some people call him a menace. However, all I can say is, “Go, monkey man. Go!”

Truly, few things could be funnier than frustrated the police by driving around and breaking traffic laws while wearing a mask. They’ve got a few cameras in Pulaski County (home of our state capitol) but none in my beloved town of Benton. I doubt I’d have the guts to do it, but I’d love to drive around with a Bill Clinton mask on and annoy traffic police here in Arkansas.

So, my hat’s off to VonTesmar for having the stones to actually pull such a thing. He’ll be brought to justice eventually, of course, but couldn’t you imagine the judge and prosecutor trying to keep a straight face in that case?

My new hero…

It’s true – I, The Hawg, have a new hero.

I couldn’t tell you the name of my hero (I’ll explain why later), but he is truly The Man We All Wish We Could Be.

Dig this.

One of the girls in my daughter’s Brownies troop was having a birthday party. To celebrate, the little girl decided to have a bunch of friends over to her house for a sleepover.

Yeah, that sounds like fun, doesn’t it? About a dozen girls who are about eight-years-old running nuts and screaming their heads off for hours on end (my daughter tells me she didn’t get to sleep until 3:30 a.m.)

When we dropped my daughter off for the party we asked the mother of the birthday girl where her husband was. It seems he took off before the girls arrived and was nowhere to be found.

Ah, but he didn’t become my hero then. No, he became my hero when my daughter came home from the party and I asked her if he came home and she said, “No he didn’t.”

That’s right. That heroic cat fled the scene and – apparently – didn’t come back home until the party was over and everyone was gone. Where did he go? Who cares? He got out of there and saved himself an evening of aggravation. None of us fathers met the man but I’d like to think that all of us thought the same thing -- “Man, I wish I could do that.”

That takes some guts, folks. My hat goes off to my hero because he achieved something that I never could. If my daughter decides to have a sleepover with a ton of squealing girls, I imagine my conversation with my wife would go something like this:

The Wife: Well, she wants to have a sleepover.

The Hawg: Really? God. What do you think?

The Wife: I think we should let her do it.

The Hawg: I don’t. That’s a terrible idea. All that yelling…

The Wife: Well, I’ve already told her she could have a sleepover. So…

The Hawg: Y’all have fun. I don’t really like kids unless I’m related to them, you know?

The Wife: What do you mean, “Y’all have fun?”

The Hawg: I figure I’ll be down the street at a hotel until it’s over. I’ll watch some television and just relax for awhile. I’ll tell our son he can flee with me if he wants…

The Wife: The hell you will! You’re not going to leave me with all those kids! You’re going to stay here and help me! Your daughter would be crushed if she knew her father wanted to run out on her instead of helping her enjoy her party. Grow up. You’re a father. Fathers have to do things like this.

The Hawg: Yes dear…

You see? I’d cave in an instant. My wife would win the day through an effective combination of intimidation and guilt.

Ah, but my hero didn’t cave. I suspect that most of us fathers would like to flee sleepovers. My hero had the guts to actually do it.

That, friends, makes him a manly man of the first order and an inspiration to us all. God bless you, hero! Long may you reign…

Bank of America does us a favor

I’m kind of an odd Republican in that I simply don’t trust corporations.

Yes, I know they have their place and we need them to provide jobs and keep the economy going. However, I’ve spent most of my life with the feeling that some company or another was trying to get its hand in my wallet without providing just a whole lot in return.

For example, my home insurer loves to collect payments but tends to drag its feet when it comes to actually paying claims for damages. My mortgage bank has an annoying habit of increasing my monthly payment on my 30-year, fixed rate mortgage for no good reason. And, back when I was broke, I had my auto financing company swipe two car payments out of my checking account one month.

The company acknowledged its mistake and my bank did, too. Regardless, I was pretty much left to fend for myself – the money was gone and neither my bank or the finance company did a damn thing to help me get it back (and that’s one of the reasons I never let any company set up an autodraft on my bank account).

