Here I am at Busch!! Don't I look happy?

After my chauffeur gave me the tour of Busch, he took me shopping. It seems he needs food you have to buy in a store. I get by scrounging on whatever I can find. I have a leathery mouth and can eat practically any vegetation including thorns, dry vegetation and salt bush that other mammals avoid. Awful convenient for me, eh?

See all that food he needs? Show me a decent shrub and I'll be happy!

On our travels, I did get complimented by the bank teller, (I think she might have something for me!) and some random guy driving next to me. People are jealous!!!

Undoubtedly the future holds great things for me!!

This is not from myself. This is an article Ben Stein wrote… and I love it now. Read it. This is what our country has come to. We’re hypocrites. —-

Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important?
I don’t know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise’s wife. Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. If this is what it means to be no longer young. It’s not so bad.
Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’ t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, “Merry Christmas” to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away. I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution, and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

**edit** The rest of this article was removed because it was pointed out to me that it was not from Ben Stein. Read all about it here: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/confessions.asp

So, then it was on to my place to continue my bi-annual (at best) deep cleaning of my place. Today’s mission: Kitchen, bathroom and finish the living room. I started going through boxes of junk I had in the living room, pitching stuff that at one time I thought very important to keep forever (plastic stethoscope, Xtreme Radio air freshener, sparkly rock, among a lot of other things). Among all that stuff was nearly every ticket stub for anything I have ever been too. There were several DC Talk concert tickets, a Ratt ticket, countless Blues and Cardinals tickets (including some Blues 1993 playoff tickets) and a ton of movie stubs. Someday I plan to make a scrapbook, if I ever get artsy. It’d be awesome.

Among the gems I found, were some noted to a speech I apparently gave to someone at some point. I only found note cards 2-6, but the basis of the speech surrounded the history and awesomeness of Petra. Then I moved on to DC Talk, who, I noted, was my favorite band of all time. I finished this stellar speech with Michael Whittaker Smith (his website also has a section called SmittyTV. I recommend you check it out. I also just told Janelle I would probably resemble a 13 year old girl at a New Kids concert in the mid 90s if I ever met him even today), my favorite artist of all time. And yes, I made the distinction that DC Talk is a band and MWS is a soloist, which is how they can both be my all time favorites. It must have been the best speech ever.

So, I threw away a whole trach can full of stuff, and consolidated 4 big boxes into 2 small ones. Success. I also cleaned my shower (while I showered), but I left the rest of the bathroom and kitchen to (hopefully) tomorrow. Still a successful day. But I mentioned sorrow in the title. So, what was sorrowful? Let me show you.

It was a sad day at this Muehleisen house.

Yes, today I took down my Christmas tree. For those that don’t know, its been up for 4 years. It was a great conversation piece. But, I think it might have been a good call to take it down. It was caked with dust. It was time. I still have a few Christmas lights up though, so it’s still always Christmas at my house.

Now, I’m gonna help Janelle rearrange the living room, then enjoy some delightful taco salad. Great night coming, it’ll probably include some Skeet.