People who are blind (can’t see) because they see less, often see more. That may sound like a contradiction (both statements can’t be true), but I believe it’s often true. I’d like to illustrate (show) what I mean with a story about a blind woman, a tall building, and a letter. When you get to the end, I think you’ll understand. And I think you’ll agree.

The woman is Helen Keller, who lived from 1880 until 1968. When she was 19 months old, Keller became very sick and, as a result, became both blind and deaf (couldn’t hear). Her blindness and deafness made it impossible for Keller to communicate with other people and left her isolated (alone). The Miracle Worker, a popular movie and play (story performed by actors in a theater), tells the dramatic (exciting) story of how her teacher, Anne Sullivan, helped her break out of (escape from) her isolation to become a world famous speaker and author.

The building is the Empire State Building, perhaps the best-known building in New York City. This 102-story (floor or level) skyscraper (very tall building) was completed in 1931. For 40 years it was the tallest building in the world. It’s a landmark (easily seen and recognized), popular tourist destination (place to visit), and cultural icon - it’s easily recognized and represents New York and the U.S. to many people around the world. The Statue of Liberty is another cultural icon in New York City.

In 1932, a doctor, Dr. John Finley, saw a picture of Helen Keller standing at the top of the Empire State Building. He was struck by (it seemed unusual) the thought of a blind person visiting the top of the building, so he wrote her and asked what she “saw” from there. Keller answered his question in a letter that illustrates (shows) what I wrote earlier – even though she couldn’t see what we see from the top of the Empire State Building, she saw more.

She wrote that it was a thrilling experience to be “whizzed (taken quickly) in a ‘lift‘ (elevator) a quarter of a mile heavenward (up, toward heaven) and to see New York spread out like a marvelous tapestry (a picture made up of many different parts) beneath us.” She didn’t think about the building itself. She said she thought about the “passionate (showing strong feelings) skill (ability)” and “fearless idealism (dreams and beliefs)” that created the building. In her mind she saw so many skilled workers that they couldn’t be counted and heard the noisy sounds of construction. She thought about the many “frail (not strong)” human hands that worked together to lift the tall building to its “dominating (taller than other buildings) height.”

Keller called the completed building “a victory of imagination.” The Empire State Building, she wrote, gives people courage (be brave in a difficult situation) and helps them dream about even greater accomplishments. As she stood at the top, she says she felt as if she were standing among the sun and the stars. “The solar system (our sun and its planets) circled above my head!” she wrote. “Why, I thought, the sun and the stars are suburbs (an area around the center of a city) of New York, and I never knew it! … All sense (feeling) of depression and hard times vanished (disappeared).”

Truly (certainly), Helen Keller saw more, even though she saw less. You can find her complete letter at the Letters of Note web site.

~ Warren Ediger – creator of Successful English, a web site where you’ll find clear explanations and practical suggestions for better English.

P.S. If you want to hear more about Helen Keller, listen to English Cafe 189.

Photo of the Empire State Building courtesy of the Wikipedia Commons. 

If you have been following (paying attention to) American sports at all in the past two months, you have probably heard of a 23-year-old basketball player for the New York Nicks named Jeremy Lin. Lin has become what we might call a household name (someone that everyone knows about) practically (almost) overnight (in a single day; very quickly).  Who is Jeremy Lin, and why has he become so famous?

Lin was born in Los Angeles to Taiwanese immigrant parents, but was raised (grew up) in Palo Alto, California, near San Francisco. He was a star basketball player in high school, and led (was the leader of) his team to the California state championship. But while he was an excellent student and a very good player, he was not considered by most college basketball scouts (people who look for and evaluate athletes) to be a great player. He was recruited by (asked to come to) Harvard, which is not exactly (not at all) known for great athletes. Even at Harvard, he was not very successful as a basketball player. But he got good grades, and became the leader of a Christian group on campus (at the college). He kept (continued) working, kept learning, kept improving.

After graduating from college in 2010, he was (again) not very successful in his attempt to be a basketball player. He failed several times over the next two years with different NBA (National Basketball Association) teams, each time being told he just wasn’t good enough. It looked like he would not be able to make it (be successful) in basketball, despite all of his hard work. Finally, he was given a chance to play in the starting lineup (the players who begin the game, usually the team’s best players) for the New York Knicks team in early last month.

