Graceland

Last week, I went on a road trip to Memphis, Tennessee where I visited Graceland Mansion.  The great Elvis Presley once lived there.  Are you ready to go inside with me?

Here we are in the foyer of the mansion.  There is a grand staircase and a picture of Elvis Presley on the wall.

And to the right is the living room with a grand piano.  I bet he sang "Love Me Tuna" here.

To the left is the dining room.  I can imagine lots of salmon being eaten here at this table.

Now we are going into the basement.  This is the pool table room with interesting decorations..

Here is another room that is all in blue and yellow.  Did you know that Elvis liked to watch 3 different television channels at the same time?  The lightning bolt you see on the wall was part of his motto "TCB", or "Taking Care of Business... in a flash."

This is called the Jungle Room, and for good reason.  There is an indoor water fountain, lots of plants, and carved wood furniture.  I also saw a stuffie bear next to a guitar on the sofa.  Do you see him?

Okay, now we are going to take a look at the outdoor pasture where Elvis liked to ride horses.  Along the way, I met a fellow stuffie named Elgar the Moose.  Elgar works at a travel agency in England and he was leading a tour for his two human companions.  We took a picture together.  Elgar said he has been to dozens of countries leading travel trips for humans.  It sounds like he has a great job!

Okay, now we're on to some Elvis Presley exhibits.  Apparently, there was such a thing as Elvis Presley lipstick.

Here is more Elvis stuff.  They really went big on the marketing aspect huh?

Wow, look at that guitar - the guitar of a superstar!

His Grammy Awards were also on display.

There were so many awards I could not count them all.

Some of his stage costumes were on display too.

Finally, the end of the tour took us to Elvis Presley's grave.  Thank you for the music, Elvis Presley.  Long live the King of Rock and Roll.

Stuffie School

Hey everyone, I found out what the backpack was for!  Today is my first day at Stuffie School.  There are some crayons and a notebook in this classroom.  I am beary excited and I can't wait to see who my teacher is...

...it's Uncle Tibbs!

"Hi Ajdin," he said.  "When you are at Stuffie School, you can call me Mr. Tibbs.  And yes, I am your teacher this year."  He looked beary intellectual with those glasses on.

"Alright, let's get to it, shall we?" said Mr. Tibbs.  "Today we are going to learn about the Pythagorean Theorem.  It states that the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides, and it can be written as a² + b² = c²."

I raised my paw.

"Yes Ajdin?"

"Mr. Tibbs, I am confused," I said.  "I am not sure how this would be useful in a practical situation.  Can you give an example please?"

"Why certainly," said Mr. Tibbs.  "Let's pretend you are fishing here by the edge of a riverbank.  And you have a fishing pole."  He drew a picture.

"What type of fish have I caught?" I asked.

"Umm, salmon I guess," he answered.

"What type of salmon?" I asked.  "Pink salmon or sockeye salmon?"

"That's not important right now," said Mr. Tibbs.  "From the picture, wouldn't you say that it kind of looks like a right triangle?"

"Hmm...yes, yes it does," I said.

"Then perhaps using the Pythagorean Theorem, if you know what a and b are, you can solve for side c, or the length of the fishing pole," he said.  "Plug in 3 feet for a, and 4 feet for b and see what you get.  And remember to show your work."

After some scribbling, I finally came up with the answer.

"The fishing pole, or c, is 5 feet," I said.

"Yes, beary good!" said Mr. Tibbs.  "I can see you are beary good at math, Ajdin, especially when salmon is involved."

I can't wait to see what else I will learn at Stuffie School this year!

2015 Summer Fun Photo Contest RESULTS

Hello everyone, and thanks for sending in your 2015 Summer Fun Photo Contest entries.  I will be reviewing the 12 submitted entries today and picking a random winner at the very end!

Entry #1: Beanie Mouse - "RAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHRRR"
Beanie obviously has no fear here.  A brave little mouse can take on a big scary lion.  Remember, it doesn't matter if you are big or small, but what matters is what's on the inside.

Entry #2: Bearlinda Bear - "Bearlinda Bear with Dudley Dinsdale"

An excellent sand drawing of a bear!  This is beary cool and I will have to try that next time I am at the beach.

Entry #3: Benaud, Chloe, and Hicks - "Summer Dreaming as we slip-slide in mid-winter Australian Sunshine"
Benaud, Chloe, and Hicks are from Australia.  I forgot that they are still in winter down there so they submitted a winter fun photo, complete with their winter jackets and outfits!

Entry #4: Droopy W. Dog - "Soc" it to me!

Looks like Droopy is having lots of fun here with his pals Spunky and Patch.  My question is, who won the soccer game?  Soccer is an excellent sport to play in the summer (and fall)!

Entry #5: Jerry and Ben - "Summer Fun is having a Independence Day picnic in the garden!"

Wow!  Leave it to Jerry and Ben to have the most lovely and delicious picnic!  Here they are enjoying some dainty sandwiches (I wonder what kind of sandwiches they are) and grapes set out on a blue gingham blanket.  Martha Stewart, watch out...

