pothole dodging

Wow. It's already been a fantastic weekend, and it's not even 6:00 PM yet!

Last night was Tutto Pasta and the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Today was my day.

I feel somewhat accomplished, even though all I really did was empty my vacuum cleaner and wash the filters, and clean the shower. This spurred me to head to Target to replenish my cleaning supplies. A quick trip to Starbucks, and then I was off.

After Target I ran to the Frugal Muse, where I was happy to find some new postcards, a vegetarian cookbook, some greeting cards (possible the most clever I've found to date) and the prize of the day - a two dollar Chumbawumba CD. I don't really like the music, but for two bucks I had something new to listen to in the car.

I'm still smiling about another purchase. Stamped on its recycled cardboard front is "ZOMBIE ESCAPE PLAN." The paper banner taped around the back cover reads as follows:

This journal is for you to write down your own Zombie Escape Plan.

It is filled with blank pages for your important planning needs PLUS a variety of other random pages from old books that are intended to look like they might be useful in case of an attack -- stuff like maps, medical information and pictures of people who look like they could be zombies (though they probably aren't).

In reality, these extra pages probably won't help much when the zombies come, but they are fun to look at and they may inspire you with your own plan.

Perfect. If you open the book, there are blank pages with other random things scattered throughout. Included are Figure 2-2: The "tranquilizer chair" devised by Benjamin Rush, a partial map of Thailand, a fitting diagram of the brain, and step three from a standard first aid book.

I'm also rather partial to the included business-card sized sticker which reads "I HAVE A ZOMBIE ESCAPE PLAN."

My final stop was the Hubbard Avenue Diner. I sat alone at the counter, reading the Onion, sipping my coffee, and later polishing off most of an On Wisconsin! Burger and fries. I topped it off with a chocolate malt, which I couldn't finish. It's now sitting safely in a Styrofoam container in the fridge.

In other news, Joe sent a "baby on the way" text this morning -- congrats to Joe and Shannon! No details, but I'm sure it's safe to assume Scott David Kirklin is the name they both agreed upon.