With school right around the corner, it was time for the annual family summer vacation. I know it's hard to imagine last years trip being outdone, but this year we ventured a little further than usual and visited the majestic Smoky Mountains and picturesque Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

No kidding. This was probably 1993. We were at Deer Creek (they've changed the name since then) which, being an amphitheater, has rows that curve around all the way to the side of the stage. So, during one of the numbers, Jon goes to the side where, naturally, everyone rushes, and he did that low five/hand shake thingy rock stars do when fans manage to get close enough. And me, I was able to shake his hand.

A recent study has discovered that online blogging is no longer a young man's game. You know, just in case there was any doubt left that prose is a dying art.

Growing up, whenever someone asked where the name Itzoe came from, the general response was "It's French. It used to be spelled Itzoet and pronounced Ee-sway" but the reality is no one really knew. Back in the Nineties my brother started doing geneological research. He was able to trace family back to Europe, but not to specific locations. However, a couple years ago, we found the town of Itzehoe, Germany. Having heard stories of non-English-speaking turn-of-the-century immigrants from Europe being assigned new names based on either their native land or whatever word the immigration official picked out from their native tongue, Itzehoe seems the best (and at this point only) candidate thus far. Summary: we're probably German. To boot, much of my wife's family is also German.

There's really no delicate way to put any of this, but it's a major medical development in my life, so I felt it bears exploiting explaining. Yes, I've had chronic diarrhea for quite some time, and I finally got around to doing something about it.

I was going to write this to accompany today's comic, but this is too important to relegate anywhere but here.

What with the Labor Day weekend and all, we had the oh-so-original notion to take the kids on one last road trip to herald the end of summer. Wanting to travel relatively close to home, Cancun, Hawaii and Disney World were all out. Fortunately, we live within a couple-hour drive of some of the most exciting world-class tourist destinations in the, um, world.

News today (actually, kinda old news) is that the Democrats want to revive the Fairness Doctrine, an old FCC regulation that stipulates broadcast companies must offer opposing views on political material. In particular, liberals are gunning for talk radio, which is dominated by conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Michael Savage. This is a bad idea all around.

Whew, that was a nice vacation.  What month is it, anyway?  I guess I shouldn't be surprised with myself for not posting in a while, but I still feel something resembling either shame or regret.  I always mean to do it, then don't.

Whoops, looks like I've fallen asleep at the wheel yet again.  Must've been all that turkey (claims to the contrary notwithstanding).  On the whole Thanksgiving went well, despite the minor gravy disaster, but a few turkey sandwiches later and I find I really didn't care.  Actually, the turkey was gone by Monday, and who needed gravy anyway?