The famed Monte Cristo eating contest

The prepartion was arduous. The event was even more so. As with most things I am a legend in my own mind. I was running pretty high after winning the event last year (I ate 2 3/4 sandwiches in five minutes). For those of you who don't know, there is an annual St. Patrick's Day Monte Cristo eating contest at the Bennigan's in Plymouth, Michigan. I was determined to win it this year. I am not quite sure why I care but I suppose it is something to do. There is a prize of $250 that goes to the winner, and in my best Viper from Top Gun voice, "There are no points for second place." I drank 128oz of water on Friday in preparation. Prior to the start I wasn't feeling that good but I was rather hungry. I thought that I would best my record from last year but as fate would have it that was not the case.


Last year there were four people (including myself) in the contest. This year there were ten (again, including myself). Between the increased competition and the fact I wasn't feeling that great I was not very confident. This year they started each contestant out with eight pieces (each 1/4 of a sandwich) on their plate. After the contest I found out that they based that on how many I ate last year. A little over three mintues into the contest I was getting refills. Some of the pieces had just come out of the fryer and were very, very hot (my mouth still feels burned). I suppose I did slack a bit during the contest as I actually stopped at one point and kept raising my hands to get the crowd cheering. As it turns out all of my worry was for naught. I ended up eating nine pieces in five minutes with the next closest coming in at eight (the same as the closest last year). I retained my title and will be back next year to defend it.

The call

On my way home last night I got a call. "Do you want the good news or the bad news?" I asked for the good news. "The house didn't get damaged." And the bad news? "You know the giant pine tree by your pond? It got snapped off at the base and missed your house by a few inches, literally." As it turns out, it wasn't actually at the base. It was a couple of feet up. On the upside, if anyone knows someone who could use some pine to build something I have wood available.

I only heard one song from the office singer yesterday....Crazy by Seal.

Special request

Someone asked me why I hadn't posted something about my beard on my blog. I gave the person the story but for those of you who haven't heard it, here it is. It started off with not having enough time to shave for a few days. I liked the scruffy look so I let it go a little longer. Two weeks (or so) into it I thought about shaving it but decided to let it grow so I could avoid coming up with some reason why I only shave every two weeks. Then (the beginning of December) it was getting cold so I thought I would keep it through the winter. I may extend it a few months until I get my Lotus.

In other news there is a person in the office who likes to sing. I decided to start keeping track of the songs. For some time Mr. Brightside by the Killers was a favorite. Yesterday the songs I heard were:

Abba - Dancing Queen
Green Day - Basket Case
Minnie Ripperton - Loving You (Is Easy Because You're Beautiful)
Unknown - Bah, Bah Black Sheep (Have You Any Wool?)
Unknown - Knick, Knack, Paddy Whack (This Old Man)
Chicago - Feeling Stronger Everyday
Rick Springfield - Jesse's Girl
Ernie (from Sesame Street) - Rubber Ducky

More pictures

Quarterly update

Since January I have gone on a couple of trips for art-related business (Miami in January) and New Orleans this past weekend. Miami was nice. I stayed right on the beach in what is quite possibly the worst hotel ever. On the upside it was only $69/night, so what do you expect? New Orleans is just as dirty as I remember. It was odd seeing a waterline four feet up a building in a downtown setting. There will be a couple of places open then a couple of places closed. Then there are the large chain stores that look like they have been looted (everything in the Virgin Music store was gone, down to the fixtures). I went to the zoo Sunday (the pictures are below). I got the camel pictures just for Moe!