hi maria, val looked at that photo, and she automatically said, "longerberger baskets!" as if, duh, everyone knows this. and your email implied the same. ok. I'm the one who's lacking here. she also says the factory is one big basket. I'm a little disturbed actually. in the same way I get distured when I see Caleb's "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" video with small children in slow motion grabbing bubbles out of the air and playing with toys in slow motion, to well-known christian tunes. you just have to see it yourself, apparently like this basket factory.

here's the really funny thing -- val was under the impression that "mdog" was "totally Matt Wicker" (who by the way isn't currently attending covenant theological seminary in St. Louis where his mom and dad work). So what is he doing? Still at Miami? Anyone out there know?

Val says hi maria, what's up maria - mdog, aka matt wicker? She now has a baby and owns a house and still cooks crazy huge delicious meals. Actually yesterday I was sitting in class with brian thinking about that food. I don't normally think about food. Val is having another baby in January - "tucked away for later" -- named TOBIAS.

first of all, i am LOVING the fact that i received a three paragraph response to a picture of a longaberger basket. hilar.

ah... i was trying so hard to be coy about the creepy-building-shaped-like-a-basket office [complete with handles. with handles!!]. and yes, be disturbed. be very disturbed. even seeing google images of the office makes me shudder.

sorry to disappoint... i'm totally not matt wicker! it's that whole informative-yet-vague thing. i don't know what wicker's up to... but hi val! and brian, and caleb, and tobias! :D

i'll end with a random thought: i do believe that the martins have precisely the same oneida silverware as i. that's crazy cool.

I don't see how there's any way we could NOT stop. so creepy, it's intriguing.

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/longa/whole.jpg
http://www.longaberger.com/longaberger/images/visitUs/Home_Office_dawn2.jpg

Yeah, people are serious about their longaberger baskets. They are nice, but why so expensive? My mom is leaving hers to me b/c the rest of family "doesn't appreciate them."

How do you know the martins have your same silverware? just curious.

weird that you would post a link from bluffton.edu... i had lots of friends that went there. but yeah... we'll definitely get some pictures of the monstrosity!

i don't get the craze, either. i mean, sixty bucks for a cake basket? seriously?

as for the silverware, there is a picture on b109 that has a spoon in it... and i'm pretty sure it's just like mine. kinda freaked me out a bit, actually.

"hi maria, val looked at that photo, and she automatically said, "longerberger baskets!" as if, duh, everyone knows this. and your email implied the same. ok. I'm the one who's lacking here. she also says the factory is one big basket. I'm a little disturbed actually."

i don't know why, but this entire excerpt makes me laugh uncontrollably. freakin hilarious.

musta missed that email :?:

those links that rachel posted are hilarious!! unbelievable!!

"picture this: the home of a middle-aged-to-older woman, who is very big into crafts and the like. you know, lots of things made out of wood and twigs, decorations created using large amounts of time with hot glue guns, hand painted watering cans and such. can you see it? can you imagine the type of basket[s] that you might see in this sort of home? yep, you're probably thinking of a longaberger basket."

-excerpt from said maria email.
this girl is "hilar"

oh, and that picture of the longaberger home office "by sunset" makes me laugh SO HARD every time I see it.

that picture is pretty funny. all lit up and everything, so serene, very postcard-ish, oh except for the fact that IT IS A RIDICULOUSLY ENORMOUS BASKET-SHAPED BUILDING.

to me, the picture actually sort of looks like a still shot of a veggietales clip gone wrong.

fun frightening fact: some guy in a plane actually flew through the handles of the building. i have to wonder: is that really something worth losing your license over??

Am I seeing that correctly... a huge building that looks like a basket? Where would someone find something like this?

http://www.daffodilgifts.com/club/archives/LongabergerBaskets.htm

Found it. They have structural statistics. Is this thing cool enough to see with my own eyes... meaning it needs to be put on my list of "Things To See Before I Die"?

well, it's been awhile since i've seen it. i'm afraid that the best part of my original experience was the fact that i had NO idea beforehand that the building was an enormous cake basket. but i think that it really is something that can only be fully experienced in person. and preferably, i suppose, at sunset.

i'd say if you're ever heading i-70 east around the columbus, ohio area, it would be worth the hour or two detour. we can report back after our trip and either affirm or deny that statement.

I'm the sort of person who would seriously drive to Ohio (from Iowa) just to see this basket building. If I get some time at the end of the month, instead of driving to Colorado, I'll head over to Ohio...

How about a building shaped like a bucket? Now THAT would be something... I'd make the drive for that. Basket:no. Bucket: yes!

a bucket? you have a thing for buckets?

have you been down to see The Basket, haps? it's quite the sight.

Ha ha... no I don't care for buckets themselves so much as the word "bucket'; it's so fun to say!

I've never seen The Basket (in person)... mayhap someday if I'm very lucky I will though!