“Hey, Good Lookin’, whatcha got cookin’? How’s about cookin’ something up with me.” It’s time to get back to the Thursday Threesome and that’s the theme!

Onesome - Hey, good lookin’: Makeover time! What’s the one thing about yourself you would change if you could? From your hair style to your nose to your weight, you name it
Well, there’s TWO things I’d like to change if I could. First off I’d like to drop my boiler; I like to eat too much and my belly shows it. Secondly, I’d like to have hair on my head. (Oh, and “good-lookin’” I ain’t!)

Twosome - whatcha got cookin’?: Do you like to cook? What’s your favorite meal that you cook yourself? Care to share the recipe?
Oh yeah, I like to cook. Ask anybody… I’m a good cook. Breezomatic is majoring in culinary arts and it’s no coincidence. My favorite recipes can be found here.

Threesome - How’s about cookin’ something up with me?: If you like to cook, do you like to share the kitchen/grill? If you share, do you direct the goings on, or just let the other person do their thing? Or do you prefer to solo it, subscribing to the “too many cooks spoil the broth,” theory?
Too many cooks spoil the broth. If I’m going to cook, then get the heck out of my way and let me do it. You’ll like the results.

A day late and a dollar short… it’s the Thursday Threesome.

Onesome: “Please - join us for a light dinner and some conversation.” If you were coordinating a group of say, the thirty or so regulars here, where would you like to have them meet in your area to be able to spend some time talking and eating?
Well, I’d like to think we can do that at the Brew. The Missipi Brewing Company. They can usually handle groups, although thirty is probably at their limit.

Twosome: be - my Valentine? Yes, it’s early, but do you have ‘traditional” dinner plans for that holiday (or the time around it)? …or if you don’t, where would you like to go?
KC and I don’t really have “traditional” plans. We do go out to eat, but it varies with our mood. This year, though, we may go to Olive Garden.

Threesome: Seated - Hmmm… Table or booth? Do you have a preference when you go out to eat? Just wondering…
Booth in a non-smoking section. Booths are simply more comfortable than tables.

Looks like the Thursday Threesome is about the BCS championship game last night.

Onesome: Hook - Just to get us back in the swing of things after the holidays: when you’re at home, where do your keys hang out, on a hook by the door? …or do they have a special place? …or do you find them wherever they landed the last time you walked in {g}?
In a special place. I put them on the shelf above my computer screen. They go there along with my wallet, my flash drive, my ID badge from work, and my BlackBerry. If I always put them there, I’ll never lose them.

Twosome: ‘em - Do you use contractions like ” ‘em ” in your daily conversations? …or do people use a contraction or phrase that particularly bugs you past the point of rationality?
I try to speak correctly at all times. Hey, I’m from the midwest - we don’t have accents!

Threesome: Horns - On the Horns of a dilemma: if you had only one movie you could nominate for the Academy Awards for 2005, which would it be? …and why? The screenplay? …the lead player(s)? …the setting?
Jeez… tough one. It would be either Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire or The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I think the stories were excellent and I thought the acting was very good in both. Also, all had EXCELLENT special effects. I don’t really go for the artsy-fartsy movies. Give me a good action tale with good character development and I’ll watch it.

Thursday Threesome time!

Onesome: Driving - Hey, what are you driving this winter? Same old, same old? …or was Santa very nice to you (and if so, please pass him/her along to the gang {g}!)?
I drive My Element. I still love it. Lots of head and leg room and it’s got a really good stereo in it (essential!!).

Twosome: you - Hmmm… If you could, and money were no object, what would you be driving? …and sure: taxes, license, dealer fees, gasoline, tires, insurance, etc. would be covered by Santa!
I’d probably drive either a Honda Pilot or a Hummer. Not really sure, though. I’ve never test drove a Hummer. No, I’m not going to get one of those little cars (like a Viper or Crossfire or Porsche or Lamboghini or such) because there is simply NO head and leg room… I’m 6′7″ and need all the head and leg room I can get!

Threesome: Crazy! - …and it’s crazy, but we’ve made it through another year. Are you going to be doing any celebrating to ring in the New Year? Yes? What’s going to be your way to say “Hello” to 2006?
KC and I are headed to friends’ house with other folks to ring in the New Year. If we lived closer to Davenport, I’d really push to go to Kelly’s Irish Pub for their New Year’s blast - Spatterdash and Wicked Liz and the Belly Swirls are playing.

Missed it the last two weeks, so here is this week’s Thursday Threesome.

