breakfast in bed Honestly!You know how in The Sound of Music, Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews are realizing that they are in love and they sing, “I Must Have Done Something Good”? Well that’s how I feel. However, that might …
shooting stuff I’ve never been one for guns. I staunchly support very strict handgun control. I honestly didn’t know it could be this much fun. My friend and co-worker Matt is getting married on Saturday, and this was event #1 …
shrimp po boy The Shrimp Po Boy is a bunch of fried shrimp on a roll. Sounds simple? You’d think so, but the location of the really good shrimp po boys is hotly contested. This particular po boy came from …
By now, you’ve probably seen the Elf Yourself site and maybe you’ve even played with it.I decided to elf my co-workers a little bit old-school. It’s easy! My cube has glass walls, and I have red and green dry-erase markers. …
So now I’m the Director of Web Communications at my new company – a very old company – the American Bible Society. The pace is frenetic, the people are fantastic and I’m trying to clean up a bit of a …
You might wonder what’s the difference between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where I live, and Grand Haven, Michigan where my sweetie Sylvia lives. The differences are actually quite striking. In PA, winter means rain, sleet and snow, all mixed together or at …
Five Guys First of all, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything and that’s not because I haven’t been eating – oh no. I’ve just been very busy… Getting a new job Moving to the Philadelphia suburbs Getting …
Elevator brand name I’ve always been fascinated with branding, names, and coming up with a good way to present something, whether it’s really cool or rather mundane. A common elevator brand name is Otis, but the elevator in my office …
Line at Pat’s In Philadelphia there are cheesesteaks. Today, I had them for the second time at Pat’s King of Steaks. Jeremy was kind enough to haul me around after visiting his church. In this picture, you can see the …
Special thanks to Sylvia for posting this video on her facebook page. I can’t get it out of my head now. For the record – it’s a medley of John Williams music from a variety of movies, but uses dialog …
mmmm… Big sandwich Did you know Wal-Mart sells sandwiches? I didn’t either, but now I do. Living out of a hotel room in Philadelphia is strange enough and I honestly don’t feel like a daily diet of eating alone at …
I’m looking for a place to live in the Philadelphia area.This hallway appears in one of the converted factory loft-type places I’ve toured. Notice the ramp and doorway creating a fancy optical illusion that the hall is actually longer than …
Tony Packo’s I was in Toledo on my way to Philadelphia and I had to jump off at the Front Street exit.The chilli, the spicy dogs, the even spicier pickles are a magical combination on a cross-country road trip. … …
Today is Saturday and on Monday I’m getting in the car and driving to Pennsylvania. I’m kicking off a new job in the Philadelphia area, working for The American Bible Society as the Director of Web Communications. My GPS will …
Today is my first day in my new office and I’m excited to start my new job at The American Bible Society in Wayne, Pennsylvania – near Philadelphia. Pat’s With Philadelphia comes Philly Cheese Steaks. This is Pat’s King of …
the internet Gabe Lyons – opening keynote for the Internet Ministry Conference made this observation… The internet is the new beer Meaning – it takes away the inhibitions and promotes a lack of consequence for one’s actions. Since I don’t …
Twitter w/rasberry reduction It’s Internet Ministry Conference time and the food is always amazing. Notice this dessert – white chocolate mousse in a chocolate shell with a raspberry reduction, next to an iPod touch with twitter running on it. That’s …
One of the biblical writers, Paul, wrote in his Roman letters that he was not ashamed of the gospel.
Fall Whilst driving through my local Starbucks I like to make fun of Sylvia’s order. She gets a “Venti, skinny, vanilla, latte” but when I order it I like to say something like this. first I’m gonna need a big …
Tow away Who gets to tow that? I imagine they will call the towing company next door to tow its own truck. I live next door to a towing company and they often park their trucks right outside my windows. …
Fire! Jodi is awesome.Jodi signs up for a variety of giveaways, promotions, contests and such.Jodi wins stuff.This time it was a dinner for up to 8 people at the Golden Corral buffet. We didn’t know that it was also a …
Crabs! My friend Steve Wilcox invited a bunch of us over for Maryland blue crabs. Sylvia and I had a great time and Zeke ate almost a whole hot dog. Note about blue crabs: after you cook ’em, they turn …
September 19 is upon us again!Talk Like a Pirate DayIt’s a regular feature around here: 2007And something I try to celebrate with a certain degree of gusto each time it comes around. Do not confuse Talk like a Pirate Day …
Yeahit was awesome. Not political – just dang funny. Tina fey returned to Saturday Night Live as Sarah Palin and kicked off the season opener with her old cohort Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton. Oh… it seemed some guy named …
Bag O’ baby My local Wallgreen’s store has everything. I had to stop in for some supplies today and there on an end-cap was a display containing this: Bag O’ Baby. Not to make light of a tough situation, but …
Well done This is the front of my apartment building and not some cheesy used car lot. Can you believe that someone would just drive up on the front yard like that? Well, I guess if you have 4-wheel drive, …
Best Juice Ever Many years ago, Ocean Spray made Cran-Blueberry. It was amazing. Then, they stopped making it. It was sad. Today, I found this in the grocery store. It is fantastic. I’ve started hitting the juice pretty hard today. …
Wild Stallion As if we needed one more energy drink – this is mango flavored. I found it on tap at a gas station. When you think of wild stallions, raw power, rippling muscles, thundering hooves, and manes whipping in …
McCain – Palin I can’t be the only one who thought of this can I? The thought of Michael Palin in the pepperpot drag getup along with John McCain has me in stitches. Sarah Palin is probably a better choice.
