Two of America's Finest

Another pic from Devil's Den in Gettysburg.

The Fantastic Voyage

I'm here! Uninjured, and no one had to post any bail money.

I would like to summarize for you now, (a la Mary Catherine Gallagher) the entire weekend by using the most common phrases and words...well, at least the ones I can remember.

OK so I'll bring it up since we're all avoiding the subject...
Boobs
I like your hair. And I like your boobs.
What's it going to take to get you in that chair?
Oh hey, there's our IT guy! (P.S. who by the way was arrested this weekend!)
Only fags and queers work there.
If you guys are really us, what number are we thinking of?
Let's go sky diving or base jumping just to mix it up.
Which would you rather do, sky diving or get in "the chair?"
"The worst story ever told."
Can you tell us how to get to Fantasyland?
What kind of animal does Pastrami come from?
I'll have a Happy Ending.
Camp Tramps/War Whores
I understand the 69 and the 88 but what's the 63?
Should I get dressed? I forgot my pants
Period clothing
Period underwear
Hey, here's a stump, why don't you take a picture of that?
Look, honeysuckles.
You know you can eat them.

Our Sunday took us back in time to the Civil War on our trip to Gettysburg. We had a most excellent tour guy...thanks again dude.
This is a picture of the typical fencing you'll find around the battlefield.

This is an area known as Devil's Den. Very cool rock formations, fun to climb on. Brian overheard a kid who was walking through this opening say to his mom "I bet no one's ever walked here before." The same thing all other kids think when climbing around the rocks.

A Soldier Sandwich

Happy Friday everyone!

I'm gearing up for another fun-filled weekend. As some of you may know, Dean is home for a while and will be making an appearance to the 'burg over the weekend. So, there will be some partying but hopefully nothing that will result in Fred Flinstone feet, well at least not for me. Some of you may remember my "Misery" blog from back in January. Can I just mention, my ankles still ache??

We'll be out and about with our cameras with a couple of pretty cool ideas in mind. Hopefully they work out. See, we've recruited an unassuming model for the weekend. I'm sure you'll see the pics on all our blogs.

Lass, you're the only one that will appreciate my situation....me, two soldiers for the weekend....any questions? I'll put away the newly purchased Superman sheets for now!

Have a great weekend everyone!

L'ete en France

Yes, there are people lucky enough to live in Europe for long periods of time...like Dorman and NittanyBri. They were/are there for obvious reasons.

However, I have this friend. She and her family are leaving for Europe tomorrow. See, her husband works here and will be doing a project there for the next couple of months.

If you've read Angels and Demons, or you are a physics phan, then you are well aware of CERN. It's a good thing I can read!

CERN's location is in France, just over the border from Geneva, Switzerland. So, my lucky friends are packing up their wares, and the kids and will be spending the next couple of months in Europe. Bon Voyage my friends!

Having several friends in Europe all at once, makes the temptation of travel there over the summer almost unbearable. Maybe I should give into temptation...just this once.

Weekend Update

Hi all, hope you had a chance to do some chillin and grillin this weekend. I was thankful for the extra day off!

Saturday I got to do some work with the Susquehanna Art Museum at the ArtsFest we have in Harrisburg. The museum has a bus called the Van Go! that is a travelling art exhibit. They take it to schools and events. It was at ArtsFest and there was a need for museum volunteers and interns to make sure people didn't touch the works, spill drinks on them or answer any questions people may have about the work. It was pretty cool to see kids bringing their parents on the bus to show them the work that they learned about when the Van Go! was at their school.

I did get to meet lots of new people this weekend and enjoyed lots of food and drinks all weekend long.

But as always, the weekend came and went too fast. So, it was back to work today. Mow the lawn tonight. Geesh, did it get hot! It has been in the 90's the last couple of days.

I did get to put up my Tibetan Prayer Flags this weekend. I'd love to get a bunch more to hang all over the yard. But, I guess I shouldn't get crazy. I am still in the market for the perfect hammock. But have yet to find it.

Tonight when I was mowing the lawn I discovered this bug on my big maple tree. I don't know what made me even notice it but it was pretty strange.

See that transparent sac on the back side of this bug? It uncoiled a big, long tail like thing that was about 3 inches long. And then it put the tail thingy on the tree and pushed it back into the sac. Anyone know what the heck this is? What it was doing? Is there an entymologist in the house?

This is the Gospel?

I saw something on the news last evening that really perturbed me. Perhaps you have heard about the Kansas based minister-Fred Phelps that has (apparently) a direct line to the Lord. He (and his followers of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka Kansas) have decided that funeral crashing is the way to bring to the attention to the general public that God is not happy with homosexuality. He's says that the Sago Mine disaster as well as our soldiers dying in Iraq and Afghanistan are God's way of telling us homosexuality is wrong. Uh huh, I can clearly see the connection....NOT!

This funeral protesting has gotten so out of hand that several states have now begun drafting bills to keep these picketers 500 feet from a funeral.

How despicable do people have to get before the general public decides to just kick some ass? I would hate to think that I would go to a funeral and have to put up with some crackpot and his followers interfering with the service. That would piss me off, and warrant some bad behavior on my part, even if I was wearing a dress and heels.

It's not bad enough that, for the most part, many of us do not feel that our soldiers should even be in Iraq or at least shouldn't be there any longer. The soldiers are still dying and now we have to put up with this crap when trying to bury them????

After doing a search on Fred Phelps, I see that his web site address is www.godhatesfags.com. There's link number two on this blog to his web page. Funny, but the words "God" and "hates" don't fit into the same sentence in my vocabulary. I don't know what God he worships but I don't want anything to do with Him.

Remember these guys?

If you're saying for the love Carnealian, they look like a bunch of freaks! Well, you would be correct. And, it would also indicate that you were probably not a teenager in the 80's or perhaps you didn't have cable and weren't privvy to MTV's early days when they actually played videos most of the time.

When MTV wasn't playing videos, they had shows like The Young Ones which is a Brit comedy started in the early 80's. I finally got to see it beginning in the second season which was in the mid 80's or so. And that was when I last saw it, until this weekend.

I have a friend that came to visit bearing good tidings and the entire 2 seasons of The Young Ones on DVD! I had kind of forgotten how disgusting this show can be. I mean, consider 4 young guys living together and what the cleanliness of the living quarters might be. That's just for starters. My favorite part of this show was their musical guests that would show up in the kitchen or some how be very non-chalontly worked into the script. Some of the guest bands were Dexy's Midnight Runners, Madness, The Damned, (I did say this was the 80's didn't I?)

It was a lot of fun seeing this show again. I might have to go watch another episode before bed tonight! I'm so boooring.

Going Greek

This past weekend is often one of my favorites. The local Greek Orthodox Church holds a three day festival which of course includes tons of food, music, dancing, etc.

