Ah, Don't You Love Corporate Radio?
March 31^st, 2004
1:27 P. M.

For the past week, there has been some really strange music playing on a station in my town. It has been the same two pieces of music over and over for that duration. It sounds like something from "The In Sound from Way Out," ... If anyone out there remembers that album. The station playing this stuff was switching formats from classic country (the only thing I will ever call country, in fact -- I call the new "country" music pop) to something new.

Well, I was listening for the new format to come up ... It showed some promise. At first I thought the words "something different is coming to Lexington radio" meant something. As I listened, they opened up their first broadcast with a couple of seconds of Frank Sinatra ... Then Tom Jones ... Then;

"You don't have to sit through something your parents like to hear something you like."

Then they rattled off the same half-dozen names of people whose stuff is being played ad nauseam on at least two other stations in town. You want an idea of who it is? Turn on MTV right now.

I'm so tired of my radio.

*** ** *** ** *** **

Well, it looks like I'm going to follow my shortest post ever with the longest;

Humpday Quote of the

Week!

Radio is a sound salvation
Radio is cleaning up the nation
They say you better listen to the voice of reason
But they don't give you any choice
'cause they think that it's treason.
So you had better do as you are told.
You better listen to the radio.

I wanna bite the hand that feeds me.
I wanna bite that hand so badly.
I want to make them wish they'd never seen me.

---Elvis Costello

One Step Closer to That Old Question
March 30^th, 2004
11:47 A. M.

That old question is ....
What class do you teach?

I have my Student Aid Report in hand (I'm eligible for a little over a thousand dollars), and I'm filling out an application for admission online. I'm doing that right now, in fact. So I'll say ta-ta for now and finish that up!

Wow! I think this is my shortest post ever!

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam!
March 29^th, 2004
1:23 P. M.

I know this message will not reach anyone who will be able to help me in this respect, but here it goes anyway;
Here are a list of things I'm not looking for ... These are offers for things I don't want to see in my e-mail inbox ...
A larger ... mmm ... Organ.
Viagra ... Herbal or otherwise.
Startling investment opportunities.
Tax shelters in African nations.
Pictures of naughty anything.

I basically will not buy anything over the internet that wouldn't be more convenient to get at a drug store. If I wanted investment opportunities, I would read the financial pages of a newspaper. I have no problem with paying taxes ... I don't mind paying taxes ... Just so long as that money is going to the maintenance of our streets and roads (and to pay sanitation workers to move the dang hurbies farther from the curbs!)

As for the naughty pictures thing ... Come on. Abusing the subjects of your photographs is hardly a turn on.

So, please ... no more!

Spring Is In the Air!
March 26^th, 2004
3:43 P. M.

If you cruise on over to the Friday Five page today, you'll see there is nothing posted for today. I can hardly blame them at all. Where I'm sitting, it's sunny and about 75(24) degrees outside. It's a perfect day to rent a boat and float around on a lake somewhere.

Since there is no Friday Five to answer today, I'll just tell you the five things I'm looking forward to (in going back to) college.

1. The homework. I honestly miss that stuff. Having a deadline that is days, if not weeks away beats the heck out of having to have paperwork updated every single minute of every single day. I've had enough time outside of school to have finally found a perspective on this.

2. The studying. I've lately discovered that I love to do research. I owe that to the wonderful, wonderful internet. If it weren't for the network of computers that is now connecting my thoughts to your screen, I'd probably still dread the idea of looking for information on any subject. (I have gotten good practice at searching for song lyrics. That's from what my love of delving for facts grew. One day you're looking up a song, and eventually you're helping a friend research autism for a paper she has in a class.)

3. The (I hate this word) networking. Why do I hate this word? Because "network" is a freakin' NOUN, and shouldn't have "-ing" added to the end of it!!! I don't "car" to work ... I drive!
Anyway, I miss mingling with other folks ... Being able to associate with people whose ideas and beliefs are similar to mine. I haven't really been able to do that since the last time I was in school. It's not that I don't like the folks that I've met recently ... Quite the contrary, I think they're a lovable bunch of people. I just don't have much in common with people who voluntarily label themselves "rednecks."

4. The exercise. Yes, indeedy! having to walk all over campus kept that "freshman five" pound gain from becoming a fifteen or twenty! As soon as I dropped out of college, though, it turned into (an eventual) seventy pound gain! Eek! Maybe by this time next year, after a few months of walking all over the place, I'll be able to drop a little more weight than I have since I joined that gym.

