4,3,2

dangit
I miscounted.
Just another year.
Goodbye you big ol' furry year.
Bring 'em home alive. Let's start helping people out with our hands and hearts rather than guns and bullets.
Goodnight, Gorgeous. Wake me in spring.

5

So what's your story? Trying to figure out how to be a millionaire before thirty? Wondering if you can stretch an SS check and part time work to cover the bills each month? Are you just happy that such a good looking person is sharing a bed with you every night? Thinking about skimming some credit card accounts for fast cash? Are you looking someone, not necessarily so good-looking, to share an apartment with during weekdays? Maybe you've been at the drawing board all day trying to enhance those new shackles just installed in the basement? Are you dreading the next workday having to face the mother, who's a good friend, of that teenage boy that you "talked" into sleeping with you. Could be that you're really mad now. Mad enough to kill that spineless primate who blew fifteen hundred Christmas dollars on a "sure thing." Got a dream for the disenchanted? Got a warm fuzzy for the dispirited? Are you sitting there with a smile on your face thinking about how exhausted the kids were from playing all day and all the next with their gifts? Yeah.
Jim Valvano said to do three things every day. Laugh. Think. Have your emotions moved to tears. These are good things and we would do well to experience them daily. Valvano has a motto for his cancer research organization: "Don't give up. Don't ever give up." I don't know anyone who didn't get knocked off their original path. I've got two incredibly intelligent cousins. On is a very successful attorney and the other is a neurosurgeon. The neurosurgeon didn't get into his "first choice" medical school and the attorney started off toward medicine. They kept moving. Walt Disney got turned down by over a hundred banks before he finally found one to finance Disney World. Not everyone is going to be Walt Disney, a neurosurgeon, or a successful attorney. That's not really the point. The only thing that should be added to Valvano's three things is this: do something for someone every day.
Me? I'm just enjoying the rain and the view. That's my story (for now).

11-6

I got a Garmin nuvi, GPS thingamajiggy. It would be hilarious to feed my travel information directly into the blog.
Viewer: He's going in circles. He did it again. This is hilarious. Honey, ya got a second? Watch this imbecile drive.
Viewer's honey: Why does he keep taking that right?

It's a neat little device. https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=134

12 (Not right)

We exchanged our Christmas gifts this morning. Yeah, the day before. Not all traditions are good. Some are though and those are the ones that I would like to keep. Cousin Suzy dressing up like a chicken every Fourth of July and running down the dirt road beside the river trailer is one of those traditions. Opening gifts on Christmas Day is another one.

leather Appalachian Trail journal with my initials
electronic navigation system
flannel jammies
sweatshirt

My cousin Achilles came down to the lower 48. He's been to Iraq and might be going back. The army's been good for him. Our country is blessed to have a huge amount of great warriors. We need to be careful to use them for good purpose. Global police is not the purpose of the United States military.

Peace. Even to you people who drive in the extreme outside lane going no faster than the person to your right.

13

Like I said before, I'm bad with math. Yesterday, or the day before, I should have typed that I have seven cousins on one side, twelve on the other.
Remember in elementary school art time when you used to suck on the Magic Marker tips just to get that funny feeling? Well, today at work I was looking for that funny feeling. We have one part of production where they use a pretty strong adhesive. I never had tried it before, but after seeing Dynagirl this morning, it seemed like things were going my little way. I told the men in production how hard the winter was going to be and if we didn't work harder than lizards on a cricket farm, I teared up here for emphasis, that we might miss spring's frolic due to standing in a long, unhappy line for unemployment. They just looked at me with confusion. My distraction had worked though and when I left them standing there, a bottle of A75 glue was in my pocket. I snuck into my office, pulled up a picture of Catherine Deneuve on the monitor, and took a really big whiff of the 75. After that, I remember standing up and reaching for the doorknob. My mind was blank from then until I heard the words, very clearly, "how long has he been like that ..."

14

Have you ever had a sleepdream that came true? I was a manager for a high school football team when I was ten. I had a dream about a football field one night during the week. That weekend, we played on a field that was exactly the same as the one in my dream. Yes, all football fields basically look the same. Even at ten, I noticed all the small details. How close the stands were to field, whether they were wood or aluminum, the color of the scoreboard, whether the field was lined with lime or "paint," etc.
A girlfriend went to Metropolis for a weekend with friends. On Friday, I dreamed about a falling star that was slow to fall, leaving a very thick trial. Late Sunday evening, she told me about her weekend. She told me about hanging out with friends at a park and "we saw the longest falling star that I've ever seen."
I have seven cousins. When I had six, I dreamed about five planets/moon globes spinning around one planet/moon globe that wasn't moving. The name of my youngest cousin was spoken in the dream. Fourteen years later, he died.
Of course, the one about a conversation with Saddam Huessein probably isn't going to happen.
Some day, we'll tap the dna and revisit the "backwash" of all our tribes. The first ones who get to this will either create a nightmare or a utopia. Ever wondered what your dna was doing in 1492, 1776, or 1860?