The weather didn't cooperate, but that seemed to keep the crowds down, at least while I was there. A first timer accompanied me to the festival this year who thought it was strange that I was developing a plan of attack, almost requiring us to synchronize watches, and to split up in order to get all the food we wanted in the least amount of time. But all that wasn't necessary.

Our first stop was the Gyro (yee-ro) station. One veggie, one regular please.

Second stop pastries.

There was of course the Baklava, which most everyone knows and loves. But two of my other favorites are Kourambiedes which are butter and chopped almond cookies with tons of confectioners sugar on top, Galaktobouriko, custard pastry wrapped in phyllo and drizzled with syrup. But, my all time favorite, of which I just had a piece for breakfast is Kataifi me Crema. Shredded phyllo slathered together with some kind of honey syrup then topped with almonds and walnuts and finally topped with custard and whipped cream.

yes, this is what we looked like!

Then it was back outside for the tiropitas, spanakopitas, basically phyllo wrapped around spinach and/or cheese. And finally, Saganaki which sounds like something you'd order at a sushi restaurant. However, it is Kefalouri cheese sauteed and flamed with brandy. Of course done with a flourish and a big Opa!

So, another weekend come and gone in a flash. I can't hardly believe next weekend is Memorial Day already. Hope everyone had a super-duper weekend and has a super-duper Monday!

Obla-di-Obla-da

I tried to warn him. I tried to get him to marry me instead, but he wouldn't listen. See what happens?

Paul, if you're reading this, I'll whoop her butt for you.

Serendipity Part Deux

When things happen in my life, I can't help but think about fate, destiny or serendipity, whatever you want to call it, and how it has played a significant role in my life. There's been much lately that I can only chalk up to one or all of those.

This weekend I happened to catch the movie Serendipity with John Cusak, who rarely makes a movie I don't like. I'm not sure what made me stop and actually watch this movie already in progress, which is something I don't often do if I've never seen the movie before. It was a sweet romantic "chick flick." I hope it's on again this weekend!

Anyway, the reason I got to thinking about fate, destiny etc. was because I decided to go to the library at school today to take out some books and decide on a subject for the independent study I'll be doing this fall. I really didn't feel like driving the 30 mins to get to school since I still wasn't feeling that great today. Plus it's been cloudy and raining almost everyday lately, so I tried talking myself out of going. But, I went and I get to school, get some books, decide to stop at the bank on the way home and deposit some money and then I'd be on my way home.

But just as I was approaching Hershey I heard the squeal of breaks and that ugly crunching metal sound. It's that sound that when you hear it you know exactly what has happened without even looking. It was happening in the oncoming lane of traffic, right in front of me. I reached for my cell as I was passing the young girl who rear-ended the car in front of her and asked if she was o.k. She said she wasn't but proceeded out of the car to sit on the front lawn of the house across the street. I called 911, told them where the accident was, what I'd seen, etc.

So, I see she's bleeding, I don't have a darned thing in my car to help her, no first aid kit, or anything. Then I think, "you grabbed a wad of tissues on your way out the door today so you could blow your nose all day." There the tissues sat on the front seat of the car, untouched for their intended purpose for the day. So I grabbed them and put them on the injured girls hand, careful not to press too hard on the finger she thought may be broken.

She may not have even been 20 years old. She said the car was fairly new, she thought her parents were going to kill her. She had a police officer call her mom. Can you imagine "Ma'am, this is Derry Township police, your daughter has been involved in an accident." Ugh! What mother wants to hear that? As I drove away I thought, this is a pivotal moment in this person's life. She will remember this day forever. She may become a more cautious driver because of it.

I couldn't help but think that somehow I was intended to be there at that specific time, with the wad of kleenex, maybe to provide some comfort to the injured girl or maybe it was for me to once again be thankful for the things I have. I was certainly thankful it wasn't me involved in the accident. I was thankful she wasn't injured more.

Whatever the reason, I'm glad I was there. It made me reevaluate things and come away more thankful than before.

Sneezy, Snotty and Whiney

Today is May 14, Mom's day. Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there! The point is, it's May. I just had to turn my heat on because it's gray and ugly and cold outside.

To boot, I have a cold. So I'm sneezy, snotty and whiney. (That's my version of the Seven Dwarfs.)

I did have a nice weekend as always, just wish I didn't feel like poop.

Musings from the Ignorant

With all the talk about illegal immigrants in the country, I've overheard many people talking about what they've seen, heard or what should be done to resolve the issue.

It seems, at least from those I've heard, that all hispanics (because apparently they are the only illegal immigrants in this country) are from the same country. Yes, the Cubans, Mexicans, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. If they stopped to think about the fact that each of those nationalities have their very own country, with one exception. Puerto Rico. I know, I didn't need to tell you that, but from what I've heard, most folks are unaware that in fact, Puerto Ricans are Americans. And I love to point out their stupidity when I hear them say something about it.

There's usually a brief moment of silence (hopefully to bid a fond farewell to any common sense they may have had) before they open their mouths again.

Another concern with illegal immigrants from what I've heard is "how do they get here?" Has anyone looked at an atlas in the last year? Technically, it is possible to drive from the United States to Argentina if one really wanted to. Anyone ever hear of a boat? Just because the "illegals" are driving a Ford Escort doesn't mean that's how they got here.

I vote for keeping any illegal immigrants that are reasonably intelligent and deporting the numbskulls that were born in the U.S. that have two brain cells that are fighting with one another.

Yep, I'm Still Around

Tonght would have been the final in French class, but I didn't have to take it! Whoot!!!

I collected all my sculptures from the studio at school and hope to have some pics of them for you. Whenever I find a spare minute.

I worked at the art museum on Saturday and Sunday. Click the link to check out the most current exhibit. The Armenian work totally fascinates me.

Went to see the Luv Gods on Friday night with a few very special friends. After all it was Cinco de Mayo. Anyone do anything fun to celebrate?

A Quickie!

1. Grab the nearest book
2. Open it to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Copy it onto your blog/journal along with these instructions

"She was being carried into the yard, her arms around firm, powerful shoulders."

from The Mammoth Book of Erotica.

This meme courtesy of New and Improved Smoke and Mirrors

Life in the Fast Lane

I just love the spring weather we've been having here. I mowed my lawn tonight and aside from the incredible dust storm I created which has now made my throat a little scratchy, the lilacs are in full bloom and seem particularly fragrant this year.

I cut a bunch of Lillies of the Valley too over the weekend. That smell is just intoxicating!

I finished my final project in sculpture class last night and must collect all my projects from the semester this weekend. I hope to have some pics to post once I get them all back.

