Who is your teen grinding on at school dances???

We've all been to high school dances. For me it was prom in both my junior and senior years. That was the extent of it. The lights were low, the theme sucked and so did the setting - my high school's 80-plus year-old basketball gym. One year I stuck around with my date through the dance and even the post-prom lock-in and we actually had fun. The other year found my date and I having differences and we went our separate ways which lead to us not speaking for nearly a year but we smoothed things over and are damn good friends now. But maybe things could have been different with that last part of the story. Maybe things could have been different if the music was heavier. Maybe if the music had more of a dance beat with some more rhythmic undertones to it there would have been some grinding going on. But let's get real, that was 1996 and I don't remember any suggestive or sexual dancing going on.

Oh, how things have changed in a little more than a decade as witnessed by this video done before Minnetonka High School's 1996 Homecoming dance.



But the dance moves described there make current teen dance trends seem like something from the 1950s. Especially based on this story from the Milwaukee area.

What actually piques my interest are the rules...

• When dancing back to front, all dancers must remain upright -- no sexual bending is allowed. Examples are, no hands on knees, and no hands on the dance floor with your buttocks touching your dance partner.

• There will be no touching of the breasts, buttocks, or genitals.

• There will be no straddling of each others' legs.

• Boys must wear collared shirts and dress pants.

• Girls cannot have dresses that expose cleavage, extend above the mid-thigh, (or) have slits extending above mid-thigh.

I particularly like the phrase "sexual bending". I can guess what it as after being at a few gentlemen's clubs but how is that incorporated in to any sort of dancing that you'd want to do at a high school dance. That's the kind of shit that goes on at a rockin' house party where everyone is drinking and making worse decisions than they usually do.

But what's my stance on "sexual bending" in dancing? Go for it. High school should be fun and "sexual bending" sure beats flat out sex. Remember when you were 16 years old? You were probably a huge ball of hormones pretty much ready to jump on anyone that moves so if "sexual bending" during a dance takes the edge off those hormones then that's a good thing. It's definitely better than a bunch of horned up teenagers who are too embarrassed to buy a box of condoms finding a dark road to occupy their time because they can't dance the way they want to at their own high school.

Sure, my opinion is likely to change in about 15 years when my girl reaches that age but wait until then to call me a hypocrite.

Until then, bide your time by checking out the photos of Minnesota on a daily basis at MinnPics.

The fire department should fix my water heater

Late Saturday morning I noticed a couple fire trucks on the move. This usually happens only when they have an actual fire to tend to. I assumed that some dumbass sat a space heater next to a towering stack of newspapers and headed outside dressed entirely in Carrhart clothing to walk their six giant dogs. It seems like the type of redneck behavior that would lead to fire trucks having to be dispatched.

Thinking nothing of it, because my house was not smoldering, I loaded up the Toyota crossover and took the child and my old lady to the grocery store because that's about all the excitement someone of my advanced age can handle before noon on a Saturday. After buying about fifteen pounds of meat and getting the child a McMeal we arrived back home.

I had frozen goods to put away and headed down the basement steps to throw some crap in the chest freezer and heard what sounded to be a faucet running at a fairly decent pace. Except it wasn't a faucet and it wasn't exactly headed towards the floor drain. Water was streaming out of the relief pipe of my water heater and running across the floor - finding its own way to nowhere.

Stumped as to what was happening, I did the only logical thing and called my dad. Of course he knew what the likely problem was and posed a solution which lead to me making a trip to the hardware store. And of course the hardware store was out of relief valves for water heaters because - wait for it - about half a dozen other residents from my neighborhood had run in to the same problem. This was all because the fire department - and two others from neighboring cities - filled their tanker trucks numerous times. But this was not for an emergency fire. No, this was for a controlled burn used for training purposes. A controlled burn which blew out relief valves on numerous water heaters and even destroyed a neighbor's water softener.

I support the volunteer firefighters in my city but use a little common sense next time because even now that I can easily fix that portion of my water heater, it doesn't mean that I want to fix it again.

If you like supporting good causes, check out MinnPics. I don't make a dime from it but I keep doing it because photos are art and I love both art and photography.

Belle Plaine manages to come off as full of rednecks

In an overly-long FOX 9 News story proving that FOX 9 doesn't have enough real news to fill their 90 minutes of news beginning at 9 PM (below) a bunch of barhounds in the far south Twin Cities exurb of Belle Plaine found a way to be the news. Rather than use Facebook for what it has devolved in to - playing Farmville and Mob Wars - a local yokel took it upon herself to create a Facebook "Fan" page about a local bartender who is basically a prick.



