31 December 2013
30 December 2013
28 December 2013
26 December 2013
25 December 2013
24 December 2013
A Christmas Eve Story
There are a few things that are more-or-less given at the holiday season. One is that you will get socks and underwear from your grandparents (if you are lucky enough to still have them around to give you gifts), another is that someone is bound to wax nostalgic for the movie A Christmas Story, and one is that every theater guild in the world, and television station will insist on totting out Dickens in one or more of its incarnations. To that short, but inevitable, list I wish to add the perennial return of The Bergquist Christmas Eve Story. Perhaps one day this will be as loved/reviled (take your pick) as any other holiday "classic."
I have told this story to friends and family for years and even posted it on my blog a few times. Every year, someone asks me to tell the story again, and every year I get emails asking if I am going to post the story again to my blog. The answer to both questions is "yes." So, here it is.
The presentation of the story this year is dedicated to the memory of my recently departed father.
I'll Be Home For Christmas
I'll Be Home for Christmas
by Kim Gannon, Walter Kent & Buck Ram
Dreaming of home at this Christmas time
Even more than I usually do
And although I know it's a long road back
I promise you
I'll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light gleams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams
Wherever you are today, I wish you a lovely and happy Christmas with your family!
Donald J. Bergquist - December 24, 2013 - Lakewood, Colorado
22 December 2013
21 December 2013
Winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere)
“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.” –Steve Martin
Winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere)
20 December 2013
19 December 2013
18 December 2013
16 December 2013
15 December 2013
13 December 2013
12 December 2013
09 December 2013
08 December 2013
07 December 2013
06 December 2013
05 December 2013
04 December 2013
03 December 2013
02 December 2013
01 December 2013
30 November 2013
29 November 2013
28 November 2013
27 November 2013
25 November 2013
23 November 2013
22 November 2013
21 November 2013
20 November 2013
19 November 2013
18 November 2013
17 November 2013
16 November 2013
14 November 2013
12 November 2013
11 November 2013
08 November 2013
07 November 2013
05 November 2013
04 November 2013
03 November 2013
02 November 2013
01 November 2013
Today's Memories Are Drawn On The Dreams Of Yesterday!
Wherever you are today, I hope the memories you're making for tomorrow are excellent ones!
Don Bergquist - November 01, 2013 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA
31 October 2013
30 October 2013
26 October 2013
25 October 2013
24 October 2013
23 October 2013
Oxymorons
ox·y·mo·ron (äksəˈmôrˌän)
noun
1. a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction
(e.g. Cautiously Exuberant, Cruel Kindness, Deafening Silence, Jumbo Shrimp)
[via New Latin from Greek oxumōron, from oxus sharp + mōros stupid]
noun: oxymoron; adj: oxymoronic; adv: oxymoronically
22 October 2013
21 October 2013
108 Days
After a near miss on a plane
You swear you'll never fly again
After the first kiss when you make up
You swear you'll never break up again
And when you've just run a red light
Sit shaking under the street light
You swear to yourself you'll never drink and drive again
“Four Minutes”
by
Roger Waters
20 October 2013
19 October 2013
18 October 2013
17 October 2013
16 October 2013
15 October 2013
14 October 2013
13 October 2013
12 October 2013
Annual Korkowski Cousin's Lunch
Bella's on Broadway
523 Broadway St
Alexandria, Minnesota, 56308
United States of America
 |
| 2012 Cousins' Lunch |
11 October 2013
10 October 2013
09 October 2013
08 October 2013
07 October 2013
06 October 2013
05 October 2013
04 October 2013
Taken For A Ride: A Political Fairy Tale
Today's blog post was written by a friend of mine who sent me the following political fairy tale.
Enjoy!
Once upon a time, a school board by a narrow vote approved the purchase of a new bus to get kids to school who previously could not get there. And this approval was signed by the highest authority and then reaffirmed by a panel of judges as being within the purview of the school board to purchase.
01 October 2013
30 September 2013
There has been a recent resurgence of stories about how the UN is trying to ban guns in the US. Apparently, according to the most recent revival of the canard that somehow our participation in the UN Arms Trafficking Treaty will be used to circumvent the Second Amendment and prevent gun owners from legally exercising their right to keep and bear arms. It also goes so far as to suggest that somehow the Executive Branch has no legal right to sign treaties. What!? This newest incarnation is wrong on more levels than ever before.
