Weak Odds...for the week End

Despite the continued beatings, the morale has finally improved here at the office, mostly because it's Friday. When I stepped outside this morning, the honeyed air tasted particularly delicious, the normally harried commuters waved with all of their fingers rather than just one, and even my mass-produced coffee reminded me that somebody, somewhere picked those tiny little beans because they love me. Or maybe they did it it to avoid being beaten. Regardless, each sip of coffee is a reminder that, deep down, we're all the same, in that we all hate our jobs.

Just 8 hours to go until I'm out that door...so let's figure out what to do this weekend, shall we?

Farmer? I didn't even plow...ah, never mind

Having just seen the film Food Inc (check the film section of next week's issue of "The Reader" for a review), a documentary about the hegemonic practices of the food industry, I'm reminded that I live in a state in which there are still plenty of small-time farmers who are responsible stewards of their land and who produce delicious and reasonably priced food. Last week, at the Omaha farmer's market, I picked up some zucchini, squash, and tomatoes (the ones I'm growing in my yard are still a bit Kermit-colored), and I managed to pay less for those items than I would've at my local chain grocery store. In this case, cheaper was better.

No need to pry open the wallet, my friends

As many of my faithful readers probably already know, "free" might be my favorite four-letter word. So because Mutual of Omaha loves us (and by "us," I mean Omaha), and Mutual of Omaha has resided in this city for the past 100 years, they're celebrating with Wild About Omaha Weekend, a two-day event that features free admission to all sorts of local businesses. For instance, on Friday (today!), the super-cool movie theater Film Streams (1340 Webster Street) is offering free showings of Scorsese's The Last Waltz, while that bastion of all that is hip, the Slowdown (which is only half a block from Film Streams), is offering a free outdoor concert with Cursive, Flowers Forever, and Azure Ray. Saturday? How about free admission to the zoo, or a Royals game? Click on the above link and go to Schedule of Events for more information.

Come sail away...

When I was a kid, my dad had a tiny, 1-person catamaran. Several times each summer the four members of my immediate family would pile onto it, an exercise akin to college students stuffing themselves into a telephone booth (when was the last time you saw one of those old-fashioned things?). Then we'd sail around for several hours, until we were too delirious with sun exposure to care if the catamaran finally tipped, which is when my mom would officially declare that she (which meant we) were done.

What I'm trying to say is that I was lucky enough, despite the minor inconvenience of having to sit on top of or underneath other family members, to be able to sail when I was young. For anyone looking to experience the act of sailing for free (ah, there's that word again), the Lake Manawa Sailing Association is offering free sailboat rides from 3 pm t0 5 pm on Saturday at (where else?) Lake Manawa, weather permitting (and it looks like it will). No reservations are required, just bring your smiling face, can-do attitude, and a life jacket (if you have one).