The company that stole my money, by the way, was Ford and I’ll be damned if I’ll ever buy one of their crappy cars again. I’ve had problems with financing through General Motors, too. Perhaps it’s no surprise that a couple of Toyotas are sitting in my driveway and I figure on buying a Volkswagen in a couple of years when I need a new car.

Yesterday morning my wife woke me up and told me that someone got her debit card number and tried to spend about half the money in our checking account. The surprise here is that our bank – Bank of America – called her, said they suspected there was a problem and offered to cancel her debit card.

Furthermore, my wife will get a new debit card and the bank will put back the money that was stolen from our account. Based on my past experiences with those sleazy bastards who tend to start financial institutions, that’s not the result I expected.

“It looks like someone stole your debit card and took all your money,” I would expect to hear. “That’s too bad. By the way, you owe us $2,000 to cover the fees, costs and the amount of the transactions that cut into your overdraft protection. When do you think you can pay us that?”

Seeing how I expect most banks to figure out new and creative ways to steal from me or throw me to the wolves if someone steals my account information, Bank of America’s proactive, helpful attitude simply shocks me. I don’t care what anyone says about that particular institution – Bank of America has just earned a customer for life.

I’ve found a bank that’s honest and genuinely looks out for the best interests of its customers. What a pleasant surprise.

An entire year of worthless nonsense!

One year ago I opened the Natural State Hawg so that I might be able to bore and confuse people around the world.

Folks, it’s been a heck of a good time. I’ve met some fantastic bloggers and genuinely nice people through this little blog of mine – probably my favorite things about this project, actually.

Frankly, I am almost amazed that I’ve lasted a year. Who can prattle on about virtually nothing for almost 12 months straight? Apparently, I can do just that. Why? Because this world produces no shortage of things that amuse me, intrigue me or just plain piss me off.

Also, I make my living as a writer. I’m a public relations guy by trade (I still prefer the term “media cat”) and once made my living as a newspaper reporter. Evidently, there’s a lot of truth to the old adage suggesting that writers run around writing stuff at random because they can’t help themselves.

I figure I’ve got at least another year in me on this blog. I would like to thank my regular visitors – you cats are the best.

An inspiration to troublemakers everywhere

My 12-year-old son, Michael, is in the sixth grade.

This year, he made the honor roll and learned today that he is in advanced band next year. Oh, and he also won a math award this year and has been assigned to every available advanced placement class next year.

The kid is an inspiration. Why? Because he's proven that a student can spend roughly half the year in the vice principal's office and still do well in school.

Am I exaggerating? A bit, of course, but this year he's been paddled, suspended, sent to detention hall, sent to Saturday school and has generally raised hell.

Oh, there have been many incidents this year, but the best (worst?) of the lot involved him pulling an Eric Cartman routine on a kid. Yes, we've tried to keep the kid away from South Park, but it appears we've failed as young Michael flipped off a kid this year and yelled "suck my balls!" at him.

That whole incident put me in a terrible position. That's funny as hell, but I couldn't exactly pat Michael on the back, could I? That's one of those times I had to do my parental duty of telling the boy I was disappointed in him for behaving in such a manner.

I should have known what we were in for back when Michael was in kindergarten. He was at recess going across the monkey bars when two older kids started to mess with him. He kicked one in the face then jumped on the other kid and started beating on him.

And this child is an honor student? Believe it. His teachers have been routinely frustrated by him as he's misbehaved, corrected them when they've gotten facts wrong, disrupted more than a few lectures and he still keeps those grades high with little effort.

No, Michael simply won't sit down, shut up and do what he's told. He may well grow up to be something other than a corporate drone, lackey or whipping boy one day. I can't help but think that's not altogether bad.

Go get 'em, kid.

A joke in poor taste?

I told my wife a joke the other day and she didn't like it one bit. Here it is:

The Hawg: What's the difference between Mary Tyler Moore and a lawyer?