28 September 2013
27 September 2013
26 September 2013
25 September 2013
24 September 2013
23 September 2013
A Drive In The Mountains
Okay - enough already with the guns and the violence and the like - how about we talk about something lovely instead of something horrid! It is time to talk about something far more serene and tranquil! Autumn in the Rockies!
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| Cattle Drive Near Grant, Colorado |
22 September 2013
Here's A Shocker For You (NOT!)
Wayne LaPierre from the NRA once again went onto the national media to give voice once again that the solution to the gun violence of the past week is to get MORE guns on the streets.
21 September 2013
One-A-Day!?
Yesterday, on my facebook page, I posed the comment I posed here about the proliferation of mass shootings. Last night while catching-up on my back issues of The Daily Show, Jon Steward said something that I had a hard time believing. He claimed that there was - on average - one mass-shooting per day.
20 September 2013
Morning News
The first story I heard this morning was about the shooting in the Chicago park. My heart goes out to the victims and families. That was my first reaction. I have to ask though, that my second thought was of a story I saw this week where an NRA spokesperson blamed the DC Naval Yard shootings not on guns but on the fact that the shooter had a security pass to get onto the navy yard.
19 September 2013
18 September 2013
17 September 2013
16 September 2013
Talking About The Weather
"Everybody Talks About the Weather, But Nobody Does Anything About It."
~ Often attributed (perhaps erroneously) to Mark Twain
15 September 2013
14 September 2013
12 September 2013
11 September 2013
09 September 2013
08 September 2013
07 September 2013
06 September 2013
05 September 2013
04 September 2013
03 September 2013
02 September 2013
01 September 2013
31 August 2013
29 August 2013
28 August 2013
27 August 2013
26 August 2013
24 August 2013
23 August 2013
22 August 2013
20 August 2013
19 August 2013
18 August 2013
17 August 2013
16 August 2013
15 August 2013
Why Is *This* News?
For everyone who cried "foul" when the Washington
Post was sold to Jeff Bezos, worrying that selling a newspaper to the creator
of Amazon.com would mean the end of news as we know it, I have two words to
say: "Too Late."
Today's screed is brought to you courtesy of the local CBS
station who, this morning in the "news" ran a two-minute-long
commercial for a sporting goods store. They, of course, didn't call it a commercial;
not, the treated it as if it was somehow newsworthy. But I was left wondering
why the story was "news."
Being familiar with the industry: having a degree in
Broadcast Production and thirty-years of experience in broadcasting, I can only
say that if they weren't being paid for all the time, then they are idiots!
Even the weather forecast mentioned the name of this sporting goods store and
indicating that the people that had been interviewed in the previous
"news" item were at the right place because of "all that great
camping gear at great prices" that the sporting goods store had.
I have mentioned product placement (thinly veiled
commercials in programming content) before and said that I really dislike it…
It takes time away from the coverage of actual news and it marks a departure of
when broadcasters used to have to actually cover the news in their communities
in order to keep their licenses. But this story made no pretense at news
whatsoever! At 05:30 this morning they interviewed two idiots who had sat
outside the store all night and were waiting to be the first people into the store.
To be clear, I only call these guys idiots because with the
effusion of gushed admiration they spewed for this store, if they weren't being
paid they should have demanded spokesperson fees (and unless the rules have
changed and I missed it – that is still illegal – you have to at least pretend
that your news is news and not commercials). The whole story was about how
great the store was, how much exciting merchandise they have, and what a great
place to shop it is.
It could have been so easy to pretend that the story was newsworthy.
All it would have taken to give this commercial a veneer of newsworthiness
would have been to waste half-a-minute of the commercial – uh, news – time to
mention something newsworthy, say that the opening of the store created jobs;
at least one assumes that the opening of the store. But the entire 05:30 story
was about how great it was to have a new store and what great gear they
carried. C'mon, Channel 4! WHY IS THIS NEWS!?
Wherever you are today I hope all your news is good news.
