Some people celebrate Christmas because they believe that it is the night that Jesus was born 2000+ years ago. Some people celebrate Christmas because it's what their family has always done.

Some people celebrate Winter Solstice because it is a holy day with that marks the return of the sun. Some people celebrate Winter Solstice because it is not Christmas.

I celebrate Christmas because I have the time off from work and it's an opportunity to spend time with people I don't often see. I celebrate on Christmas Eve with my step-mother's family and enjoy the company and relaxation. I celebrate on Christmas Day with my mother-in-law's family and enjoy the shared interests and, often, politics.

I celebrate Winter Solstice because it is the beginning of the deepest part of a Minnesota winter. I have had opportunities to move to warmer climates, but I like Minnesota. I like the cold; I like bundling up and taking on the weather. Sure, I look like I'm exploring Antarctica on my way into work in the morning, but that's something I would do if I had the resources. It bugs me a little when people complain about the cold yet continue to live in Minnesota; If you can't stand the cold, get out of the freezer.

On the other hand. I'm looking forward to biking again this spring.

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When I hear about the auto industry bail-out requests my gut instinct is "you made your bed..." Then I think about the retirees who will lose their pensions because their employer was too shortsighted to realize that people wouldn't keep buying SUVs forever. And I think about the employees who will lose their jobs Because auto executives took the penny-wise route, staying the course and letting the Japanese manufacturers make the cars "nobody will buy."

Here's one.

There has to be a way to make sure those people are taken care of but the executives reap the consequences of their actions.

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We just got back from the grocery store. It seems that we weren't the only ones doing some early last-minute shopping for Thanksgiving. Some of the items on the list were limes (for this weekend's margaritas), garlic, cranberries, eggs, and frozen orange juice. While checking my eggs for cracks, a little black boy squeezed past me to retrieve his family's eggs from the cooler. Right behind him, his sister was telling him, "Don't get any of those nasty brown ones!"

I decided we probably had enough milk to get through Thursday and continued on to the frozen juice section....

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I tried an experiment and tweeted on my facebook. Read from the bottom for chronological order beginning Friday, October 10, 2008.

