2011 In Pictures

If I’m not careful, this may become a tradition.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from last year.

The fun here is not in the picture but in the dialog that preceded it.

From left to right, these are my new best friends Gabrielle, Keith, Bill and Deb.  I met them at Buddy Guy’s on New Year’s Eve.  Bill and Deb were sitting at a stage side-table that had three extra chairs.  They kindly offered to let my wife and me take two of them.  Later on, Gabrielle came over and asked Bill if she could sit in the last chair.  And a little while after that, as Keith was working his way across the room to join her, she turned to Bill and the following conversation took place between them (this is reasonably close. . .remember, it was New Year’s Eve).

“Would you care if we share?”

“Would we care?”

“Yes! Would you care?”

“What would you share?”

“We would share this chair!”

“You would share the chair?”

“We would share the chair!”

“We would not care if you share the chair!”

 

For those paying close attention, I am also happy to report that Mr. Brown is out of town.

 

And moving on. . .  I saw this scene in Chicago’s Grant Park garage.  Can I be forgiven for being a bit confused about which way to go?

I grew up near bona fide mountains, so maybe I’m a snob.  Even so, I’m thinking oxymoron here.

Speaking of oxymoron. . .

I would love to see Thanksgiving at this family’s house.  Actually, I’d love to celebrate Thanksgiving at their house.

This is what I’ve been waiting for.  A toilet seat that’s smarter than I am.  Thank God for my Costco membership.

This label is from a garment that I can only assume was intended for single-use.  (You may notice a reference to “the beaded area.”  I swear it’s not my garment.)

This is the one picture on the page that I didn’t take.  I wish I knew who did so I could give them credit.  My friend Steve Smolinsky sent it to me with the subject line “Occupy Wall Street Explained in One Picture.”  I think this poor girl’s problem is that she simply wasn’t specific enough about her area of interest.

This is a serious case of cyber-teasing.  Only one bar AND a chastity belt.

And finally. . .in 2010, I both wrote enough about Canada Geese (reminder, zillions of Canada Geese here and none in Canada; I smell a Canadian plot) that my friend Andy Rockwood took me to task for it.  So no geese this year.  But I can’t stray too far from home.  I took this picture the Sunday before Christmas, about 10 minutes before the local CompUSA store opened.  Standing in front was. . .wait for it. . .

. . .a gaggle of geeks.

Of course, you might ask what I was doing there.

Happy New Year to all.  May 2012 be the year of your dreams.