Sue O. sent in the latest on Barbie dolls made for the Sarasota market. You’ll have to ask her for the description of all of them. Here’s one though:

Recently released from Mattel: New Barbies for the Sarasota market place.

* Lakewood Ranch Barbie
This princess Barbie is only sold at exclusive Lakewood Ranch stores.
She comes with an assortment of Kate Spade Handbags, a Lexus SUV, a
long-haired foreign dog named Honey and a cookie cutter house.
Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift. Workaholic Ken sold
only in conjunction with “augmented” version.

Hello reunion people (former classmates). A week away. Wow. I can’t believe we’ve made it this far. I just checked and I’ve done 102 posts on the blog. There’s 88 comments so far. That’s pretty good activity.

Right now I’m doing one of my favorite things, besides blog posts. I’m making supper and I’ve got my Sirius radio cranking. I love the Vault (channel 16) and highly recommend it. Great music. Stuff that wasn’t always top 40. BTW I’m cooking some petite ribeye steaks with lots of garlic/onions, homemade garden salad and tater tots and lots of fresh brewed iced tea.

Thanks for you recent emails. Interesting stories coming in. I’ve got to figure out how to put this all together by next week. I know what I’ll be doing this weekend.

Okay. Since Mary Kinney made the comment I’ve got to post this.

After Bennie dared me to post the picture he had of me I cropped it and put it on my AgWired blog. Numerous commenters and friends wrote how much I resembled a young Eric Stoltz. Actually I kind of think he resembles me.

So for whatever that’s worth . . .

I just found out that Riverview High School has an entry in Wikipedia.

It looks like the Highlander Drum Corps folks have been pretty busy online. They’ve got most of the information in the listing. If anyone’s motivated enough you can add to and edit any entry on Wikipedia.

I’m sure you all still have this memorized. Me, I’m still trying to. That’s why we write these things down. So we don’t have to. I was just surfing the school website and saw it. Thought you might be interested.

Hail Riverview! To thee we sing
Our Alma Mater, let it ring
In every heart there is a song
Of pride and spirit ever strong
Our hopes and dreams, Our destiny of thee
We’ll guard the memory.

As we prepare for futures bright
We know that you have been a light
To guide our paths along the way
A light that will not fade away
A light to which we’ll always cling
Hail Riverview to thee we sing!

I reaaly think I’d have more posted here lately but the travel just won’t let up. I thought you might enjoy seeing KISS co-founder, Gene Simmons, getting interviewed here by yours truly at Chicagoland Speedway yesterday.

Gene was on hand for the Indy Racing League re-affirmation annoucement about moving to 100 percent ethanol fuel next season. I’m here for the last race of the season (weather permitting) and covering the activities on my Domestic Fuel site. Here’s a sound bite from my interview with Gene talking about ethanol and why it’s a good fuel alternative: Gene Simmons On Ethanol (1 min MP3)

I hope you’re having a great weekend!

Things can get a little crazy for a road blogger sometimes. This is on a dairy farm near Hamar, Norway last week. I think the cow made as much sense to me as the Norwegians I interviewed with their heavy accents!

Whenever I visit a foreign country I still come home to the good old U. S. of A. and thank God I live here.

So what’s new in your worlds? I haven’t heard much lately. I’m in the process of making my hotel reservation as I write this. It’s not far off.

These aren’t reunion-type photos but hey, it’s my website and I can post what I want to right?

This week I’m in Indianapolis and I thought you guys might like a picture of Danica before the big race tomorrow. I interviewed her a couple weeks ago but didn’t get my picture taken with her.

This picture is at yesterday’s press conference before they took their Carb Day practice laps.

For you girls I have a picture of me interviewing Jeff Simmons. He’s the new driver for Rahal-Letterman Racing, which is the team I’m focused on in my coverage on my Domestic Fuel website.

We’ll be seeing both these folks in action tomorrow. Let’s hope they all make it safely across the finish line.

I think I’ll have some interesting photos to share in a couple weeks from the Country Music Association Fan Fair in Nashville.

Nancois Tatom thought you might enjoy this:

George Carlin On Aging – (Absolutely Brilliant)

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

“How old are you?” “I’m four and a half!” You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key.

You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

“How old are you?” “I’m gonna be 16!” You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re Just a sour-dumpling. What’s wrong? What’s changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50
and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; “I Was JUST 92.”

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. “I’m 100 and a half!”
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay “them ”

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets,keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable,improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9 Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.