5. The (I hate this word) networking. Why do I hate this word? Because "network" is a freakin' NOUN, and shouldn't have "-ing" added to the end of it!!! I don't "car" to work ... I drive!
Anyway, I miss mingling with other folks ... Being able to associate with people whose ideas and beliefs are similar to mine. I haven't really been able to do that since the last time I was in school. It's not that I don't like the folks that I've met recently ... Quite the contrary, I think they're a lovable bunch of people. I just don't have much in common with people who voluntarily label themselves "rednecks."
If any of answer five looks familiar, that's because I cut and pasted it from number three. This is the thing I miss the most ... Meeting new people. I made a lot of friends with whom I wish I still had contact. I'll correct that mistake this time around ... Along with all of the other mistakes I made from the last time.

I Almost Forgot!
March 24^th, 2004
4:04 P. M.
I had a dream that I had already posted something for today. Good thing I logged on to see if it really happened or not ... Anyway, today's Wednesday and that means it's time for the;

Humpday Quote of the

Week!
If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?
- Abraham Lincoln

Gone in a Flash
March 23^rd, 2004
2:14 A. M.

I may finally have a post which may truly offend someone out there. Particularly, if you happen to work in the sanitation department of a mid-sized metropolis.

Let's say that someone who was driving down a street had to get over close to the curb because someone was unloading a u-haul, and on-coming traffic was having to swerve into their lane. Let's say that this person didn't realize, until too late, that a herbie-curbie was sitting too close to the street. Let us finally say that this person clipped the herbie, and it knocked the passenger side mirror completely off the car.

There is a law in this particular city that dictates residents return the herbie from the curb after seven A. M. However, people in this town also remember when sanitation workers used to go to the sides of people's houses to lift and carry cans to the truck, and then replace the cans at the sides of the houses. When these wheeled herbies came out, it eliminated the lifting and carrying.

But, for some mystifying reason, the citizenry was required to place the containers on the curb (I suppose the word "herbie" had to rhyme with something).

Well, all this has happened here in Lexington. And, the side-view mirror being knocked off ... well, let's say my (relatively) new Mistubishi Galant now only has one side-view mirror. Why that herbie was left so close to the curb, I have no idea. I mean ... how much trouble would it have been for that herbie to have been set farther back from the street?

Old News. I'm the Last to Catch It!
March 21^st, 2004
7:33 P. M.

I just got a look at Thursday's (local) newspaper, which carried this story lead by none other than The Rabid Librarian! Congratulations, Eilir Rowan!

Now I'm wondering if I need to concentrate on a direction for my blog ... nah! I'll continue just writing whatever comes to mind. I'm not clever enough to have a direction ...

Sweetnight, Goodheart!
March 20^th, 2004
3:16 P. M.

A big day is in store for me in about seven hours. The next in what I hope to be a continuing (and very interesting) trips across two states begins. We will be going to pick up my niece and bring her back to Kentucky for her spring break. I know she looks forward to seeing all of her old friends from around the neighborhood. That's something my sister and I never got to do when we were little ... Once we moved away, that was it. We never went back to visit our friends (with one notable, but recently very sad, exception).

But, I do indeed look forward to having my niece around once again. I love the originality that her mind brings to everyday occurrences. She helps me to look forward to the day I have children of my own .......

I Thought I Had Done Something Original Here!
March 19^th, 2004
4:05 A. M.

Don't bother asking how things like this occur to me. I simply don't know. One minute I'm working on a mind numbingly boring and repetitive task, and the next minute my mind's spit something out at me.

What's particularly bothersome is that I'm not the only one who's written on this subject, or in this manner!

So, I was cruising along at work today, listening to NPR (I told you I'm a liberal, right?) and they were talking about the war in Iraq (no surprise). All of a sudden, some part of my brain kicks in ... and I now have a limerick about the capture of Saddam Hussein!

There once was a man from Tikrit,

Who gave the world's leaders a fit.

To hide was his goal

In a small spider hole,

But his luck had just turned to ....

Like I said earlier ... I'm not the only one who's written on this subject and in this way. More disturbing to me is the fact that before I came home tonight, I had never heard nor read any of them!!! But, here they are from a site called Topfive.com.

Links to Blogs of Which I've At Least Glanced
March 18^th, 2004
4:09 P. M.

There are days when I log on to do an entry here that I get distracted while reading other people's blogs. While most of them I quickly close down and never look at again (a blog that uses a lot of "AOL Kiddie Speak" stands a good chance of falling into that category), I have found a few to be worth looking in on again from time to time. (Of course, my absolute favorites are on the right of the screen.)