Don Bergquist – August 15, 2013 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA
14 August 2013
13 August 2013
11 August 2013
10 August 2013
08 August 2013
07 August 2013
04 August 2013
02 August 2013
01 August 2013
31 July 2013
24 July 2013
23 July 2013
22 July 2013
15 July 2013
12 July 2013
10 July 2013
Teddy Bears' Picnic Day
The Teddy Bear's Picnic
by
Henry Hall
If you go down in the woods today you're sure of a big surprise
If you go down in the woods today you'd better go in disguise
For every bear that ever there was will gather there for certain
Because today's the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic
Every Teddy Bear who's been good is sure of a treat today
There's lots of marvelous things to eat and wonderful games to play
Beneath the trees where nobody sees they'll hide and seek as long as they please
That's the way the Teddy Bears have their picnic
Picnic time for Teddy Bears
The little Teddy Bears are having a lovely time today
Watch them, catch them unawares and see them picnic on their holiday
See them gaily gad about
They love to play and shout
They never have any cares
At six o'clock their Mummies and Daddies will take them home to bed
'Cause they're tired little Teddy Bears
If you go down in the woods today you better not go alone
It's lovely down in the woods today but safer to stay at home
For every bear that ever there was will gather there for certain
Because today's the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic
08 July 2013
07 July 2013
06 July 2013
04 July 2013
01 July 2013
Frost Lake Has Been Updated
Please take a look and let me know your opinion!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Don Bergquist - July 01, 2013 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA
30 June 2013
You're Not Leaving Without Me AGAIN, Are You!?
There is no way to miss the accusatory looks! She gives me them whenever the suit cases come out and the packing frenzy begins.
29 June 2013
26 June 2013
25 June 2013
24 June 2013
23 June 2013
20 June 2013
Again With The Birds?
My Uncle Dick tells the story of seeing a bird (a dove?) that followed his tractor as he was plowing the fields the day after my mom's funeral. The bird simple followed along as he drove the fields in the tractor. He had been thinking of my mother, and there it was. After following his progress, staying more-or-less even with him. It was a bit of a gloomy day, and when the clouds started breaking, the bird finally flew off. He described it as a very peaceful feeling.
19 June 2013
Denny Bergquist 1934 - 2013
Denis was born on May 26, 1934 in Little Falls,
Minnesota. He grew-up on a farm northeast of Parkers Prairie, attended Parkers
Prairie High School and studied engineering at the University of Minnesota, and
worked on road construction projects as a part of the Civilian Conservation
Corps.
18 June 2013
"...If You Think You Love Him Now..."
Yesterday I had the honor of escorting my stepmother, Flo, as she ran some errands that needed to be done in prep for the funeral. I am surprised that I had never heard this story before, but knowing the person involved, I can believe this entirely!
17 June 2013
16 June 2013
Happy Father's Day
Dad was alive, we had gone to his church so he could give confession, and go to mass. Then he wanted to stop in the park. We drove up to the top of the hill where we saw this scarlet tanager. We didn't stay long, because Dad tired so quickly in those final days. But he was in complete bliss as he stared out over the park he had helped to preserve and expand. I wonder, now, if he didn't know that this would be the last time he would see it. I am happy that his last drive was with me. I am glad to have had the time so share with my father.
Wherever you are today, I hope that you have not let any opportunities you have to spend time with your father pass you by!
Don Bergquist - June 16, 2013 - Kensington, Minnesota, USA
Best Laid Plans...
On of the lessons that my dad taught me was that not every thing you plan comes to pass. And just because you don't get what you plan for, it doesn't mean you don't get what you need.
15 June 2013
Driving East
By the time this posts today, I will be driving east, about four hours of road behind me, another ten-or so to go. Just me, my music, my podcasts, and my thoughts for the better part of a day-and-a-half to think about all the wonderful memories I had of my Dad.
14 June 2013
In Memoriam
My sister called me from my parents' home in Minnesota this
morning. Dad passed away as he slept this morning. At the end, he was where he
wanted to be, at his home in Kensington, Minnesota. I am informed that he
was not in pain.
13 June 2013
12 June 2013
11 June 2013
09 June 2013
08 June 2013
06 June 2013
05 June 2013
04 June 2013
what really I R (k) S me...
Good
morning, readers! Please pardon my relative silence over the past few weeks. I
have been far too busy to really irked by anything. Even the things that should
have sent me into fits of righteous indignation have gone uncommented. But this
IRS “Scandal” has me so baffled that I have to ask you, my readers, to explain
something to me.
03 June 2013
02 June 2013
31 May 2013
28 May 2013
27 May 2013
26 May 2013
21 May 2013
Second Anniversary Of "The Rapture"
Does everyone else remember the rapture when all the righteous people were lifted bodily into heaven? No? Yeah, they wouldn't take me either!
Does everyone else remember the rapture when all the righteous people were lifted bodily into heaven? No? Yeah, they wouldn't take me either!
20 May 2013
18 May 2013
Armed Forces Day
Best wishes to all our men and women in uniform! Thanks for the job you do and here's wishing you a safe return to your home and loved ones.
