San Bernardino Accomodations

This is the shed I lived in in Gina's back yard in San Bernardino. It actually wasn't too uncomfortable, though it would get very hot in the summer. I had electricity and cable. Gina and her family were great.  I'd try to help out where I could and lived cheaply as sort of a Kato Kaelin type.

Bed.

TV and microwave.

I bought a big rug at walmart and it fit the floor perfectly as a carpet.

This was not a great time in my life, but for living in a shed, it wasn't terrible.

Found Object

Karate napkins - for karate parties.

Found karate napkin.

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Feb. 4, 2004]

Poem for the Wayward Whales

The wayward whales were wandering west.

Wayward.

Way wayward.

[Originally posted on The Real World...Blogger Style!, Sep. 3, 2005]

Gooey Looey

Still Life: Frog leg bone with a piece of gooey looey.
Courtesy of Ross Frank.

Gooey Looey is what we called the sealant on one of Herb's grain silos. 
We'd pick it off and play with it. Sometimes we'd chew on it for a spell.

Jonnie Greeter

Welcoming people to the mall while standing on a trash can in the late 1980s.

Jonnie Good Times.

Pig Roaster

I don’t have much to say that is good about San Bernardino, but I loved this graphic which was painted on the outside wall of a barbecue place during my time there, 2000-2002.

Pig Roaster.

[Originally posted on Rebel Leady Boy, Aug. 10, 2005]

Paper Uderwear

I don't endorse many products, but cheap, disposable, paper underwear from L.A.'s chinatown is an exception.

$1.75 for a 5-pack and that will get you through a work week.

It also looks hilarious when you wear it because it's see-through.
It's also surprisingly just as comfortable, if not more so, than cloth underwear.

I've test-worn them a few times, but consider them mainly a novelty item.
I still have some if anybody wants any.

Caesar & Sarah receiving the gift of paper underwear for Christmas.

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Mar. 27, 2004]

Just Passing Through

Water slide through the aquarium, Las Vegas, 2012.

Quack!

Went out back to smoke and discovered a mother duck and her babies have moved into Brandee and Matt's swimming pool:

Ducks in the pool.

Once in the pool, though, it looked like the babies were too small to get out:

Too little.

So, we rigged up a ramp for them:

Duckling ramp.

And everybody made it out okay:

Resolution.

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, May 23, 2004]

Batman Cinnamon Twists @ Taco Bell

In 1989, Taco Bell promoted the Batman movie with cinnamon twists.

I held on to this packaging until digital technology made it feasible to scan it.

Anti-Rape Technology

Hey, I've had this book for a few years -

[American Sex Machines: The Hidden History of Sex at the U.S. Patent Office by Hoag Levins. 1996. Adams Media Corp. Holbrook Mass.] - It's a collection of patents for sex gadgetry.

My favorite section is Chapter 13 - "Anti-Rape Technology" which includes a pretty remarkable selection of protective vaginal inserts that are all much more horrifying than extra-vaginal chastity belt/armor patents -

Here's George Vogel's basic vaginally-inserted spike (1977).

George Vogel's anti-rape vaginal spike (1977).

This one makes me cringe. Well, the all do, but so does this one:

Alston Levesque's "penis locking and lacerating vaginal insert." Those things on the side are RAZORS! (1977):

Alston Levesque's penis locking and lacerating vaginal insert (1977).

This one's interesting - Charles Barlow's vaginal harpoon tube (in 1 & 3 prong models - 1979):

Charles Barlow's vaginal harpoon tubes (1979).

And for the girl with everything - Dirk Coetzee's "spring powered vaginal spike" (1979) which actually LAUNCHES a spike INTO the invading penis:

Dirk Coetzee's spring-powered vaginal spike (1979).

I'd be careful removing that one.

There are more, but these are the highlights.

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Apr. 21, 2004]

What's Your Favorite Book?

Here's mine:

Naked On Roller Skates.

I confess I've never read this book, I might ILL it. The 17 comments in the original post led to a lively discussion of WorldCat availability in California and the author Maxwell Bodenheim who was a Communist sympathizer and who, along with his wife, was brutally murdered by a crazy friend of theirs. Not the life you would expect for the author of such a light and carefree sounding book.

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, June 27, 2004]

Y2K

Photos of people on the Las Vegas strip, New Years, 2000. A lot of people thought civilization was going to end because of Y2K. 

New Years 2000, Las Vegas Strip.