Ben is home. 8:41pm
Ben hit the 1000 mile mark. 7:35pm
Ben marches on. 7:19pm
Ben has to get pictures! 6:59pm
Ben is where they call the Mississippi a lake. 6:55pm
Ben (tune for ibn khaldun part 1, about to happen, town w/o pitty). 6:54pm
Ben (the deprogrammer, the house is haunted, sgt pepper (reprise), what do I dave to do, under ice, househusband's lament, die young stay pretty...) 6:41pm
Ben 's iPod is throwing down an awesome, creepy mix. 6:33pm
Ben wants a study corolating views on religion and abortion. 6:25pm
Ben caught up on Science Friday. 6:15pm
Ben has fruit and cake. 6:06pm
Ben is in Minnesota. 5:34pm
Ben guesses the SW corner of Wisconsin does't need GSM data. 4:58pm
Ben accidentally tuned his soda bottle to a note in this song. 4:56pm
Ben expected Dickeyville to be a theme park. 3:16pm
Ben finds similarities betwixt black cherry soda and Robitussin. 3:11pm
Ben can see Illinois and Iowa from here, resists border-crossing temptations. 3:08pm
Ben got ice cream and soda instead. 3:04pm
Ben thought about buying rum and porn at a gas station but they didn't have porn. 3:03pm
Ben wonders about the reasoning behind painting parking spots on a gravel lot, and heads home. 2:49pm
Ben hasn't forgotten about you, there's just nothing interesting here. 1:02pm
Ben was nonplussed by his sandwich but chuffed by his shrimp doodles. 12:28pm
Ben waves to New Glarus. 12:17pm
Ben used a lot of battery. 12:13pm
Ben could go for sushi; could find a sandwitch. Filled the tank. 12:08pm
Ben will miss Devil's Lake. 11:58am
Ben didn't know Madison had so much petrolium storage. 11:55am
Ben will have to see The House on The Rock sometime. 11:52am
Ben drove 666 miles so far this weekend. 11:51am
Ben can't pronounce most of Wisconsin. 11:04am
Ben waves to Penzey's. 10:40am
Ben departs Milwaukee toward Madison. 10:22am
Ben crosses Teutonia Ave. Can't decide between musical or religious joke. 9:18am
Ben cranks NIN. 9:13am
Ben could hit those geese from here. 9:06am
Ben ceremonially dips his fingers in Lake Michigan, realizing that he never actually touched the Pacific ocean when he was in San Francisco. 8:51am
Ben will be late but got to Lake Michigan. 8:46am
Ben finally has yesterday's espresso. 8:36am
Ben avoids the word "is" due to issues of repetition and clarity. 8:34am
Ben stopped to take a picture. 8:19am
Ben gets to see what he drove through last night. 8:13am
Ben is on a Mission. 8:11am
Ben is "impressed" by the continental breakfast. 8:06am
Ben needs a photo pass for The Crystal Method at Epic December 19. 7:54am
Ben shouldn't need to be awake. 7:29am
Ben reads about the pictorialism movement. 6:27am
Ben is less than two hours from the museum of science and industry in Chicago. 10:26pm
Ben should have gotten a hotel on the lake. 9:13pm
Ben booked a hotel in da 'hood. 8:29pm
Ben is freaking extatic to see a Caribou. 8:05pm
Ben sits on the cusp of a foggy night. 7:31pm
Ben deems dinner "an experience." leaves Sheboygan for Milwaukee. May find beer. 7:11pm
Ben totally needs a charcoal grill in his kitchen. 6:56pm
Ben is at the Charcoal Inn, should have brought an art history book in from the car. 6:53pm
Ben is not surprised he missed Alabama Ave. 6:44pm
Ben goes "wheee!" again. 6:21pm
Ben smells...burning cows? 6:06pm
Ben is in awe of the patience of the doctor talking about vaccines on Science Friday. (Paul Offett (sp)). 5:56pm
Ben ditches the shades. 5:40pm
Ben goes "wheee!" through the roundabout. 5:23pm
Ben head east. If get lost: find lake, turn right. 5:18pm
Ben isn't sure what that is. 5:11pm
Ben won't go to Oshgosh, by gum! 5:07pm
Ben would prefer a different New London; an old London even. 3:53pm
Ben sees acres of cabbage. 3:46pm
Ben thought he was stuck for a while but the train was really short. 3:29pm
Ben doubts that "latex scented condom" was quite what they meant. 2:53pm
Ben remembers when 3.129 was high for gas. Buys 13 gallons. 2:46pm
Ben got a free Sierra Mist. 2:39pm
Ben went the wrong way. 1:49pm
Ben should have packed camo and a shotgun. 1:37pm
Ben is in Green Bay. 1:26pm
Ben found out commercial citric acid is a fungal product. 1:21pm
Ben is already tired of 25MPH. 1:01pm
Ben turned the A/C on. 12:53pm
Ben almost stopped for pit BBQ too. 12:51pm
Ben found the coffee shop he stopped at a year or two ago is closed. 12:32pm
Ben is in Wisconsin. 12:30pm
Ben is in Michigan with a newly purchased 1/2 pound pastie. 12:27pm
Ben has taken some pictures and is going to Michigan for some pasties. 12:14pm
Ben is very early. 10:44am
Ben likes to say Peshtigo. 10:29am
Ben stopped for a flag man. 10:09am
Ben thinks he just saw his first Piggly Wiggly. 9:58am
Ben went the right way. 9:55am
Ben hopes he went the right way. 9:48am
Ben is disturbed by lawn sheep. 9:34am
Ben thinks Wisconsin state highways need more rest stops. 9:21am
Ben is impressed that Hubble's batteries lasted 18 years. 9:00am
Ben crossed Embarrass River. 8:45am
Ben doesn't have time to stop for the scenery. 8:27am
Ben is in Wausau. 8:16am
Ben wonders what the commonality is between chai and bubblegum. 8:05am
Ben is glad "cool ranch" didn't mean"Dorito flavoured.". 7:59am
Ben should have gotten two donuts. 7:53am
Ben isn't sure about breakfast. 9.00 for chai from a machine, oj, a donut & cool ranch cheese curds. 7:42am
Ben smells cows. 7:30am
Ben switched to sunglasses. 7:20am
Ben passed Chubby's North. 7:09am
Ben passed a tank and a helecopter. 6:57am
Ben has entered the middle of nowhere, a little concerned about espresso supply. 6:28am
Ben sees evidence of the sun. 6:15am
Ben is annoyed that Caribou won't be open in time. 6:13am
Ben is gassing up in Menomonie and will do his best not to wake L & K. 6:06am
Ben is learning about lager yeast. 5:53am
Ben just passed The Drop Zone. 5:38am
Ben is in Wisconsin. 5:20am
Ben wonders what Punjabiyan Di Shaan means. 5:09am
Ben thinks 94 looks creepy that empty. 4:58am
Ben just remembered that I94 is closed this weekend. 4:54am
Ben has tripple checked and is 95% certain everything is packed. 4:46am
Ben got up a little early. 3:43am
Ben is not looking forward to getting up at 4:00 AM. 7:42pm
Ben is going to get his favorite lens from the shop. 1:40pm

