Martini Club - Stay Classy

Tammy has been a member of the Martini Club since last November. They meet once a month. FINALLY this month she decided to take me along. And Tom. She took Tom along, too. It was his first time, too.

They meet somewhere different each month. This month they met at Bar Louie.

I enjoyed meeting so many new people. I enjoyed being exposed to a couple new drinks.

The whole atmosphere was festive and light and fun.

One of the Martini Club's mottoes is: Stay Classy.

Tammy did not.

Honest to God, why I go anywhere with that woman anymore is beyond me.

I'll only be with this family until December - it may take her that long to be able to face these people again. So I guess it's good that I was able to go this time.

She's kind of a disgrace.

To her credit, as Tom was basically carrying her out, she did make sure he'd grabbed me.

He had.

At least someone in this family has some sense.

Family Visit

I am sorry. Truly. This party started almost a month ago. I had good intentions of live-blogging on vacation, but there was something wrong with the connection thingy between the camera and the computer. Sorry if my explanation was too technical.

Without further ado:

I came out of my green box this time in Bethlehem, PA. The family was there for a double graduation party, and it ain't a party if it ain't got Pink, "Hoot! Hoot!"

The party started, for my family at least, with Yuengling and cheesesteaks. Now east coast folks don't tend to be too impressed with Yuengling, but where I am now, you can't get 'em. Everyone knows, if you can't get it, it's better than everything you can get. Same goes double for a good Philly cheesesteak on an Amoroso roll.


Of course I had to work off all that beer and cheesesteak. There might have been a Tastycake Krimpet or two involved, too. Not sayin', just sayin'.

After my workout, I took a walk around the grounds.

Lions and owls on stairs - oh my!

Having a ball, so far!

Ask not for whom the bell tolls...

A little rock climbing while the waterfall is in disrepair...

Hanging out with Hiawatha, whose eyes aren't scary at all. Nope. Not at all.

Fishing wasn't so good, but it's always nice to make new friends!

Sitting in tree branches is my favorite! Hootie Hoo!

Time to head in for the night. I played a little Chinese Checkers with Liv before turning in.

The next morning, I was told there would be chores.

Nothing heavy - just laid a little pipe...

Cleaned the toilets.

A little privacy, please!

Walked the dog.

And did the laundry.

Finally, I was told it was time for a swim.

I headed for the pool house...

And emerged ready for the water!

Chillin' with my peeps - er - um - ducks at the end of a long, happy day.

I'm glad we're coming back here in a couple months! I have a feeling that there are places here I didn't get a chance to explore...

What Would Luke Skywalker Do?

I got to go camping two weekends in a row, am I a lucky owl or what?

This time I was hootin' it up with the Bad Moms Club.

I was reunited with my valentine, the gnome.

I got to wear my own club shirt.

The Captain joined The Don for party time. The little gnome is cute, I guess, but he's not my gnomie...


I met some new friends - camping friends that live in Wendy's camper. There's little gnome again, and the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil monkeys. You might recognize the guy right next to me.

One of our fellow campers, however, did not.

She said, upon discovering all of Wendy's little camping friends, "I see a little gnome, and some monkeys, but who's the Star Wars guy?"

Um? Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who died on the cross to save us from our sins? That Star Wars guy?

The funniest part was that the woman who said it is arguably the most religious of them and inarguably the most church-going of them. Didn't recognize him out of context, I guess.

That could pretty easily lead me into a whole diatribe about the huge gap between spirituality and church, but I'm gonna let it drop. 'Cause there's probably a huge gap between spirituality and Jesus action figures, too. And I need to rest up for my next vacation.

How do You Say "Hootie Hoo" in Spanish?

The family celebrated Cinco de Mayo like many in the United States do: We went out for Mexican food and big ole margaritas. Apparently this is a holiday that is not extensively celebrated in Mexico, but in the United States it's been pretty much appropriated as a good excuse for a cocktail. I am not adverse to this, and actually think there should be more ethnic/cocktail oriented holidays. One owls opinion. Ahem.

The kids had virgin daiquiris that they said were super-yummy.


The grown ups had margaritas on the rocks. Me? I indulged in a little bit of everything.

The kids were tickled, because, as you can see in the picture, the table at which we were seated had an owl on it. I told them if you look hard enough, there are owls everywhere. Their association with me has just heightened their awareness.

I liked this restaurant - I fit in very well with their color scheme. In an era when even some fast food places are taking a stab at understated, it's refreshing to go somewhere that isn't afraid to be big and bold and out there. What's that you say? My digestion? Didn't affect it a bit.

