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Oh, there's so much crap happening, I can't even begin to keep up anymore. How is it possible that another week has rolled by and the best I could come up with was an old Milli Vanilli picture that was Photoshopped. Well, let's start at the start, shall we?

Video Guy Again - I know I shouldn't complain, but the people at my soon-to-be-old-job aren't going to let me coast through my last week. Oh, heck no. Instead, my boss's boss, who we'll call 'Bill' thought I should try and do another episode of that goofy 'Office' send-up I did back in March. This idea, not only larger in scope (with a larger cast, now) needs to be written, shot and sort of assembled before my last day on Friday. Tall order? Comin' up.

So I got the thing written and it's a nasty, evil little video project. People are snarky in the show, they do awful things to each other, they say the worst things possible, and somehow, someway it's actually kind of funny. I think it's got a lot more (dare I say it) style than the last script. It'll be interesting to see if I can pull off filming all the stuff I need in the next few days. It's ambitious, y'all. Updates as time allows.

Delicious Dividends - Okay, remember that video my friend and I made? The one with the two horribly uncoordinated white guys rapping about Chipotle? This one? Well, I thought it'd be kind of funny to send the link to the big shots at Chipotle HQ and see what they thought of our vocal stylings and what not. I sort of didn't think we'd get a response.

We did.

The dude wrote back and said:

Thomas,

I watched it, and I must say you guys put some effort into that for sure. And although I wouldn’t necessarily suggest that you guys quit your day jobs and become hip-hop artists, we thought it was a funny video (and yes, I’ve seen Lazy Sunday as well). Please send me your respective mailing addresses, since I’d like to send you guys some free burritos for your efforts.

Sincerely,

Joe Stupp
Chipotle

So...yeah. I wrote back and said thanks for watching and all that jazz and today I hit the proverbial jackpot! A card came in the mail from Chipotle stuffed with what looked like playing cards.

These are no ordinary playing cards, friends. If you click on the picture, you can see that these are actually cards that'll net you ONE FREE BURRITO (or in my case, bol). And the best part? There were 10 of 'em. Yeah...were 10. I already burned through 2 for dinner tonight. Sue me.

As if that weren't enough, I got an e-mail from a LOCAL Chipotle guy. He wanted to swing by the hospital where I work and bring a bunch of free burritos for the peeps I work with. So...as luck would have it, my last day (this Friday) is going to be free burrito day for me and mine. Seriously. This is going to be so much better than a Goodbye, Good luck Potluck or something.

I've Been Married For 4 Years! - So, in a true act of horrible-ness, I neglected to let the rest of the world know of my wedding anniversary last Thursday. The important part? I didn't forget to wish Laura (my wife! pay attention!) happy anniversary, so I suspect I'm all set for another year. Here's a random shot from the reception:

That's my friend MKD, Dumb Ol' Nick, Laura & the Luckiest Dude in the World hamming it up in Mankato. I'm singing 'You Give Love A Bad Name' and hip-checking Laura for some odd reason. Oh, I see there are questions. Yes, you behind the keyboard...

TKT, why is DON wearing what appears to be a superman t-shirt?

Funny story. During our reception, there was an event happening at the place where some people from an organization called the Strength Ministries were doing some sort of show. I think they use the power of Jesus to lift Nissans or something. I'm not sure. Anyway, my friend Nick and Big J went and purchased a t-shirt and proceeded the wear them during the rest of the reception. We're nothing if we're not informal. Yes? You staring at the monitor?

Thomas, you look like you weigh as much as Dan Aykroyd in "Driving Miss Daisy." What up with that?

It's true. I had a bit of a weight problem back in the day. I couldn't wait to eat. (rim shot) I look at some of my wedding pictures and I shudder a bit. Not that I'm now super svelte and rippling with muscle and what have you, but I've gotten myself whipped into better shape than I was. You wanna see scary? I should break out the pictures of me whilst Laura was preggers with lil' TKT. Yikes. At 5'9", I really shouldn't have weighed 236 pounds. But I did.

Anyway, we had a nice, mellow anniversary. We ordered pizza, played with our kid and just relaxed. 4 years. BAM! Just like that. It's been a great trip so far. I could wax nostalgic about it, but it doesn't need to be said. We're happy people and happy together, yo.

Gratiutious Travis Picture

Somehow he'd gotten into some dinosaur stickers and had fallen asleep with them in his bed. The result was a stickered face. That's our boy!

Tacs - Have you guys seen the new Pink Grapefruit Tic-Tacs? Expect a full report on them soon. I've tasted them and the jury is still out.