16 May 2013
14 May 2013
12 May 2013
09 May 2013
07 May 2013
05 May 2013
04 May 2013
01 May 2013
28 April 2013
27 April 2013
25 April 2013
22 April 2013
20 April 2013
15 April 2013
Style Is In The Eye Of the Beholder
I have to say that I am surprised at all the sloppy
reporting being done on the change to the AP Style Guide! Their recent change
to the wording regarding "illegal immigrant" has me, quite amused.
14 April 2013
13 April 2013
10 April 2013
08 April 2013
04 April 2013
01 April 2013
31 March 2013
30 March 2013
29 March 2013
26 March 2013
24 March 2013
23 March 2013
First Day Of Spring
Congratulations to my readers, Cathy and Dan who (in that order) came in First and Second in the "Spot The Error Contest."
21 March 2013
20 March 2013
17 March 2013
15 March 2013
14 March 2013
10 March 2013
07 March 2013
06 March 2013
04 March 2013
What Is The Opposite Of ‘Indian Summer?’
According to Wikipedia, aheat wave that occurs in the autumn. The phrase refers to a period of considerably
above-normal temperatures, accompanied by dry and hazy conditions, usually
after there has been a killing frost. Depending on latitude and elevation, it
can occur in the Northern Hemisphere between late September and mid November.
02 March 2013
01 March 2013
28 February 2013
27 February 2013
25 February 2013
Politenglish
Not since the Oakland Board Of Education recognized Ebonics
as an official language has a new language designation been bestowed on such a
pervasive and worthy language as is the case today. Due to the snowstorm this
weekend I had an opportunity to watch news to my heart's content this Sunday
and I had an earth-shattering realization. It is not that the talking heads
were lying, they were simply not speaking English as we, the non-political
mouthpieces, do.
23 February 2013
22 February 2013
19 February 2013
18 February 2013
17 February 2013
16 February 2013
15 February 2013
14 February 2013
12 February 2013
11 February 2013
10 February 2013
08 February 2013
04 February 2013
03 February 2013
02 February 2013
Travelogue: London - More Waiting
Sitting on the plane waiting for
them to open the doors. The flight was good. I finished the book I was reading.
I watched a couple movies, and I have all my ducks in a row to fly through
customs – assuming there is no line.
Travelogue: London - Waiting
For such a lovely airport they
really do not have their act on the ball! I had to go through three lines to
check in for my flight and then another two to clear security. Granted, the
first three were not, strictly speaking, the fault of the airport – no that was
due to two officious tossers who work for British Airways! As I have time to
kill before my flight, I might as well tell you all about it…
Travelogue: London - Departure
My packing was concluded the night
before last. Everything that I need at home was in my suitcases other than what
I wore to work yesterday (which I packed last night), my PJs and toiletries
(this morning), and what I am now wearing. Yes, I can be a bit fastidious, but
as I see it: That is planning for you! I am a planner.
01 February 2013
Travelogue: London - Underground Sounds
The hum from some car ahead of me
in the train that is disconcerting in its cheeriness. The repetitive “thump,
thump, rattle, rattle.” The occasional flash-BOOM! And the sound of music
coming from the iPod the woman at the other end of the car is listening to. The
announcement: “We apologize for the inconvenience. This train is holding to
allow for the departure of the train on the platform at Queens Park.”
31 January 2013
Travelogue: London - Poetic Justice
Those of you who know me know that
I am the last to think ill of anyone. (Or to paraphrase Douglas Adams: If I am
not the Very Last, I did so as recently as this morning…)
30 January 2013
Travelogue: London - And In Health
Okay, the rant yesterday was
because one of my coworkers had to be coaxed into staying home when they were
sick and not passing it to the rest of us. I was suffering a bit of a frog in
my throat, but that was only because I missed my allergy pill yesterday morning
and, until found I still had some in my briefcase, I was suffering – but at
least I was suffering in a purely non-contagious way.
29 January 2013
28 January 2013
27 January 2013
Travelogue: London - Camden Town
One of the many places that
visitors to my home in Surrey wanted to visit when I was living here was Camden
Town. I had heard of Camden Town and the Camden Town Locks, I had even visited
them back in 2004 during my first visit here as a part of the tour of places
that I took based on Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently novels. But the markets never
impressed me.
26 January 2013
Travelogue: London – Not Seeing London
Well, It was a lovely day… But
that was the morning. The clouds started to build around lunch time. Then the
rain came; a drizzly, drippy, cold and sloppy mess! On an afternoon like that, there
is nothing for it but to curl-up with a few friends and a roaring fire; a place
to be catered to among friends.
