Mark Hayward Is My Hero

My dog loves to chase deer.  Sometimes it has been a bit of a problem.  Today on our walk in a forested area he chased one right AT me.  It passed within 8 feet of me.  My thought process went something like, “Oh here comes Vader (he’s about the same color as deer)… wow, he’s going really fast… wow, he’s bigger than usual… HOLY CRAP! THAT’S NOT MY DOG!”  About a minute later Vader trotted up very intently, and I managed to convince him that he had already lost his prey.

Final game of the World Cup today.  Holy head-butt Batman!  That was nasty.

A bunch of the yo-yo guys came to juggling practice today, so no surprise, I didn’t juggle much.  As soon as anyone starts thowing a top around I’m done with whatever I was doing.  Tops are SO awesome.

If you spend a lot of time in the car, or on the train or any place like that, audiobooks are the best. I’m currently “reading” Dune by Frank Herbert, and other than having to stop twice at the restroom, my six-hour drive today went by in a flash.

Go, Muad’Dib go!

(Of course, since I’m actually listening to the book and not really reading it, I had to look up the spelling of Muad’Dib online.)

This was a good day. Took Vader to the dog park in Madison with my Mom and Brother, had some delicious food, hung out with some family friends, made some more food, ate it, had an awesome birthday cake in the shape of a giant beetle with chocolate Twizzlers for legs, and went to the fireworks at Elver Park. I love the fireworks shows on the 4th. All the booming and whirring and whistling. It’s great.

Today will be my last day of Summerfest for this year. Last night Marcus Monroe had a barbeque at his house. It was a lot of fun. They even surprised me with a birthday cake. Andrew and Wayne were there and Andrew was in his full glory. He was hilarious, and at times it was like we were watching the Andrew show.

After my shows at Summerfest today, Vader and I head off to Madison for a few days since my brother Kent and his new fiancee Lissa are in town. I’m really looking forward to it.

Yup, you heard it right… today is my birthday. I am going to celebrate in my traditional fashion by working at Summerfest, and then having a little party with some of my family. It’s going to be fun.

For a few years I was bringing b-day treats to the people I work with at Summerfest, but that turned out to not be as fun as I had hoped, so I stopped doing it.