Better Than Awesome....Cranberries??

First of all, let me make it clear that I'm not using this particular blog to gloat about my own children, my friends' children, or any children I may have randomly come in contact with in my life. What I would like to do is point out a couple of pictures that easily fall into the category of "Better than Awesome".

Recently, my girlfriend and I had the opportunity to travel through Wisconsin (if you've read the previous posts, then you're already aware of that 'Better than Awesome" restaurant, the "Safe House"). Wisconsin in a marvelous state, full of beautiful lakes, forests, cheese factories and the greatest concentration of "big box" porn stores I've ever seen. I'm not one to frequent that type of establishment, but I admit we were sorely tempted to buy something, anything, to get a shopping bag that I could carry my lunch in to work ("what d'you have there, Bob's Boobie Barn??") Anyway, in our meanderings (if you look up the origin of the word "meander", you'll find it's a form of decoration on ancient Greek pottery. Drop THAT at your next cocktail party)

Anyway, in our travels we passed a sign advertising a place called the "Cranberry Discovery Center" (check out it's ultra-cool web site: www.discovercranberries.com). What is there to discover about Cranberries, you may ask? Did you know that Cranberries bounce when they're fresh (yes, just like some interns on Capitol Hill)? Did you know that Cranberry alarms will sound if the berries are in danger from ill temperature or, I imagine, a lack of vodka? The Cranberry Discovery Center has that, and a lot more!

What made the CDC (as no-one particularly calls it) "better than awesome", was it's collection of drawings that some local grade 4 kids drew, the best two I've reproduced at the top of the page. Our personal favorite is the "American Gothic" cranberries. Their expressions seem to say "help! we're supposed to take care of this farm, but we're just freakishly large Cranberries! I don't even know how this pitchfork got propped against the side of my body! Who's going to soudn the alarm?"

The other one, Elvis Cranberry, just doesn't need any explanation. Elvis, as any Renaissance person can tell you, can make anything cool. However, mixing the motifs of "the King" and "the Berry", was a stroke of genius from some plucky Grade 4 student in Wisconsin.

So here's to the highly creative, slightly demented school children of Wisconsin!! Easily....Better Than Awesome!!