Marci Kay: I don't know, most wonderful husband on the planet. What is the difference between Mary Tyler Moore and a lawyer?

The Hawg: Mary Tyler Moore never passed a bar.

Now, Marci thought I was being mean by throwing out a joke that makes fun of a recovering alcoholic. I responded with some logic my dad passed on to me years ago -- nothing is too mean if it's funny enough.

What do y'all think?

Hey! I've been married for 10 years!

Yesterday, I posted a photo of my wife, Marci, and me as part of the "Wordless Wednesday" festivities.

Tonight, I'll explain a bit of that photo as part of the dandy "Tell Me Thursday" festivities. Yes, that particular photo is one of the lovely Marci and me way on back in 1999 when we were still newlyweds. Today, we celebrated our 10th anniversary and I couldn't be happier.

We've been through lot. I adopted her son, Michael, who was two-years old when Marci and I got married. She miscarried twice before giving birth to a beautiful baby girl named Brenda who is eight years old now. We've each gone through career changes and a life-changing move a few years ago from her native northwest Arkansas to my home turf here in Benton, Ark. We've been through my being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and all the misery that comes with that.

Having been married once before, I was a bit apprehensive about going through all that again. Thanks to Marci, I've learned how great marriage can be and, indeed, how it is supposed to be. I know she'll always be in my corner and that counts for a lot. She's been nothing short of an incredible wife and mother over the past 10 years and this little family's source of constant strength and resourcefulness.

Do I still love my wife after 10 years? You'd better believe it. When I was a kid I was told in church that God has an ideal "someone" for each of us. I thought that was garbage at the time. I'm proud to report I was wrong.

Happy anniversary, Marci. You know, things turned out pretty darned well for us, huh?

A worthy effort

The rumors are true -- The Hawg writes quite a few paid posts.

This isn't one of them.

No, there are just times when a company is so great that I feel compelled to brag on them for free. In this case, the company engaged in a worthy effort is OTRCat.com (Old Time Radio Catalog). I was thinking very highly of Jon over at OTRCat this weekend as my wife, family and I were on a trip to northwest Arkansas to see my nephew graduate from high school.

We took a bunch of Henry Aldrich MP3s with us on the trip and that just made the journey go that much quicker. For those not familiar with old time radio (or "OTR" as its rabid fans call it), those are the shows that emerged in the Golden Age of Radio. Before there was television, people used to gather around the radio for entertainment and, in fact, some of the most classic dramas (Dragnet, Gunsmoke, The Lone Ranger, etc.) and great comedies (Jack Benny Show, Burns & Allen, etc.) started out as radio programs and made the jump to television.

Sadly, we're rapidly losing the generation that grew up on those programs, and Jon is to be commended on his attempts to preserve a part of our history and pass it on to people like me who weren't even alive during the Golden Age of Radio. I got hooked on those shows years ago as my dad and I listened to Lum and Abner reruns on a radio station out of Hot Springs, Ark., in the 1970s and early '80s.

For those who weren't treated with such an introduction to OTR, Jon makes it easy. He offers free downloads on a daily basis, generally has themed programs up for downloads on holidays and regularly has special packages at amazingly low prices. Also, he's got guides over there that instruct people how to get started in the world of OTR. Regardless, the free samples are ideal for those who might have heard of a program but aren't sure they'll like it.

The programs are sold for dirt cheap, the quality is generally better than can be expected (we're talking about really old recordings here, folks) and Jon is a heck of a nice guy (yes, I've ordered programs from him before -- the shipping was quick and the communications with Jon are fantastic). Go pay that site a visit, folks, and you might just discover that collecting old time radio shows is an immensely entertaining and worthwhile hobby.

...worth a thousand words

This weekend, we went up to northwest Arkansas to see my nephew, Jeffery, graduate from Rogers High School with more honors than you can shake a stick at.