Then it happened: Lin became a star.

Lin scored more than 20 points and had more than seven assists (when a player helps another player score a point) in this first five games, the first player in the history of the NBA to do that. He scored more than 130 points in his first five games, more than any player in the past 35 years. Suddenly, he was being talked about by every basketball fan in the country. Sports Illustrated, America’s most popular sports magazine, put him on their cover (front page) two weeks in a row (consecutively; one after the other). Every newspaper, news magazine, and television station has had stories about his amazing success. And Lin continues to win.

Part of the reason for Lin’s popularity is his underdog story. An underdog is someone who is not expected to win, who doesn’t appear likely to win. There have been very few Asian American professional athletes in the U.S. Plus (in addition), Lin had failed so often in the past, no one thought he would succeed. But through hard work and, he says, his prayers, he did succeed.

In some ways, Lin has shattered (broken) the false stereotype (popular or typical beliefs about a group of people) that one’s race or ethnicity is important in athletic success. And he has shown that hard work and persistence (not quitting) can pay off (bring you success).

His name also contributed somewhat to his success, in an odd (strange) way. Because there are so many words in English that begin with an “in” sound, and Jeremy’s last name is “Lin,” American reporters have put his name in front of these words to form puns, which are words that have two different meanings, or that sound like other words, and are used to make a joke. For example, his success has been called “Lin-sanity” (from insanity, meaning craziness). He is a “Lin-credible” (incredible = amazing) player. His success was not “Lin-stant” (instant = immediate; right away). And so on.

What does the future hold for (what will happen to) Jeremy Lin? It’s impossible to say. In interviews, he says he would like to devote his life (spend his time) after his basketball career to being a pastor (a Christian religious leader) and helping those in need (who need help). But for now, he will shoot hoops (play basketball), win games, and continue to be “Lin-sanely” (insanely = amazingly) popular.

~Jeff

Photo credit: Jeremy Lin, Wikepedia CC

Every government or large organization buys a lot of supplies, things they need for daily operations or special purposes. What happens when they buy too much or too many, or if things change and there’s no need for those supplies anymore?

In the U.S., you can find some of these items in surplus stores. When you have a surplus, you have too much or too many of something. When the government or a large organization has a surplus, it sells those items to surplus stores, which in turn (then; afterwards), sell them to customers like you and me. Some surplus stores specialize in military (part of the government that deals with the country’s security, including the army, navy, air force, and the marines) items.  Other surplus stores buy anything that the government or other large organizations sells them.

You can find the strangest and most curious (unusual) things in a surplus store.  I don’t know why, but I started receiving catalogues (small books with items for sale from a store) from a company called American Science and Surplus.  This store sells industrial (related to making things in factories), military, and education items.  These items are all new, but some of them make me wonder about their original purpose.

Have you always wanted a rubber (flexible plastic) chicken?  This store has them.  How would you like to have a t-shirt that shows your internal organs (parts inside your body, such as your heart, liver, and lungs)?  Do you want a calculator (machine for doing math) that smells like chocolate?  This store has those, too.  The strangest thing I saw in this store’s catalogue is a latrine (toilet used in the military) for two!  I know that Valentines Day is over (it was February 14th), so you won’t be able to delight (make happy) your sweetheart (loved one) with a double latrine, but you might still find something that will wow (impress) your family and friends.  You may find something special for yourself and you’ll wonder how you ever did without (lived without) a calculator that smells like chocolate.

Do surplus stores exist where you live?

~ Lucy

Photo Credit: Van Nuys Surplus from Wikipedia

“C’mon (come on), it’s time to go. We’re gonna (going to) be late.”
“Just a second (wait a short time), I can’t find my keys.”

“Just a second” is a common time phrase. It’s also the title of an interesting new children’s book by Steve Jenkins. The book’s full title is Just a Second: A Different Way to Look at Time.

The second is interesting, Jenkins writes, because it “doesn’t relate to (isn’t connected to) any cycle (something that continues to happen) in nature – it’s a human invention (created by humans), and the shortest interval (unit or period) of time most of us use in our daily lives. The Babylonians came up with the idea of the second about 4,000 years ago, but they had no way to measure such a short interval of time.”