Closing Note - I know I've been a little flaky about posting and commenting and being a good ol' internet friend to you. It's just been nuts around here and things are changing for me on a weekly basis. Just know that I am still peeking in on all of y'all and making sure you're doing okay. I think things will slacken up a bit by the end of next month (!) and I should be back to some sort of regular schedule with stuff.

Your lovin',

TKT

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SHOW NOTES:

This episode marks the 2nd year anniversary of The Book of Life! In this show, we celebrate the holiday of Hanukkah.

> Illustrator Ann Koffsky describes her snowflake "Jerusalem of Peace," created for Robert's Snow for Cancer's Cure. We also learn about her illustrations for My Cousin Tamar Lives in Israel by Michelle Shapiro Abraham, and her new Joyfully Jewish 2008 calendar.

> Author Sarah Marwil Lamstein and illustrator Neil Waldman discuss their picture book Letter on the Wind: A Chanukah Tale.

> Kenny Ellis, cantor and performer, riffs on his CD Hanukkah Swings! You can also check out Kenny's MySpace page, and download "Swingin' Dreidel" as a ringtone.

> Author Barbara Bietz talks about her chapter book Like a Maccabee, as well as her kidlit blog and her new position on the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, where she'll help choose the best Judaic children's books of the year.

NEWS:

Here is a special Hanukkah treat for you: a complete online version of the holiday classic, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric A. Kimmel, provided by Lookybook. To hear from Eric himself about the inspiration for Hershel, you can read this post from my Library Blogathon or you can listen to the very first episode of The Book of Life from December 2005, when Eric was a featured guest. Enjoy!

Background music is provided by The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band.

Books and CD's mentioned on the show may be borrowed from the Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel. Browse our online catalog to reserve books, post a review, or just to look around!

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1) Thirteen Reasons Why by my favorite cross-dressing dance partner, Disco Merman Jay Asher. It arrived in my mailbox on Saturday morning and I finished it Sunday afternoon. I probably would have finished it earlier except that one of the other things I'm loving, the_webmeister was visiting from Boston for the weekend.
It's really wonderful when you read a book by someone who you adore as a person and you finish the last word and sigh, "Wow," because their book is just as awesome as they are. When you're two thirds of the way through the book and part of you wants to finish because you're desperate to know what happens but another part of you doesn't want it to end because you are so involved with these characters. You know the feeling. Jay's book reminds us of how our smallest interactions with others can have a profound affect - both for the negative and the good. So Jay - you done good.

2) My daughter decided to crack open the fantastic kids cookbook I bought her for Chanukah two years ago, and she made these yummy chocolate crossaints AND between her and The Webmeister they rustled up "Smoked Gouda and caramelized onion quesadillas", which were also scrummy, despite the slight "learn by doing" gaff of putting a tablespoon of vinegar into the caramelized onions instead of a teaspoon. The best part was that I just sat on the sofa engrossed in Jay's book while all this was going on, emerging only to taste the delicious results.

3) I've been interviewed! Check me out on Barbara Bietz's blog. (Nice alliteration there, Barbara!) It was really fun :-)

4) Even though temperatures in the 70's make it feel distinctly unseasonable, the leaves are turning and it's gorgeous.

5) It's my first Halloween in on a street where people actually go to trick or treat. (At my old house we had a total of 1 trick-or-treater in the 8 years we lived there.) My kids are really into it, and if I must be truthful, which of course I must with my dear blog readers, so am I.

I'm going to be be something writing related for Halloween. You'll have to wait and see.

Funny story though:

I was in Party City yesterday buying that fake spider web stuff for the bushes outside the house and the guy at the cashier was dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, but with boobs.

I asked him if the boobs came with the costume and the cashier next to him said, "No, they're his." Hmmm. O-kay.

So as part of the checkout he asks for my phone number and when we walked away, my daughter (whom I'll remind you is 11) said, "I'm not sure I would give my phone number to a guy dressed in women's clothing."

I'm not sure how wild old me ended up with such a sensible, practically puritanical daughter.

6) The Netflix movies I watched last night: Best in Show, Christopher Guest's hilarious send-up of the dog show culture and a real surprise that I'd not even heard of prior to the Netflix recommendation, Greenfingers, starring the scrumptious Clive Owen.

7) When you've been trying to deal with a problem with your book and you're somewhere not thinking about your book and the solution pops into your head.

Speaking of which, I must get a) write my column and b) get on with said book!

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