The photo here pretty well says it all. Young Jeffery was surprised by the appearance of his father, Jeff, who is currently training to go to Afghanistan. Jeff is a staff sergeant in the Air Force and Jeffery is going to West Point in the fall.

How's that for a military family?

So, congratulations, Jeffery! I'm sure you'll do us all proud.

Congratulations, Crotchety!

Folks, a milestone worthy of being celebrated has been reached -- the Crotchety Old Man has posted over 500 pearls of wisdom!

We at the Natural State Hawg are thrilled that Crotchety has stuck it out this long and is still going strong.

Actually, I should say that I am proud that Crotchety has stuck it out this long as is still going strong as this blog is a one-man show. However, "we" just sounds better, doesn't it?

At any rate, I feel compelled to mention that I've only been blogging away since July. Crotchety runs one of the first blogs I ran across that caused me to keep visiting. Why? He's a hoot, that's why. And he's OK for a Yankee.

He's so OK, in fact, that he holds down the New Jersey Division of the All Arkie Army. He's so OK that I'd be proud to treat him to a dandy slice of pie at the famed Ed & Kay's here in Benton, Ark., if he ever gets down this way.

He's so OK that some of the visitors over at the All Arkie Army had some nice things to say about Crotchety when I mentioned his upcoming milestone over there. The always glib Don from Beyond Left Field simply sends his congratulations -- perhaps he knows that little more needs to be said about such an acclaimed fellow blogger.

Meanwhile, Patricia Rockwell from both Subjective Soup and Communications Exchange was a bit less concise, but eloquent as ever.

"Hey, I am a fan of Crotchety and all the things he yells at," she said. "Including cars!"

Lot 2 Learn from "I will have the...," "Did I miss something?" et al ran across Crotchety in much the same way that I did.

"I found Crotchety when I first joined blogcatalog about a year ago, and since then I have not missed a post," he said. "I love his take on life, and his outlook on everyday events. Great job, Crotchety!"

As for me, all I can say is that anyone who checks out blogs regularly and doesn't visit Crotchety at least once a day (he's a prolific fellow) is really missing out on something. If he's not posting his dandy "caption this picture" feature on Wednesdays he's describing the fine ways he treats Mrs. Crotchety, talking common sense politics, taking swipes at things he hates and generally just being as entertaining as an evening of shooting rats down at the dump.

So, I extend my congratulations to Crotchety, too, and hope he keeps yelling at those cars for years to come. Go pay him a visit, huh?

Entrecard top droppers for February

Once again, it's time to recognize the top Entrecard droppers to this here little blog.

These folks -- the amazingly consistent visitors -- are all dandy fine people who are smarter, funnier and sexier than 90 percent of the U.S. population. I thank them all for visiting.

So, here are the top visitors from Entrecard (if you have a blog and you haven't signed up for an Entrecard account yet, head over there and take care of that right now -- you'll be amazed at the increased traffic):

1. Is a mans world

2. ik.my

3. The Junk Drawer

4. Computer Aid

5. Mr. Soleh's Outburst

6. The Way I See It

7. Our Journey to Forever

8. On the Bricks

9. ImamKhalid

10. Epicurean Health

Do yourself a favor and visit all of those fine blogs.

Congratulations, Jeffrey!

Over the past year, my nephew has had a lot of decisions to make.

Jeffrey is a high school senior and was considering heading to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, after graduation, going to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point or maybe just joining the Marines.

He's off to West Point and members of my wife's family -- the majority of whom are military veterans -- couldn't be prouder. Truth be told, I'm proud of young Jeffrey, too.

Of course, there's not much of a military history to speak of in my family. My dad was in the Navy in the 1960s while my uncle was a Marine in Vietnam. Prior to my dad's generation, members of my family didn't much care for joining the military.

An ancestor fought for the Confederacy during the War Between the States, see, so joining the military was viewed as essentially enlisting to fight for a foreign, occupying power. True story and not surprising considering all the hard feelings in these parts as a result of the Reconstruction.