I've been in that bar a few times as I celebrate St. Patrick's Day in that particular city each year but have never witnessed anything out of the ordinary. The real story here is that a bunch of disgruntled barflies have A.) too much time on their hands and B.) a serious problem with confronting problems face to face. Now, I'm not suggesting an old west type of Main St. shootout but these people need to drop the high school bullshit. This isn't a matter for the cops either - unless a true crime has been committed.

In a world where money talks, the bar patrons in and around Belle Plaine need to speak with their wallets and, if the manager/co-owner of Andy's Bar & Grill (Brian Mayrand) is as much of a dick as these people say he is, spread the word in a more civil fashion to get others to simply stop buying their drinks there. There are about a half-dozen other bars within walking distance of Andy's Bar so it's not like the town is experiencing a shortage of bars.

This all boils down to a two-sided argument where both parties have some truths to what they are saying. The bartender/owner/manager might run a tighter ship than what previously existed but he may be a total prick as well. Let's face it, that many people having similar experiences can't exactly be an elaborate conspiracy. It's also an obvious example of FOX 9 trying to be ultra-investigative and in-depth - even when the story is a non-story because let's face it, unless the bartender is stealing cash and serving and then having sex with underage girls this isn't news.

That would be like me claiming that MinnPics is all breaking news. It isn't because it's all photos of Minnesota every damn day. Check it out!

What's the real deal with B96?

When B96 (formerly KTTB 96.3 FM) seemed like its demise was imminent, I hoped for a music format not currently being done in the Twin Cities. We already have Top 40 which leans heavily towards hip-hop, we have rock, classic rock, Hot A/C, A/C, oldies, a watered down A/C that thinks it's a hip and cool AAA station known as Cities 97 and we have FM talk for white guys and and another FM Talker for white women. The Rap/Hip-Hop format that lived on B96 since 2000 was unique. They played DJ mixes, old school hip-hop and even brought in newcomers and local artists on a regular basis.

But it catered to a somewhat niche audience. B96 suffered from a bit of an identity crisis, too. They were more urban sounding than that of the very similar KDWB and that's a hard sell to advertisers because as stereotypes go the format appealed to clud-goers and pawn shops. Sorry, that's just the way stereotypes work. But as David Brauer of MinnPost points out (with help from his commenters), the music played appealed to teens in the burbs, too.

The only problem there is that these kids don't buy much and having ads for pawn shops and downtown Minneapolis clubs next to ads for suburban mall stores is the worst clash of styles you could ever imagine. So the club-goers and the suburban (and inner city) teens lost out. But does the station really matter? For the most part, the same music formerly played on B96 was already being played on KDWB. Sure, B96 did a far better job of connecting with the community and thus the fans of the music but in all actuality that wasn't the station doing that, it was one personality. While his grating voice bothered me deeply, Peter Parker (night DJ on B96) did a hell of a great job connecting with the local hip-hop community.

Parker regularly had guests in the studio either for interviews or performances. He obviously had rather free reign over his show but he didn't abuse that freedom. Instead, he got creative with it and built a community around himself and the music. I won't say he was the most popular radio personality in the Twin Cities but it's been a very long time since radio connected with the listeners and that kind of ethic will take him quite far even with the current terrible state of radio where bland, safe, cheap and distant trumps all else.

Who knows what the future holds for the new 96-3 Now? It will definitely be more safe than its predecessor but safe doesn't always mean abandoning the community but unfortunately safe does pay the bills and music on the radio today is a direct reflection of what advertisers dictate by way of purchasing ad time. The most critically-acclaimed execution of a music format can tank horribly with advertisers but the worst idea ever to those same critics can cast the widest net and thus the most fans and most advertisers. In a way, that's one reason why Jack-FM still occupies 104.1 - it hasn't lasted five (or so) years because it's adventurous. It's lasted because it's cheap to run and that wide variety of safe music appeals to plenty.

Now it's prediction time. Will 96-3 Now (and their shitty logo) last more than a year or two? How long until it's the home to Twins Baseball?

Will MinnPics outlast it? Maybe. It all depends on how much love the internet gives the awesome photos of Minnesota featured daily!

Let's get some different settings for TV dramas

Since the advent of the television, different genres of dramas have dominated the airwaves for decades at a time. Believe it or not, there was a time when westerns dominated television. Yep, hour-longs featuring guys riding horses and shootouts in dusty western villages were all the rage.