Onesome: Candy canes - Treat of the Christmas season or something you just never got into? (Oh, and “traditional” or with green stripes for the aficionados out there {g}?)
I’m not much into the candy canes for Christmas treats. I prefer the divinity and fudge and such. Hey man, gotta be chocolate!

Twosome: and Peppermint - or cinnamon scented candles and such? Which do you prefer when you walk into a home or business this time of year? …or maybe even fresh evergreen from a real tree?
I have a Glade Wisp that I just got an Apple Cinnamon scent for. It’s pretty holiday smelling. KC is much more into the scented candles than I am.

Threesome: sticks - ..or schtick? ..or even maybe kitsch? Yeah, what is your most un-favorite piece of Christmastime memorabilia? That display at the hardware store? The “Simpsons Nativity”? That ornament you made in third grade that still ends up on the tree each year? Inquiring minds and all that…
What bugs me the most is the way the stores commercialize the whole thing. It’s NOT about the presents or the feasting or the candy or the candles or the tree. It’s about celebrating the birth of our Savior. Stores that get their Christmas stuff out (especially those that get it out in OCTOBER) and push the commercial end of it just sicken me.

I missed the Thursday Threesome last week. I wasn’t going to miss any time with family because of blogging. Here it is!

Onesome: Christmas - “Christmas is coming; the goose is getting fat…” Nope, I’m not going there, not by a long shot! How about: Even though we just finished up the Thanksgiving meal, what dish are you looking forward to most at Christmas time? …and yes, Christmas cookies count!
Well, I’m not sure. We have different things for Christmas depending upon whose celebration you go to. I’ll miss my family’s Christmas this year - we are having it the weekend before and I’ll be out of town for work. We’ll probably do the soup thing at our house Christmas day: Almost Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup, Potato Soup and Chili.

Twosome: Elf - Who is your favorite Christmas Elf? Mom? Dad? Will Farrell? That guy who helps you at the tree place each year?
Will Farrell, of course! Any elf that helps Santa when he’s NOT at the North Pole, keeps his enthusiasm in New York AND gets the girl is a great elf in my book!

Threesome: Gifs - How about your favorite bit of Christmas artwork? Is it a painting? …a cartoon? …your special ornament? …the tree in the town square?
Pretty much any Norman Rockwell print dealing with Christmas time is great. (Yeah, I know… I’m boring)

Thursday Threesome time! Here we go!

Onesome: Where’s - the main event for you and yours next Thursday? Are you staying in? …or are you doing the “Over the river and through the woods” thing?
We are staying in. We are hosting my family’s Thanksgiving. We supply the turkey and the potatoes. Others are bringing vegetables, dressing, pies, etc. Also, we’ll have setup and cleanup. We rotate it among my brothers’ families.

Twosome: the - main course? If you had your way, what would be on your plate as you sat down for a Thanksgiving meal?
Roast turkey (both white and dark meats), dressing and mashed potatoes smothered in gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry jel, and creamed corn casserole. Later I’d go back for pumpkin and/or pecan pie with whipped cream. Oh yeah!

Threesome: Server? - Who is the main server at your get together? Does one person run the show? …or do several people work together? Students: do you even get to go somewhere?
The host family runs the show. This year that’s us… well this year that’s KC. I just do what I’m told and try to stay out of the way. I’ll set up tables and chairs, clean rooms, and in general get stuff ready. Also, I’ll be the one making the gravy!!

Another Thursday Threesome… another strange title… let’s get ‘er done!

Onesome: Of the Hours - in the week, which ones are your favorites?
My favorite hours are the late night/early morning ones. I enjoy the solitude if even for only an hour or so. It’s just quiet and I can get stuff done on the computer.

Twosome: In the - week there are 168 hours (it seems longer!); what bit of trivia do you hold that you’d like to share with the group?
There’s just way too much to be sharing in this small space. My mind has an endless capacity for useless information.

Threesome: Week - after week we roll along, pausing each Thursday to share some common time here; where else do you go on a weekly basis for a little diversion? (On line or off line; either is fine.)
On Line: Take Me Back Tuesday, Are You More, Thursday Threesome, Friday Five as well as various memes and tests that I find interesting at the time. Off Line: This time of year it’s all about watching football. Well, that and basketball.

Here we go with the Thursday Threesome!

Onesome: I Can’t - What little thing can’t you do that everyone else seems to be able to do?
HMMM… Fit into a Cooper Mini? Nah, really; I’m pretty much an everyman. Seems that all of the typical stuff that eveyone can do… well, I’m a part of everyone.

