March Madness ... Still

Well, my son Ryan is actually feeling pretty good right now as he had Ohio State picked to win the finals of the NCAA basketball tourney on Monday. Georgetown lost to Ohio State this afternoon (3/31/07). The interesting thing now is that Ryan has Ohio State winning and I have Florida winning (and both are in the finals Monday night). I'll do pretty well (I'll be in the money) if Florida actually wins. We'll see what happens but keep your fingers crossed everyone! And if I lose, Ryan wins so the Therkelsen clan is guaranteed a "win-win" situation.

In other news, I've been slowly converting my old LP's to digital. Picked up a neat little turntable that has a lineout output so I don't have to run a phono output through an amplifier. Then I use CoolEdit 2000 to create clean tracks, LAME (via RazorLame) to convert to MP3 and then Tag&Rename to edit the MP3 data fields (artist, title, track, genre, etc.). It takes me about 2 hours per record but I only have to do it once. Of course, the resulting tracks are not anything like what I get from CD's but it's good to have them saved and I actually kinda like the sounds from the turntable. So it's all good.

Went dancing at Walford for awhile last night and then went out singing at Shellsburg (the bar is Open Throttle) where some old friends of mine do a karaoke show on occasion.

I guess I'd say I'm more of a homebody type than anything else but I try to get out to see friends and fellow singers if it gets too boring around the house (otherwise I might have to clean, vacuum, etc., much more often than what I prefer ).

Some interesting weather springing up today as we had tornado warnings northwest of here and there's a slight possibility of some snow next Wednesday (4/4/07) ... . Well, golf league starts on Tuesday so that snow stuff better stay out of the way! ... ummm ... yeah, right.

Take care and remember to smile at someone you absolutely do not know today ...

Ken

More Thoughts (how original!)

Regarding my comments the other day about "what women want" and that it seems to be difficult to figure that out (for me anyway) ... I know those were statements born of some frustration but nothing there was saying that this man is giving up trying to find that one special person (and, I know, I did say as much ... but that blog still left a negative feeling). I've had some enlightenment on it that reminds me of the type of guy (romantic, hopeful, optimistic) that I am. And I have to say that it's really not an issue of figuring out what women want. It's more an issue of simply finding that "right" woman that makes the two, together, have what they both want and need. And what is that? I'm reminded that I too have been, and will continue to be, looking for that special person that I just can't wait to see again ... the one that makes *my* heart race out of control. So, universe, there you have it. And, ladies, is there one out there? I think there is ... and she may even be reading this.

Have a nice day everyone ...

Birthday Thoughts

Yes, it's true! Today (March 17) is my birthday. It's the day I make sure I have at least one beer (because usually when I have a drink it's Rum & Coke) ... and that beer is green. Today I had my green beer at Pei's China Bistro ... and they didn't have green beer but a drop or two of the blue food dye I brought along did the trick.

I also stopped down at City Beat, talked to B.J. and Pecan Sandy and had some Irish stew (foregoing the corned beef and cabbage this year). Turns out B.J. is from North Dakota and speaks Norwegian and German. And he knows the area around my Uncle's farm (near Binford, ND). What a small world. This compares, oddly enough, with finding out that I'd actually heard Patty singing in a band called back in about 1986 *and* I actually dug up an old vinyl LP her band made that I bought at the gig I went to. So I've heard her sing before ... all the while thinking I just met her for the very first time in February of 2007. Strange how life goes sometimes.

My son Ryan sent me a birthday present today ... couple of Clint Eastwood DVD's ... and also called me. I was out on a bicycle ride when he called so I called him back and we talked for 20 minutes or so. It was good. This evening my other son, Scott also called to say "Happy Birthday". Probably nothing that makes a parent feel better.

Someday I hope that I really get to know and understand "what women want" ... or even what just one woman wants. Every now and then I've deluded myself into thinking I *do* know and then some event brings me back to reality. Well, I guess it might just be that I simply may never know ... and that there's no woman out there that even wants to share her life with me. But I don't believe that. Either way, I know that I'm OK as I am ... and life is fine. Hey, maybe by *next* St. Patrick's Day all the answers will be known. Or not .