one please There’s got to be a way that I can set this up in my own kitchen. I’d probably just end up sticking my face underneath and dispensing both barrels directly into my mouth. … maybe it’s just me.
Red Knapp’s Dairy Bar Rochester, Michigan is the home of Red Knapp’s Dairy Bar. Until I was on the way there, I thought is was the Dairy Barn. Clearly, I’m a moron. It’s a 50’s-style diner. It’s been a 50’s-style …
ADD: the gift that keeps on giving. Clearly this poor fellow missed the first day of marketing school where they taught people the three basics.1) who is your customer?2) what do you want your customer to do?3) how do you …
It was about 18 months ago that I converted the long-standing Wacky pages into a blog. I actually started the Wacky thing of the week on a shared drive at Calvin College over 10 years ago and the wackiness continues. …
According to my friend Paul…This was taken in front of the Gardendale, Alabama , Walmart while she (the subject of the picture) was going to the Flea market. Now I ask you…Who sits and looks at a pair of men’s …
I don’t know about you, but I feel GREAT! Here’s a guy who made up his mind to do something and by golly, he’s doing it. Spirit like this is contagious and gets around the office simply by being near …
The Corner Bar I have the privilege of serving on the Board of Directors for Greater Hopes, Inc. Adoption Agency and we had our first meetings this week in Rockford, MI – just around the corner from The Corner Bar. …
I’ve been listening to the local radio station in Grand Haven. It’s small-town and full of delightful little nuggets that you just don’t get at the big stations. I worked on the air for about 12 years and I fondly …
1 pound… One of my favorite places in Grand Haven is Pavilion’s Wharf right there on Washington. It’s a cute little place decked out like a red, green, and white cottage, but inside it’s an awesome little restaurant and bar. …
And then that happened My office isn’t the best place in the whole wide world right now and yesterday the ceiling started to cave in. Seriously, right in the middle of a meeting and right on cue as Andy said …
Dairy Treat It’s Summer time and that means ice cream. In Grand Haven, a lakeshore tourist community, that means you have plenty of choices. Today I’m talking about the Dairy Treat – at the request of my special guest requester …
Thanks to Paul for pointing me at this gem Anyone been at a client meeting like that?
The Arena Football season is drawing to a close and that means NFL isn’t far behind, and that means Fantasy Football!I placed 5th last year – right in the middle of the pack with a group of friends. The Fightin’ …
Things that suck Whilst installing an upgrade for an operating system, I inadvertently closed my laptop, putting it to sleep. I honestly forgot it was going on until I was half-way home. When I tried to fire it up again …
into the shredder with you My office is not a fun place to work right now. In an attempt to get some funding together, I worked with our advancement (a goofy word for fundraising) staff and came up with a …
Thanks to Dave and Kevin for passing this one on to me. Get your creative juices flowing?
Rick and Aedan So what do you say to someone when you haven’t seen them in 25 years? That’s what my friend Aedan said this week when we met up for a visit. He’s been living abroad for most of …
This is Jeff. Jeff wants his coffee. Jeff Parker is my oldest friend. He’s actually about the same age as me, but I’ve known him longer than nearly anyone I know. Jeff moved to Chile about 15 years ago and …
ANGRIEST POODLE IN THE WORLD Along with last week’s bucket full of puppies the little pet store in the Pueblos de Dominicana had this charming little critter. While it seems to be indeed the angriest poodle in the world, it …
Bucket full of puppies While traveling to South America I went to the Pueblos de Dominicana in Santiago, Chile. They have everything. Wood carvers, jewelry stores, t-shirt shops, and a ton of local craft-type shops. They also have a pet …
Apparently I’m technology impaired. It took me a an hour to figure this one out. The bellboy in my hotel (Montevideo, Uruguay) didn’t give me the heads up. That’s fine, I’m usually a pretty smart guy. Not today. The light …
Phone cards on a leash I spent 10 hours in the Miami Airport today on my way to Montevideo, Uruguay to speak. I’m excited about the trip, but not the 5 hours on this side of security, and then 5 …
From the YouTube member’s description:This is what my cat does every time we watch boxing… Thanks to Tara, who sent it to Sylvia, who sent it to me.