Maybe the Babylonians couldn’t come up with (think of) a way to measure a second, but Jenkins has. He’s done it by filling this fun little book with examples of things that happen in one second. Here are some of them:

In one second, “a meteor (rock from space) entering Earth’s atmosphere (air around the earth) can travel 44 miles (71 kilometers), a human can blink (shut and open eyes) seven times, a humpback whale‘s song travels 5,085 feet (1,500 meters) through water, and light travels 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers).”

In one second, “a hummingbird beats (move together and apart) its wings 50 times, a bumblebee beats its wings 200 times, a midge, a kind of gnat (very small flying insect), beats its wings 1,000 times, a woodpecker hammers (hits hard) a tree trunk with its beak (hard pointed nose) 20 times, and a rattlesnake shakes its tail in warning (sign of danger) 60 times.”

In one second, “a cheetah sprinting (running a short distance) flat out (as fast as possible) and a sailfish swimming at top (highest; fastest) speed both travel 100 feet (30 meters), a dragonfly cruises (flies casually) 50 feet, a very fast human can run 39 feet (12 meters), and a black mamba snake slithers (slides over a surface by moving back and forth) a frightening 24 feet (7 meters).”

In one second, “the Apollo 10 spacecraft traveled almost seven miles (11 kilometers) during reentry (when it came back into Earth’s atmosphere) – the fastest humans have traveled in a man-made vehicle.” In one second, “Earth advances (goes forward) 18.5 miles (30 kilometers) in its orbit (circular path) around the sun, while four babies are born, and two people die.”

Sometimes time flies (goes very quickly). But time can also move very slowly. A science blog called It’s Okay to Be Smart recently featured (included or showed) an infographic (information picture) about geologic time – the history of the development of the earth. It’s what we might call very slow time.

The infographic includes more than three eras (very long periods of history) of earth history, about 4.6-billion years. If you want to compare that to Jenkins’ book, that’s more than 145,000,000,000,000,000 seconds (if my math is correct)!

What happened during this long period of time? Some scientists believe that at first there was only one continent (large mass of land surrounded by ocean), called Pangea. Later Pangea split (broke or divided) into two parts, north and south. Eventually (after a long time) those two parts split again into the seven continents we have today. And that took only 250-million years – a relatively (compared to the total) short time.

By the way, the title of this blog post contains a little time joke. The blog is about time, so it’s a good description, a good title. But we also use “it’s about time” another way. If someone is late coming to an appointment or finishing a project, when they finally arrive or finish, we sometimes say (and not too happily), “It’s about time!”

And now, it’s about (almost) time for me to stop.

If you’re interested, you can read more about Just a second at the New York Times or Brain Pickings web sites.

~ Warren Ediger, creator of Succesful English, where you’ll find clear explanations and practical suggestions for better English.

The hourglass photo is courtesy of Wikipedia Commons. 

I recently read an article that got me thinking about my elementary, junior high, and high school days. An article in the Los Angeles Times reported on a rash of (many instances of something happening in a short period of time) thefts of tubas from schools in L.A. The article attributes (gives as the reason for) the thefts to the growth in popularity of banda music in Southern California, a type of traditional Mexican music using brass instruments (musical instruments often made of brass and uses the air from your mouth and body to make music).  Unfortunately, the stolen instruments can be sold for a lot of money on the black market (the illegal buying and selling of things).

I was very sad to read this article because I remember how much the school music program meant to me when I was growing up in Arizona.  In our school district (group of schools under the same administration) in Tucson, there was a school music program in elementary school, junior high, and high school.  Since every state and school district is different, it’s hard to make generalizations about what school music programs are like, so I’ll just talk about my own experience.

Our school music program was not an after-school program, but a part of the regular school day.  For one hour a day (or two or three hours a week in elementary school), students whose parents allowed them to participate in the program met with the music teacher.  Our orchestra (group of musicians playing together) teacher taught us to play our instruments and conducted (led a group of musicians, usually standing in front of the group) us all to play together.  Students could bring their own instruments from home or they could borrow a school instrument for the year.  This way, students whose parents could not or did not want to buy instruments could still participate.

Starting in the fifth grade (age 10), I played the violin, a beautiful instrument in skilled (with ability) hands, but in mine, an instrument of torture. Still (even so; despite this), I enjoyed learning to play and most of all, I enjoyed being with other students out of the traditional classroom.  Our orchestra, like many school orchestras, played concerts for the school and also played in the community at special events, such as holiday festivals and celebrations.  As a group, we also traveled to play in other cities when we could raise (earn; collect) enough money.