Today, instead of writing anything original (my inspiration seems to be drying up), I'm going to post a long list of links to blogs I've read and liked over the past month. (A quick note -- the liberal bias I'm showing here is not on purpose ... Though I am, indeed, a liberal. I've found at least one blog written by a conservative that I liked. Unfortunately, I got knocked offline the night I was going to add her link to this list. It is called "Right Woman" or something like that ... And she's a Canadian. So in case you've come across a blog written by a conservative Canadian woman, that's the one I'm talking aboat ... errrm ... about.

So, here are the links!

The Journey
A Town Called Podunk
Dreams 24/7
Love A Little More...
The League of Liberals
Doctors Get Breast Cancer, Too
The Daily Donkey
Led Free DC
The PCAT Professor
Glow Machine's Solipsistic History of the Universe
Unexploded Ordinances
The Inevitable Slow-Force Streaming of Time
With a Cutting Edge
Life of a High School Science Teacher
I'm a fish! I'm a fish! I'm a fish!
||paranoid.android||
Politics: News from the political arenas

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
March 17^th, 2004
3:29 A. M.

Now, on a completely different subject ..... Here's the;

Humpday Quote of the

Week!
When you're born into this world, you get a ticket to the freak show. If you're born in America, you're given a front row seat.
George Carlin on Real Time with Bill Maher.

Word of the Weekend: Worry
March 16^th, 2004
2:21 P. M.

This past three days' down time I owe to concern over a friend of mine. We were held unexpectedly incommunicado, and I went a little off the deep end over it. Her telephone was cut off, and instead of an outgoing message saying "The number you have reached is no longer in service," I got a busy signal.

So, when I went over to her house Sunday and she didn't answer the door (although her car was there), I panicked. Worry ate away at me until I heard from her yesterday evening.

Whew.

She had been at a friend's house when I was trying to get her to come to her door. I'm so glad she's alright ...

Another Exercise in Quick Recall
March 12^th, 2004
3:38 P. M.

Another Friday Five's here. That's all...

1. What was the last song you heard?
It was "Mr. Blue Sky" by E.L.O

2. What were the last two movies you saw?
I saw Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, and before I sat down to write this, I watched a little bit of Star Wars Episode II.

3. What were the last three things you purchased?
A bag of pistachios and two bottles of water. Why two bottles of water? Because .... Have you ever tried to eat pistachios without having water handy?

4. What four things do you need to do this weekend?
Sleep, wake up, eat, and drink ... The real fun begins next week when I enroll for classes for next semester and fill out my financial aid forms.

5. Who are the last five people you talked to?
My mom, her boyfriend, Bennie, TJ, and Jason. It was all pretty much on the same subject. Bennie's wanting to become a real estate salesperson (part time) ... and she darn near has me talked into doing it, too.

*** ** *** ** *** **

There are some strange things going on in this world. Very disheartening things, in fact. Like this story that smacked me in the face as I logged on today.

I couldn't have ever imagined that things would come to the point where people can go out and walk their dogs ... And get electrocuted while doing so. And to think that the people who work on these things are so harried that they allow for such fatal flaws to go unnoticed.

A Note to Extremists
March 11^th, 2004
1:35 P. M.

I just read this story on my AOL account. It may be a little different than the one I read, but here's the link to BBC news' version of the story.

I know no one is going to pay attention to a thirty-year-old who has decided to move back in with a parent while he returns to school, but I have a question for folks who would carry out attacks like this one;

Is there a way to say "GIMME A HOMELAND!!!" that won't leave a body count?

Are You Looking Forward to St. Patrick's Day?
March 10^th, 2004
1:43 P. M.

I know it is next week, but it's been on my mind for a while now. Interesting story behind Saint Patrick's Day. Too bad I'm not going to tell it here. I'll post a link to a search I've made. Click away!

In honor of St. Patrick's day, I've decided to post a quote that falls under the general category of "Irish Bull." (An Irish Bull has been described as a saying that is "always pregnant." The description itself is an Irish Bull. To get the original definition ... The one I'm trying my best to recall ... Check out a book called Anguished English by Richard Lederer.)

Humpday Quote of the

Week!

It is better to be a coward for a minute than dead for the rest of your life.
Credited as an Irish Proverb on Dr. Lyle Larson's Curiosities of Language and Literature page.

I'm Skipping Out On the Blog Today
March 9^th, 2004
2:16 P. M.