This found object project really took off for most of the people in my class. One person made this enormous yard sculpture that moves with wind or rain. Another person made a Tiffany style lamp from a trumpet and an old lamp shade. She even went as far as adding the typical dragonfly motif on the lamp shade. However, these were made from nuts, bolts and screws. All of this girls projects were just over the top!

I'm still waiting to hear from my French prof on the outcome of my last test. I'm getting nervous!

I finalized my fall schedule yesterday with my advisor. I'm happy with it, now I need to work on finding a part time job that will fit into my class schedule and allow me to have some kind of spending money...oh, and money to pay bills.

I would like to put out the official blog world welcome to a new blogger friend. Be sure to check him out!

Random Thoughts

Waiting is the Hardest Part

I'm anxiously awaiting word from my French Prof about my final grade, so I know whether or not to prepare for the final which would be next week. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

The last several days and particularly the weekend was absolutely beautiful here. I spent much of the weekend outside dining at outdoor cafe's or enjoying a deck here and there. Went hiking on Sunday on a local trail. Made me realize that no matter how much I go to the gym, I will always be out of shape! So, I fully intend on doing more hiking on my own this year.

I'm trying to keep up with everyone and enjoy the weather. I'm here, I'm doing well, and haven't even threatened to put my head in the oven for at least a month.

Thanks for checking in!!

The Sincerest Form of Flattery

Tonight I almost gave up on my idea of what to do with those plastic water bottles. I was working away and the glue wasn't sticking, it was terribly frustrating. Then, things started coming together.

This is the found object sculpture and everyone in the class is making really awesome pieces out of hubcaps, musical instruments, rain gutters and so on. The one girl in my class is making a fountain. And, she told me tonight that one aspect of her fountain she is creating was inspired by me from our last project which was a wire project. So, I was thrilled that I was able to inspire someone.

The end of the semester is fast approaching. I hope to get a picture of the wire project as well as this found object project and post them here.

I am very much looking forward to the end of this semester even though the classes I've taken this semester have had little homework and have been somewhat lacking in difficulty. I don't anticipate any kind of final for either of the classes this semester either. I am looking forward to having the summer off from school which will hopefully give me the rest I need before I take on the fall semester which I hope to be attending full time.

Talk about a change of pace! I have scheduled my full time classes and will only have to go on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays. I think I will also be doing an independent study course related to art history in some way. That scares the crap out of me because basically it will end with one, giant research paper.

However, I will only have one more semester to go after the fall and I will graduate. Then I will be cast out into the cruel, cruel world once again. And for graduation...party, my house, everyone's invited!

OK You Asked for It

The comments on the last post have provoked this post. Are boobs really that important?? I mean say a girl is hot, really hot, but doesn't have a whole lot of boob action going on, then what?

And that being said, brings me to the point that it's really not fair that men (or women) can get a pretty good idea of what's going on in the boob area simply by how a woman looks any day of the week. Unless she really has a push-em-up-squish-em-up-bra on.

And what about fake boobs? I mean to another woman, they are just ridiculous looking.

Us girls on the other hand don't get any kind of sneak peek until "the moment of truth" and then what do we say? "Um, I just remembered I have to organize my sock drawer." No, we're stuck.

See, it's a guys world.

Found Objects

Tonight in sculpture class we will begin our final project. This project requires us to assemble found objects (yes, quite possibly items out of a dumpster) and make something out of them.

Here's what I've collected. I have an object in mind, hope it will work out. Any guesses??? Or hey, any ideas???

Easter Bunny From Hell

I thought this picture was too stinkin funny! Hope the Easter Bunny brings everyone something very special!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Today I began doing my internship at the Susquehanna Art Museum. If you go to the web site, there is still an image of the exhibit that just concluded. These pieces were done by a shaman from the Mashantucket Pequot tribe of Native American. Several of you may be familiar with Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut which is on the Pequot reservation.

I wish I had gone to see this exhibit. These pretty large images were done in yarn on a piece of wood. The images came to the shaman from a peyote induced high. The colors were spectacular!

Today as part of my work at the museum, I finished up the packing of these works as they are on their way back to the Pequot Museum in Connecticut.

The new installation is pretty much ready to go for next weeks opening. This has been such a great experience for me today. I am so thankful for this opportunity and look forward to doing a lot more work with the museum!

And the grand finale for today:


There was a huge rainbow. It had the most vivid colors in it! Wow!!

Leonardo Was More Than a Ninja Turtle

I caught a bit of a program last night on the Hitler, I mean History Channel. In this program they were trying to convince the viewer that not only is Leonardo DaVinci an artist, painter and scientist but he was also responsible for the Shroud of Turin.

This program claimed that not only is the image in the shroud not that of Jesus Christ but is the image of Leonardo himself. Many universities have done extensive testing on how Leonardo created the shroud using his likeness. They have compared images of Leonardo to that of the Shroud as well as hired an historical photographer to recreate the Shroud as Leonardo would have done. If all this is true about him, that's one amazing man!

However, I think we have one man to thank for this frenzy and that is Dan Brown. I don't think he realized what kind of monster he would create with this whole DaVinci Code phenomenon. In the recent months I have seen more stories on The Masons, (which makes me wonder what my dad was really up to when he went to Masonic meetings), Knights of Templar, Gnostic Gospels, etc. And now I've even seen that there is an author that has written a book that indicates Jesus asked Judas to betray him.

Are there too many conspiracy theories going on around here? Have we finally decided to let the lone gunman theory go and let JFK rest? Now we've moved on to Biblical conspiracies as well as continuing to go on and on about Princess Diana's death.

Plaster Caster

In a previous post I mentioned that my sculpture class had the opportunity to display our "biomorphic" sculptures in a public building at school.

The sculptures are up and here they are:






The tallest sculpture in the photo on the right is mine.


These are the infamous apple sculptures from the beginning of the semester. The apple on the left was carved from a block of clay. The one in the middle required me to use a real apple and then create a mold into which I poured wet plaster to mold the shape of the apple. And the one on the right was carved from a block of plaster.

I wanted to also show you this piece done by another student at school. Not sure what class it was that required her to do this project but I think it is so creative. And, it's ginormous!!! Can you see what the flag is made of?

The Running Man

Today I got to see my nephew run in a track meet. His usual events are the 800 and the mile.


As you can see there was great introspection.










Lots of positive self talk.










Plenty of stretching too.











With some pre-race well wishes,









Then came the race....ready at the line up.













And they're off.








Coming around the bend.










And the agony of defeat.









A pulled calf muscle prevented him from running the mile. It's early in the season, he's got plenty of time to catch up!

The Old Ball Game

Whether you love him or hate him, believe he's guilty or not, should fans be allowed to throw syringes on to the playing field during a baseball game??

Like so many other players before him, I'm sure Bonds isn't completely telling the truth which doesn't portray our athletic heros in such a good light. They are not the role models they once were.

