dear reader...

...apologies to you...I was in Arkansas. A few observations while there:

Upon seeing the 'Arvest' bank, I thought there was an alphabet thief in town - this week's letter being 'H' (16 weeks from now is going to be a bitch for him...). After seeing the 3rd branch of the same name, I realized there was no thief (nor was I in 'H'arkansas... Toto).

I was in Rogers. I took note of the surrounding town names - it seems there is no 'Big Rock' to bookend the capital, but there was 'Little Flock'. Grandma K was born just around the bend is Goshen, right next to Pea Ridge, and Sam Walton's hometown of Bentonville is up the road (a piece).

Everyone seemed nice, especially after I found espresso at Kennedy's and raw fish at 'Sushi Cafe' (home of the 'Walmart Dynamite Roll') . The even had a 'mo at the hotel front desk. HBO seemed to be 25 hrs behind in this time zone & one guy joked that Monday Night Football was on Tuesdays 'in these here parts', but who needs TV when Branson MO is just over the border? (Dolly even has her own southern showcase restaurant there, where you can enjoy the strangely Buffalo Bill-like 'Dixieland' exploits of the performers in antebellum drag in the center ring while enjoying a 5-course meal - seemingly counting the tartar sauce as a course).

The news had a special 'hail' report - twice ('We had golf ball in X, quarter in Y, and Z had nickel-sized hail last night.').

There's a lot of sports loyalty here; not the least of which is manifested in the 'Razorback Roller Rink'. I'm almost sad I won't be here on 'S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!' Almost.

There are more tattoos here than I would have guessed, but there are more teeth, too.

Rogers is dry town, but that just means that you have to sign into a big 'registry' when you walk into a restaurant with a bar. There were several 'John Does' and 'Sam Adams' dining with me that night (and I'll bet they didn't know they were dining with 'Sam Walton'.) I wonder what happens to that registry when it's 'full up'...

While waiting in the XNA airporton Thursday, I consumed the NYT. Sheikha Khaddouri, Iraqi parlamentarian, was killed Wed by several gunshots to the head at her front gate. The article was illustrated with a photo of the aftermath. In it, several men stood in front of the gate, a garden hose snaking into the yard behind them. They washed her away before they took in the photo, but left the hose.

Jammy Awards were given out Wed night in NYC - for rock improvisors. Now...what to call accolades for best nightclothes...?

While still in the airport lounge, I added to my list of 'things I don't want to overhear my pilot saying'...'just like with a new car, a plane takes awhile to get all the kinks out...' I hope he meant the windshield wipers...