about

(If you've clicked to see the TV interview here, it is further down the page.)

I've tried to make this short, yet with enough detail that a first-time visitor would understand what this blog is all about....

First off - why is this a "blague"?! I enjoy a good blog, but I also enjoy a good blague - French for "joke" - and it's pronounced basically like the English word blog – think of the city Prague. (BTW, the city in the various header images of this blog is Paris, not Prague.)

My name is Rob, and I'm a college French professor, happily married to Becka. Below is a recent picture of us. Read on below the picture to learn how I became known as the "ivman"....

ivman past
From early in 1997 to early in 2007, I sent out weekly e-mail messages to give people an iv = "instant vacation," so named after a quotation by Milton Berle, "Laughter is an instant vacation." Because of my funny iv's, I became known as the "ivman." And more and more people asked me to add them to my mailing list.

I started the ivman.com website in 2003 and began archiving each e-mail on an archives page. As my mailing list approached 2,000 addresses and e-mailing and archiving my iv's became increasingly impractical and time-consuming, I decided to add a blog to the site and post my iv's on my blog instead. Since everything on a blog is automatically archived, my old archives are gone and I'm gradually incorporating the content of the old archives into the blog.

ivman present
I try to post to my blog twice a week - usually Mondays and Thursdays, either first thing in the morning or in the evening (my time zone). Many people have subscribed to the RSS feed, and others receive my blog posts by e-mail. You're welcome to do either, both, or neither.

Most of the iv's are humorous, but once in a while they will be thought-provoking, informative, or inspirational. There is great truth in the Bible verse Proverbs 17:22, "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." We all need a good laugh from time to time, and I'm confident that you'll get some laughs as you explore my blog. You will find a wide range of jokes, funny pictures, and humorous stories, as you can tell from the huge tag cloud in the sidebar. Part of the reason for the variety is that much of what I post has to do with something going on at the moment in my life or in the world. I have an uncanny ability to see the humorous side of events. Be sure to check out the tabs in the header and the links in the sidebar.

DISCLAIMER: Thin-skinned people, please BE WARNED - I'm not always "politically correct!" But, hey, this is my blog, isn't it?! Also, I thoroughly enjoy being a doting grandpa, so be prepared for pictures and stories.

If you have some good, clean humor you'd like to share, please do so - that way I can perhaps share it with those who read my blog. You can send it through the contact link at the top of the page.

ivman future
I'll keep blogging as long as people keep reading and commenting!

Rob, the "ivman"

my TV interview

Here are the two three-minute segments, one during the first half hour and the other during the second half hour of the morning newscast, Sunday, July 19, 2009, on WYFF for the Spotlight Blog! feature of their Sound Off South.

First segment:

Second segment:

There's a little more information about the interview on my blog post Many Moons Ago.