My apartment manager suggested parking in reverse and loading the trunk with supplies, so I wouldn't have to back my car out if civilization fell apart. I could just get in and go.  I put a couple of cases of beer in the trunk just to humor him.

All the Y2K pressure sort of made it a shitty New Year.

AC/DC Cash

AC/DC cash that was dropped on the crowd during "Money Talks." 

Sep. 7, 1986 : Fort Wayne, Indiana (Allen County War Memorial Coliseum)

Great show. SO loud. I woke up the next morning for school and my ears were still ringing. I was worried they were permanently damaged. It was probably the cannons during, "For Those About To Rock." I was toward the front of the stage. Great, great show. I went with a couple of guys I worked with at McDonalds.

Front.

Back.

Addendum:  I asked ChatGPT for a caption describing this AC/DC money:

1. "With AC/DC's fake money from 'Who Made Who' tour, you're not just a fan, you're a financial forecaster—ready to make it rain 'Hell's Bells' at any moment!"

2. "Thirty-five years of preserving AC/DC's faux fortune? That's the kind of dedication that ensures when you make it rain, it's not just currency; it's a 'Highway to Hell' downpour of rock 'n' roll riches!"

1. 
   

Cheap Video Reviews: Get Christie Love

Get Christie Love.

DVD. 1975.
I picked this up at the 99 Cent Store and had pretty high expectations which it did not live up to.
Get Christie Love was shot in 1975 and it really has all the indications of a made for TV movie, rather than a theatrical release. There are frequent fade-outs that just beg for a commercial break. 

Aside from the gritty intro, the rest of the movie feels like filler. There isn't much of a story line, it's just Christie Love trying to find a drug lord's "ledger" which records all his contacts and shipment times & places

Gritty opening scene.

The film's various "detective work" scenarios seem more an excuse to show Christie in different outfits and interacting with different people from various walks of life. There isn't much to the story and most of the scenes could be dropped and it wouldn't hurt the story at all. I actually dozed off about half way through and had to watch the 2nd half later.

I also think this film was made during the height of the 70s Kung-Fu craze. In one scene, the drug lords are watching a Chinese karate movie and the leader comments, "Let me tell you about Japan, it's going to take over the world with its transistors and now these movies."

Captain Riorden.

Anyway, Christie Love is a cop, though as the film opens, the viewer thinks she's a hooker because she's undercover.

Christie's main companion in this film is her supervisor, Captain Riorden. While part of the establishment, Capt. Riorden is also hip for his age. He smokes cigarettes constantly and occasionally reveals a subtle tendency toward grooviness in his personality which comes out occasionally when he gets worked up and says stuff like, "You dig?"

Capt. Riorden & Christie Love, you dig?

Capt. Riorden is also pro-sex. He is scrupulously professional in his dealings with Christie Love, except for when they're not on a case. Then he constantly attempts to get in her panties.

Outside Christie Love's apartment.

In one scene, he takes Christie Love out to a restaurant called "The Broken Drum - You Can't Beat It". Then he walks her home and tries to talk her into letting him into her apartment for a drink, but Christie Love is a good girl at heart and never gives in. Captain Riorden is no smooth talker and he doesn't even try to be. He just says, "Can I come in for a drink?" which isn't a very charming thing to hear (especially from your boss).

Christie Love in Florida.

The first totally unnecessary scene is when Capt. Riorden sends Christie Love to Florida. He wants her to find something out about who might have the Drug Lord's shipment ledger.

Mingling with the locals.

Surprisingly, Christie actually locates the Drug Lord's main lady (they are staying in the same hotel)! And then Christie Love just blatantly asks her where the drug lord keeps his ledger of contacts and shipment times/locations! Needless to say, the lady doesn't tell her.

In the next scene, she is back home in the police office and Capt. Riorden can't believe she just asked where the ledger was. He takes her off the case and puts her on "the pick pocket force" as punishment.

Chewed out by the boss.

Christie's response is to call the head of the pick pocket force and tell him she's sick. She then puts on a metal-studded denim jacket and matching skin-tight pants and goes out on more "detective work."

I couldn't follow exactly what she was doing or looking for here, the main interest is just watching Christie Love out on the streets. To gain entry into a wealthy home, she flashes her badge at a maid, who comments in disbelief, "Are you jivin' me??"

Are you jivin' me?

