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i indulged myself yesterday with a trip to radio shack. i bought a soldering iron, wires, and some really small screwdrivers in an attempt to circuit bend my little yamaha keyboard. so far success has eluded me. later i used my frustration to fuel a video upload: my contribution to the long khan… an endless stream of people screaming “khan!”

we only took a few pics on our vacation. jenny and i are happy when we can lose ourselves in an experience… we don’t want to be burdened with the chore of recording it. but sometimes we make exceptions. here’s a handful of pics from our trip to michigan and illinois.

i think my mind has left the dunes of michigan and finally caught up with my body, which is currently located in the steam bath of kansas. i did not expect to be caught in the storm that blew through the greater metro area last night, but we had to go 15 mph on the shoulder with the hazard lights on a couple of times.

jenny & i took our second vacation camping out on the dunes of lake michigan. this time we took the advice of our friend, jim huber, and drove to silver lake. that’s where i discovered why dune buggies are actually called dune buggies. we rented a red one and spent an hour and a half driving like crazed lunatics… and we weren’t the only ones. i can’t wait to go back.

my last name changes around this time every year to my wife’s maiden name: herman. every fourth of july weekend (since 1972) the hermans come from all over the country to gather on the fairgrounds in marengo, iowa for the family reunion. when i first started coming in 1986 they were meeting at the american legion hall, but when the numbers kept increasing they moved to a bigger location. when someone starts chanting, “we are hermans, couldn’t be prouder, if you can’t hear us we’ll yell a little louder!” this continues until lunch is ready or until the authorities arrive.

does anyone remember the gilligan’s island theme song from the first season? the professor and mary ann’s characters weren’t even given a name, they were just “and the rest” in the original lyrics. that being said, here are the rest of the topics i hinted at three posts ago: got a free weed eater that has worked once, auto repairs on the zx2 are (hopefully) are getting finished today… and the podcast? isn’t done yet, but the preview gives a glimpse of how i do things.

it should be noted that between the consecutive bachelor parties i attended the following events took place: i got 3 or 4 hours of sleep, i worked a 7 hour shift at homer’s, i set up (and tore down) sound equipment for a 2 hour fundraiser gig, in which i also performed. it was no surprise then that the second bachelor party for tim andersen was more subdued than the one 24 hours earlier. tim, bj, frank, drew, and i sat outside yj’s snack bar until 11:30-ish telling stories of surfing, poker, weird music, and other things i can’t remember.

i had the rare privilege of attending two bachelor parties on two consecutive nights this week. friday night’s gathering was for john eddy who got married just a couple of hours ago. he had the rare privilege of getting married on the same day i did. 23 years ago, jenny & i tied the knot the day after my all night bachelor party. watching john, his close friends and family, made me feel like a fly on the wall, like an outsider witnessing an old tribal ceremony as the natives dance to a hypnotic conga beat around a raging fire.

there have been so many events to record on the blog that i’m NOT going to do it now. must keep priorities straight, and maintain a regular regimen of clockwork downtime. but if everyone is patient for a few more days, there will be stories of: bachelor parties, sleep deprivation, power tools, auto repair, and a new podcast. but until then, i must recharge my mental batteries and resume MST3K’s riffing on kitten with a whip.