There is a day in America called "Black Friday". It's the day after our national holiday, Thankgiving day. Black Friday is the first official shopping day for Christmas gifts. Department stores open as early as 4 a.m. with bargain sales that put some people in a crazy mood. Personally, I think it's a marketing scam with merchandise companies. They advertise, for example, a 42 inch (about 106 cm) TV for a very low price and then the store will only have six of those TVs to sell when hundreds of people have shown up at 4 a.m. to shop.
People show up at these stores two hours before opening and "camp out" as its called, waiting outside in the cold to get that special deal. Crowds of people before have started fights, stampeded the doors when they are opened, sometimes injuring and there has been know deaths because of greed and stupidity.
These companies know that people will buy more than what they planned to spend and if they don't get that bargain sale the store advertised they will buy something else instead, maybe at a higher price.
Me, I'm still sleeping that day at 4 a.m., probably rolling over under my warm blanket. I am not that materialistic to get that bargain price. I feel that if I have to fight for a product then I don't really need it, for me or for a gift. HAPPY SHOPPING AMERICA!
This is Daiichipan or also called melonpan. Pan means bread in Japanese. When I traveled to Japan, May 2009, the hotel I stayed had a bakery. This is where I first tasted melonpan. It doesn't taste like melon just a given name because the bread looks like a melon. It is a sweet bread that can be eaten with a cup of tea. The Japanese don't sweeten their tea but eat something sweet instead while drinking their tea.
I found an Asian supermarket close to where I live and they sell packaged melonpan. In the same area is a Japanese bakery that I am sure sells it freshly baked. I have yet to venture inside. I am weak when it comes to bakeries. I buy too much so I haven't entered the bakery yet.
So, if you have a Asian store close to where you live, venture inside, see if they have this tasty treat, there are many other goodies too...like sake
Every year during the second week of October, the city where I live has a hometown fair. A fair is similar to a festival but larger. It's a competitive expedition usually consisting of various clubs and competitions, like the showing of farm animals raised by young adults hoping to win an award ribbon or their animals being purchased for a large amount of money by a company. Also, there are other entries for awards such as crafts, gardening, baking, and marching band competitions and non competitive attractions such as music, horse pull, mule races, harness racing, truck and tractor pulls all free to the public. My hometown is a history of farming life so you can see the similarities in the attractions that are mostly farm living related.
Then there are rows and rows of food stalls selling favorite treats and eats for the fair attendees. Sausage, hamburger, french fries, fried vegetables, cheese on a stick, ice cream, candy apples, cotton candy, tacos, fried oysters and fish, pizza, lemonade, too much to list everything. Oh, and can't forget the game stalls, playing games to win prizes or riding fast and scary amusement park rides.
The week that the fair was going on is the time in Ohio when the weather is deciding what it wants to do. There have been years I have gone that it's warm and sunny like summer or it's snowing and cold as winter. This year it decides to rain almost every day. My friend and I went to the fair on the second to the last day thinking we would get lucky to have a decent day. Well, unfortunately it started raining shortly after we arrived and I was not able to get many pictures. There is always next year!
I want to share one of my favorite news shows called Current TV. It's a media show about what is happening in the world with current events, media, tech, movies, music, etc... and they let their viewers participate in summiting their own video news or stories. I learn so much more about the world then the local news in my hometown. Check out the site, it has many good videos to watch and useful information.
I watched a samurai movie over the weekend, "The Hidden Blade" (隠し剣 鬼の爪, Kakushi Ken: Oni no Tsume). I thought it excellent and I recommend seeing this movie. It's a story of honor, friendship, political intrigue, love, revenge and a dash of comedy.
See wiki for a more detailed summary of the movie.
Draw The Number Six While Making Clockwise Circles With Your Leg
Think you can multitask? Try this: while sitting on a chair, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles. Then, while doing that, draw the number 6 with your right hand. You can’t help it: your foot will change direction.
Similarly: move your right leg in anti-clockwise circles and simultaneously draw the number 8 with your right hand.
Another tricky thing to do: simultaneously rotate the index fingers of both hands clockwise. Do it slowly at first, but then pick up speed. Try to go faster and faster, and pretty soon your two fingers will be going in opposite directions!
I traveled a few hours away from home in Ohio, on Saturday, to a place called "Fort Ancient". It is a ancient Native American Indian burial mound site that is around 2,000 years old and thought to be started by the Hopewell Indians. They traveled along the Little Miami River in Ohio where it was easy access to food, game and water and is believed that Fort Ancient was not used as a fortress but for religious and ceremonial reasons.
The burial mounds are located in a circle of earthen walls where the Native Indian's living establishments were built in the center. The burial mounds were not made for just one individual person's burial, they were used to bury several in one place. These mounds can be found throughout different states in America.
The second photo below, the road was built through the burial mound. Fort Ancient/Wiki
Once in a while I like a good romantic comedy movie. There is one movie I never get tired of watching,"You've Got Mail" released in 1998. Starring actor Tom Hanks and actress Meg Ryan, they have this chemistry with each other that works so well in this movie.
"You've Got Mail" is about two people starting to converse through e-mail and unknowingly are business rivals, which then turns to romance. The movie is a remake of a classic 1940's movie "The Shop Around The Corner".
This video is where he finds out she is his e-mail friend but she still doesn't know.
There is a sandstone cliff called Mount Pleasant in Lancaster, Ohio. It stands about 250 feet, covered with trees and vegetation and is the focal point of Rising Park. I walked the path to the top a few days ago and found it interesting to look at the names and initials people carved into the sandstone on the very top of the cliff.
Many young people climb the cliff and carve their names after they graduate from high school or finding a new love by carving their initials together. I'm not sure how long this carving of names have been going on but I scoured the area looking for the oldest carvings. Most are almost erased from erosion, due to sandstone being very porous and soft.
The first one I found was dated in 1966 and the oldest I found was 1953. I am sure there are older ones. There is a way to climb around the front of the mountain and I am sure there may be older ones. It is interesting to see and wonder where the person that carved the name is now.
Hi Gilly, I want to be friends with you. My names are Aiyidu Igbinosa Elisha. I Live in Nigeria. My e-mail address is elyzky1@gmail.com My phone number is +2348035281032. My Yahoo IM is elyzky2cuite. I'd very much like you to reply, call or text me. And before I forget I'm on Facebook. Thanks
I buy too much so I haven't entered the bakery yet. 
by carving their initials together. I'm not sure how long this carving of names have been going on but I scoured the area looking for the oldest carvings. Most are almost erased from erosion, due to sandstone being very porous and soft.
WIDGETIZE