All we really learn over the next 45 minutes is that Christie Love is a straight cop and she is cool, but not uptight. Instead of arresting a teenager for smoking marijuana, Christie Love just advises her, "I'd cool it with the grass".

There's some cool footage of an AA meeting in the mid-70s and Christie Love eats a HUGE plate full of spaghetti for dinner and has a fish named Clarence.

That's about as interesting as it gets, even Christie Love's and Capt. Riorden's sexual tension is boring. In one scene, they are in a criminal's house and while Capt. Riorden is sitting on the guy's bed, Christie Love turns a switch which starts playing jungle drums and flashing groovy lights over the bed:

Christie Love: "Turn you on?"
Capt. Riorden: "Turn you on?"
Christie Love: "You're a regular Don Juan aren't you?"
Capt. Riorden: "How would you know?"
Christie Love: ::smiles::

Somewhere in this hour of crap is a pretty funny piece of dialog, my favorite in the entire movie. Christie Love is trying to get some adoption information from her friend, Child Adoption Case-Worker, Myron Jones:

Myron: "When a couple adopts a child, they are assured that the natural mother will never..."
Christie Love: "Now you're acting like a natural mother!"

Christie Love again shows she has a heart of gold when the child's real natural mother has been shot and Christie Love drives her out to the school football field (instead of a hospital) so she can see her kid one time before she dies.

Real natural mother: "So that's my boy."
Christie Love: "He's a real good kid too."
Real natural mother: ::dies::

Finally, the film ends with a drug bust. Captain Riorden and Christie Love are on the smugglers' trail (apparently they found the ledger, I wasn't paying much attention at this point) and they track them to a movie house where a thug is screwing around with a film projector. Then, amazingly, a bunch of bags of cocaine fall out!

Captain Riorden holds up two bags of dope and exclaims, "Now, that's a VERY dirty movie!"

"Now, THAT'S a VERY dirty movie!" 

When he's taking Christie Love home, Capt. Riorden tries to get into her apartment again. Insisting she let him in for a drink.

Christie replies, "Well, maybe just one. But that's my limit."

Then it is over.

Commentary: Ehhhh....it was ok. I like watching Christie Love run around. The story was almost non-existent though. I'd rather watch an old episode of Kojak. I will mail this DVD to anybody who wants it.

[ Reviewed January, 2006. ]

#1 Jonnie

Alright! Google says I'm the #1 "Jonnie" in the world!

#1 Jonnie.

I'm glad my name ignores the common "h" - cuts down on the competition.
I even beat out Jonnie Cochran (mis-spelled).

The Internet should let me have, "Jonnie1" as my instant messenger name.
Give "Jonnie701" to Google's 701st most popular Jonnie.

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Feb. 25 2004]

Hard Work & Satisfaction

I received a fine prize in the mail yesterday from Gooseneck:

20 Most Asked Questions about the Amish and Mennonites

Cover.

I love the cover - big smile from the girl on the left, cautious discomfort from the girl on the right.

It was published in 1979 by a man and his child bride -

The authors.

Question #13 asks - "How are their women and children treated?" and the answer states, "A life of hard work and satisfaction".

The book is packed with facts. For example, some of the more culturally integrated Mennonites who drive cars will paint the chrome black to show separation from worldliness (or did so circa 1979 when this book was published - it sounds like a slippery slope to me, they probably just drive normal cars these days).

"Moustaches are forbidden because of their historical association with the military" (p.28).

While the Amish gladly pay property taxes and income taxes, they refuse to pay social security taxes because they don't believe in collecting the benefits. They got Congress to exempt them from paying into social security (if self-employed) on the condition that they agree to take care of their own elderly members.

Contrary to popular perceptions, Amish weddings are not arranged and Amish are totally into modern healthcare. They will go to modern doctors and modern hospitals if necessary.

Dead Amish are buried in a simple handmade pine box. "There are no eulogies. respect for the deceased is expressed, but not praise. A hymn is spoken but not sung" (p. 68).

While some members leave to join mainstream society, Amish and Mennonite membership was growing (in 1979) as they recruited new members from outside their traditional communities -

"Mennonite church in the south Bronx."

[Originally posted on Rebel Leady Boy, Nov. 2, 2005]

Donald Kilbuck: Selected Correspondence In

Donald (left) & me (right) in Anchorage; Winter, 1994.

Excerpted from personal correspondence with Donald Wy. Kilbuck:

Hurry up and get up here with all the tools that you can find along the way.

