But once I was drawn into this guy's world, I was there for very long time. He obviously loves what he's doing and finds the time to do it while also being columnist at the Star Tribune.

His name is Jim Lileks and he's had a career pretty well steeped in journalism. And the internet was made just for guys like Jim. He glommed onto the technology in the mid-nineties, blogging away and has created a labyrinth of entertaining and enlightening elements. More than just a daily blog, his Web site has multitudes of scanned ephemera and commentary to go along with it. In fact, that's how I found his blog. I was searching for something that involved foreign currency and he has a section dedicated this called "The Engraveyard — A salute to tiny pictures made with wavy lines." It had me laughing out loud and then I discovered the rest of his site.

He loves retro anything: decorating, food, movies, comics, catalogs, diners and matchbooks. He gives glimpses into his family life which includes his wife, daughter and dog, Jasper.

But his best stuff to me is just his day-to-day ramblings. He's intelligent, funny and endlessly entertaining.

So, as much as I hate to drive readers away from the News-Sentinel Web site, I'll do it for you now because I think you'll thank me for it.

Enjoy.