If I were to write anything today, it would come out too forced. I feel no inspiration to say anything at the moment, so I won't say anything at all.

That being said, I finally mailed my income taxes off yesterday. I'm now holding my breath 'til it comes back. Since I'm moving, I can't help but wonder if my checks will come to the right address. I have one address on my W2 forms, and another on the envelopes that I sent in. Maybe they'll mail it to the address on the envelope. (If they don't, I'm sure that the forwarding slips I've filled out at the Post Office will work. But, then again, there was a time when my student loan papers said I lived in Illinois ... If you've seen my little States Travel Map from a few posts back, you'll notice that Illinois is not in red.)

In closing today, I would like to wish everyone a good Tuesday (at least it's not Monday), and I hope everyone is enjoying their respective lives to the fullest. (Or, at the very least, having a go at it.)

P. S.

Note to self:
"Address" has more than one "D" in it!!! Other than that, thank goodness for spellchecking software.

Beginning a New Week
March 8^th, 2004
3:57 P. M.

It's is here -- the day everyone dreads. Monday. Though, for some reason, I no longer dread them. Now, I find Mondays to be frightfully dull. I know when I wake up on a Monday morning (afternoon), I face the same old thing I faced last week. I know there are probably a lot of people out there who feel like that.

Not much we can do about it. But, I do notice that I look forward to facing every day beyond a Monday ... The cycle does repeat, though. I have to find some way of making Mondays more interesting, at least on this Blog. I'll think of something, then I'll probably forget it. Then it will come back to me later.

(In case you're wondering, I have been trying to think of a regular feature for Mondays. As soon as I can think of one I'll start working on it.....)

Strange Dreams
March 7^th, 2004
11:20 A. M.

I've never attempted to write about my dreams before today. If you folks think my mind wonders in waking life ....

But, I'll try today;

I was at a nature sanctuary ... For amphibious hares. These were odd looking creatures; they looked as if they had once been considered as what Bugs Bunny would look like. They were bright and colorful, had very expressive eyes and they were perpetually smiling. They swam like frogs, when they crawled out of the water, they strolled around like hares. The whole time I was at that sanctuary, I felt as if I were on the verge of laughter. I don't think these creatures were doing anything overtly funny, its just that these creatures looked funny -- and very happy, and that feeling was contagious.

When I went home, I found my parents (yes, I went home to my parents' house) getting prepared to move. I was helping them pack a few things away when we got a call ... From someone we met in Florida nearly 20 years ago -- and haven't seen since. She said she was on her way to see us. I couldn't help but wonder shy she was coming to see us after all this time. But, I was looking forward to seeing her ... And then I woke up.

Ok ... So, what the heck was it all about?

Back to the Five
March 5^th, 2004
1:57 P. M.

Today, to me, just doesn't seem like the sort of a day for a trip down memory lane. But, that's exactly what the Friday Five is about today. It's not so much that I think reminiscing doesn't have a place in my life at the moment ... Far from it. It's simply because this set of questions has caught me off guard. I'm not prepared for the first question...

What was...

1. ...your first grade teacher's name?
Ummm ... I can't remember. You all out there try to remember someone you haven't seen since 1980.

2. ...your favorite Saturday morning cartoon?
Without a doubt ... And it remains so to this day ... The Looney Toons. I also happen to like quite a bit of Tex Avery's work. I have a theory that all the people who would be making cartoons today as great as these are probably locked away in padded rooms ...

3. ...the name of your very first best friend?
Tough question. Let's just say I miss him (I missed him before he died), and leave it at that.

4. ...your favorite breakfast cereal?
Cheerios. I like breakfast things at their simplest. You can't get much more simple than oat bran shaped like an "O".

5. ...your favorite thing to do after school?
There is a succession of things here. In Elementary school, it was play my Atari. Later, it was to practice viola with all my friends in orchestra. In Junior High, it was singing in after school concerts. In High School, it was rehearsals for the plays. I think I enjoyed each thing more than the one before it.

Darnit! Today's Five has me thinking. I really can't recall my first grade teacher's name. All I can remember is that she was very pretty. I'll see if one of my parents can help out here ... They've had greater practice than I at recalling things from twenty-four years ago. Sitting here thinking that I can even look back over twenty-four years is a little disquieting -- perhaps even a little distracting. All I can think about is how we didn't have cable in our town back then ... Cable didn't make it here until late in '81. When it did arrive here, the cable boxes were quite hilarious. They had no digital display on them -- just a series of switches. Sometimes it got confusing when you tried to figure out which channel was on.