Neither are the fans. It seems people don't just go to the ballpark anymore to have an enjoyable afternoon with family or friends. It's like the players are there to do a service for the folks that paid sometimes large amounts of money for prized seats right behind home plate.

Who doesn't remember the name Steve Bartman? This poor guy became quite well known for that Chicago Cubs foul ball incident. The guy probably thought he was going to be lynched for that move.

The list of fan interference goes on and on and incidents seem to be increasing as the years go by. Now it's possible for people to bring in such potentially dangerous items as syringes so they can make complete idiots out of themselves in order to make a point.

The way I see it, in a couple of years, the baseball diamond will be shielded by 10 foot high plexiglass similar to a hockey game so that fans can no longer snag a foul ball or throw objects on to the field. Whatever happened to the days when the biggest fan interference was a woman running on to the field to steal a hug and a kiss from her favorite baseball player?

Metropolitan Coyote

This kind of stuff is what makes me really angry that people just cannot leave well enough alone.

This is a picture of Hal. Someone was kind enough to name him but the officials in Central Park just couldn't leave him be. I understand Coyotes are kinda scary, eat cats and probably dogs. But, I'm sure there are enough rats in Central Park that would have kept Hal happy for many years.

He was able to elude the park officials for quite a while, but they eventually got hold of him. They tagged him and sent him off to Long Island and were going to release him. But, he just wasn't going to have any of that. He died. It wasn't bad enough that the stress of being captured, having a muzzle put on and probably poked and prodded for hours was bad enough. Now they're going to try and figure out why he died by doing some kind of autopsy.

It's a very sad story. At least they didn't kill him right off the bat like they so often do when an animal is found out of it's element. Sure, we should find out more about the wildlife around us but once and while, just leave well enough alone.

You can read more about the story here.

Today is a Special Day

Someone special is having a birthday! Swing by and send some well wishes!!

A Place in the Sun

The sun is shining, the air is warm and the Adirondack Chairs have reclaimed their space in the sunshine. You know what that means boys and girls!

The Great Clothesline Catastrophe

Today me and the clothesline went rounds. It was a pretty decent day to hang clothes out so I did all kinds of wash. The line was already on the ground so I had to knot it back up.

So, here I come with armloads of clean wash, got most of it up. I got most of the stuff on the line when it all came tumbling down.

And by the way, where did all my grass go???? We had no snow, so it can't be a raging case of snow mold. But, my yard has turned into a dust bowl, which is not good for clean, wet wash.

Geesh!

New Adventure

Last week I went to talk to my advisor about scheduling a full semester of classes beginning this fall. Yikes! 5-6 classes all day Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I want to do it. If I do it, it'll take me about a year till I graduate. One, short, year! It's scary though, I've never gone to school full time. I've always worked full time, gone to school part time. Scary has become my middle name of late. I'm ready for the challenge!

Most of the classes I have yet to take are electives with the exception of the dreaded science class. I'll have to pick from the lesser of the evils out of Bio, Chem, and Physics. Is there any one that's less mathy than the other? Oh, and I'm not disecting anything. I do know one of the chem prof's so maybe I should take his class because he won't seem as scary to me since I know him.

My advisor has also been instrumental in getting my sculpture classes most recent project put on display in one of the campus buildings. She told me how pleased she was with the results from the class project and took her recommendation to the President of the college. So, it's a pretty big deal, I'm thrilled to be a part of it! I also brought my sculpture home to work on again. If it's going to be on display, it's gotta be as good as it can be!

I promise I will have pics of all these pieces probably when the semester is over.

Daffodils, Hyacinths and Mums, oh my!

Yesterday was such bright sunshine but without the warm temps. Today is not so sunny but the temps are much better. It's supposed to get even better as the week goes on. Finally!

I've been watching my daffodils and hyacinth coming up. The daffodils still haven't bloomed but the colors on the hyacinth are beginning to show. I swear I planted pink, white, blue and purple ones last year. Why are they all blue???

The same thing happens to my mums. I plant different colors and they all come up yellow!

Hot Fun in the Summertime!

In fifth grade I met one of my best friends. She and her family moved from in the city to the suburbs. Not only was she in my grade, she and her family lived two streets away from me. I don't remember the first time we talked or the first time we decided to do something together. I do remember going to Hershey Park, playing tennis, riding bikes and having sleep overs.

The most fun I think we had were on the countless days we'd spend at the pool. Often our days at the pool would begin at 10:00 a.m. for either synchonized swimming practice or swim team. The water was always freezing no matter how hot and humid the preceeding day or night was. The pool was close enough to our houses so that we would either walk or ride our bikes there.

After the hour long swim practice we'd go back home for a few hours to do whatever tortureous projects our parents had for us that day. It was summer after all, did we really have to work??

But when 1:00 rolled around, and the pool opened for business, we were there. We had our towels, bathing suits were on, flip flops and our pool bags full of combs, mirrors, baby oil (because Lord knows we were not into preventing skin cancer, we wanted to get as much sun as possible), sun glasses, reading material, and of course money.

One of our favorite pasttimes at the pool was of course checking out guys. Older guys. We were maybe in high school possibly only Jr. High school at this point so we were so in love with the guys that were going to be seniors or maybe had already graduated. I was in love with one of the life guards Paul and another guy Mike. Mike's mom was from England and periodically he'd go there for a visit. I thought that was so cool. He was intercontinental. My friend however, was in love with the one and only Bob. We knew where he lived and even did a "walk by" once and a while. I even remember that his favorite song was "My Sharona." I'm not sure how we determined that, but it was a well known fact. I know we never dated any of these guys, not sure we even talked to them at any point.

Our second love at the pool was the food. Pizza, burgers, hot dogs, fries and of course the candy; Chick-o-sticks, Delfa rolls, Swedish Fish, Fun Dips, Pixie Sticks.

One of our biggest challenges as we got older, maybe juniors in high school was trying to pull off that we were actually 18. Because at 18, we could swim at adult swim AND use the folding chairs. Every once and a while before we turned 18, we got the guts up to grab a chair or to go in for adult swim. But we were so sure we were going to get told about it. Like somehow our ages were tattooed on our foreheads.

4:00 would roll around all too quickly and we would have to pack up our belongings. The two of us were working girls. We had paper routes. So, we'd drag ourselves home and deliver our papers, have dinner and do whatever else our parents wanted us to do. Then maybe, just maybe, we'd have the opportunity to sneak back down to the pool for the rest of the night.

Oh What A Night!

OK no, so we're at Cantone's and speaking French to some Middle Eastern/French Speakers it was weird. Then we venture downtown to familiar territory and have a few more drinks and trivia, which we rocked at. Where else should we go? Well, how bout the Hardware Bar? Familiar to Mattandriver and Dorman??? Oui! So, it's a meat market. Immediately there's an "Italian" making his moves on the two of us and wants to know if were 'lesbian.' After much consideration on this question, we determine that we are in fact, lesbian wannabes, just to get rid of the greasy vulture. In case you're wondering, he didn't even bother to buy us a drink. Loser!