Money to pay for the school instruments, our teacher (shared with other schools), and other classroom resources were paid for by the school.  Everything else was paid for by parents or, more often, through fundraising.  It is very common for students in school music, athletic, drama (theater), or other activities to have school fundraisers. We had car washes: We would convince a nearby gas station to let us wash cars for a day or for the weekend on their premises (at their location) to earn money.  We sold candy: We sold candy to other students, our friends, and went door-to-door (from one house to another) to sell to neighbors.  We sold lottery tickets: These were tickets, usually for $1, for a chance to win a prize (something valuable you can win) that someone — a parent or someone in the community — had donated (given without receiving money).  I cannot tell you how many things we did or sold to earn money.  But for me, it was all part of the fun of being part of this group.

To be honest, our school orchestra was never very good.  With the exception of one or two really gifted (talented) students who went on to study music, we just bumbled through (did without any skill) the music.  (Some who are less charitable (kind and giving) would say we murdered (killed)  the music.) But for me, and I imagine for a lot of students, it was good experience and it exposed us (gave us access) to music and instruments we would never have played otherwise.  Sadly, with poor economic times, many schools have or will need to eliminate (remove) their school music programs.  This is especially sad in neighborhoods where buying musical instruments and paying for private music lessons is beyond the means of (more money than can be paid by) the parents.

Are there school music programs where you live, and do students participate in fundraisers for music or other activities?

~ Lucy

Photo Credit: Violin from Wikipedia 

Today is St. Valentine’s Day, a day that celebrates romantic love. So I thought it would be interesting to look at how relationships have changed in the past century (100 years) or so. The New York Times recently published a list of the 18 traits (characteristics) that men most want in a woman they’d like to marry. What’s interesting is how this list of 18 things compares to a similar list from more than 70 years ago (1939). Some things are the same, but a few things are very different now compared to earlier generations (time periods).

Here’s the list from 2008, and in parentheses, I’ve put where this trait ranked (appeared on the list) in 1939:

1. Mutual attraction (each person likes the other) and love (#4)
2. Dependable character (reliable personality) (#1)
3. Emotional stability (not crazy!) and maturity (acts like an adult, not a child) (#2)
4. Education, intelligence (#11)
5. Pleasing disposition (good personality; nice) (#3)
6. Sociability (easy to talk to; relates well to others) (#12)
7. Good health (#5)
8. Good looks (physically attractive) (#14)
9. Desire for home, children (#6)
10. Ambition, industriousness (works hard) (#9)
11. Refinement, neatness (sophistication and not messy) (#7)
12. Good financial prospect (can make a lot of money) (#17)
13. Good cook, housekeeper (takes care of the home) (#8)
14. Similar education background (#15)
15. Favorable social status (from a “good” family or well-respected group) (#16)
16. Similar religious background (#13)
17. Similar political background (#18)
18. Chastity (not sexually active prior to marriage) (#10)

Four of the top five qualities are the same in 2008 as they were in 1939, although they have changed somewhat in importance. A man still wants a woman who is mature, stable, dependable, and who loves him as as much as he loves her.

The big “winners” in terms of traits that are now more popular than before are education/intelligence, sociability, good looks, and good financial prospects. In other words, nowadays (today) men are more likely to look for women who are smart, beautiful, and rich than their grandfathers did.

The big “losers” are chastity (dropping from #10 to the bottom at #18) and good cook/housekeeper (from #8 to #13).

What does is all mean?  I’ll leave you to figure that out (understand that; find the answer)!

~Jeff

Photo credit: Antique Valentine, Wikipedia PD

I’m a dog guy. I mean, I like dogs. Always have, probably always will. I got my first dog when I was two or three years old. If you count the dogs our children have had while they were living at home, I’ve shared my life with seven or eight dogs. We don’t have one now, but we occasionally babysit our daughter’s two dogs, Jameson and Kahlua – that’s Jameson in the picture, wondering why the teddy bear (a toy bear) won’t play with him.

I hadn’t planned to write about dogs this week, but a few days ago I read a moving (creates strong emotions or feelings) story – Wonder Dog – by Melissa Green. It’s about Iyal and Chancer, a little boy and a service dog. And I decided their story needed to be shared.