Cash is good! With all my emotional cash shortage my wallet is empty. I feel fine even though i am broke i still have my truck too drive around with. 

I guess in order to swim in this world we got to take care of our best beastly body.

God help us all i am not all here. This must be another hell hole that God made for all the bad people too enjoy. Lot of nuts at work. 

I SEEN SOME WILD BIRD THAT NEEDED TO BE BLOW DARTED AT OR BOW N ARROW, BUT NOTHING AT HAND OR ANY CAMERA TO SHOOT THE FEATHERED FEAST.

I AM COMING DOWN WITH A COLD OR WHATEVER IT IS.

Jon! I will probably be at Dutch Harbor processing fish where the people will not be afraid of my straight forward threats that don't really mean anything.

I am harvesting all the ocean's flavors.

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, June 29, 2004]

Restroom Damage, 1988

I admit it; it was me.

Also, being able to print a custom sign like this on a computer was revolutionary in the 1980s. I bet the teacher who created it was happy for the opportunity.

Jesus, the Real Superman

When Brother Todd visited from Texas recently, he was telling me about one of his neighbor's tattoos and I totally misunderstood what he was saying.  I forget what the real tattoo was, it had something to do with Jesus. But I mistakenly thought he was saying his neighbor had a tattoo of Jesus Christ hanging on the cross with blood running down his face and pooling up on his chest to form the Superman "S" logo, and I thought that sounded like a badass tattoo.

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Dec. 22, 2003]

First Webcam Photo

My first webcam photo. Yep.

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Mar. 22, 2004]

DX, Suck It

I don't know if anybody remembers "DX", the late '90s WWF professional wrestling team, but "Suck it!" was one of their catch phrases.

"DX" was also the name of a Japanese (pain relief?) product. 

I guess that's all the information you need to understand this:

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Dec. 12, 2004]

Just the Good Stuff

A list of last lines from bawdy limericks.

So the town never sleeps after dark.

Fuck after fuck after fuck?

For after he fucked her, he ate her

Like Father John's thumb after mass

And the other we'll try after marriage.

One fore, and one aft, and one oral

And the general effect was quite lovely.

He went out in the yard and ate dung

For the thing she called "Utterly-utta!"

In the archiepiscopal pants.

His nose out of private affairs.

Again, and again, and again

Won't you do it again, Sir? Bis! Bis!

Against pinches, and pins in the ass."

And fell down again from the smell.

And the band at the Waldorf-Astoria.

And now she is just a plain whore again.

For I certainly don't want to sin again.

And I do it again and again.

And ate up the whole afterbirth.

The scent-ah, that was a failure

Ah, you're changing the t to a p!

Is the squid that I keep in the sink

Or a goat, or whatever is handy

With the aid of his constable's truncheon

He rogered the national School.

And other odd mammals

Now ain't this a hell of a fug!

Ain't that foresight for ya?

Said she, You mean that ain't your finger?

But that ain't my prick-it's a spike.

If you've slept with that sonofabitch again

I'm surprised that by now they ain't mamas.

Ain't it grand and realistic!

But I don't feel as good as I did

This ain't a cunt-it's a corridor

With his backside awave in the air

It shot off in the air like a rocket

And was washed down the aisle on the froth

The arse on our parson needs fixin

But alas he was only a eunuch

Felt dear Alfred's delicious arse wriggle

And they promptly refunded his stub

And all he could shit was spaghetti

For all he had left was the skin

And bought her a chastity girdle

And now all her sisters are aunts

For which all her lovers may thank her

All got clap in their hindermost region

And framed, within miniature cunts

The waiters were all hanging low

And the doctors all fainted away

And the worst is, they all do it well

And dived in all covered with drool

To all but the spermatozoa

That he soon had her cunt all asmokin

(From a scholarly lexiconography paper discovered by Brother Todd).

[Originally posted on Rebel Leady Boy, Apr. 29, 2006]

Foot Treatments (Reflexology)

As discussed on the Gilliomville message board:

Grandma Hazel always wanted to give foot massages, and they were ruff, she used to dig into my foot and crunch the arches, it felt like glass was breaking in my foot, grandma would say it was the crystals breaking, I would ask why there are crystals in my feet, and she responded it was from drinking too much pop.