At any rate. my nephew's decision to use his considerable talents to serve his country is nothing short of commendable. One thing that I thought was particularly dandy is that, last night, Jeffrey got a call from Congressman John Boozman, a Republican from Arkansas' 3rd District.

Boozman called to congratulate Jeffrey on his acceptance to West Point. My nephew applied to West Point through Boozman's office and then go through a highly selective process before he was invited to attend the academy. The fact he made it through all of that says quite a bit about him, doesn't it?

So, congratulations to Jeffrey. I'm sure he'll do well.

Top Entrecard droppers for December

Yes, it's time once again to list the Top 10 Entrecard droppers.

I try to do this every month as I do appreciate consistent visits to The Natural State Hawg and it appears that a heck of a lot of folks have chosen to stop buy here daily. Thanks, folks!

So, without further ado, here are the Top 10 Entrecard droppers for the month of December:

1. Faris Fakri
2. The Junk Drawer
3. Mr Soleh’s Outburst
4. MJG's Rambling Thoughts
5. Programming Made Easy
6. Rants, Thoughts, and Other Things
7. Communication Exchange
8. Everything Under the Sun
9. My World in My Own Word
10. The Way I See It

Thanks, folks!

Three cheers for veterans!

I always feel a bit sheepish on Veterans Day as I never served in the military.

However, I also share Ronald Reagan's opinion of the value of an all volunteer army. The late, great Reagan suggested that an all volunteer army is valuable, indeed, as it is filled with people who want to be there, whereas a draft can result in a lot of resentful soldiers.

There's a certain wisdom to that.

My family's history in the service is rather slight. My great-great-grandfather fought in the War Between the States (he was an Arkansan who owned land in the Southern part of this state, so I'll let you guess which side he fought on) and he was the last one to take up arms until my father's generation.

Why? Because the War Between the States and the Reconstruction were still fresh in the minds of people in these parts for at least a couple of generations. Fighting for the United States was, believe it or not, considered the same as fighting for a foreign, invading power. No, I'm not kidding.

Now, my grandfather on my dad's side missed out on World War II by a couple of weeks. He was making the arrangements to leave his Arkansas home and report for duty when the Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. As we all know, that attack (and the one on Nagasaki shortly thereafter) brought the war to a close. With the war being over, granddad got to stay home.

My father broke the mold a bit by voluntarily joining the Navy after he graduated from college. He wound up touring Europe on an aircraft carrier. By joining when he did, my dad managed to miss Vietnam. His brother wasn't so lucky. My uncle enlisted in the Marines and spent two tours of duty in Vietnam. The experience literally drove him insane.

Obviously, the men in my family have never been quick to enlist. On my mother's side, I had an uncle in the Navy and his children also joined the military. Those people were the exceptions rather than the rule.

It's a completely different thing in my wife's family. My wife is an Army veteran and almost anyone in her generation and the one before it served in the Army or Navy. Why did they join? The felt it was their duty to do so.

That's admirable, folks. That type of dedication to this country is worthy of praise. That kind of dedication is the very thing that inspired by father to enlist rather than go directly to graduate school. It is the reason my uncle lost his sanity in Vietnam. My brother-in-law saw a friend of his killed in front of him in the first war in Iraq and another brother-in-law was among the first troops to invade in the current Iraq conflict.

None of the people I mentioned had any idea they would wind up at war, but they joined up and served, regardless. They knew they might be called on to fight for our nation and they volunteered to join the military, anyway. I appreciate their dedication and any American -- regardless on his or her view of the current war in Iraq -- should admire our troops, too.

So, my hat's off to our troops -- those who have served and those who are now serving -- for keeping our country safe.

Time to make the wife mad

Now, I've just got to tell a couple of stories related to my wife's time in the military. On our first date, she told me she was in the Army. I asked, "Well, did you ever kill a man?"