Twosome: Stand - What issue is it that you take a big stand on?
I take a big stand on misconceptions. Too many people think things have to be fair. Get over it. Things will NEVER be fair. Anyone who talks about making something fair is living in a fantasyland (or in academia!!).

Threesome: Being Sick - Are you prone to getting sick or are you one of those people that can go years in between illnesses?
I tend to get a cold in the fall and another in the spring. My head fills, my sinuses drip, I cough and sneeze, my throat is dry; generally all the bad things associated with a cold. It takes me about a week to get over it. It’s been happening every year for at least 30 years or so.

Thursday’s here! Thursday’s here! It’s time for the Thursday Threesome!

Onesome: Painted - Hey! Are you getting all painted up on Monday and going out and about? What are you dressing up as? …or are you staying home and handing out goodies? …or sitting in the dark and wishing they would all just go away? Come on {g}!
I’ll be staying home and handing out goodies. I used to go out with the kids when they went Trick or Treating, but since they’ve gotten older I haven’t gone. (sigh!)

Twosome: Garden - In the garden of your mind, where do you go to relax for a few moments? Off to the beach? …to the mountains? …to a different world? …or maybe a stroll though an old Victorian landscape?
For Christmas last year, Breezomatic gave me a print of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. I used to keep it at work and when things were “closing in” I’d just stare at it for a bit. Now it’s at my desk at home, but it serves the same purpose.

Threesome: Gnomes - Okay, we have to know: what do you think about garden gnomes and pink flamingos and such? I mean other than there seems to be a local ordinance that you have to have at least one or the other in your front yard if you live in South Florida?
Can’t stand ‘em. I LIKE looking at grass; a nicely mowed yard is a thing of beauty (even though I hate mowing yard). To clutter it up with crap is just silly.

Man, this week is drawing out longer and longer. It’s ONLY Thursday. The only good thing is that it’s time for the Thursday Threesome.

Onesome: Butterflies - ‘Tis the end of butterfly season, at least here in the Northern Hemisphere (hey, we have readers and respondents in the Southern); what are looking forward to seeing around the yards and neighborhoods in the next few months. (…besides snow, unless that’s all you have staring back at you during the Winter months!)
I’m not looking forward to what is starting here. We have those freakin’ Asian Beetles that look like Ladybugs. And we have bajillions of them. Two years ago the back yard looked like there was fog or smoke or something; it was those freakin’ beetles. They’re already fouling up door jambs and lights and such. Yuck!

Twosome: are - Are your sports teams doing okay this Fall? Baseball is down to the final stretch and it’s time to chose up sides! …and football is darned interesting at the six-week mark? No interest? How about curling {g}?
The Iowa Hawkeyes are doing amazingly well this year. Yeah, there were some high hopes at pre-season, but we had a largely untested offensive line and NO starters from our defensive line. Add to that the fact that all four of our down defensive linemen were either drafted or invited to camps (two are playing major minutes as rookies) and you have a major defensive loss. But right now they are 5-2. Iowa State has sort of tanked after beating Iowa. They have lost three straight and now sit at 3-3. Division 1-AA #13 Northern Iowa has only one loss (to the Hawkeyes). So things are looking pretty good right now.

Threesome: Free - What is your favorite “freebie”? That ‘buy one, get one free’ sale? …the ice cream cone from your local shop on your birthday? The samples at Starbucks? Inquiring minds and all that…
The last “freebie” I got was probably what I’ll be getting in about a month or so. Every year at work around Thanksgiving we get a certificate for a frozen turkey. Pretty cool when we host Thanksgiving!

Kind of late in the day, but here’s the Thursday Threesome.

Onesome: County - The wild card for today: Do you know approximately how many people live in your county? It used to be that information was only available at the library; I’m betting most of us will be looking it up on the net!
My initial guess is about 40,000, but I’m looking it up on the net. (clickety click, typety type) Estimated 2004 population is 42,557.

Twosome: Library - Do you use the library system where you live? …or are you one of those who has to own the book (and can afford to)? Students: how good is your school library? …and do use it or the net for most things?
When my kids were younger I used the library a lot. Now I have to read so much on line that I don’t want to read at all when I’m not at work.

Threesome: System - Hey, what system do you use to store/keep track of your books and music and whatever it is that tends to outgrow its living area? Do you alphabetize? …sort by color? …genre?
I don’t really have a system. My music is stored on my PC and it’s pretty much in one folder and stored alphabetically by artist… well at least that’s the way it’s displayed when I view it. Back when vinyl was THE medium for music I stored my albums alphabetically by artist, by date within the same artist.