"I wrecked my bar stool."

I love America.

So this guy was out at a bar. He gets too drunk. He drives home, and on the way, he crashes. He calls 9-1-1 because of the injuries he sustained during the crash. How is this any different than any other drunk-driving accident, you might ask?

Well, I might answer. He was driving a motorized bar stool. Full story from The Smoking Gun at that link. Incredible picture below.




Additional thoughts now that I've had a few hours...(added at 2:30 p.m.)

I'm more amazed at this story every time I think about it. It really is fantastic.

A motorized bar stool!!

There are certain things where you can't help but wish to have been there when the ideas were born -- like those little sticky hands you get out of the 25-cent toy machines.

So this guy Kile Wygle has a motorized bar stool he actually drives to bars. I don't even understand how ridiculous that is.

Oh to have been there when that idea came up.

"Holy shit dude, I've got a great idea. Steve, where's that bar stool we stole last weekend? Oh and I'll also need your lawnmower."

And really, did he just park it outside a bar? No one questioned the bar stool/lawnmower hybrid taking up a spot? Or did he just buzz on into the bar and pull up at the bartender? So many questions, so few answers.

I mean, what do you even do if you see this little redneck Segway rolling down the street? And he got a DUI for it, too.

Incredible.

Oh snap.

I did it. I'm back in the blogging world. I had a Livejournal several years ago, and I arrived late to that party, so why not arrive late to this party too?

Besides, from what I understand, fashionably late is a good thing. So consider me fashionably late.

So, a few basics:

Why is your blog called "Island in the Sun"?
-Well, the cool answer, I suppose, would be that's how I like to live my life. You know? Send me to a tropical island, give me an alcoholic beverage, a nice book and a lounge chair. Bam. I'm set. That's the cool answer. And, don't get me wrong, that's all true.

You offer me the chance for any of that, count me in, man. Count me in. The truthful answer is I struggled to think up a fun name and the song "Island in the Sun" by Weezer was playing on Pandora when I clicked the "Start Your Blog" button.

Works for me.

Are you going to be as wordy as the BG we've come to know and love?
-I sure hope not. Writing 10,000-word blog entries is exhausting. It really is. But somehow, I don't see any other way. I mean, look how this entry has turned out? I'm not setting a good precedent for short, to-the-point writing, am I?

I'd say I digress, but I think we both know I'm not digressing. This really is where I was going, and I really am that verbose. Just ask Clark about the time I turned in a 1,200-word column about a football game. I just can't help myself sometimes. And by sometimes, I mean all the damn time.

So, what do you do?
-I work for an independent public relations agency in north Raleigh. I write things for the client we serve. News releases, sales brochures, comparison fliers, etc. Tanner says I lie for a living. Funny coming from the guy who's thinking about going to law school.

Oh, and the client I work for is a major agricultural company. I write about corn. Yes, corn. I know way more about corn now than I ever intended to know.

Why a blog?
-Why not a blog? I love to write, and writing about corn for a living is a bit of a change of pace from writing for a newspaper. At newspapers, you can write about all sorts of different things.

When I wrote for The Clinton Chronicle way down in Clinton, S.C., I covered a city council meeting, a high school tennis match, a college basketball game and a murder trial all within a few weeks of each other. Talk about diverse.

So here I am. Maybe I will write a variety of things, share some fun experiences. Maybe some of it will be funny and entertaining for you. Bonus. We all win. Leave me comments, and I'll love you forever.

Also, for some reason the "I" key on my keyboard is beginning to cease functioning. So there you go.

-BG