Circles, my head is going 'round in circles

The weather here has been spotty the last few days. Nice and sunny quickly leads to pouring rain. Caught a break in the weather and went to Columbus Commons this morning to see if my son would be interested in riding on the carousel.

I'm not sure if he's even been on one before, maybe on a school field trip to the zoo or something his mother never told me about when they went to Disney last year. He loves being spun and I would think the overall motion might be something he likes.

So I got the token for a buck and the attendant let us on. He seemed apprehensive but I brought him on and he rode on a frog. Me, I got dizzy, which is something I do when I bend down to pick something up.



He seemed a bit scared and nervous, but once the ride got going he seemed to tolerate it. When the ride stopped we got off and he walked around the carousel area. I followed, wondering if he'd go to the entrance which would mean he wanted to ride it again. He went here instead.



He took off, looking back once in awhile to see if I was there. He circled the commons then we went back to the car with no real problem.

There was a lollipop waiting for him.



Been here on blogger regularly for over four years. This was post number 1,000. Never set out to be specific here. This blog is admittingly all over the place, from poetry, to autism to travel, sports, music, film, rants and other types of mayhem. Thank you all for reading, lurking and commenting. Especially you.

Slots and flowers

We were invited to the casino on Saturday night to see the Stylistics. All I remember about them is that they had a lot of hits on WABC when I was a kid. Had to look up and see who was left from the original group. Turns out, the only guy who left was the guy who sang the high notes, yes, the important ones. We went anyway, with some trepidation, but optimism.



They came out with some smooth moves, which got a bit slower as the night went on. They sounded great, with the newer guy, who was in a version of the Delfonics, taking the high notes with ease. Loved the matching suits, and they did all of the hits to a very appreciative crowd.

Have to say the casino does have some great entertainment value, and if they continue to host the occasional interesting act we're going to go. I should not gamble though, dropped ten bucks about as fast as I sat at the shot machine. My wife though, she fared better by winning a few bucks.

Earlier in the day on Saturday we went to the OSU campus greenhouse to see the Corpse Flower.



The university had one that bloomed last year but me did not go. I was determined to get a whiff this year, when another one bloomed. We did not get there when it peaked and you could smell it 100 feet away, but from about four feet, it reeked. Bad.

Planned on mowing the lawn this morning, but rain thwarted that plan. Kid is on the couch watching Sponge Bob, wife's making pancakes.

Let me also add a thank you to everyone who has been following this little blog. May has been a record for the number of page views, and it's not even over yet!

Rainy Day in June

My wife and I had a good dinner at Milestone 229 last night. The food is a bit pricey and there are not many selections for vegetarians, but the drinks are exceptional and the view of the Bicentennial Park fountains and Scioto River make it the best outdoor dining in the city. Not sure if I'll eat there much, but for a nice outdoor cocktail it's a destination.

Speaking of food, I went back to the Creole Kitchen for breakfast this morning. The place was bustling at 7:30AM. A number of people, drinking what I think was free coffee, stood around chatting while waiting for their food. I ordered french toast, an egg and turkey sausage. Also got a beignet, which I'd never had before.

The french toast was dense and flavorful, lots of pleasant sweet spice. When I ordered the guy at the counter said I did not have to have turkey sausage. At this point now, I'll eat what even Chef Henry makes. In fact, while I was there, a customer getting his order said to Chef that, "His wife loves him."

As I've said, if this place was anywhere else, it would be famous.

Loved the beignet by the way, tasty fried dough in powdered sugar. Saved a couple for my wife, not sure how they hold up after a few hours.

This weekend is the Columbus Arts Festival. I will be working the stage in some capacity all day tomorrow and a bit on Sunday. I'm also participating in the slam Saturday night at eight, which is going to be a great appetizer for Water Fire.

Very excited to be back at the riverfront. We walked around after dinner and were impressed with the layout. You can see the whole festival from just about wherever you are standing. You can also walk the festival in a line without any doubling back to see anything you missed.

The Word of Art stage is in a prime location, at the corner of Civic Center and Town Street. It's a major entrance point and the poets are going to have some fantastic exposure. Speaking of exposure, it's not in a tent this year so bring an umbrella (you will need it today) or sunscreen (because you never know) as there's no cover, except for the poets.

The Rich Street bridge is also open for foot traffic this weekend.

The Word is Art stage is on the left.

I've also installed a widget here, just to monitor where people are coming from. I do not care who you are, but management is curious.

In some rare discussion here regarding work I was encouraged to put my name in the ring to be a member of the Staff Advisory Council for the library. Five people were being voted on for four openings in the committee. I was one of the four. God, I'd hate to have been the fifth.

You Love to Surf and it Shows

Readership here is up. November is the fourth highest number of views since I started here back in 2009. Men in Morphsuits has plenty do do with that, it's the fourth most read post here and it's not even a month old. I'm pretty sure the shout out at Buckeyes are Deadly Nuts helped with the clicks, as did posting a link to the Green Men group on Facebook.

I was very amused to see the term "white women poetry slam" as a traffic source.



November is ending, look for the year end CD in a few weeks. The usual holiday angst will turn up soon enough, and then 2012 will arrive.

Thank you all for stopping by this part of the internet. I know you have a lot of choices when it comes to internet entertainment and I appreciate all of you who make a point of stopping by The Mystery Spot.

This has to be asked

That's for those of you who have found this blog by using Sophia Loren as your keywords.

For those of you using "mystery spot pregnancy" or "ozzie and harriet spanking" I have one word for you.

Really?