Think I'll relax for awhile now and then go out to sing "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" at some karaoke place. By tradition, today's the only day I sing that particular song. Tradition is good. And thank goodness Ohio State pulled out that game against Xavier today ... I was sweating it as everyone in every NCAA pool across the country was. Whew!

Later ... back from singing and I did sing "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" with Mike's Crowne Karaoke at the Sip N Stir down on 1st Avenue here in Cedar Rapids. The big surprise of the evening, though, was that thoughtful Alice Pei who made and brought to Pei's a white/with Green jello "poke" cake for my birthday (and they sang "Happy Birthday" to me as well). So, you might well ask, as I certainly did, "what's a 'poke' cake"? First you make a regular cake (white, in this case) and then you "poke" it (with chopsticks, of course, and pour jello with the color of your choice (green here) into the resulting holes ... then put it in the fridge to set everything up. Now I didn't get a real recipe on this so I don't know exactly the order of doing things but the result was a nicely mixed green color in the white cake ... and the frosting was a thin coating of whipped cream. And it was very good. I also brought a few pieces home.

Finally, I stopped over at Billy Magoo's to sing a song or two at Eddie's show and they (somehow, I think it was Pecan Sandy) found out it was my birthday and they sang happy birthday for me also as I was coming up to sing. So it was a pretty fun night. And, no, I didn't learn anything at all new about "what women want" ... guess all I can be is open to the possibilities that may come my way for that.

Take care everyone!

March Madness!

OK, folks. I signed up in an NCAA pool. Haven't done that for awhile and there's a reason for that. The closest I came to making any money was the "if you finish last you get your $5 back" a few years ago. Well, I finally broke down and signed up with the Pei's (China Bistro) regular pool for $10. Right now, of the games I know about, I have 17 wins with a chance for as many as 9 more! Well, "9 more" isn't likely to happen for me, but I'm feeling pretty good about it so far. Anyway, I've picked Florida to win ... I just think they're tough and they've been there before.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I'll have a little corn beef and cabbage, watch the parade downtown and drink a bit of green beer. I figured I'd bring along some green food dye in case I get to a bar that doesn't have any green beer ... and I was told that I should use blue dye because the beer's already yellow and blue+yellow=green. That sounds right to me so I'll bring both green and blue dye in case I get some really "light" beer.

The beer thing is kinda important, so if you have any comments on it please shoot something back right away ... thanks!

Probably finish the day off with a little karaoke and maybe take in a band or two.

Hope everyone out there has a fun St. Pat's too!

Yesterday ...

... all my troubles seemed so far away ... oops! Guess I digressed there. What I meant to say is that yesterday I stopped over at the Java Creek Cafe on Boyson Road here in Cedar Rapids and saw a performance by Lynne Rothrock and Ron DeWitte. He's a decent singer and a wonderful guitar player but she's just got a wonderful voice. I asked her to do one of my favorites, New York State of Mind, and she was glad to do it (and happy it was one that she knew ... she said they don't get many "requests" and so she always worries that they won't know the song ). Let me tell you, though, that it was great. Don't hesitate to see them anytime you get a chance.

Anyway, I think there was a guy there from my old softball team ... and I've been trying to remember his name. I think I did ... I'm pretty sure it was Jim Federer. I'm also fairly sure he's retired now (from Rockwell Collins). I had a cup of decaf and a little apple bar ... very good stuff!

About the weather, I think that we're past the worst of it now here in Cedar Rapids. This last snow/ice storm will melt away next week and we'll be on the downhill slide to spring. Of course everything needs to be ready for my birthday parade in two weeks (St. Patrick's Day) so I think the daytime temps will start climbing above 50 with regularity.

Not much else going on ... I'm keeping busy with Salsa dancing, karaoke, work and spending time with friends. Hopefully it will soon be time to get out on the bicycle for some long rides and decent workouts.

Stay warm!