Then something changed. I'm just guessing here as I wasn't born yet but the 1970s had to be the decade that changed it all. Television shows - dramas in particular - moved from the wild west to the big city. Out were the western dramas and in were the cop shows and medical dramas. These two genres of dramas really took hold in the 1980s but faded with a resurgence of sitcoms in the late-1980s and throughout the 1990s. Then, as the 20th century drew to a close, medical dramas and cop shows experienced a rebirth. Look at the television today and it's painfully obvious that those are essentially the only genres of televised dramas in existence.

They must work or else people wouldn't watch them but what about other settings for TV dramas? What else is being overlooked and are we nearing a point of total saturation in the cops and doctors genres?

COP SHOWS (crime dramas - in my recent memory)
CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: New York
The Unit
The Forgotten
Law and Order
Law and Order: SVU
Law and Order: Criminal Intent
Law and Order: Trial by Jury
Law and Order: (I know there was a fifth one, HELP!)
NYPD Blue
Castle
Bones
Cold Case
Without a Trace
Shark

MEDICAL SHOWS (in my recent memory)
E.R.
Mercy
Trauma
Grey's Anatomy
Private Practice
House
Three Rivers
Chicago Hope

Now when I can rattle that many off without the aid of Google, that says to me that television has a problem. Would it kill TV executives to try a drama about a time-traveling hot dog salesman or a drama about the very real drama surrounding the lives of restaurant workers and the tawdry affairs they land in while flirting with customers.

Come on, if I can come up with it someone else must have as well and with the sad state of one particular big broadcast network - ahem, NBC, there's opportunity for people to take chances because the last thing we need is another cop or doctor drama.

But the last thing the world needed a couple years ago was another photo blog but MinnPics it exists and practically flourishes today with its focus on photos from all corners of Minnesota.

The lost art of basic spelling

The English language must be dying. In the past decade I have seen so many instances of poor spelling and improper usage of words that it makes me angry. I'm angry because people in all lines of work get away with their blissful ignorance of how to spell, punctuate or otherwise use the written word.

A fine example was from late last year when a local, mom and pop-type convenience store a few blocks from my office opened in what had been a vacant location. For over two weeks they proudly displayed a vinyl lettered banner draped across a portion of their building proclaiming their "Grand Openning".

Yes, this hung for two weeks and there are at least two "professionals" at fault for this one. Obviously, the store's owner(s) contacted a sign shop to purchase this banner and the sign shop created the banner. Somewhere along the line, an ignoramus, assuming that opening would logically have two Ns in it made the sign as such. It's also obvious being that the convenience store hung the sign that they didn't think this was an error either. So now the tally of third grade flunky spellers totals at least two.

To begin with, in my line of work I wouldn't have made a spelling error like that but let's say that I had by way of a keystroke error - I would have corrected it upon reading my work or one of my department's proofreaders would have instantly redmarked it and I would have made the change before anyone beyond the two of us had seen it. If something on this scale would have slipped through the cracks (and it has happened a couple of times) the customer would have likely noticed it and we, as a company, would eat the cost of making the correction and replacing the product.

But apparently today, in the error of cut-rate everything, people have no knowledge of basic elementary spelling. Errors like the example I've used tell me that the divide between smart and uneducated, rich and poor, attentive and slovenly - is widening at an alarming pace. We might be closer than we ever imagined to careening down that slippery slope portrayed in the barely-noticed movie "Idiocracy".

So with this example I urge you to take a couple seconds and examine everything you do which will be seen by anyone outside of your household. Critique your own spelling and educate yourself if the schools failed you. It's never too late to learn how to spell.

It's also never too late to become a fan of the fine photography showcased at MinnPics. All photos, all Minnesota, all the time.

The wind power whiners and bad reporting about them

The funny thing about wind turbines popping up in rural areas is the fact that farmers - those who work the land and feed America - have never raised objections to having wind turbines built around their property and especially never objected to building wind turbines on their own property. It seems to always be the folks who move from nearby cities to enjoy the rural lifestyle who bitch about everything that is rural.

They find a way to piss and moan about the smell of livestock manure, the dust from gravel roads, lound machinery harvesting crops and, of course, the wind turbines being built around them.