She saw that as an inappropriate question, but I thought it was the kind of thing you'd want to know about a woman you were on a date with. In spite of my rude behavior, we did end up married. She's used to my quirks and odd sense of humor at this point.

Also, my wife still carries her dog tag with her. I was looking at it before we were married, and I noticed the word "Roman Catholic" was stamped on it.

"You're not a Catholic," I said. "You told me you've always been a Baptist!"

For the record, we're laid-back Methodists now.

Anyway, she replied, "Well, I did that because of something my brother told me. He said I should say I'm Catholic because, in boot camp, you get out an hour early for mass on some days."

"So, did you actually go to mass?" I asked.

"No. I went to the PX and drank whiskey."

I do adore that woman.

Top Entrecard droppers for October

Entrecard has been extremely good to me since I joined back in July.

Yes, I saw my traffic jump overnight and it has grown steadily since then. If you want to boost your traffic, head on over to Entrecard and get an account. You won't regret it.

At any rate, here are the 10 most frequent visitors from Entrecard in October. I appreciate all the visits, folks, and hope y'all keep on coming by to visit The Hawg:

1. Picture to People

2. Computer Aid

3. Rambling Stuff

4. Authority Directory

5. Crotchety Old Man Yells at Cars

6. Rants, Thoughts and Other Things

7. Kid Tech Guru

8. Stud Kickass -- The Webcomic

9. The Way I See It

10. WTF Do You Blog About

Join the Army!

I routinely recruit people to join another blog, the All Arkie Army. If you are an Arkansan or have ties to this wonderful state, I invite you to take a look at the site and ask to join.

For some idea of what we're up to over there, click right here and read all about it.

In essence, the All Arkie Army exists as a forum through which members can promote the stuff on their blogs and submit some new material, as well. Have a look, join up and get the word out about your blogs.

My cat has a job and she does it well

This is Pico. She's a mean cat. A grumpy cat. An angry cat. A difficult cat.

How rotten is Pico? A few years ago, we wound up with Pico because one of my mother-in-law's friends had developed an allergy to cats. So she desperately wanted to find a home for her dear, sweet Pico.

A couple of years after the cat came to live us, I noticed that same friend lived in a house with four cats in it. She didn't want Pico back.

I, The Hawg, was duped.

However, Pico has an important job around my house and she earns her keep. I'll get into that in a minute.

I was reading a post earlier on Monkey Fables and Tales about the joy of insects invading homes in the fall. We get a lot of bugs here in central Arkansas, and that's particularly true in my case as I live near the Saline River. We get all manner of assorted critters here, in fact, but our rat terrier takes care of the snakes in the yard while Pico murders the insects that manage to get in the house.

If they fly, crawl, hop around or anything else, Pico is there to catch them and eat them. Got spiders? No problem -- Pico slaughters those, too. Some of you folks may think its nasty that the cat eats the bugs she catches, but that's fine with me. I don't care if she eats the bugs or crushes them, opens the front door and tosses them outside -- I just don't want to deal with the things. She's a full service bug killer, see?

So Pico is a meanie-head and doesn't get along with our kids or our other pets. So what? She does her part to cut down on the bugs around here and that makes her OK in my book.

Besides, my wife likes her and the cat does have her charms. There's something to be said for a cat that shows up, gets petted for about five minutes and then hides for the rest of the day.

Sometimes people will surprise you

Earlier today, my neighbor came by and handed my wife a check to cover half of the costs of getting our fence repaired.

That was totally unexpected and certainly appreciated. Why? Because our neighbor's tree got blown down when the remnants of Hurricane Ike were passing through central Arkansas. The tree made a mess of our chain link fence and destroyed a couple of sections of our privacy fence.

Our neighbor's insurance carrier, State Farm, paid to remove the tree but wouldn't pay to repair our fence (act of God and all that). We've got a $1,000 deductible with our insurance carrier, so I didn't bother filing a claim as it costs less that that to repair our fence.

