Nine Years for Mortal Bloggers, Doomed to Not Post, or so it seems

Yesterday we celebrated the ninth anniversary of this humble blog in traditional fashion, i.e. by forgetting to post anything on the anniversary.

Various events have happened about which I hope to post at some point, including a review of some delightful Imperial IPAs (thanks Laura!) and a survivor's account of moving my mother out of the house where she had lived for fifty-one years. (Spoiler alert: no one got hurt and I only swore at Mom, directly, once. Also, once more, and with feeling, THANKS LAURA!)

In the meantime, please continue to enjoy the prose stylings of a blog certainly in the running for lowest ratio of posts to masthead members.

Now He is Six

Rock on, Bryan. Rock on. Happy Birthday!

Now We Are Six

Today is the sixth birthday of Potpourri for $500. Unlike last year we didn't stick the landing on a milestone for number of posts, and we've been a bit spotty of late (plus we haven't posted much), but we are still here and look forward to providing you with the latest on glacially-paced model railroad layout construction, rutabaga preparation, and the 2012 election. Wait, how did that last one get in there? Strike that.

Stick around - either you might learn something, or JCF will resurface. No, seriously, you might learn something.

Happy... Birthdaydear... BILL!!!

Today marks the completion of William Shatner's 80th trip around the sun. In tribute, here's some gifted amateur thespians, particularly Jason Alexander:



Now step aside for the Master Thespian:



And possibly the greatest (non-Esperanto) onscreen moment of a long and varied career:

Five Years, Six Bloggers, One Thousand Posts

It's true. Not only did Potpourri for $500 begin five years ago today, but this post, thanks to a gratuitous and cleverly named previous post, is Post Number One Thousand. How grand.

Many thanks to my co-bloggers, who are here somewhere, and to the readers and commenters who have taken time out from their busy lives to visit. If the latter have seen the former anywhere, please let them know that I miss them.

As part of the anniversary celebration, I have added a section called "Essence of Potpourri" on the upper right side of the page, featuring a couple collections of themed posts. I particularly recommend the Happy Hour posts by my colleague JWT as models of erudite hilarity. (Yes, it can be done.)

Coming soon: more rutabagas! Also layout updates (crossing fingers), rants from right, left and center, and anything else that lands on the corner of Inspiration Street and Spare Time Boulevard.

Face to Face with a Classic

As a late birthday present I was presented with an American icon as extrudedly delicious as it is venerable:



Not much has changed in 25 years, although my Cookie Puss had ice cream sandwiches for eyes instead of half-moon cookies. That could be a regional thing, as I just learned from that Wikipedia article that half-moons were invented by the same bakery from which friends of mine bought my semi-legendary 21st-birthday cake. Please join me in a heartfelt rendition of "Circle of Life."

Naturally this brought to mind the first Beastie Boys song I ever heard, from 25+ years ago as well:



As the man himself used to say, "Thank you for your support."

The Vacation Will Not Be Liveblogged

Greetings from Iceland, where Laura and I have celebrated my birthday in style. Volcanoes, glaciers and waterfalls, oh my!

Birthday wishes also to my mom. Obviously I was her best present.

Hopefully He'll Have the Decency to Wait Until Pam Anderson Gets Voted Off DWTS

What better way to celebrate Laura's birthday than the gift of David Hasselhof's return to soap opera stardom?

I know, I know. He shouldn't have.

Happy Birthday anyway, Sweetie!