It’s Not Our Fault Anymore . . .

I have been taking the blame for the rotten weather in the south this winter.  In January, we went to Texas – coldest weather in at least 20 years.  Last week, we went to Georgia – same thing.  I was sensing a pattern, and getting very concerned about the poor souls in Florida since we’re heading for Clearwater next week.

But no more.  Ten inches of snow in Dallas/Fort Worth yesterday – not my fault.  And two or three inches in Atlanta today – not my fault.  I can’t even imagine how they’ll deal with snowstorms and no snowplows.  And there probably isn’t a loaf of bread or gallon of milk left in the south.

So I’ll offer pictures of something “y’all” won’t find down south . . .

Overhanging snow and killer icicles!  This was the scene outside our building yesterday afternoon.  And yes, that IS blue sky overhead.  The sun never shines in Ohio in the winter, but for a few minutes, there it was!  But it was gone within an hour.  And we only have about ten inches on the ground – the folks in Maryland and Pennsylvania got it much worse.

I just had to share this.  Linda Malcom from Lost Coast Designs gave it to me last Saturday in Lawrenceville.  We haul her booth from show to show, and in return she helps us during teardown.  But once a year she gives cards and goodies to Karen and me.  I thought this card was very appropriate – looks like something Zoe would do (not to mention the dog even looks a lot like Zoe).

The Difference Between Rain and Snow? 500 Miles . . .

When we go south in the winter, I usually expect an improvement in the weather.  Not this year – two trips since the first of the year have sent us to Texas and Georgia, and each was experiencing its coldest weather in at least 20 years.  Last Thursday, I drove from Dayton to Atlanta.  When I got up on Friday morning, it was 32 degrees at home – and pouring snow.

In Atlanta, it was 34 degrees – and pouring rain.  The picture just doesn’t do it justice – the rain was coming down sideways.  So I backed the truck as close to the building as possible.  Worked pretty well, except for that overhang at about forehead level.  Smacked it three times – ouch . . .

Thankfully, by Saturday morning the rains were gone but it was still really cold.  First customer in our booth were the Bag Ladies from Charlotte.  The other shot is the view of the convention from my cash register later in the day.

Sue Rothamel from USArtQuest was holding court next to my cash register (you can almost see her behind the book on the left).  This crowd was alive – they clapped, laughed at her jokes, and responded like few groups I’ve witnessed.

There was a food trailer outside the back door.  This is the line waiting to go outside, one by one, to order food.  The wind was howling.  Every time that door opened, the blast hit me all the way across the room.  By the end of the day, my throat was scratchy from the draft.

This is a group of people looking at the Copic Marker display.  When I first saw it, all of these ladies were crowded into that one space (except for Peggy Gould in the print blouse, who was working for us).  But some of them had backed off before I clicked the shutter.

Not everyone thinks this is a thrilling experience . . .

By giveaway time, Dave Carlson from Heirloom was sneaking around the back trying to get a shot of me up on the ladder.  So these are my shots of him trying to get a shot of me . . .

And the obligatory “wave for the camera” shot . . .

We often try to sample some of the local cuisine when we’re on the road.  David had seen a piece on the Travel Channel about a restaurant called The Varsity that is an Atlanta legend.  The original location is downtown near Georgia Tech (according to their website, on football game days they serve 30,000 customers), but when we found out that there was one near us, off we went . . .

 

The sign outside looked like we were heading into an old movie theater.  And I really liked the mirror with their logo inside.

We had no idea what to expect.  This is fast food – burgers and dogs, onion rings and fries.  And the server at the counter greets you with “What’ll you have?”  Now I’m not a food critic – I’m not even a food fan – but for my money the atmosphere was better than the food.

That said, the whole thing was worth it just for the pictures I took after Peggy, Karen and Sue put on their paper Varsity hats.  I will likely hear from Sue about this shot of her slurping her chocolate milkshake with a straw . . .

But she’ll like this one . . .

The Evos Go to Lawrenceville . . .

I took so many pictures last weekend while we were in Atlanta. Then I came home to two days of snow. It was probably about time -- I have been out of town twice since the first of the year, and we had snowstorms at home both times. But the weather gods are getting even with me -- I spent two hours blowing and shoveling snow last night. When I woke up this morning, it didn't look like I had done a thing.

So it's time to start telling stories from the weekend. This is probably the best one. Sunday afternoon, we are minding our own business when I hear one of the vendors say, "Did you see who's here? The EVOS" . . .



Anyone who has been on our show circuit, either as a customer or a vendor, knows that "The Evos" are Dale and Ellen Gordon of Evolving Images. Ellen (Evo) was one of the internet pioneers -- she posted pictures and a poem from each stop on her website, and had a huge list of e-mail followers. Her husband Dale (Mr. Evo) was always with her, and occasionally daughter Cecelia (Cevo) came along for the ride. But Dale started having health problems (first a stroke, then a recent hip replacement) a few years ago, and the Evos retired to their country plantation near Stone Mountain, GA. And Sunday, they paid us a visit . . .



Sure enough, Cevo was along for the ride again and got to catch up with Karen . . .



Evo does the same with David . . .



Evo always was a riot -- when she saw hubby eyeing the funnel cakes on our demo table, she made it quite clear they were off limits . . .



Her expression in that shot was so good, I just had to blow it up . . .



Didn't work, though -- Mr. Evo still got his snack.

More stories from Georgia tomorrow . . .

Two Completely Trivial and Unrelated Thoughts

On Tuesday, I sent out a note to the Marco's E-Mail List before I left for Atlanta. In it, I mentioned that it was Groundhog Day and the official groundhog had seen his shadow, therefore guaranteeing another six weeks of winter. But in Ohio, where the sun NEVER shines in the winter, our official groundhog was shadowless, so we'll only have a month and a half.