Dids Deli I had to run some errands at lunch and just before I went home I stopped in at a Deli, just around the corner from my apartment. Sweet Fancy Moses!That’s what I call a sandwich. I’m never leaving. …
Donut day Wednesday at the office is Donut Day. It’s a day devoted to donuts. It doesn’t get much better than that. … maybe it’s just me.
Brian Tol Today I had lunch with Brian Tol. He and I used to work together at Gospel Communications and he’s recently gone over to 5Q Communications. We ate at one of my favorite places in Grand Haven, Pavilion’s Wharf. …
I normally don’t link to or display content from The Onion because, while it’s usually hilarious (read: wacky), it’s also off-color enough that I don’t feel right about including it. This time I’ve got a good one thanks to my …
As disturbing as Mother’s Day was, Mother Goose Rocks takes it up a notch. Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes by Mono with ME2 Good luck getting that out of your head. Thanks Paul
My Mom sent this to me back in January. Turn your volume down before playing it. It’s kinda loud. Like the good son I am, I’m posting it for Mother’s Day.
My mom sent me a link to this dog tricks site. Go visit and try some typical dog commands:SpeakRolloverPlay deadJumpFetchand be sure to try – Kiss Thanks Mom!
Three Years of Brian-Food and 100 posts – a retrospective. It was on June 8, 2005 that I first posted about breakfast cereal. I’d been blogging since 1995 with my Wacky Thing of The Week – before there were blogs. …
I love eating at diners, drive-ins and dives. In fact, about the only cooking show I can stomach is the show by that name, “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives“. As much as I love the food and the great variations on …
Thanks to the fun people at Get out and play .com we have this video of a human snake. GO!
I’m not a movie reviewer by trade, but I do go to a bunch of movies and I eat popcorn.Tonight I went to see “Expelled”, a documentary about the oppression of even the words “intelligent design” if used in academia, …
Just in case you haven’t ever been to a theater with a refillable popcorn bucket, I need to explain. Movie Popcorn You see, you buy this bucket, then you fill it up with popcorn as much as you want until …
Everyone, meet Boone. Boone, this is everyone. Boone is a narcoleptic cat. Don’t believe me? – click on the picture of Boone to watch him pass out. It’s hilarious. Meanwhile, Boone has a day job. Boone works at Kitty Wigs …
This is Garfield genius!What’s better than a random Garfield comic strip?Why a Garfield comic strip without the Garfield. Meet Garfield minus Garfield. Thanks Tol!
Yep… a monkey washing a cat.
The French call April 1, Poisson d’Avril – or literally translated “The Fish of April”. Traditionally, school children tape a picture of a fish onto the back of a schoolmate who then cries out “Poisson d’Avril!” when they discover they’ve …
Test your visual acuity with this simple video test: Today is Good Friday – it’s a day that we post-modern, millennial, post-literate Christians tend to overlook when we’re not looking for it. We tend to miss the miracle that’s just …
Does it really? I used to drive by this sign all the time and it made me laugh. Seriously? It Works?What works? I imagine their sales pitch going something like this… “Hi, this is Brian from It Works Marketing. I …
When some people decide to follow Jesus, it’s all at once and they jump right in. (wait for the second kid) Others have more of a process they need to go through and some have to put a toe in …
We had a chili cookoff at work. It was a lot of fun. There were chilies of all flavors, concoctions, colors, and spice levels. The big winner was Kevin Kyser and his Chicken Chili. It was overwhelmingly fantastic with an …
Some fantastic bear moments from around the internet: 1) from Jonathan: Bear Rescued on Donner Pass Bridge 2) Stephen Colbert hates bearsFlickr Groupofficial site 3) Bear with me a moment – from xkcd.comThanks to my brother Chris for getting me …
So we ran out of screen cleaning wipes at my office the other day and our purchasing department got us a replacement. Please consider donating to Gospel Communications so we can either get some real screen cleaners or feed this …
Maybe you heard that Gary Gygax died.Maybe you’re saying, “Brian, that’s awful. Who’s Gary Gygax?”Maybe you’re in the first stage of grief, denial. I tend to move along pretty quickly. Here are 16 jokes about Gary Gygax, the co-creator of …
Yesterday’s Jesus post has me examining my soul a little more than usual. I think it started with this shot on the local news this morning: Of course it’s actually a very white orchestra. Clearly the quotes around “Symphony with …
I love Jesus.Seriously! I am a huge fan. I think that Jesus is the best thing that’s ever happened to me and so many of my loved ones. If you don’t know what I’m talking about and you’re curious let …
For years I’ve had the phrase “cat herding” in my bio but some people ask what that means. To me, that commercial, shown first in the 2000 Super Bowl and later during the 2005 Super Bowl, does a great job …