Get this -- I think the first year we had it, the bill was only about seven dollars a month! What's worse ... On what we're calling the Premium Channels today, there was no advertising of any kind. There used to be short features shown between movies ... Not shameless self promotion.

I never wanted to get trapped up in this line of thought. If you want to know how my mind degenerates, then here it is ...

I'm on a nostalgia trip right now. I don't like those. I think the best life has to offer is still ahead of me. Besides ... Nostalgia isn't what it used to be ....

Try and Guess How Long It's Been Since I Exercised!
March 4^th, 2004
1:11 P. M.

No, seriously! Guess! I'll say the first person who answers is right ... I have no real idea. I know it was some time in January. Boy, how time gets away ...

Not to worry, though. I'm heading to the gym here in the next few minutes. I really need to get back into that particular swing of things.

I know that now because I had some trouble taking my Claddagh ring off this morning as I was getting ready to do some work around the house. That is the first time I've had that problem. The ring had been loose around my finger until about two weeks ago. (If you click on the link, my ring look just like the second silver one on the right.)

If there is one thing that really makes me panic, and I don't know why it would be so, it is having a ring on my finger that I can't get off. (That's why I'm thinking of getting a wedding band tattooed on instead of an actual piece of jewelry when/if the time comes. I have less a fear of needles than having something stuck on my finger ... Cutting off circulation ... Gives me willies just thinking about it.)

Time for the Only Regular Feature
March 3^rd, 2004
1:29 P. M.
I know, I know ... I do the Friday Five, but I don't do it as regularly as I do this one. Even though the Friday Five didn't have a post this past week, I did intend to skip it ... As a part of my time away from the computer. Well, today I'm back into the swing of things. I have my dinner (what I'm taking to work tonight) on the stove right now, and I'm going to go out for the afternoon as soon as it's done cooking, and after I've had lunch. (I'm making Tabasco Salmon and Lemon Pepper Salmon, along with a side of wild rice. The Tabasco one is for lunch, which will give me time to recover before work.)

So, on with this week's

Humpday Quote of the

Week!

There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you.
-- Maya Angelou (b. 1928), African-American author, poet laureate, performer, composer

I Feel the Old Laziness Creeping Back to Me
March 2^nd, 2004
2:43 P. M.

Ok, so that isn't news to me. I've noticed it all last month. I'm hoping that all it is was simply the last of the winter "blahs" leaving my soul for the end of this season. To give you any idea, of the two books I checked out at the beginning of last month (Dracula and Frankenstein), I'm only half way finished with the first one. Terrible, isn't it? I need to get better practiced if I am to be prepared for my return to college this coming fall. That is, in fact, my reason for going to the library so often right now. I don't do very much reading at all, and haven't been doing very much of it since my last go at college back in '97. (I keep thinking to myself ... "If I'd stayed in the first time, I could have been a tenured professor by now. I probably could have had a Ph.D. in something as well." I hope I won't be saying that forever!)

It's only two days into March, and already I am starting to feel a lot better ... With a touch of restlessness too, I might add. I'm not totally antsy yet, so maybe I'll be able to concentrate enough to get a few more books read before a road trip claims me! (I already feel the urge for a photo safari coming on. I think I'll head south ... Toward the Gulf of Mexico. I may just make a week of that in the next couple of months. I would prefer to go there before Spring is over. If I'm allowed to post pictures, or even able to do so on my Blogger account, I'll post them when I get them. More than likely, I'll be down there some time in the middle of May ... If I can hold out that long!)

A Weekend Off
March 1^st, 2004
11:56 A. M.

I needed time off this weekend. Something happened last week that I never expected to happen to me ... ever. I started to lose the desire to even turn a computer on. I have no idea what happened ... I suppose I just needed time away from the keyboard.

I did do something with my weekend, though. I went out to see the horse again. Only this time, I got to ride him.

My friend asked me if I had ever ridden a horse before. I have ... but it was only once, and that was about six years ago.

She asked me how comfortable I was on a horse. I told her I knew pretty much how to keep a horse from taking off on me (I said that with as much bravado as possible.)

She said, "Oh, really? Don't make me turn you loose on him!"

I said, "Well, what I do is get on the horse, then hand the reigns over to you so you can walk in front of him."

Of course, sometimes that is no guarantee. But, this past Saturday, the ride went just fine. All I've really forgotten is the ... mmm ... discomfort, and the dismounting. Ugh.