"Rudy and I are retired, and we like to sit out on our deck," (via)

That is and isn't the case with this retired couple living near Elkton (east of Austin, MN) who live across the road from a farm where wind turbines were erected. The only problem with their argument about the turbines ruining their retired lifestyle is that when people object to the plans, the companies building the wind farms often times back down. Of course that part of the story, which would add some clarity to the situation, is conveniently missing. That works well for the Star-Tribune because it generates a boatload of loony comments and tens of thousands of pageviews on their website. But it also proves that they don't care about uncovering truths, they'd rather tell a "shocking" story about a supposed injustice. Never mind the fact that this retired couple, the daughter (who I don't even see fitting in to this story) who claims that her 85 year-old father is "shellshocked" due to the noise generated from the turbine - the nearest which is 900 feet away - that's nearly 1/5 mile.

This sounds like a retired person who doesn't want to see the rural landscape changed. While I agree that I'd hate to see the family farm I grew up on converted to a strip mall or landfill, a wind turbine or four is vastly different. I grew up there and while sometimes the dust from the gravel road choked me as I played in the front yard, I got used to it. If the neighbor to the south was cleaning his hog barns, my mom would close the windows. And with the windows closed, you could only faintly hear the 400+ combined horsepower of electric motors running 100 feet away 18 hours/day for up to three weeks at a time as we harvested and dried the corn crop in the fall. Why? Because we were used to it and we adapted. We never threatened legal action or caused such a stir that a newspaper desperate for a story that few people in the Twin Cities 100 miles away could understand contacted and interviewed a few sources and wrote a story missing a few important pieces to drum up web traffic. Nope, that never happened because my family doesn't bitch and moan about progress. The Jechs of rural Elkton need to realize that they still live in the country and remember that if, once upon a time, they farmed there were probably non-farmers who bitched about what they did. The only difference is that a newspaper from 100 miles away gave the Jechs a voice. A voice that a week from now nobody will give a damn about.

MinnPics has a stance on wind turbines, too. They make for awesome photos and Minnesota has plenty of places to photograph them. Check MinnPics for plenty of other photogenic Minnesota sites.

The crap peddled on cable TV

It's bad enough that a good chunk of the population shells out hard-earned cash each month - about 60 bucks - for the luxury of cable television. We do so because at the end of the day we're too exhausted to do much of anything because we stayed up too late the night before watching cable television and didn't get enough sleep. So that reason is rather cyclical. Some of us pay for cable television because we've forgotten how to read a book after so many years of cable television and then there are those of us who have it because it gets the children out of our hair long enough to go out in the back yard and pound back some vodka from a plastic jug and forget how sad our lives are.

I used to be the exception to the cable television rule. I grew up on the family farm far removed (5 miles) from the "big" city and thus did not have cable television. We had five channels - two of which were PBS (one from Iowa!) and didn't have FOX on our home's two televisions until late in the 1990s. Somehow - even if it did suck when the president was giving a speech carried on every network - I survived. Having all that time not spent glued to a TV probably got me to appreciate various types of music and had it not been for that relative "lack" of TV I probably would not have had the initiative to explore graphic design and would probably be even less employable than I am today.

But once I got married and we bought a house, rather than cut expenses we sprung for cable television. I had lived in my suburban bachelor apartment for two years with only the local channels and cable internet but my old lady insisted on 80 channels of mindless drivel. Sure, there are tidbits of entertainment and useful content there from time to time but in the end I could probably do without about 75% of the shit passed off as programming. I'd miss the Discovery channel but crap like WEtv and Animal Planet makes me want to smash my 231 lb. Sony and vomit in disgust over the fact that I pay for crap I have no interest in.

But what really pisses me off are the ads. At least one day on the weekend I get up when the toddler wants to get up and that's often around 7 AM. When I drag myself downstairs at 7 AM on a Saturday morning I flip on the TV because that's about all I have energy for at that ungodly time of the weekend. I expect to find at least one mildly entertaining program but after flipping through 70-plus channels I find little more than local news programs and paid advertisements for colon cleansing and exercise machines. And the actual commercials look like videos for crap from the Lillian Vernon catalog...

So the cable channels get money from me for basically not watching their channels but paying because out of the 60 channel package I want 3 or 4 of these channels but they get more money for airing 8 or so hours of program length commercials - not to mention the standard 16 minutes per hour (or more) during their regular programming which costs substantially less than that aired on the big networks. With my disgust building and hating the fact that my kid could very well be raised by a TV if I don't intervene, what do I do? Should I dump all but the most basic channels and buy earplugs for when my old lady complains about being bored? Or should I finally move deep in to the woods and swear off society and technology once and for all?