It’s funny how some random events can lead to some unexpected answers to some burning questions.I hardly get any mail at my new apartment in Grand Haven. I’m getting some forwarded mail from my old place, and I’m getting some …
I just got a new haircut – finally. Having recently moved to Grand Haven, I had to figure out where to get a haircut around here. Fortunately, surprisingly, freakishly, coifishly , mind-bogglingly, there are lots of places to get a …
My friend D’Arcy sent me this blog post about learning English as a second language and using children’s blocks to illustrate the language. Everything starts out innocently enough: And moves on to some interesting translations: Then a little stranger:Where’s your …
That’s a coney dog Living in Western Michigan as I do, there’s a huge hole in my diet. Namely, the Coney Dog. The Coney Island dog or chili-dog has somehow been perfected on the East side of the state and …
Peanut Butter Banana dogs Mmmm…So what you do is split a hot dog down the middle and warm it up. Bologna works in this, but bacon is best. The hot dog was a little improvisation. Then a banana and put …
Every year the Hallmarkiest of Hallmark holidays comes around in mid-February. Of course I mean Valentine’s Day. People who are together feel pressure to do something grand and people who are alone get depressed. We all eat too much candy. …
Brian’s Fruit Salad Is that a euphemism?Sylvia says that I’m a good cook. I made up this fruit salad on the fly while I was at the grocery store picking up groceries to cook in my new groovy pad for …
It’s Fat Tuesday again – kind of a second Thanksgiving here on the brian-food blog. .flickr-photo { }.flickr-frame { float: right; text-align: center; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Fat Tuesday. Since we’re still behind …
My friend Steve sent me this picture from a vending machine.I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to trust this salad for a couple of reasons.1) The window of opportunity for room-temperature mayonnaise is rather narrow.2) Is it Bumble Bee …
There are no spoilers in this blog – I don’t believe in them. I’m not stupid, I know they exist, I’m just not going to be someone who creates a spoiler. I think it’s just common courtesy. A certain movie …
I’ve been working on some things in my personal life to be a better me. One of them is my weight. I’ve been trying to follow the plan laid out in the weigh-down workshop and it’s working pretty well for …
Chipotle Grilled Stuffed BurritoWho knew that those four little words could mean so much to me for so long? Back in the early days of this blog I wrote a happy little post about a little something that tickled my …
The time has come to buy a new bed. It was time to go to the mattresses. I visited a number of furniture stores and carefully avoided a particular chain of furniture stores. Hint – the sales staff descend on …
From time to time I write something on my whiteboard that stays up there for a while. I’ve usually borrowed them from somewhere. Sometimes they are clever like this Haiku: Haikus are easybut sometimes they don’t make senseRefrigerator Sometimes they …
we’re back It’s been almost a year since the Peter Pan salmonella outbreak. The jars are finally back on the store shelves and display their fancy marketing slogan: “New Better Peanut Taste!”Wouldn’t it also be appropriate to label them, “Now …
Macaroni and Cheese Yes that’s right gentle reader, a 6 piece of macaroni and cheese. I’m picturing 6 noodles laden with cheese. As it turns out they are actually those mac-n-cheese bites. Breaded and fried Macaroni and Cheese.Can life get …
Happy New Year I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come. I went out to my car this morning – headed to church – and when I clicked my little key fob to unlock the doors, the alarm …
I’ve really been thinking about a certain Christmas Carol this year – Up On The Housetop – maybe you know the one? I’ve pasted in the lyrics below for your reference. I’m really OK with the chorus. I mean, who …
Tradition In Gulfport, Mississippi our family Christmas tradition includes Bruce’s famous gumbo. This time there was sausage, chicken, smoked pork, and shrimp. The Girls We had quite a crowd over to the house for dinner – they were all former …
So it turns out that “Brian Atkinson” is a rather popular name, and people find me on facebook and think I’m someone else with the same name. Nothing I’ve ever had to deal with before. Here’s a recent exchange with …
I’m an occasional contributor to the “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks, as some of you may know. It’s not one of those grammar-police blogs, but a just-for-fun snarky comment blog about the inappropriate use of quotes and their funny and …
The local and national news was all over this story today and I had to weigh in on it. This guy named Steve Flaig just found his birth-mother. I’m overjoyed for him and I’d love to talk to him about …