yearbook yourself!

www.yearbookyourself.com

so dang fun!

are you ready?

FOR SOME FOOTBALL


So, college football starts this weekend and lo and behold Purdue doesn't have a game. Figures, a weekend that I have the Big 10 network at my fingertips, a weekend where I could actually go down to West Lafiesta to tailgate, go to the game, and relive my "boiler up sober down" years. No game. BTFU anyway.

Was the old school Monday night football intro videos with Hank Williams Jr not the most bad ass thing ever? I lived for that song when I was like 8 years. My parents would be like "bedtime" and I'd be like "hell no, it's song time!" Ok so maybe those weren't my exact words.

When did my life become so mundane? To the point where my "hot date" on Friday night was taking a walk around the neighborhood with my mom and her mom-aged friend. Beautiful sky, perfect weather, and me thinking "ok, I really need to meet a nice guy."

My favorite Obama commercial EVER.

Oh McCain, how crafty you are picking a woman VP. Trying to lure those Hillary voters aren't you...

Did you know?

that over 1 out of every 100 people is incarcerated at this very moment. Or, did you know that some states spend more money on correctional institutions than education? That is disgusting. Any guesses as to how much it "costs" to keep an inmate locked up for one year? Nearly...get ready for this...Nearly $30,000. And that is per person. Per year. Think about 20 year olds who get life without parole. Say they live 60 years. 60 years times 30 thousand is $1,800,000. I would absolutely love to know the salary that prison officials must be making because none of that money is spent on facilities, food, or basic needs of the inmate.

"The idea is to make a distinction between the people we're afraid of and the ones we're just ticked off at," said Rick Kern, director of the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission. "Not that you shouldn't punish them. But if it's going to cost $27,500 a year to keep them locked up, then maybe we should be smarter about how we do it."

Uh-I'm no rocket scientist, but don't you think somebody could have come up with that distinction just a little bit earlier?

wordle.net

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I MET JIM GAFFIGAN

yes I sure did. And I got a picture with him and he signed this newspaper article about him that was in The Times yesterday. omg his show tonight was so hilarious. I literally could not even drink my beer because I would spray it on the people in front of me or it would come out my nose because I was laughing so dang hard.

"You ever been to a Catholic Mass? It's still going on...right now"

"Bowling is what you do when you've done everything else. Well, we could hang ourselves or we could go bowling. Let's go bowling"

"My wife's always like 'Why don't you ever make the bed?' and I'm like 'the same reason why I don't tie my shoes after I take them off.' I like to think of it as the bed always being open."

so many more. Love him. And my friends and I took a picture with him that I am hoping they will post soon!

me: I love you. You are hilarious (as he's signing my newspaper)
Jim: thanks so much for coming. I really appreciate it
me: thanks for signing that
Jim: here. now go throw it away
me: oh shut up
Jim and I simultaneously doing his obnoxious nasal voice and the ppl in the meet and greet line laughing at us

HAHA! He is so great!

I LOVE JIM GAFFIGAN.

I am a Region Rat
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Yesterday at 11:42pm
Warning: If you are not from Indiana or Chicago you will find this completely boring.

Warning: If you are from Northwest Indiana you will find this completely pandering and long

I am a Region Rat. I’m aware not many people would readily identify themselves as a rat. Allow me to explain. Or at least attempt to. As many of you know I’m proud to be from Indiana. Well, as proud as anyone from Indiana can be about being from Indiana. We’re not really the bragging type as you’ve perhaps seen in my stand up.

Then what is a Region Rat? Well, the “Region” refers to the part of Indiana where I was raised. I’m from Northwest Indiana also known as The Calumet Region or just The Region. Now for the “Rat” part? I only have theories on it. Well, let me set it up and maybe you’ll understand why I say “Region Rat” with pride.

Northwest Indiana is the oddball part of the state. It’s kind of like the Goth Girl at church. Indiana is considered by some to be the most northern Southern state, but the people of Northwest Indiana often have Chicago accents, root for the Bears and watch Chicago television (I’m a huge Colts and Bears fan). Additionally, while most of Indiana may be rural/pastoral or even hilly, The Calumet Region, while beautiful in many ways, resembles many other industrial rust belt areas of the Great Lakes. The steel mills disappeared in the 80’s and 90’s along with many good paying jobs. The largest city in Northwest Indiana is Gary and well, let’s just say it is nothing like “The Music Man”. In 1937 Time magazine declared Gary the most beautiful city in the world. What they didn’t declare was that whoever they named Gary after had some pretty bad B.O.

Essentially, Northwest Indiana in many ways feels, sounds and in some parts smells different from Indiana. As a result, when most people from Indiana find out I’m from Northwest Indiana, there is usually a polite pause and then a tentative “Oh, ok” which is code for “Technically, you are from Indiana, but not really”.

So is Northwest Indiana part of Chicagoland? Well, yes, but not really. Northwest Indiana rests right up to the east of the City of Chicago geographically and people do commute in for work, but to Northwest Indiana, Chicago is like that boss that never remembers your name. I’ve told people in Chicago many times that I’m from Northwest Indiana only to receive a blank stare followed by an occasional “Where’s that?” It’s ten minutes away. For Chicagoans that do know of Northwest Indiana, Region Rats are not considered equals. We are considered “hicks” or well, Region Rats.

I don’t know who came up with “Region Rat”. Was it our fellow Hoosiers to the south or “our boss”, Chicago, to the west? Either way, Region Rat stuck and frankly I love it.

And as probably the most famous Region Rat, Michael Jackson, once sang; “I’m going back to Indiana”.

August 23rd Star Plaza Theater Merrillville, Indiana 7pm
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/07004059DE5FCF94?artistid=863832&majorcatid=10002&minorcatid=51

August 23rd Star Plaza Theater Merrillville, Indiana 10pm
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/070040CB674E3443?artistid=863832&majorcatid=10002&minorcatid=51

Facebook Event Page For Merrillville
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=12093715125

I love you and Schoop’s,

Jim