I've been asked many times what it is I do at work. And I struggle to come up with an answer that non-computer people understand. Because saying, "I build web applications" is sometimes too out of someone's experience. So I took a screen capture of something I did at work that shows what I do. Technically, I was evaluating a client-side object that allows users to write html files without having to know html. And if I were to say that to someone, their eyes would glaze over and a little drool would escape from the corner of their mouth.

You can wipe the drool off of your shirt now.

So I made this:

But I don't do this kind of stuff all the time. Sometimes it's worse.

Well, another year of Summerfest has come and gone. Unlike the previous three, I did not go every day this year, mostly because I no longer work downtown and can't go over for lunch anymore.

I missed that.

Something that I realized a long time ago is that when you are reviewing something you like, you can't be as funny as when you review something you don't like. Not that I'm that funny anyway, but I try. So instead of trying to be all mildly funny, I'll just break it down for you and let you know who I saw. Because they were all good.

Except for the guy with the tops, that guy sucked.

Summerfest started on June 26th, but I was at Jazz in the Park, getting my jazz on. I did see the fireworks from the sixth floor of the Yankee Hill apartments. Which meant that we saw about half of what was going on. It was still a good time.

On the 28th, my friend Jeff (who likes boas as much as I do) and I headed down to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. We got here early, so we checked out some other stuff. We mostly checked out the food and beer, but we also saw a bit of Cowboy Mouth's show. Good stuff.

Bo Diddley was the opener. I was psyched to see one of the legends of rock 'n roll, but apparently not everyone was. People weren't evening paying attention. Fortunately, the girl wearing no bra sitting a few rows ahead of us was, and danced along. Good show.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers then proceeded to kick my ass. In a musical sense, at least.

I didn't head back until the 30th, to see Foo Fighters. I got these tickets for free from my coworker Tony, and all I had to do was promise not to say anything suggestive about his sister for two weeks. And if you have ever seen his sister, you'd know how much of a deal that was.

Before the Foo, I caught part of Lewis Black's show. I now share his dream to be rich enough to have my own private ball washer.

The Foo Fighters were pretty good too. I realized that Dave Grohl looks like my friend Paul, which was just bizarre. Having Paul singing all the Foo Fighters songs.

Then some time off at home, to enjoy the warmth and do some grilling. That was the plan, until some jackass stole my grill.

Back to the 'fest on July 2nd to see Ben Folds with Al and Mike. He did a good show too.

The last day I attended was the 3rd, and Al and I got there around noon to eat some lunch. Then to the park for some frisbee golf (I lost the skins game), then back to Summerfest. There, while eating some rueben rolls, we caught most of Los Straitjackets and the World Famous Pontani Sisters. That may have been the most fun I've had watching go-do dancers dancing to instrumental surf rock. I wasn't the only one.

That wasn't the only surreal event of the day. Al and I wandered over to catch Fountains of Wayne. During the show, a five year old girl, perched atop her dad's shoulders, sang along. There was something very odd about a five year old singing along to "Stacy's Mom". The show was awesome, but too short.

As we made our way to the exit, and eventually Cincinnati, we passed the Virgin Megastore. Apparently, the boys from Fountains of Wayne were signing stuff for us. Cool. Only we didn't have anything to sign, so I asked the people in the store if they had anything. Nope. As I was walking back to tell Al that we had to find something, the guys showed up. I accosted Chris Collingwood (lead singer) and asked him if there was going to be anything for them to sign. Of course, I prefaced this with what a great show they had. And then I gave him a long story about how I had purchased their new album earlier that day, but it was at home and I didn't bring it back and that's why I didn't have anything for him to sign. He just kind of looked at me and said that they didn't have anything. So I got some of the Summerfest daily schedules and had them sign those. And when I got to Chris, I apologized for freaking him out earlier. He said, "You didn't freak me out. Now she's freaking me out!" and he pointed to the woman standing next to me. Awesome.

Then I headed to Cincy for the Fourth of July. And when I got back, Summerfest was on it's last day. I didn't go.

That was Summerfest 2003.

Some statistics from the recent Fourth of July weekend trip.

11 - Glasses of iced tea drunk
23 - Hours driving in a car
3 - Different states I saw fireworks in
24- Pictures taken
1.25 - Boxes of Swiss Cake Rolls eaten
250 - Most feet underground
7 - Sushis eaten
2 - Times stopped in Shelbyville, Indiana
1 - Radio stations listened to with my initials for call letters
1 - Bottles of All-8-One, Kentucky's Soft Drink, drank
2 - Powerball tickets purchased
2 - Different couches slept on
3 - Days the window of my truck was open while parked on the street in Evanston, Illinois