Acrochallenge and Picture Week, Day 1

Well, my friends, looks who's back from the wilds of Cleveland.

Yes, my b-day present from Mr M was a trip to Cleveland. Yes, I know the joke. 1st prize is a week in Cleveland, 2d prize is two weeks in Cleveland. But I had lots of fun - it was a short trip, but it was a good trip. And I have the pictures to prove it.

It is because of that that I'm going to stretch Picture Sunday out over a week's time. Every night, along with whatever other blog I see fit to post, I'll stick in a picture or two that I promise you will enjoy. Oh yes, I promise.

We didn't leave till Saturday morning, but the fun started this past Friday night, when Mr M showed up at my house with Eefer. Who is eefer, you ask? Well, I've been wanting an E-flat clarinet for some time. So we went halfsies on one, with my having the option to buy his half out at a later date if we're both willing. This E-flat hails from Australia! So imagine the giddy excitement I had introducing him to my B-flat clarinet, the RC, who of course hails from L'Olifant in Paris.

The meeting went a little something like this:

Me: RC, this is Eefer. Eefer, RC.
Eefer: G'day!
RC: Bonjour.

It was riveting.

Then it was Saturday and the trip began. We arrived mid-afternoon, and Day 1 included a drive through the city, a visit to Lakewood Park to look at, well, The Lake, and what I'd been anticipating most of all, a tour of Mr M's old childhood stomping grounds.

The first picture I took in the city was of this magnificent structure. It's - it's - it's - it's a giant rubber stamp!

Now, if that's not about the coolest thing you've ever seen, well, there's no kind of help I can give you. I especially like how the bottom of the handle is below ground, like the thing fell from the sky and landed with a thud.

Then it was to the lake, that would be Lake Erie for you keeping score at home, where I discovered an amazing fact. It freezes. I mean, when we walked up on the rocks overlooking the lake, it was like looking out on the vast Polar Regions. In fact, I was expecting to see a line of penguins waddle by at any moment. If you don't believe me, check this out.

Still don't believe me? Well, check this out, ya bastards.



Now you believe me, don't you?

And so it was that we found ourselves headed to the famed and fabled West Side, where a young Mr M (who was then simply Master M, or Private Asshole) was molding himself into the character that he would one day become. I got to see his childhood home, where he lived till he was 13. I got to see his junior high school. I got to see the hospital where he was born! And just when I didn't think my heart would withstand anymore, I got to see his home during The High School Years...



And the high school itself, the legendary James Ford Rhodes High. It's still going strong today.



With the podmobile in the lower right hand corner, no less. Hey, bit of trivia. We all know that Mr M is the most famous graduate of Rhodes High. Who's the second most famous? That's right - Drew Carey.

Well, after the "This Is Your Life" tour of West Cleveland (which is quite a charming area), we retired for the evening, went out to eat, where I got blasted on one little old glass of wine (what a lightweight I've become), and we got prepared for another day in the big city that rocks.

I'm ending the pictures here for tonight, but here's what you'll have to look forward to in the coming week. We visited the Cleveland Museum of Art, which I enjoyed immensely and was extremely surprised at the sheer volume and variety of what they have, but where I didn't get any pictures because those blue-blazered nazis wouldn't let me take any. Then we went for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe (pin opportunity!! this one courtesy of Mr M), where our waitress sang "YMCA" standing on a booth and Sherman feasted upon all the artifacts of his rock and roll heroes. And - beat this, folks - we got a parking spot on the street right in front of the building. Days like those are few and far between. We drove around looking for my favorite billboard in Cleveland, of which I took a picture, and believe me, you don't want to miss it. Then it was unfortunately time to head back to the real world, which we did, reluctantly, with a promise to go back when we have the time to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (I haven't been since Elvis Costello, the Clash, or the Ramones have been inducted), and the West Side Market, one of Mr M's favorite haunts.

And now I guess we have a little matter of acrochallenge to address, don't we? Well, it's going to be a Reader's Digest version, you all know the rules anyway, right? Our topic this week is "Road Trip!" And our letters are below:

C A E V S A

Remember, you get 3 entries apiece. I'll be judging tomorrow night around 10pm est.

See you tomorrow.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* I'll bet you didn't know Sherman was such a rock and roll fan, did you? You'll be surprised.
* The original, Japanese "Shall We Dance?" was on cable tonight. The people who remade that movie and Hollywooded it up should go to jail. For years.