She would always work out the "crystals.” She'd say it was unhealthy to let those "crystals" build up in your feet. There always was something kind of popping when she rubbed the foot though, I guess it was just muscle tension or something, but I believed her and imagined crystals were developing in my feet. I believed that as gospel for years until I realized I'd never heard anybody else talk about crystals in their feet. I don't know when I stopped believing in foot crystals, but I never actively disbelieved it. I just learned it was a weird topic that was best left undiscussed with my fellow school children.

After Hazel gave foot treatments, she would have the grandkids do her feet too haha - she knew we hated to do that, so she'd let us divide the work - one kid per foot. Then Todd and I would each only have to do one foot. It was pretty horrible though. She had gnarly toe nails.

Hazel called those foot massages, "foot treatments.” She practically considered it a medical procedure. She learned this from Saul the Amishman who sold vitamins, gave foot treatments, and was widely hailed as a miracle worker in the area. He would not charge anything for a consultation, though you would have to pay for any vitamins he prescribed. 

Some days, Saul would work by appointment, but one day of the week was "first come, first serve.” Saul's Amish farm would be full of cars, sometimes people would come from outside the state to be diagnosed and treated by Saul. Grandma credited him with all kinds of miracles. My Dad had a recurring condition that kept returning despite the advice of a number of conventional doctors, but after he had Saul look at it, it was cured for good.

One year, Saul sold more vitamins from a particular company than anybody else in the country, so the vitamin company told him he won a free car. Since he was Amish though, he could not accept it; so they bought him a new buggy instead. Hazel said she saw the buggy and, "it was a really nice one.”

I remember Saul had a day of first come first serve. Mom said there was a guy that was there at 4:00 am and just slept in Saul's yard till he opened at 7:00 am. Jonnie, I remember the new buggy! That Saul sure could sell the vitamins!!

Saul (and Hazel) believed in the pseudoscience called Reflexology, though they never called it by that name. Reflexologists (and Hazel, and me as a child) believed that particular areas of the foot corresponded to other organs of the body and when that organ is experiencing problems, there is corresponding tension in that area of the foot. By massaging the tension out of a particular area of the foot, a person can make the corresponding organ healthier as well.

When Hazel was rubbing my feet and something would hurt, she'd say, "That's your kidneys"! I totally believed it as a kid, Hazel seemed to be so sure that's how it was and Saul was such an esteemed figure, it never crossed my mind they didn't know what they were talking about.

Reflexologists refer to diagrams or maps of the human foot with all the corresponding body parts written on it, so if somebody has tension in a certain part of the foot, you can find out which corresponding body is unhealthy. Some years ago, I was showing somebody one of these diagrams and it had everything - kidneys, liver, sinuses, head etc. marked. The only thing missing was the feet. We were laughing about that. Apparently, reflexologists don't account for troubled feet. If your foot hurts, it is always symptomatic of a different body part.

What a weird thing! And it seemed so normal to us to go to Grandma's and get foot treatments.

Grandma took me to see Saul once - He looked in my eyes with a magnifying glass and he could tell what vitamins or herbs your body needed. He would place a container of a particular herb or vitamin in your hand then ask you to stick the other arm straight out, then he would grab it like a lever, say "Resist me", and try to push it down. Then he would have you hold a different vitamin or herb and do the same thing. If a vitamin wouldn't help you resist him, he would not prescribe it, but if it gave you the strength to keep your arm up while he pushed against it, then that meant your body needed that one.

He told me I needed potassium and then Grandma added, "You should eat bananas every chance you get.” I think I left with about four different herbs he said I needed.

Wanda Jackson

Wanda Jackson @ The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA; Dec., 2012.

Wanda Jackson.

What's Good About Hollywood?

Superheroes in the streets!

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Dec. 24, 2003]

Found Photo

I found this laying on the ground in Anchorage, Alaska:

I don't know...pumpkin carving school?

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Dec. 21, 2003]

Grandma Hazel

Grandma Hazel in 1990.

Grandma Hazel, remembered by her children and grandchildren on the Gilliomville messageboard:

When Uncle Jon was a kid, he and Grandma Hazel witnessed a bunch of Mexicans drive by in a tomato truck. Hazel told him to stay away from Mexicans, “because they carry knives.”

Grandma would let us buy Cracked and Crazy magazines, but she thought Mad was "naughty.” I don't know what she saw in that magazine at some point in the past, but she definitely didn't like it. She'd check the titles before we went through our drugstore (Hooks) checkout and would not, under any circumstances, let us buy an issue of Mad magazine.