Besides, our insurance carrier is Allstate, and that company is horrible. It's more like a collection agency than an insurer, so I try to avoid them whenever I can. How did we wind up with Allstate? That's a story that takes too long to explain.

I could have taken my neighbor to small claims court to force them to pay for our fence, but I hate the legal system more than I hate Allstate. I practiced law for four years and learned to detest lawyers, and what's a judge but a lawyer who carries a gavel and can send you to jail for not doing what he says?

So, I decided to go ahead and pay for the repairs. They needed to be made, after all, and two of my dogs have been on 20-foot leads since shortly after the tree fell -- the little rascals just won't stay in the fence. That's sad, watching the poor pups on leashes and all.

The fence guy was over today and my neighbor came by, asked my wife how much the repairs cost then wrote her a check. That was a classy move and one that caught me by surprise.

How many people go out of their way to do the right thing these days?

Enjoyable evening -- Benton won and I met two great bloggers

Yes, indeed! The fighting Benton Panthers won their first game of the season tonight, improving their record to 1-2 before going into conference play in the 6A-South.

There are few things I enjoy more than high school football on Friday nights. My father and I are both Benton High School Alums, so we try to catch every Panthers home game. It'll be a rough year for central Arkansas' scrappiest ball club, but at least the Panthers chalked up a win tonight by beating the Conway Wampus Cats 15-14 in a bit of a nail biter.

It was great being in C.W. Lewis Stadium here in scenic Benton for that victory, but the best thing about the evening was having the pleasure of meeting two fellow Bloggers -- Paul and Laura Eilers. Paul runs Paul's Health Blog and Laura runs Junk-Foodaholic. If you haven't visited those two sites, you really should.

Oh, I went ahead and posted a picture that Laura took of Paul and me (I'm the one on the left, proudly wearing Panthers maroon). Thanks for sending that photo along, folks!

Dad and I agreed that their presence at the game made it that much enjoyable as they are both wonderful, friendly people who make an already fun outing even better. Why were the Eilers there? Their son, Dylan, plays for the Wampus Cats, so they journeyed down from Conway to watch the fun.

The only thing that's too bad here is that the mighty, fighting Panthers defeated Dylan's team. However, Benton doesn't look that solid this year, so I'll cherish any victory that's available.

By the way, there's a blog dedicated to Dylan's football photos right here. Give that a look if you're so inclined.

I also decided to quit being lazy about a question I've had for years -- what is a wampus cat? In the past, I've been told it's a magical, six-legged cat and I've left it at that. I checked on Wikipedia, however, and found a more detailed explanation right here. Fascinating stuff, and I found out that no fewer than seven high schools in the U.S. have chosen the unusual wampus cat as a mascot.

But, back to the significance of tonight's game. Conway is in a higher high school athletics classification at 7A than Benton is at 6A. Benton's taken a whipping at the hands of two 7A schools this year, so the lads have some hope before they enter the regular season -- they've beaten one 7A team, so the hope is that will do wonders for their confidence when they're battling it out against peers in the 6A-South.

An alarming thing about the game, however, is that Benton has a tendency to fumble and get penalties for stupid stuff at the absolute worst times. Also, the team still has a tendency to fade in the second half and has a miserable kicking game. Things, apparently, haven't changed that much from last season.

Regardless, tonight's victory over Conway gives the team and its loyal fans a reason to celebrate and view the start of the regular season with optimism. That's nothing but good.

Anyone who is wondering why I, The Hawg, would bother with a high school football game has obviously spent very little time in the South. Towns in these parts rally behind their high school teams and treat games as a major social event.

In my case, I get to hang out with my father, get to visit with old friends on occasion and meet new ones like the Eilers. My hometown boasts a population of just 27,000 people, so Friday night football is a huge deal to a small city like this one that doesn't have any pro or college sports at all. The encouraging thing is that fans still turn out even if the Panthers stink -- most of us graduated from high school here and still turn out to support our local kids. That's nothing but good, right?