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For the first entry, we have Sinfest with a bit of commentary on the current financial situation:

Next up is Gizmodo, with some enlightening information about voters who want deeper broadband penetration.

And finally, for now, is BBC News with a horrifying article about the current wave of mass extinction. -via Greg Laden

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I suppose there are a lot of people who think this applies directly to them, but I thought I'd throw my blog into the ring. (Just replace "Starbucks" with "Caribou.")

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Hey everyone! I've been thinking about adding a comment function to my blog. Leave me a message in the comments and let me know what you think. I'll make a decision based on your input.

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"Mike Hummer had been a private detective so long he could remember Preparation A, his hair reminded everyone of a rat who'd bitten into an electrical cord, but he could still run faster than greased owl snot when he was on a bad guy's trail, and they said his friskings were a lot like getting a vasectomy at Sears." -- Robert B. Robeson

Yes, it's time again for the annual results of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. An attempt to pay homage through satire of classically bad literature. -- Photo by YardSale

Greg Laden brings an update on the evolution v. creationism debate from a US district court. More at Fox news and the San Francisco Chronicle. As it turns out, all that stuff Christian Colleges are teaching about "intelligent design" doesn't really count as "learning."

If you've got a jones to type xyzzy and teleport to someone's house, the iPhone may be the tool for you. Frotz, available from the iTunes App Store is a z-machine interpreter that allows you to play classic text adventure games on the iPhone and iPod Touch. This is the ultimate marriage of the inconvenience of typing on a phone and the inconvenience of a maze of twisty passages, all alike. -- Touch Archade via Kotaku

In yet another installment of Things That Herald the Coming of Our Robot Overlords, scientists have joined rat brain cells to a robot with the aid of bluetooth. Not only can the disembodied cells control the robot, they can do it at a distance, much like the Reaper program is controled through Skynet. -- too many sources to credit.

And finally, on the topic of green electronics, Samsung is releasing a phone made with bio-plastic. Cellular mulch anyone? Oh, and it's also PVC and BFR free, but hey, bio-plastic. -- via Gizmodo

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Looks like a video blogwatch today.

Gizmodo has a slow motion lightening video. Wow!

Garage419 has a track test comparing the Dinolicious iPhone app to a commercial accellerometer-based dynomometer.

Greg Laden's Blog has a humorous retort from Paris Hilton regarding John McCain's recent campaign ad.

And Strobist.com has a video from Chase Jarvis giving a 3-minute overview of a commercial photoshoot from contract to delivery.

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The common conception is that women go to the restroom in groups and that the lines are extremely long. Men don't know about that kind of thing so I assume that women don't know what goes on in the men's room. Here's a short public service announcement to help cross-gender understanding.

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