To help the economy, Governor Granholm is campaigning for Michiganders to buy Michigan products for Christmas gifts. Her team designed the unfortunate logo at the right.


Hmmmmm. Given the state of the economy, I have to wonder how much the going rate is for a state. Do you think the Hollywood writers' strike has hit Michigan?

*****
On a lighter note, someone sent this too me. I had to share it, because it's so darned true.

You know you're a true MICHIGANDER when...

1. You point at a spot on your right hand to show where you live. I live in the middle of the palm

2. You measure distance in hours.

3. You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.

4. You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.

5. You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.

6. You see people wearing camouflage at social events (including weddings).

7. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

8. You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them.

9. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

10. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow. Boy is THAT true!

11. You know the 4 seasons are: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction. This one is wrong. The seasons are almost winter, winter, bad sledding, and road construction.

12. You can identify a southern or eastern accent.

13. Your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a deer next to your blue spruce.

14. You were unaware that there is a legal drinking age.

15. Down South to you means Ohio.

16. A brat is something you eat.

17. Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his new pole barn.

18. You go out to fish fry every Friday.

19. Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.

20. You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.

21. You find zero degrees "a little chilly."

22. You drink pop, and you bake with soda.

23. Your doctor tells you to drink Vernor's and you know it's not medicine.

24. You know what a Yooper is.

25. You think owning a Honda is un-American.

26. You know that UP is a place, not a direction

27. You know it's possible to live in a thumb. See Point 1

28. You understand that when visiting Detroit , the best thing to wear is a Kevlar vest.

29. You actually understand these jokes, and you share them with all your Michigan friends.


Keeping smiling!
-- Stephanie

It puzzles me how people who moan and complain nonstop about gas prices, the cost of groceries and everything else, will think nothing of lighting 85,000 Christmas bulbs every night from Thanksgiving to New Years (or longer). I used to say I never had to turn on the lights in my living room during that time period because the reflections from the house across the street were bright enough to light up the room. I was only half-joking.

I could hardly believe my luck when the mail lady trudged to my door through today's sleet and snow with an Express Mail delivery. The box was from my longtime friend Leslie, who lives in Florida, a state known for oranges, Mickey Mouse, and wealthy snowbirds from the north.

It's deer season.

No, not that deer season. This is the time of year when reruns of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer are on TV and the theme song is played on radio stations and Muzak (TM) around the world.

But do you know the history behind this little tale? No? Well, read on, my friend.

In 1939, the head of the Chicago-based Montgomery Wards department store chain asked one of their copywriters, Robert L. May, to come up with a Christmas story they could give away as a promo gimmick to their customers. Drawing on his own childhood experience of being teased for being small and shy, May created the story of Rudolph for a giveaway coloring book. It became a perennial success for Wards, and a cartoon version of Rudolph (without lyrics) was shown as a movie short in theaters during the holiday season of 1944.

But May, as a Wards employee, received no royalties for his successful story. Besieged by debt following his wife's long battle with cancer, May began to petition Wards for the rights to his story. In 1947, he finally convinced the company to turn over the copyright to him. For the first time, the story was commercially printed.

The story became even more popular when May's brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, set his poem to music. It was recorded by Gene Autry in 1949 and sold two million copies that year. The little song went on to become one of the best-selling Christmas songs of all times -- second only to White Christmas.

The movie version we know and love was first aired on NBC on December 6, 1964. It was recorded in stop-motion animation by Rankin Bass. The movie featured several new characters including Hermey the Misfit Elf, Yukon Cornelius, and lovable Bumble (aka the Abominable Snow Monster of the North).


Folk singer Burl Ives narrated the story and sang a little song called "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas." Not surprisingly, the song became one of his best known offerings.

Now that you've had your bit of holiday trivia for the day, don't you feel smarter?





Have a holly jolly Sunday,
Stephanie