In response, I got an e-mail from a customer in Alaska (and of course I left that e-mail on my computer in Dayton, so I don't have her name handy -- sorry about that). She informed me that since there are no groundhogs in our 49th state, Tuesday was the first annual Marmot Day in Alaska. For the uninitiated, that's a marmot on the left, and a groundhog on the right. And apparently if you go back far enough, a groundhog is a member of the marmot family. So I guess we all celebrate Marmot Day . . .



In a completely unrelated note, I saw this temporary tag in the parking lot at the Kroger across the street from my office. Walked past it, did a double take, and walked back to shoot a picture with my cell phone. What's wrong with this picture?


Think about it . . . if you're still not sure, scroll down a little.






Check the expiration date -- how many days are there in February?

Have a great weekend . . .

An Excuse to Dig Your Old Bundt Pan Out of the Cupboard . . .

This cake is REALLY good. I got the recipe after one of our carry-in lunches at the store about 15 years ago. One of our printing customers retired and came to work for us part-time, and her boyfriend brought this cake along. Now I'll admit that it sounds strange to refer to the "boyfriend" of a woman in her 70s, but it was what it was . . .



This is an Apricot Nectar Cake. Very moist, and just a little crunchy around the outside from the glaze.



And these are the only things that you'll need to make it that you may not already have in your pantry -- a Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Cake Mix and some Apricot Nectar. I use these little cans from Kern's (they're not easy to find) because I can use two for this cake and save the other four for later.

Here are your ingredients:

1 Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Cake Mix
1 Cup Apricot Nectar
3/4 Cup Wesson Oil (or your favorite cooking oil)
4 Eggs
1/2 Cup Sugar



You'll also need to grease and flour your Bundt pan (some people call this a "tube pan"). For the uninitiated, that means slime down every inch of that thing with a thin film of Crisco and then cover it with flour until you can't see the Crisco anymore. If you don't, the cake will stick.



Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl (use a mixer), beating well after adding each egg. Then pour the batter into the Bundt pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for one hour.



Five or ten minutes before the cake comes out of the oven, make the glaze. Put 1½ Cups of Confectioners Sugar into a cup and add 1/3 Cup of Apricot Nectar. Then use a fork to mix it together.



When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately turn the pan over and drop the cake onto a plate.



If you did a good job on the greasing and flouring, this is about all that will be left in your pan. If you have chunks left in yours, peel them off and stick them into the holes in the cake -- the glaze will take care of the rest.



Drizzle the glaze over the cake a little at a time. Give it plenty of time to absorb into the cake -- if you pour it too fast, it will just run off. You may have to get the fork and mix the glaze in your cup again -- it tends to want to separate. You'll probably have a little glaze left over when you finish.



My son loves this part -- you'll end up with a little "lake" of glaze in the hole in the middle. That's fine -- it will harden and you can scoop a little out when you cut a piece of cake.



This is how it looks when I've just finished putting on the glaze. If you can keep everybody away from it, let it cool for a while and the glaze will harden and make the outside a little crunchy. Everyone is different -- Ryan likes it while it's still hot, I prefer it after it has cooled.



Enjoy! Now I'm off to Atlanta. Come on out to the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds and see us this weekend (Saturday 10:00-5:00, Sunday 11:00-4:00).

Update on the Spellbinders Scavenger Hunt

I got an e-mail on Saturday from Beth at Spellbinders who had seen my grumbling about their Blog Party. I was informed that not all of their new dies were released that way -- in fact, there were 13 more that I had missed! But here's the difference -- she went over what I had done and sent me the extra scans. Since I didn't have to go back out on the scavenger hunt, I am a much happier boy. So for the third time, that sheet has been updated, and you can see all 44 new dies at http://www.marcopaper.com/SpellbindersCHA2010.pdf

And thanks, Beth!

I also noticed as I started typing that this is my 100th post on this blog. Wow -- thanks for putting up with me . . .

Another Trip into the Time Machine . . .

For the second time in three weeks, I spent some time back in high school over the weekend. I got an e-mail from Lynn last week that she was trying to put together an "Impromptu Gathering" of some of our classmates at a sports bar about 20 minutes from my house. I have Facebook to blame again -- Lynn found me about three days after I signed up so I could watch that video. I didn't decide to go until the absolute last minute -- Saturday night, I literally was cleaning old clothes out of my closet to give to Goodwill, and I suddenly dropped what I was doing and decided that I was going to go see my friends.



There were six of us, along with Simon and Gary on either end of this picture who are next to their spouses. And for those of you who read my post about rediscovering my friend Becki in Texas last month, she knew about this gathering and texted back and forth with us while we were there. The classmates (left to right): Julie, me, Robin, Randy, Tad, and Lynn. We all started kindergarten in 1963 (Tad's parents didn't send their kids to kindergarten, so he started first grade with us).

For a few hours, we didn't have kids -- we WERE kids again. And we didn't have mortgage payments and family squabbles and the stresses of everyday life. That was very refreshing. And it didn't matter that all six of us didn't do everything together growing up -- we still have bonds from our childhood.

Yesterday, I had a warm feeling, but I still couldn't quite put it into words. Then I read Tad's blog this morning -- he said it much better than I ever could . . .

"It's ironic. When you go to college and get away from your high school classmates, you think 'None of these people at the university know me. They don't know my past, my problems, my failures, my mistakes. I can be anyone I want to be now.' And then 34 years later, when you meet up with those same high school classmates, you think 'All of these people know me. They know my past, my problems, my failures, my mistakes. And I don't have to be someone I'm not.' Last night was fun."

Amen to that . . .