Service dogs are trained to help people with disabilities (difficult physical or mental condition). In the past, seeing-eye dogs, which help people who can’t see, were the most common. Today a growing number of service dogs are being trained to help people with mental disabilities and severe depression (feel very unhappy and anxious). Some are even trained to help people with seizures (when someone can’t control their body) or similar problems.

Service dogs need to have a good temperament (personality), be healthy, obedient (obey commands), and trainable (able to learn). Some come from breeders (people who raise dogs), others from shelters (places for animals with no owner). Early seeing-eye dogs were often German Shepherds, but today many different breeds (kinds) or mixtures (combinations of breeds) are used as service dogs. Wonder Dog is the story of one of these dogs.

Donnie and Harvey dreamed about raising a family, but they couldn’t have children. So they did the next best thing: they adopted (became the parents of) a boy and a girl, Iyal, and Morasha, from an orphanage (a home for homeless children) in eastern Europe.

Donnie and Harvey lived their dream until, when he was three, Iyal began to throw tantrums (became angry and unreasonable) and try to do unexplainable things, like jump out of a fast-moving car. For more than a year doctors tried unsuccessfully to determine why he acted like this. A pediatrician (children’s doctor) finally concluded that Iyal’s brain and central nervous system had been seriously damaged before he was born. The cause was alcohol: his mother had been a heavy drinker.

Knowing why Iyal acted the way he did didn’t solve the problem, though. Few medications or therapies (treatments) can treat this disability. Donnie and Harvey wanted to help Iyal, but it was difficult. Even though they loved their son, they were often angry and frustrated by his strange behavior (actions).

Chancer, a service dog from 4 Paws for Ability, helped helped make Iyal’s and his parents’ lives much brighter (happier). Two weeks after Chancer arrived, Iyal surprised his parents by using new words and expressing new ideas. When Chancer is nearby, Iyal relaxes and acts differently than he did before.

As Greene wrote, “Chancer hasn’t cured (made the illness go away) Iyal.” He is thirteen but acts like someone much younger. He still can’t control his feelings and actions. But Chancer doesn’t care. He doesn’t know that Iyal is mentally impaired (damaged). He knows something more important: “that Iyal is his boy.” He “loves Iyal in a perfect way, with an unconditional (without limits) love….” And you can see it when they’re together, running, laughing, and sharing happiness – “just a boy and his dog.”

You can find the entire story about Ilya and Chancer here: Wonder Dog – A Golden Retriever Reaches a Raging Boy. It will be difficult for some, but it’s a wonderful story!

* “Not your ordinary…” – When we use this phrase, we are suggesting that there is something special about whatever follows. So “Not your ordinary dog” suggests that this post is going to be about a special dog, and it is.

~ Warren Ediger – English tutor and coach and creator of Successful English where you can find Lessons for better English.

Photo by W. Ediger.

Living alone (by yourself; with no one else) was almost unheard of (nonexistent; did not exist) 100 years ago in the United States. In 1900, less than 5% of the American population lived by themselves, in their own apartment or house. Today that number is 27%, and in cities such as New York and Washington D.C., almost half of the population lives alone. Why is this happening, and is it a good thing or a bad thing?

The decline of marriage is one reason people of all ages are now more likely to live alone. But there have been other changes as well. As American society gets richer, more people can afford (have the money) to buy their “independence” and live by themselves. This is especially true of older Americans. Thanks to Social Security (money from the government for retirement) and individual savings, only 20% of older Americans now live with one of their children, compared to 70% in 1900. People live alone not because they don’t have a choice, but rather, in most cases, because they do.

In case you think this is another case of extreme (too much) American individualism (the idea that each person should be independent and not relay on another), think again: most European countries have far more people living alone than the U.S. does.  Nearly half of all Swedes (people from Sweden), 40% of Norwegians (from Norway), and 39% of Germans (from Germany) live alone. In fact, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Ukraine, Japan, Poland, Italy, and Canada all have more “home aloners” than the U.S. And Russia, Spain, Ireland, and South Korea are only a few percentage points behind the U.S.

