Everything is Coming Up Dio!

Clare and I took a trip to Galesburg, IL this weekend. I went to school at Knox College and have fond memories of Galesburg (most of which proved to be false memories). I figured I'd take Clare and show her around my old stomping grounds. Anyway, more on that later...

While browsing at one of Galesburg's many antique stores, I came across a copy of Dio's Last in Line. I always remember the video for the title track creeping me out as a kid. Plus, my record collection is sorely lacking in the metal department, so I bought it.

Come Monday, I e-mailed this fact to my friend and metal aficionado, Chris. He sent me back this comment:

In the last week I have heard Rainbow's "man in the silver mountain" twice. In a bar in Chicago and on the radio at the gym. Who ever plays Rainbow songs? Dio is awesome

Then, since odd things come in threes, I stumbled across this blog dedicated to Dio. The strange part of it is, I wasn't looking for a Dio blog. I just clicked the "next blog" button on the top of my blog a couple of times and before I knew it, SUPERMEGADIO was staring back at me.

It's just odd...

More on Galesburg next time.

New Team Member

Since I write a lot about biking here at the Citizen Nick Word Center, I figured it's important for everyone to know that Clare has a new bike. It's a Bianchi Eros, and it is sweet! I'm super jealous. I mean, my bike is nice and all, but it's not Italian steel.

Jay (?-2007)

Last week, we had to put our cat Jay to sleep. This came rather suddenly and it's been a shock. He is certainly missed by a lot of people who knew him.

I used to say that Jay was an odd cat. He loved water and routinely licked up the water in the bath after a shower. He wasn't very graceful and would sometimes miss getting on the bed on the first try. He wasn't good about getting it in the box, either, but I spare you those details.

We never knew what to say when people asked us how old he was. He'd had a few owners before us and seemed to be eternally eight years old. Since he did pass so many hands, we used to joke that he had abandonment issues. I guess this gave him an air of mystery.

I feel bad now for the times when he got on my nerves. Like the time he puked on my head. It's funny now that I miss him even for that.

I don't think of him as odd so much any more. I think now I miss his quirky habits that made him Jay. I don't know if this is revisionist cat history or if it's an issue of you-don't-know-what-you-got-til-it's-gone.

Anyway, he's gone now and or home is a little lonelier now because of it.

Below are some pictures with Jay that will give you a tiny glimpse into what life was like with him. Thank you to Paul for the picture at the beginning of this post.