So, we circulate....and the band plays "Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson. To which Carnealian dances frantically. But Marie (not her real name) is sedate. So Carnealian see a cutie patootie and decides to say "I thought they didn't allow guys on the bar." Marie is comiserating with 60 year old basketball coaches while Carnealian is making time with the man of her dreams.

Marie decides it's time to go and she's driving (scary) so I have no choice. I must abandon the man of my dreams because departure is mandatory according to "the maniac," my driver.

Upon crossing the short unobstructed corner, Marie begins to stumble and fall flat on her face, keys spewing in every direction with local law enforcement looking onward. After a chuckle from our "finest" and a "are you o.k. ma'am" we were on our way. Eventhough the love of my life waits at the Hardware Bar for me.

Sad, but true.

As if this story wasn't sad enough, on our way to the car, a beggar stopped us asking for some change. He even produced an onion from his pocket as proof of his destitute state. We convinced him we spent all our money at the bar (which is fairly true) based on the fact that it was $13.00 for two drinks without the oral sex as a bonus.

Needless to say, I missed the opportunity of a lifetime thanks to Marie. I will be going back to that bar every night for the rest of my life to find him. (Copa, Copacabana, the hottest spot north of Havana.)

Groundhog Day

It has been talked about before in blogland about repeating one single day from your life over and over again. Today was a little too realistic for me. You may remember about two weeks ago when I told you about my 101 year old great-aunt that passed away. She lived for a number of years (mostly not very happy ones) with her son-in-law. He was a gruff man of few words. It seemed as the years went on that the two of them were having a pissing match of sorts to see who would out live the other. So, when my great-aunt passed away, we thought it was a done deal.

Last Friday though we get a call from the family..."the son-in-law is dead." Well you know none of us could believe it. It was like the fire was taken out of him when my great-aunt died so what was the use in living anymore.

Today was the funeral. Held at the same time, same church, same people in attendance, same cemetery as two weeks ago. The weather was nowhere near as nice as it was two weeks ago. It was gray, windy and cold. The same words were spoken amongst those in attendance; "no more meeting like this," "thanks for coming," "he went so quickly," and so on. One thing that was significantly different was the overwhelming smell of flowers. The smell was inside my car, and it was outside at the cemetery. That smell always seems to get me like a punch in the gut. My mom used to swear that meant someone died or was about to die. Geesh, no more funerals please!!

So, there we stood where the mound of fresh dirt covered the grave of my aunt with the open space ready to receive its new arrival. In true family form however, the minute the preacher was done (and thank goodness she didn't do the 'ashes to ashes' verse because that always makes me laugh because I have to finish it with 'we know Major Tom's a junkie') my cousin walks away and returns with a case of beer to share because his father always told him he wanted beer at his funeral. So, there the family stood in the cold, gray day drinking a toast to our dearly departed.

We all returned to the church for the fat filled, carbo-licious dinner which made me practically comatose for the long drive home.

Life is Good!

In my circle of friends there has been much talk about karma recently. You know when someone does something to you that was unfair, not nice, etc. and you can just sit back and say (in the infamous words of John Lennon) "Instant Karma's gonna get you." Ah, the feeling of satisfaction.

It has become increasingly apparent to me that I must have done some good things in my life. I am perpetually surrounded by wonderful people. Amazingly, the not so wonderful people that I feel sorry for and become friends with seem to disappear all in good time.

I have taken a couple of hits this month but have been kept afloat when I was sure I was going to drown thanks to my wonderful friends and family. I just want to say thanks to all of you. And at the end of all this, there's going to be one kick-ass party!

thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you

Meet Me At The Cemet'ry Gates

Today I got to visit some cemeteries I've never seen before. I have a friend that also really enjoys cemeteries and knows where all these little obscure places are. I definitely saw some stone work I've never seen before at least in this area.

Free Joe!

Starbucks is sponsoring a National Coffee Break today. They're giving away free coffee between 10-12:00 EST. Does anyone drink coffee during those hours?? But hey, it's free!

I'm guessing however there will be no price break on my $3.98 non-fat, decaf, no-whip mocha this morning .

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Duit

Here's what I'll be doing to celebrate St. Pat's on Friday! I have a friend whose friend owns this pub so we should be able to part the masses and at least get a seat for dinner.

Unless of course you are here, what are your plans for Friday? And if you're there, you may need this.

Ring of Fire

I slept in way too late today. I'm sure I'll be up until at least midnight probably staring at the ceiling and wondering how I'm going to be able to stay at work tomorrow.

I did four constructive things today. Got gas, went to the gym, went to the grocery store and rented some movies.

I just finished watching Walk the Line. I'm even more in love with Joaquin Phoenix than before. I also got Garden State and From Hell, thanks to a friends suggestion. Don't think I'll watch the other two till later this week.

I should be studying for my French test tomorrow. But I feel pretty confident I know the material. It's when that paper hits my desk that everything seems to leave my brain.

The weather men lied about todays weather. It was rainy and cloudy most of the day. Which was another good reason to stay in bed till noon and do pretty much nothing.

Hope you all had a great weekend. Did I mention I have tickets to see JIMMY BUFFET!!

It's a Beautiful Day!

Happy Saturday! The weather predicted for this weekend is fabulous! Yesterday, it was partly sunny and about 75 degrees. Today is supposed to be about the same. I already have some laundry hanging on the line drying. I also plan on doing some yard work this afternoon. There's lots of leaves left over from the winter, as well as sticks etc. that need picked up. While I was out putting the laundry on the line, I picked up some trash in the yard and found a dollar!

AND, my friend Stacey and I landed ourselves a couple of Jimmy Buffet tickets for this summer. Tickets went on sale this a.m. and by 10:02 EST, we had the tickets. Now, we'll need to find a hotel room....Lord knows there will be no driving after that show!

It's only 10:35 a.m. and it's been a beautiful, lucky, wonderful day so far.

I'm the Tax Man

I am in LOVE with Turbo Tax! Yes, you've heard it folks for the first time ever in life, I've admitted that I like something that has to do with numbers!

Recently, I had several people recommend getting Turbo Tax so I decided what the heck. It was $40 at Target but I thought maybe I'd be getting a whopping refund because of using it so $40 wasn't any big deal. Really, I didn't pay anything for Turbo Tax because I used a gift card I had from Christmas to pay for it! Double yay!!

This program is so easy to use, it prompts you at every stage, tells you what kind of deductions you may be eligible for etc.

I know you're all dying to know...yes, my previous calculations of actually oweing the IRS money were in fact, wrong. (GASP!) I'm getting a handsome refund, it's bigger than a bread box!