The countries where people are still living with family members are often poorer on average, but many have economies that are growing fast: India (3%), China (7%), Brazil (10%). In comparison, many countries in Europe and certain parts of Asia now have shrinking (growing smaller) populations, where the average person is richer but older than in other places. The United States is somewhere in the middle, with growth in the population coming largely from immigration. The future of the world’s population is not Turin, Tokyo, or Toledo, but Shanghai, Sao Paolo, and Surat.*

The rise (increase in popularity) of the Internet has in some ways made being physically alone less lonely, in that you can “connect” with others online. But have we lost something in our quest (desire; search) to be alone?

~Jeff

Photo credit: Gaurava Path, Wikipedia CC

*Surat is a city in India with a population of 2.8 million. I had never heard of it before writing this post, even though it has more people than any city in the U.S. except New York and Los Angeles.

This Sunday is one of the biggest sport events of the year: the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is the championship game for American football and this year, it is a showdown (final competition) between the New England Patriots (from Massachusetts) and the New York Giants. Many American TVs will be tuned into (watching) the Super Bowl and the show will have among the highest ratings (number of people watching) this year.

Ever since the Super Bowl started being televised (shown on television) 42 years ago, there has been counterprogramming. Counterprogramming is the showing of another type of television show on a different channel to attract viewers who may not want to watch a major television event like the Super Bowl, or to draw away (take away) viewers from that event. Since 2005, one piece of counterprogramming that has attracted a surprising number of viewers is the Puppy Bowl.

The Puppy Bowl is a TV show shown on a cable channel (television channel you can get by paying for a special service) called Animal Planet, which specializes in shows about, well, animals.  The Puppy Bowl mimics (imitates; tries to be like, for entertainment) the Super Bowl, but instead of men playing football, the game is played by puppies (young dogs).  All of the puppies that play in the Puppy Bowl are from animal shelters, places for animals without homes. Throughout the show, viewers are given information about how to adopt (take home and make a part of their family) a dog from a local shelter.

The first Puppy Bowl was in 2005 and last year’s Puppy Bowl drew (attracted) a total of about 9 million viewers.  To be honest, I had never heard of the Puppy Bowl until recently, and after watching a clip (short video) of last year’s Puppy Bowl, I’m not sure I’ll tune in this year. But, if like me, you’re not a football fan and are looking for something to watch this Sunday, this is an alternative (another option).  There’s no denying (saying it isn’t true) that these are some very adorable (cute) puppies.  Me?  I think I’ll just curl up with (get comfortable with) a good book.

~ Lucy

Photo Credit:  GoldenRetrieverPuppyDaisyParker from Wikipedia

Today’s post is a little odd, I know, but bear with me (be patient with me). Today we are going to talk about childbearing (giving birth to a baby). I hope my discussion won’t be as difficult as actually giving birth to a new baby, because I’ve heard that can be a a real bear (difficult thing).

A story in the Wall Street Journal reported that mothers apparently have some small control over when they will deliver (have; give birth to) their babies. Researchers examined births in the U.S. from 1996 to 2006 during the two weeks around Halloween (October 31st) and St. Valentine’s Day (February 14th). You would expect that the number of spontaneous or natural births to be about (approximately) the same each day. (They excluded (didn’t include) caesarians (where the doctors surgically remove the baby from the woman) and induced births (where drugs are given to cause the woman to give birth).)

They found that the number of births on St. Valentine’s Day rose (increased) 3.6% over (compared to) the surrounding days, and fell (decreased) 5.3% on Halloween. The researchers concluded that, within a limited time frame (a limited amount of time), women can “expedite or delay” (speed up or slow down) childbirth (giving birth to a baby).

I was born on September 24th, 1963, and I don’t know if my mother cared (thought it important) which day I was born on. But she might have influenced (changed) the time I was born. She told me that when she and my father arrived at the hospital in the afternoon of the 24th, she was examined by her doctor (the same doctor who had delivered (helped in the birth of) my 10 brothers and sisters). The doctor told her that she still had some time before I was ready to come out, so he was going to go watch the Minnesota Twins baseball game on TV.  When the game was over, he’d come back and deliver the baby.

Well, the Twins lost that day 5 to 1 to the Cleveland Indians, but the doctor did come back, and I was born at around 6:30 in the evening. The good news is that the Los Angeles Dodgers won that day, and a few weeks later won the World Series against the New York Yankees. Maybe that’s why I moved to Los Angeles instead of staying in Minnesota.

~Jeff

Photo credit: Happiness, Wikipedia CC