My best advice is to avoid it all and check out the photos at MinnPics. It's quickly skyrocketing towards being the best Minnesota photo blog hosted on Blogger showcasing the awesome photography of others - quite the feat.

Has your college degree helped you?

College is an essential part of an individual's education. While it doesn't guarantee a job in that particular field by any means, it does further your way of thinking. I'm one of those who wishes I had taken more courses and stayed in college longer but I didn't feel challenged so I wrapped things up with a relatively low level degree in a somewhat low paying field but I knew from the age of 14 that it's what I wanted to do. And two months after graduating college I had that all important first job in the general area of what I wanted to do.

I evolved with that job and even after moving and taking a new job in the same field where my focus was originally back to my roots, I have again experienced that evolution. The relatively open management has not only allowed but encouraged my experimentations with social media and writing. They hired me, I think, because my skills spoke for themselves and my boss realized the potential I had so even with what now looks like the portfolio of a high schooler, I was hired. Nearly seven years later I am still doing what I love along with all of the side experimentation and dabbling in other sometimes unrelated areas.

I realized very early on that I needed to diversify to stay viable. So I took on a bunch of IT-related duties. I worked with software vendors and solved problems. I travelled locally to meet with B2B-type customers and made those relationships more efficient for all parties. After moving I did less of that but still solve problems that if left unsolved would grind operations to a halt and effect not only us but service providers we rely on and charge us for time spent on our projects. But in my back pocket, through all of this, I still have that practically meaningless degree as a back-up. Sure, it's probably not entirely meaningless because it's directly related to the very job I've held for over a decade but it's really just a piece of paper saying I've completed courses whose curriculum is basically outdated.

Then a drastic reorganization hit us. Call it change for the sake of change or needed change to see if things can be made to run better but it's been met with plenty of resistance. A colleague found out that projects previously his or her own would be taken away essentially because he or she doesn't have a degree in the particular field we are employed in. My colleague, whom one person is essentially deeming as underqualified, is the best on our team and has proven so time and time again. Consistently going above and beyond and satisfying customers while meeting deadlines and being pleasant to be around. Let me say that again, the best on our team - the best I've ever worked with.

But because this colleague is no longer the shining star because one person has decided that everyone should be equals. A level playing field. All this based on initial conversations without examining work. What I take away is that the best will again rise to the top because every team has grunts and superstars. Equality is nice but it isn't always reality. It takes superstars and behind-the-scenes people to make a team work. We can't all be quarterbacks but one person seems to think so. I have faith that it will all work out in the end and that those superstar-type projects will again return to their rightful superstar but it will be a bumpy road between now and then.

As I've found out via Twitter, degrees are a good launching pad but in the long run it's experience and proof via your work that make you successful. And there are plenty, too, who are damn good at what they do with degrees in totally different areas than what they are employed in. So, while college has value and I'm not saying that you shouldn't pursue a degree in something you're both interested in and good at, that degree isn't the be all, end all. So what if that BFA in Art History is gathering dust as you toil away as a manager. Those skills gained as a manager could launch you in to HR or something more. Or that lowly tech certificate could allow you to pursue a boat load of cool side projects because it's allowed you to be a jack of all trades and getting paid to find your niche is pretty damn cool. Just like MinnPics has been called pretty damn cool. Plus it's the only intensely Minnesota photo blog showcasing the photos of others that I know of so go check it out.

2010 goals - part 2

Each year, just as the year begins all full of promise and hope, people feel the need to make New Year's resolutions that will only be dashed in mere days instantly bringing the stench of disappointment and failure just days after that relatively clean slate. I admit that I've done the whole New Year's resolution bit before. Just last year I resolved to exercise daily - even if it involves as few as fifty sit-ups. While it wasn't a complete failure - and it got me back in to jogging during the summer months a few times each week - I didn't exactly end the year with washboard abs but it did make me much more aware of the fact that even brief vigorous exercise can shake off the day's worries and make you feel new again.

So this year I have become more realistic in my goals and resolutions for the new year.

Again, I'm vowing to exercise more regularly. It's far cheaper to exercise than to buy new jeans after packing on a couple additional inches. It makes sense due to the fact that I have the running shoes (barely used) sitting in the closet and that our bikes barely made it out of the storage shed last year. Sure, the whole lack of biking was due to a very young youngster but she's getting bigger and is practically begging to get her sticky little hands on one of those fancy bike trailers so she can get pulled around town. Of course the fancy bike trailer will be more bike trailer than fancy. Let's keep things in perspective - dad doesn't crap gold bricks.