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, I'm gonna take ya, Bermuda, Bahamas, come on pretty mamma, Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go down to Kokomo?

Internal Retard Service

Today I had to call the IRS. Something that, if you have to do it, you dread it. I had a question, and I don't want to pay some ridiculous amount of money for some numbers geek to figure them out for me in record time.

So, I got through to the first operator relatively easily. She was pleasant and forwarded my call to the next person who was also very nice and willing to answer my (probably) silly question. There was a futher question that I had and thusly had to be forwarded to yet one other person. It seems they may have a quota of only being able to answer one question per call.

The next person I was connected to was IRS employee number 7511743 as he introduced himself. First, it was apparent, he only spoke one dialect of English and that was Ebonics. Second thing was that he made it a point to say that he just asked me a question which I didn't respond to. OK, that began to annoy me a little. I rephrased my question which he finally understood and he made it sound like I asked him for the color of the sky.

Apparently the IRS doesn't much care if their "customer service" folk actually provide good customer service. I guess they figure we're going to have to give them repeat business whether we like it or not, whether they treat people like crap or not, or whether they have complete illiterate retards answering the questions from the general public.

To boot, by my calculations, I owe the IRS over $1,000.00 this year. That cannot be right. However, my calculations have been known to be wrong in the past. Maybe I should get the calculator out again.

Rest in Peace Gentle Soul

The call came just before 10:00 p.m. It was one of those calls that you only get when you are fast asleep, the kind that only come at night, the kind that usually come in the dead of winter.

"Hi, this is Jeff." And in my sleep filled mind I was thinking "was he trying to reach me on my cell and I just didn't hear it?" No, he continued talking and what he had to say made no sense. "Nanna died." "I don't know who that is." And so the conversation went.

As he continued to talk, my mind began to clear and the pieces started falling into place. "She died this evening at home. The coroner came and so did the police." I'd like to think that at 101 years old, all that wouldn't have been necessary.

I got to thinking a few years ago we came to town, picked her up and took her to that place on the hill. The place with the beautiful view and a few hundred souls. There we stood, the three of us in the middle of this place talking about the people there; sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers. "That lady there, I'd just as soon piss on her grave." she said. Apparently, this was not a very nice woman to have provoked a comment like that from my Great Aunt who only reserved comments like that for those that truly deserved it.

It's at the top of this hill that overlooks the valley, down on the markers of the Revolutionary war dead whose stones are carved in German and covered with a few hundred years of lichen that she will rest finally besided her husband and her daughters who she has missed dearly since they day they left this earth.

Imagine you are standing on the

seashore. A ship at your side spreads her

white sails to the morning breeze and starts

for the blue ocean. She is an object

of beauty and strength and you stand

and watch her until at length she hangs like a

speck of white cloud just where the sea and

sky meet and mingle with each other:

"There, she is gone."

Gone where? gone from your sight, that

is all. She is just as large in hull and mast

and spar as when she left your side and just

as able to bear her load of living freight to

the place of her destination. Her diminished

size is in you, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at

your side says, "She's gone," there are

eyes watching for her coming and

other voices ready to take up the glad shout,

"Here she comes!" And this is what we call

dying-this is life!

Paul S. McElroy

Mr. Freeze

It's a little cold!

An 80's Thursday Thirteen!

Thirteen Things about Carney in the 80's! 1. This Thursday 13 80's theme was inspired by Barry over at the Fiction Scribe who was reminiscing about life in the 80's. 2. You're not allowed to laugh at this picture, because I'll know if you do!!! This is my senior pic, it was 1984. Do you know how long I had to fight with my parents to be allowed to get that hair cut??? The only reason I had to fight was because I saw the hairstyle on an album cover. 3.One of the biggest local bands in the area was The Sharks who were an MTV favorite as well. This is the band, with the album cover that I got my hairstyle from for my senior picture. This is the band that has now been reincarnated as the Luv Gods which I went to see recently. 4. Some of my other favorite bands of the 80's were The Stray Cats, Bow Wow Wow, X, U2, The Who and The Violent Femmes. 5. MTV, who wasn't glued to that station in the 80's?? We didn't have cable at my house but my friends did. And fortunately, so did most of the people I used to babysit for. I remember one of the last things out of the parents mouth before they left for the evening was "no MTV." And as soon as they walked out the door, MTV was the first thing I put on. 6. Atari...Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Space Invaders, Combat, Asteroids. When I wasn't watching MTV, I'd be playing Atari. I hope I paid attention to the kids I was babysitting at least a little. 7. 1982, the year I first saw the man of my dreams, Alex Ressetar. He was so cool because he was a punk rocker and liked The Clash and The Ramones and wore a leather jacket and Chuck Taylor high tops. 8. The 80's were when I discovered pointy toed shoes. This somewhat had to do with a group of French kids that were touring with an orchestra that was visiting the U.S. Because I was in the band, we were expected to host a kid. My family ended up hosting the conductor of the orchestra. He didn't speak much English and my French was really bad then. However, we kept in touch over many years. When I went to France and Belgium in 1985, he and his wife met me at a restaurant. He has since died but his family was kind enough to send me the memorial notice. 9. The 80's were also the time I made the conscious decision that I didn't want to be "normal." The more bizarre I could be, the better. Some things haven't changed! 10. I got my first job in the 80's. After I graduated from school, my parents weren't buying into the "I think I should have off over the summer and then get a job in September." I had a really good argument for that all cooked up. It didn't fly. So I got my first job at a department store. 11. After working for a while and getting a new group of friends since most of my high school friends went off to college, I discovered, I looked old enough to get into bars. 12. My friends Michele, Jeannette and I also discovered cruising the Circuit. It was in downtown Harrisburg and consisted of driving in circles, smoking, listening to music and meeting "guys." Whoohoo! Now that's what I call fun! I was the only one of my friends who was open and honest enough with my parents to actually tell them that we were downtown cruising. Maybe they weren't quite clear what it was we were actually doing. 13. I finally turned 21 in 1987. I remember my friends gave me a cake with condoms all over it. I don't know what they were trying to say. Finally, I could get into bars and clubs "legally." Our favorite here was The Metron. Well it was my favorite. My friend Rhoda called it a "drug haven." Problem? It was an old warehouse with painted black walls and the most disgusting carpet that squished when you walked on it. But it was the coolest club. I was there every Friday, sometimes Saturday too. Happy Thursday all!! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Oreo Was Framed!

You know I will never pass up the opportunity to help out an animal friend and to reiterate the fact that people can be such a$&holes. I admire these pet owners because they are not
the irresponsible kind that surrender their pet to a shelter with the lame-assed excuse of "I moved and couldn't take the dog with me." There are some pics of Oreo on this blog....he's quite handsome!!