Hootie Hoo, and Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Cleveland Rocks!

The kids in the house were on Spring Break this week so the family packed up and drove up to Cleveland for a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Now I've heard of Spring Break. I expected alcohol. I expected cute girls. I did NOT expect snow. And yet, snow we got. A couple flurries were flying around as we left Columbus. The sky got grayer the closer we got to Cleveland. Soon it was hard to find the horizon, as the land and the sky were monochromatic. Snow was sticking to the trees, ground, and parked cars. Spring Break, people!!! I had certain expectations!!!

Upon arriving in The Cleve, we went straight to the Hard Rock Cafe before checking into our hotel. We were hungry and it seemed like the right thing to do. A couple Pink drinks later, our moods had lifted. I tell ya: Pink makes everything better. Our waiter was awesome and attentive and said he'd stop by, so if he's reading, Hootie Hoo to you, sir!


The next morning we were off to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I really wanted to have my picture taken outside the Hall of Fame, because it is a cool building, but the snow was blowing horizontally when we arrived. It was cold and brutal and nobody wanted to futz around with pictures.


Unfortunately, pictures were only allowed in the lobby, so they're pretty limited, but here you have it. Pink's rockin' spring break. Owl's gone wild.

Here I am in front of a Neil Young Tribute Guitar

A tribute to rock and roll in general

RAMONE'S!!! Hey! Ho! Let's Go!

There was a special request for a picture of me in front of something "Billy Joel related". How lucky we were that one of Mr. Joel's old bikes was on display in the "photography allowed" lobby!


This is Jon Bon Jovi's bike. Sorry about the dreary quality of the picture. It was, as I said, quite the dreary day. Regarding Mr. Bon Jovi, the ladies in my host house say, "Secret squeeeee!" every time his name is mentioned. I take it they think he's cute or something. There is a family story that has to do with him. A couple years ago Tam was still putting love notes in the kids' lunches. Lea asked her to stop. She said they were embarrassing. Tam still wanted to express some love, so she started writing lyrics and rock and roll trivia on Lea's lunch bag. She checked out a "Today in Rock History" site run by, I believe, the very Rock and Roll Hall of Fame about which we're speaking today, so that she could give some historical significance to her notes. They were going to school, after all. One day - I think it might have been Richie Sambora's birthday - Tam wrote some Bon Jovi lyrics on Lea's lunch bag. But Lea forgot her lunch and Tam had to drop it off at school. Earning her the nickname, for the rest of the year, among all the office staff: "Bon Jovi Mom".

I bet she's been called worse.

The Wearin' O' The Green

As today was St. Patrick's Day, I donned my sparkly green hat and headed out for an afternoon (yes, I said afternoon) of green beer and all things Irish. I don't believe I have any Irish in my bloodline, but I'm told everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day, and that's good enough for me!

I drank a couple green beers.

Acquired some nifty new bling.

And made some new friends.

It was an extremely fun afternoon and I'm hoping there will be more like it. People paid a lot of attention to me, as they tend to do when I go out, and I have to admit: I really like the attention.

I was paying attention to what people were wearing. There were folks of all ages who went all out - like my friends pictured above. There was every shade of green imaginable. Some folks just wore a little, some folks wore it head to toe. There were folks stopping in on their lunch hour wearing subtle pistachio dress shirts or a tie with a single green strip running through it sitting next to folks who'd dyed their hair green and were wearing 2 foot tall beer mug hats. But they were all drinking beer at noon!

What a day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Pink's Excellent Island Adventure

When they started wrapping me up in my box, I'll admit, I was a little confused. Generally I only go in the box when it's time for me to be traded to my next family. Now I know sometimes the passage of time is difficult to judge, but I was pretty close to sure an entire year hadn't gone by already. Imagine my surprise when the box was opened and I felt warm island breezes blowing through my feathers! I had been taken on vacation!

I found myself on Goodland Island, a small island next to Marco Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Here are some photos of me on my most excellent adventure. I hope they warm you up a little bit, if it's cold where you are!

Putting on sunscreen before the boat ride to the beach. If this is my natural color, can you imagine what I'd look like with a sunburn?


Heading out of the canal and into the Gulf

Soaking up the rays


Buried in the sand


Minding my conch farm.


The full effect of the farm


Riding a golf cart around the island. Like the sign behind me says: You can't make this S$%# up.

I really like margaritaville...


Headed for home.

What an exciting adventure indeed!