September 24, 2004

           It took a while but I finally got it. The definition of a mandolin. That's a little guitar with funny strings that is mostly played by middle-aged people at churches whose title starts with "United" or "First". You know, United Methodist or First Assembly of something-or other. Subsidiary options, but not required, are: just-got-out-of-the-corps haircut, beady eyes, and accompanying photos of twin cousins, preferably cheery looking white girls.

           PS: I also got another unsolicited photo of somebody called Tiffany Ding. Tiffany? What's that short for? Says she wants to become a model and "own a food truck". Kind of parallel careers, I suppose. "Here's your hot dog, Mr. Stanger, and complimentary snapshot of me in shower. Arigato gozi masu! Fifty dollar please."

           [Author's note 2025: Here's an obvious "calendar" entry, that is, scribbled on my workdesk calendar, then plugged into this blog. Such entries are highly dependent on factors like my mood, the weather, and what I had for lunch. This one stood out for the mandoline description. I emphasize these blog coincidences as a phenomenon unique here--unless there is another blog like this one somewhere in the universe. I write the blog, but have no idea what is contained in the Yesteryear links until the following day when posted.
           And you know, that picture looks surprisingly like the robot "companions" appearing on the market 15 years after the above picture was posted.]