I remember those Vitamin Cs that Grandma used to give out (and she would encourage you to take several) that were supposed to help make you healthier. They tasted a lot like Sweet Tarts.

We'd often drop by Dairy Queen and she'd say, "If you're good, I'll get you a Mr. Misty; you can have any flavor except for red.” When asked why we couldn't get a red one, she said it’s because, "red makes kids hyper.” I’m Surprised Grandma didn't start an organization called GARP - Grandmas Against Red Pop.

She was also always predicting a HORRIBLE winter. She would say, "some lady says..."

Thanks for talking about Grandma Gilliom on here. I checked the board last night before I went to bed and last night I had a dream about her. Her hair was perfect.

Does anyone else remember seeing Grandma without her hair piece? She'd comb her hair out all crazy just before an appointment. I didn't see her like that very often, and it scared me to death.

Yeah! She looked wild without her wig on! Like a whole different person - an old witch! Her wig made her look much more poised and civilized.

Grandma Hazel used to whip up huge batches of caramel popcorn in the kitchen sink – she’d make caramel popcorn balls out of it. It was always a huge event when she’d do that.

I think we Gillioms have a special love for McDonalds due to Grandma Hazel. How many times she took Adam and me to Mikky Dees I couldn't tell you. but each time I was just as excited as the first time. That's what Happy Meals do to you. Ya know, I still order a good Happy Meal every now and then depending on how hungry I am.

Hazel used to LOVE McDonald's ice cream cones. She'd go there specifically for an ice cream cone. Breakfast too. Nowadays, I'm a big fan of the breakfast sandwich, but with Hazel we'd get the sit-down meals. Hazel wasn't one to eat on the run.

I remember when Grandma lived at Capri Meadows and you could see McDonald's from her window. Sometimes, when it was kind of late and we were thinking about making an ice cream cone run, she would tell me to, "check and see if the golden arches are lit up."

When she moved to the next place, we could actually WALK to McD's! That was even better. Vanilla ice cream cones and late night Skip-Bo...that brings back memories.

I think she quit cooking after she moved to the apartment. I remember
walking to McDonalds and Dairy Queen after that. She was big on
DQ banana splits.

Yeah - I remember her having meals delivered by the "Schwann Man" when she was living at the apartment. She was delighted by how good the food was.

I remember Dad saying he was in McDonalds with Grandma Hazel one time and she exclaimed (real loud like she did), "There sure are a lot of black people in here”!  Dad was real embarrassed and told her firmly, "Mom, if you don't settle down, I'm going to leave.” Grandma responded, "Well...There are!”

Grandma Gilliom was usually a really good cook. Her pancakes were excellent, but when it came to eggs, she always cooked the yolks really hard and you couldn't dip them. Uncle Jon and Uncle Rick used to comment a lot about, "mom's eggs."

For breakfast, I remember Grandma used to make us chocolate chip pancakes at the trailer.

And peanut butter spread on hot toast. That's another thing she got me into.

I love peanut butter on toast. I always thought it was weird when she did it, but it goes so well with coffee.

Remember when egg McMuffins first came out and Hazel decided to make them herself at home?

I was amazed at that. The McMuffin seemed like such a new thing and here Grandma Hazel mimics it instantly. I probably just wasn't familiar with English muffins at that point in time, so I was amazed that she made them just like McDonalds. I guess I thought if she made them at home, she would have to use bread or buns or something. They were an immediate favorite. She made those for years.

Remember when she used to make those doughnuts out of canned biscuits? A few years ago I called Mom and said, "I miss Grandma Gilliom. I think it's high time the great grandchildren experience her doughnuts." I can't say that the girls were terribly impressed.

Test Print

Testing our new printer at work:

Found Object

Look at this swell checkbook cover!

Yeee-Ha!

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Feb. 18, 2004]

How To Eat a Soft Taco

From Taco Bell, probably the late 1980s, possibly very early 1990s, but I think it was the late '80s.

These helpful instructions were printed on Taco Bell's soft taco wrappers:

Taco Bell: How to eat a Soft Taco.

How to eat a Soft Taco without the mess!

   1. Leave Taco in Pocket Wrap until ready to enjoy!

   2. Unfold wrap to expose just enough Taco for a bite or two.

   3. Keep folding away wrap until each delicious bite is gone.

I don't eat them this way, I'm afraid of biting into paper.  I completely unwrap it and risk the mess.

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Mar. 9, 2004]