Hello YouTubes!

Ok, I've just got to share this.  Take four minutes of  your life and watch this video.

This guy's name is Ronald Jenkees, and he's amazing.  I stumbled upon his videos while surfing YouTube and this is the first video I saw.  I was thinking, "Ok, this is alright."  Then the beat dropped at 1:21 and I was hooked.  This is some incredible blue-eyed soul.

I love the music, but I also love his messages about music.  There's no way anyone looks like that on an everyday basis, so I really think the headgear and glasses are a front, but he seems genuinely passionate about music and encouraging others.

Make sure you check out his other videos (I particularly love "'disorganized fun' on a REALLY REALLY fun beat!").  Ronald Jenkees is the man.

Waffle House

Allow me to relate an experience concerning the Waffle.  Tonight, Jay, Ashley and I decided to do the Waffle after putting the paper to bed.  As we walk in the door, there's this lady sitting at the bar and she's talking on the phone.  She then asked the question, "I'm in Alabama, right?"  I thought I misheard, but Jay leans over and says, "Did she just ask if she was in Alabama?" so I know I wasn't imagining things.

Take a moment and think about that question.  First of all, it's a completely understandable question if you're near the state line.  "I've been driving through Florida for the last seven hours, but now this is Alabama, right?"  or "I just came across Mississippi, but I crossed the border a few miles back, didn't I?" are both perfectly fine.

However, it's not like we're close to another state.  If you get here, you've been in Alabama for at least an hour.  You should know what state you're in.   But wait, it gets better.

I order hash browns (scattered, smothered and covered) and a waffle.  When the food comes out, the waitress hands me regular hash browns, then Ashley almost gets mine.  But we figured it out quickly, and I even said to the waitress, "Oh wait, those are mine because I had scattered, smothered and covered and a waffle."  So I tuck into my hash browns, awaiting the waffle.

I'd still be waiting.

So I didn't get charged for the waffle, but while we're eating, I can't help but notice that the employees are trying to get up with Tasha, who is apparently late for work or something.  No answer at the house phone, no answer on the cell phone.  "She must still be in the bed," someone said.

As we are paying, someone who could only be Tasha comes in looking like a hot mess with a rumpled Waffle House shirt, bed head and looking generally unhappy with her arms crossed.   Did I mention that she came shuffling in wearing yellow flip flops?  It was amazing.  Jay just had to step outside.

Anyway, now I'm still hungry and must fill the void with Apple Jacks.  I have an Apple Jacks rant which I'll share soon, and I've also got many Waffle House stories to tell (including one epic night after Friday night football).

Blogging v2.0

Alright.  I think it's time to give this blogging thing another shot.  I tried it once before, and it didn't work too well.  Maybe I'm just not an interesting enough person to make this work, but we'll see.

If you're reading this, you've probably wondered about the name of this blog.  It comes from two running jokes at work.  First of all, Jay makes references to me being his minion.  One day, Amie referred to me as "onion....  I mean, minion."  (I still haven't decided if that was a joke or an honest slip.  I'm leaning heavily toward the joke option.)

Secondly, the ninja part.  Apparently I walk around the office rather quietly.  They say I sneak in and out, quickly and silently like smoke on the wind.  Maybe they don't use those exact words, but you get the point.  I considered Ninja Minion, but there was just something about Ninja Onion that clicked.

A Google search for "ninja onion" yields about 367 responses.  I guess this is No. 368.  Billions of people on the internet worldwide, and I'm apparently in the top 500 people to use the words "ninja" and "onion" next to each other.  Whenever I get some free time, I'm going to whip up a fancy graphic with my mad Photoshop skills (ha) for the top banner.  My mental image of a ninja onion is pretty funny.

So...  maybe this first post has set the tone for the kind of blog this will be.  I tend to be random sometimes, and I'm sure this blog will be a catch-all for all the haphazard things that enter my world.