Travelogue: London - Seeing London
It's Saturday and my colleagues have all made their plans. In a limited way, they overlap with mine. The
weather gods have grinned on us and are allowing us the favor of an absolutely beautiful day. The sun is out; the skies are a nearly cloudless blue. It is a great day to get out there and see some of the sights.
25 January 2013
Travelogue: London - Turkish Food
With the classes over, and my
entire team collocated for the first time since the team was established, we
decided to celebrate and go out to dinner at a Turkish restaurant. (Another
ethnicity with which I was previously unfamiliar...)
24 January 2013
Travelogue: London - Right As Rain
The forecast was, at least in that
one respect, accurate! They had been saying for a couple days that the snow
would be quitting some time around sunset to be replaced by rain shortly
thereafter. I do not know when, exactly, things switched over, but by the time
I left the office it was, indeed, raining.
23 January 2013
Travelogue: London - Snow
I do not remember it EVER being
this bad for this long here! Granted, I only lived here for a few short years,
but still! It has been cold, wet, and miserable here for the past four days! I
do not believe that I have seen the sun since shortly before landing at
Heathrow back on Sunday morning. Add to that the very short days this time of
year and it makes it a lot easier to understand Seasonal Affective Disorder!
22 January 2013
Travelogue: London - Dining
The neighborhood we are staying in
(on the border of Kilburn and Maida Vale) has changed a bit since last I was
here. I had to look this up, but it has actually been about a year! The nice
little gastro-pub in the next block is now a night club of some sort; at least,
I assume that it is a night club. I have never actually seen it in use, but
then I do not go out late in the evenings as much as once I did.
21 January 2013
Travelogue: London - Snowfall
I've seen worse, but the city is
practically at a stand-still! But, then, this is London and THIS is how they
react to weather. It took us nearly two hours to get to the hotel from the
airport yesterday morning. The trains and busses were running disrupted
schedules, and the car service had to deal with the snarls of traffic that were
the impact of 1/2" of snow that fell throughout the morning hours.
 |
| London Snow Bunnies |
20 January 2013
Travelogue: London - Sleep
Well, it seemed like a good idea
at the time. Of course, after years of making this trip, you've have thought
that I might know better. I should have taken the experience of years as fact
and just given-in to the fact that I cannot sleep on planes.
19 January 2013
Travelogue: London - Time Dilation
I understand the artificial sense of time dilation that
flying give me... and it's not just the flying through the time zones that I am
talking about... it's the comparison to other forms
of travel that caught my attention. Allow me to explain…
Double-Take Redeaux
Okay, I promised that I would not
do anything more about Gun Control Today’s rant is about illegal immigration.
Here’s a short one for you: What is so wrong about calling an illegal immigrant
an “illegal immigrant?”
18 January 2013
Double Speak – Double Standard – Double Take
Okay, this is my last second
amendment column for a while (I PROMISE!!!) but I just heard a news report this
morning that I need to comment on. The cognitive dissonance it set-up in my
mind was interesting because the speaker seemed to be completely oblivious to
the logical false equivalence he was drawing. The double-standard it drew on
was so deliciously dissonant that I had to rewind it to make sure I had not
imagined it!
17 January 2013
16 January 2013
15 January 2013
14 January 2013
Mr. Smith Is Rolling In His Grave!
The big news this weekend was the attempt by the majority in the Senate to limit the use of the filibuster. All the stories referenced the movie Mr. Smith Goes To Washington and all of them talked about how the filibuster had been used hundreds of times recently to prevent the senate from doing practically anything.
National Dress Up Your Pet Day
(The kennel I use - Best Friends Pet Care in Wheatridge, Colorado - dresses-up Saga for me...)
(The kennel I use - Best Friends Pet Care in Wheatridge, Colorado - dresses-up Saga for me...)
13 January 2013
Photo Book
Click here to view this photo book larger
You'll love Shutterflys award-winning photo books. Try it today.
11 January 2013
10 January 2013
09 January 2013
08 January 2013
07 January 2013
The USA Under The FSM
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...
06 January 2013
05 January 2013
04 January 2013
03 January 2013
02 January 2013
01 January 2013
Resolutions
Wahoo! I will have to do some
research, but I think this may be a personal best! It is nearly noon January
first and I have yet to break any of my New Year's resolutions! Yippee!
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