Hey Man Nice Shot

I was flipping around the channels last night and caught an episode of one of my favorite shows that's no longer on. At least I don't think it is anymore....Tales from the Crypt.

I, of course, fell asleep before it was finished so I didn't get to see the ending. But the opening scene was a car chase with the song Hey Man Nice Shot by Filter to set the mood for the scene.

This particular song has a story.

January 22, 1987....I was working at a department store and it was snowing to beat the band. I really wanted to go home because I was afraid I'd get stuck at work forever. I worked in a department that was close to the young men's clothing area that played a stereo all the time. I could hear that there wasn't much music being played and thought maybe they were talking about the snowfall, dismissing schools, etc.

Apparently, they were not. State treasurer Budd Dwyer was being accused of taking bribes. His lawyer was in trouble as well. Another weird connection there, is that Budd's lawyers daughter went to high school with me. But anyway, Budd calls this press conference to supposedly give the press an update on the situation. Many believed he was going to submit his resignation as state treasurer.

So Budd starts the press conference off with his thanks to the Lord for his years, and he thanked the people that supported and believed in him. At this point, he hands three of his staff members envelopes and holds on to one himself. He reaches in to the envelope and pulls out a .357 magnum and announces to the crowd that should anyone find this (blowing his head off ) offensive, then they should leave the room. Now, keep in mind, all of this is being televised live. The crowd pleads with him, as he puts the gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger. Yep, all of it caught on film. All of it seen by thousands of people home from work because of the snow, retirees, children, people home sick from work, etc.

The Wikipedia link I've provided above is pretty interesting. This event changed how the AP handles photojournalism, it provided teaching materials for television editors, and also became fodder for The Faces of Death videos. It also made probably one of the only hits for the band Filter as well. The song Hey Man Nice Shot was about this event.

And for those with the morbid sense of curiosity...you can see the video here.

Gather Round the Campfire

Coyote Mike made a comment on a recent blog of mine about a way to cook Camembert on the campfire. It sounded delish! Maybe Coyote Mike will be kind enough to post that recipe again!

I got to thinking about the stuff we used to make in Girl Scouts around the campfire, besides the usual hotdogs and s'mores.

I remember being on a camping trip and taking an orange and cutting off the top of it and hollowing out the insides.

Then you take cake batter with all the eggs and oil in it and pour it inside the orange. Wrap it in foil and put it on the hot stones around the campfire to let it bake.

You can put icing on after it cools. It's very yummy.

All I've been doing is talking about food tonight. I think I have a tape worm.

Happy Friday quotes of the day:

Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century.
Dame Edna Everage, In a television interview with Joan Rivers

Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
Mark Twain

Spring is Springing

Even though the air is still pretty chilly around here, particularly at night, it's the morning when it's obvious the first signs of spring are starting to well, spring.

It's actually light outside before I even leave for work.

Yesterday morning, as I was walking into work, there was a beautiful sunrise.

The birds are singing in the morning.

I've heard people say they've seen Robins.

I actually saw a bright yellow dandelion in the grass yesterday. (great, weeds!)

The tips of my hyacinths are breaking through the ground.

So are my daffodils. The one's in my back flowerbed are really coming up.

Though I'm not too fond of the cold weather, I do love it when I can see the earth waking up from it's winter's rest.

Brie en Croute vs. Creme Caramel

I got to try a new recipe last night for a presentation I had to do in my French class. Our project was to recite a recipe en francais. It didn't have to be complicated, you didn't even have to actually "make" it. But I decided to try something I have never made before that I knew would be yummy and relatively easy to make. Brie en Croute. YUM! Basically a round of Brie cheese wrapped in puff pastry then baked. What could be wrong with melted cheese in pastry dough??

I did what prep work I could the night before and then baked the brie just before I left for class last night. I served it with sliced Granny Smith apples.

There were 5 bonus points to be awarded to the the best presentation of the class as voted by the students. I knew the only competition I had was the other "elder" in the class. Simply because we know how to cook and wouldn't have to prepare our recipes in the E-Z Bake ovens in the dorms.

My competition was Monique. Her mother is from France. Monique made Creme Caramel from a family recipe. It was a somewhat complicated recipe and it was deeslish!! I voted for Monique.

I got my 5 bonus points so did Monique. We want to have a cook-off next week!

The Weather's Here, Wish You Were Beautiful

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So,the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I've Arrived
Date: October 16, 2004
I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P.S. Sure is freaking hot down here

A Face in the Crowd

As I'm sure most people do, I generally take the same route to and from work on a daily basis. Going to work, I don't ever notice passing the same people on the road. On the way home from work however, without fail, I pass the same people. How do I know they're the same people? Well, the one woman I pass on the way home drives a white Volvo with an Arizona state flag license plate on the front of her car. The other person I notice is a young guy that drives a Honda with some phrase across the top of the windshield. You'd think I'd know what the phrase is, but can't remember it right now.

So, I got to thinking, I wonder if these people notice that I pass them on a daily basis. Or am I (or my car) that non-descript that I go unnoticed every day?

It's funny how you notice others, while going unnoticed or how another may go unnoticed but they're noticing you. I met a significant person in my life that way. Found out after we had started dating that he had been noticing me for quite some time. But I didn't even know he existed. Well, until that weekend he left a note on my car. I finally was able to put a face to the mystery man, because he knew my schedule well enough to be very non-chalantly waiting in the parking lot for me when I got home one day.

He may well be reading this post and thinking "oh, now everyone thinks I'm a stalker."

In time, we also found out that we used to hang out at some of the same places and very well may have been there at the same time. One of my friends and her husband figured out through their childhood Santa pictures that they were probably in line waiting to sit on Santa's knee at the same time. Wouldn't it be interesting to be able to go back to a specific time to see if in fact, prior to knowing one another that your paths had crossed? I've often thought of taking that idea and writing a story about it. Nobody steal my idea...that's the one good idea I have for a story. Maybe one day I'll write about it.

P.S. Mystery Man--He's not a stalker.

Happy VD!

Here's a wish to all my very special Valentine's reading this blog. Hope your day (and night) is filled with lots of love.

Winter Returns

Things That Make You Go Huh?

Do you ever hear a story, watch the news or even award shows and you think to yourself...."what on earth were those people thinking?"

Seems I've been doing that a lot lately. I've been told I'm weird, and weird is not an issue, but I think sometimes people go beyond weird. For example:

Sly Stone at the Grammy's - All I can say is that the drugs in the 60's and 70's must have been really, really good.

Aaron Neville at the Super Bowl - First, why would they have paired him, who has a sort of soft singing voice, with Aretha who probably didn't even need a microphone to sing the National Anthem? And what's with that weird cross tattoo on his face? Who thought that was a good idea?
Britney Spears - I'm sure you've all seen the pictures of her driving with her baby in her lap. Where's Child Protective Services when you need them?

Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana's Super Bowl snub because they each wanted an astronomical amount of money to show up to be acknowledged for being an MVP. Nice work guys!

There's so much more to add to this list, but it's early in the day. Happy Friday everyone!!

Roses Are Red...

In case you've been searching for those special words to whisper in your sweetheart's ear this Valentines Day, I have found some phrases that will help to make your day quite special.


1. Thought that I could love no other, that is until I met your brother.
2. Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you. But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's empty and so is your head.
3. Of loving beauty you float with grace, if only you could hide your face.
4. Love may be beautiful, love may be bliss, but I only slept with you,
because I was pissed.
5. Kind, intelligent, loving and hot, this describes everything you are not.
6. I want to feel your sweet embrace, but don't take that paper bag off of your face.
7. I love your smile, your face, and your eyes - Damn, I'm good at telling
lies!
8. My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife -- marrying you screwed up my life.
9. I see your face when I am dreaming. That's why I always wake up
screaming.
10. My love, you take my breath away. What have you stepped in to smell this way?
11. My feelings for you no words can tell, except for maybe "go to hell"!
12. What inspired this amorous rhyme? Two parts vodka, one part lime.

Domestic Eavesdropping

I'm doing this post to first, open a can of worms and second to get some perspective on this whole domestic eavesdropping thing.

At first glance, it seems like maybe it's a good idea. If people that intend to do harm to Americans are plotting within our borders, maybe it is a good idea to monitor what's going on in the U.S. But do the powers that be know what they're looking for? Or are they just taking a stab in the dark?

On the other hand is Sen. Arlen Spector correct in saying that Bush is simply trying to make up his own rules? Are people too quick to say that their rights are being taken away. I mean, if you don't have anything to hide, what's the big deal?

Perhaps this is just another wild goose chase the President has everyone on...you know, similar to the weapons of mass destruction he was SURE Iraq was hiding from the world.

The XL Game

The reality shows where people eat bugs, lose weight, swap wives, and make utter fools of themselves to get a little richer and I'm sure to get their faces on TV, probably makes us think we've seen it all.

Then without warning, rehearsing or any kind of commercial giving us advanced warning comes...

Jagger vs. Franklin

I saw an interview with Aretha Franklin last night on Entertainment Tonight. And during the interview she was expressing her displeasure with the NFL and their choice for half-time entertainment during the Superbowl this Sunday, which by the way is The Rolling Stones. Aretha is scheduled to sing the National Anthem on Sunday. However, her gripe is that the Superbowl is being held in Detroit why not have (some, more, mostly) all musicians from Detroit represented as musical guests at the Superbowl. Um, Aretha, you're singing the National Anthem with Aaron Neville...he's from Louisiana. However, it is an understandable concern I think. I have seen that at this time Stevie Wonder and the Four Tops are also scheduled for pre-game entertainment. I'm not sure if that decision was made before or after this next item.

I'm watching the local news tonight and I see Mick and the Boys having a press conference regarding the rumblings that have been going on since it was announced that they are the half-time entertainment. Let's all just hope for no wardrobe malfunctions this year! I'm kind of not paying attention to what Mick's even saying but was thinking to myself..."wow, look how Mick and Ron Wood have the same lines and sunken features. How does that happen that two completely different people look so much alike??" And then I return to conscious thought to hear Mick saying something like Aretha's threatened to take off her clothes while she's singing the National Anthem. GASP! Good Lord man, do you know what you are saying?? After I read this article (evil grin) I think I understand why Mick would make such a comment. He's going to need that kind of security for when Aretha gets a hold of him. Mick, I'm pretty sure she can take you!

So, let's look at this from Aretha's point of view. Detroit should be represented. Lot's of great music has come out of Detroit over the years. But let's face it, The Rolling Stones are still on tour and still putting out records. With the exception of Eminem, Kid Rock, and Stevie Wonder what artist from Detroit has done anything in the last 5 years?? We've been listening to your music for the last 40 years. Enough already!

I'd be willing to take bets that the Stones will do Dancing In The Streets during the half-time show. Any takers??

Happy February!

I'm quite glad that January is over. Just another month in the bucket and another month closer to spring and ultimately summer!

As I flipped over the calendar today at work, I noticed that there are several noted holidays in the month of February. Well, I guess they are considered holidays anyway.

And, since it wasn't on my calendar, I forgot to mention that it is indeed Black History month as well. Thanks Msrey for the reminder!

February 2-Groundhog Day Is this something that's "celebrated" everywhere or is it one of those stupid Pennsylvania things because we are home to Punxsutawney Phil....I'm sure you've all seen the movie. The little town of Punxsutawney goes bonkers for this holiday. People will be up and partying before the crack of dawn tomorrow. There really isn't much to do in that town so, I guess this is as good an excuse as any to have a party.

By the way, Phil saw his shadow (who didn't see that coming?) which means there are six more weeks of winter. Thanks Phil! (turning on Radio Margaritaville for some beach music)

February 5-Superbowl Sunday Since when did this become noteworthy on a calendar? Again, this will be another big day for the state of PA because the Steelers are going to the Superbowl and will undoubtably win! This is where you all wave your Terrible Towels!

February 8-Nirvana Day This one took a little research on my part. I mean, I'm familiar with Nirvana but what the heck are some people actually celebrating on this day? According to the information I found, it's not a sad day but a day that commemorates the death of Shakyamuni Buddha who purportedly died in 483 BCE. (And that whole BCE thing gripes my butt. What was wrong with BC? Oh yea, can't be too religious.)

February 9-Chinese New Year 2006 is the year of the dog. The new year starts with the first new moon of the new year. This celebration honors heaven and earth and those family members living and dead.

February 12-Lincoln's Birthday Lincoln would have celebrated his (let me get the calculator out) 197th birthday on this day. This day is doubley special as I'm sure the entire blog world will be celebrating a special birthday!

February 14-Valentine's Day The day that makes single people want to rush out and buy a pack of razor blades and simultaneously makes every man on the earth cringe in fear.

February 15-Coyote Mike's Birthday

February 20-Presidents Day Thanks to tricky Dick Nixon, this holiday was created in 1971 to commemorate both Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays and give the Federal Government a day off. Thanks Dick! Too bad I don't work for the Federal Government.

February 22-Washington's Birthday This year old George would have been 274 years young. Let's party George!

February 28-Mardi Gras I'm sure everyone is quite familiar with this one. It seems that this holiday is a combination of Greek mythology and Christianity (odd combination) and down right debauchery. Certainly I'm not complaining, at least about the debauchery part! Also on this date some people celebrate Shrove Tuesday consisting of donuts and/or pancakes. Hey, my kind of holiday!!!

To test your knowledge of the month of February click here.