Entry #6: Little Ach Good - "Sand Angel"

Now this is something you don't see that often.  Here is Little making a sand angel - how clever!  I thought you could only make snow angels but now I will have to try this the next time I go to the beach.

Entry #7: Little Fox - "Checking out some new real estate in Colorado.  This house has a great view but it looks like a fixer upper."

Here is an entry from Little Fox, who seems to be out adventuring again.  What a great picture!  I think he should buy a home out in the middle of the forest and on top of some mountains.

Entry #8: Ozzie Quirkybear - "Galapagos Tortoise - Slow and Steady wins that Race!"

This really cool photo is from Ozzie Quirkybear.  I know Ooogie would really like it, and he has to agree about slow and steady winning the race!

Entry #9: Ryko - "Ryko the Squeaky Rat"

This next picture is from Ryko the rat, who is all dressed up in a super stylish plaid coat.  Where did you get that coat, may I ask?  It looks like BEARberry.

Entry #10: Scooter Wojak - "Summer is the best time to go skate boarding!"

Next up is a picture from Scooter Wojak.  Wow, Scooter looks like a really cool skater stuffie!  Rock on dude!

Entry #11: Teddy Tedaloo - "Peejayday chilledlaxeding"

Here is a pic of Teddy Tedaloo relaxing in his favorite peejays.  Aaahhh, now that looks really relaxing.

Entry #12: Alexander Mackenzie Bear aka Sandy - "Bear in a 'Boat'"

And last, but not least, is Sandy Bear in a "boat" relaxing on a river.  Sandy took a little bit of a bath in this lake, heh heh...

And the winner is... let me pull a name from my trusty fishbowl...

...Teddy Tedaloo!  Congrats Teddy!  You will be receiving your surprise fun pack in the mail soon.

Thanks to everyone who entered this contest and have a beary good --- WAIT!

My contest manager has just informed me that there are 2 winners for this contest, so I will pull another name from the fishbowl!  The second winner is...

...Droopy W. Dog!  Congrats Droopy!  You will also receive a surprise fun pack in the mail soon.

Have a beary good day everyone!

2015 Summer Fun Photo Contest - update

Hello everyone, the 2015 Summer Fun Photo Contest has now closed.  Thank you for all of your entries!  I will be reviewing the photos soon and picking a lucky winner.  Have a beary good day!

Mail

"Hmm... junk mail... bills..." Uncle Tibbs murmured.

"Hey Uncle Tibbs, what are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm sorting through the mail," he sighed.  "There are bills for me, junk mail for me, more bills for me..."

"Aha!  Here's a piece of fun mail," he said.  His brow furrowed as he read the envelope.  "Oh.  It's for you, Ajdin."

"Cool!  It's a bearthday card from Jerry and Ben!" I said happily.

"Oh, there's a postcard too -- from EGYPT!" Uncle Tibbs said.  He looked disappointed as he read the back.  "This one is for you also, Ajdin."  He handed it to me.

"Oh COOL!" I exclaimed.  "It's a postcard from my friend Fritzel Ranßweiler."

"I'm noticing a trend here," said Uncle Tibbs.  He picked up the last piece of mail.  "Hey, this is a cool package of jellybeans..."

"Look!  There's a note from Little Fox that says Happy Bearthday Ajdin!" I said.

"WHEN WILL I GET FUN MAIL??" sighed Uncle Tibbs.

He took out his checkbook and began paying the bills.

"Ajdin, promise me that you will never grow up.  It's not as fun when you are an adult stuffie," he said.

"I promise," I said, chewing on some jellybeans.  "Here... *chew* ...have some... *chew* ...jellybeans, Uncle Tibbs.  Maybe that will... *chew* ...make you... *gulp* ...feel better."

Thanks for the fun mail everyone!  Have a beary good day!

Backpack

Today I was just walking along when I spotted a blue backpack lying on the ground.  There was a Mysterious Note that read, "FOR AJDIN."

Now, the last time that I received a Mysterious Note like this, it was for a pair of pants, so I was a little skeptical.  But the backpack was a cool, blue geometric print and had a picture of a bear on it.  I picked it up.

And it also seemed to be the perfect size for me.  I put it on.

How does it look?  I never had a backpack before.  I wonder why the Mysterious Note gave this backpack to me.  Does anyone have any guesses?  Perhaps it was meant to carry lots of salmon and honey jars.

200th post and 2015 Summer Fun Photo Contest

Hello everyone, can you believe that this is my 200th blog post?  To celeBEARate, I am going to have a contest.  It is also a Summer Fun Photo Contest to celeBEARate all of the fun summer adventures everyone had.  Here are the simple rules:

1.  Send your favorite picture of you having fun this past summer.  Also include a caption, please.
2.  Only stuffies are allowed to enter this contest.
3.  Your photo entry will enter you into a random drawing for a fun surprise pack!
4.  All entries must be received by Sunday, September 20, 2015 at 11:59 pm EST.
5.  You can send your photo entry to me at ajdinthebosnianbear (at) gmail.com, or lifeisbearygood (at) gmail.com.
6.  Good luck!