My second goal is to work more on improving the exterior appearance of our now-111 year-old house. The porch is a thorn in my side as I hate the shitty old windows and its somewhat settled foundation giving it an unsightly slope. It's not the most noticeable to passers-by but I know it's there and it's very obvious given that the windows on its ends barely open due to the slope it's taken on over the years. Something tells me that the foundation simply sits on the ground lacking footings. All told, it's probably better (but more labor intensive & somewhat more costly) to tear the sumbich completely off and start from scratch. My parents have graciously donated the bulk of the lumber I'll need which leaves me with concrete, shingles, rubber roof membrane, a door, insulation and 15 windows. The windows are what will financially rape us. That's approaching $2,000 with that alone. Ouch. But if all works out today for my old lady (keep your fingers crossed) we'll continue to be a two income household and that will go a long way.

The third goal is to replace my shitty plastic gutters. Those snap-together jokes need to go away. They are uneven, not fully connected and half full of rook gravel and maple seeds. I will giggle like a little girl if this goal reaches completion.

My fourth and final goal is to build the popularity of MinnPics. The photos I choose to post there receive a fair amount of attention but some have basically heaped praise on the blog. It's intensely Minnesota and if you love the state you live in it's a logical fit to check in your daily routine.

2010 goals - part one

Rather than combine my goals - which I plan on achieving - in to one massive post with two vastly different themes, I'm doing two parts. This one is about my professional goals for the upcoming year.

2010 is already a year of change. I don't have to wildly speculate in saying that my job will look different at the end of the year - likely vastly different than it is today. Change is in the air there but I expect to be doing less in the way of print design than I currently am and far more in the area of online advertising. Yes, I'll be whoring up some of your favorite local websites even more than they already are with ads you'll come to actually pay attention to. At least that's what I want. Of course plenty of paying customers fail to get it. They think they can take what has worked in print or in their - gasp - yellow pages ad and cram it in to a leaderboard and customers will click away to their shitty, stale, broken ass websites. That's my most challenging goal this year.

My second professional goal is to make at least one of my plans reality. I didn't accomplish anything in this area last year but I did make some headway with MinnPics, my photo blog all about Minnesota. While I still want to see more traffic to that I have plenty of other half-baked plans which I've been tossing around for far too long. I actually began one earlier tonight but after a couple hours realized that I need to start with the basics in many areas including PHP, SQL databases and Drupal which I've wanted to teach myself for at least as long as some of my plans have existed. Many of my employer's websites run on Drupal and from conversations I've had I need to learn at least the basics of it.

Now that you're thoroughly bored, my third goal is to conquer the universe and cross breed frogs and humans. Kidding. Just seeing if you're paying attention. My third and final goal is to build my rather meager photography business. That means getting out and capturing more photos and working on my weak areas including portraits and lighting. While I can easily do candids, my portraits look too forced. Maybe it's because I look like hell when photographed that I don't know how to photograph others. Or maybe I'd be better off sticking with landscapes and scenery. But I'm going to force myself to conquer this area and build some sort of business from it.

That's about it for now. Tomorrow you'll get to see my personal goals.

That popping sound

If you haven't heard, it's cold here in Minnesota. It's so cold that my car, after not driving it for two days, barely started and it has a nearly new battery in it. But more disturbing than that is what the cold weather is doing to my house.

No, the frost on the inside of the windows isn't anything to worry about. That's par for the course in a 110 year-old house. It's the loud popping sounds we've been hearing. In the last two days I've heard no less than half a dozen frighteningly loud pops. It sounds like someone is in my attic firing off shotgun shells. I even joked today that it's only a matter of time until part of the roof falls in on us and finally puts us out of our misery.

But I guess it really isn't a joking matter. The facts are as follows: there is at least a foot of, at one time, heavy and wet snow stuck to every inch of my roof. My gutters suck (I have those joke-like almost Lego snap-together pieces of shit) and are likely full of ice which will only back further up my roof when the snow melts in early June. The neighbors have laboriously drug roof rakes across their snow-laden roofs but I'm one to let nature take its course. With my fingers crossed I can say that I haven't had any water issues thus far with my roof and I have easy access to it from my spacious attic so I hope I'm safe.

But if I am woke up by another shotgun-like pop I'll do something about it. Probably buy a pair of ear plugs.

If you make and keep only one resolution in 2010, resolve to visit MinnPics daily and bask in the glory of fabulous photos from all over Minnesota.