36 f degrees here in Beauxdean County
72 f degrees in Miama FLA
Got three more days until the Christmas holiday. Might visit the sunshine state. Get sunburned in December. Listen to Dionne Warwick and watch the sunrise over the eastern beaches of America. My little dream: swamp critters and bikinis.
she's just a girl
she's just a girl
the girl you want
Truth and wisdom are not limited to straight and well-lighted streets.

Weekend

Meteor shower viewing tonight. Not far from here is a reservoir with boat ramps all up and down it. Pretty good area to lay back on a cheap lounge chair in the truck bed and take in the wonder of it all. Not far from here are tasty country girls who laugh loud and squeeze hard. Pretty good area to roll around and take in the smell of it all. Not far from here are some extremely beautiful people with minds filled up with logic. Pretty good area to flop around and take in the dream of it all.
I do enjoy the wonder, smell and dream of it all. Kissing is no small miracle to be sure and we are all small. So at one am, within five hours of the atlantic ocean, my little eyes will be kissing the universe. dodadodadodado
It all comes down to what's inside. We all know the difference between right and wrong. We all know that no one else is responsible for the chemistry set carpet burns, the dead frog, the broken window, her tears, the lost hours. We all know where to find the desire to do right. We all know that we have a choice to make. Here on the island, we've tried over and over to legislate that decision away to a huge decision deletion bureaucracy. When I hop in an internal combustion machine and am forced to wear a belt because of a law made by people who I pay, to ride on a road that I've contributed dollars toward to be made and paved, there is something fundamentally wrong going on. If you want to be safe, stay home. If you don't want to make decisions, then don't. Leave us ours. That's what the mind was designed for in the essence of it all. Maybe those legislators are smarter than me. They're not there at the end of the week helping me carry my load; not that I want them to be. Laws are not bad. Too many laws are bad. There are laws against murder. People get murdered everyday. Artificial life is all about money. Life is all about living. I want problems to solve, decisions to make, mistakes to experience, girls to lick, dogs to pet, fish to eat, and a sharp knife in my pocket. Occam's razor. Slice it, babe!
I still don't know what the heck's the matter with me.

thumped

Totally bummed. We've lost seven in a row to the state rival. We beat one team with a winning record. Kinda hoping for a coaching change. Still not convinced that the current coach had any drive to win. His defenders talk about what a brilliant offensive mind he has. He coaches as though he's afraid of the endzone. Slow to adjust, slower to admit a mistake.
Now the thrust to fulfill Christmas wish lists is upon us. Despite not being a shopper, it's a rush getting in the mix of it all. It's over here, it's over there. Dashing about and spilling fossil fuel all over creation. Crunch time for the procrastinators. We were hoping for a 900% increase in sales but only got 750%. We're only going to invite 2500 to the after Christmas party. Times are hard. Spend it all now. Though it's not written in stone, they say the dead don't take credit cards.
Saturday was really a beautiful day. The cold is here and it's not backing down.

humped

The week is done. It's toast. Dead bird time. Getting some sunshine to burn deep into my mind. Hammering out some nostalgia for the kids to laugh over when they talk about the "good ol' days" in a decade or two. Yeah, baby.
Today was so beautiful and delicious there was no need to dream about tomorrow.
The young were born. The dead died. The living just went absolutely crazy.
Peace. Love.

spin

We won. It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win. The fact that we barely beat a team with 3 wins this late in the season points to a poor job of coaching on our part. It is time to change. Our coach has his head so far up his rear end that he can already see next week's lunch. We have not improved in scheme or preparation since the first game of the season. We play our in-state rival on Saturday. My voice will be hoarse after the game from cheering. Our chances for victory do not look promising. Our players proved that they can win in spite of the coach this past Saturday. Maybe we can do it again.
Apollo got his Wii.
Butter got some more money but no help.
It's going to be a great week. Maybe we'll remember how much help we received to get to where are, rather than being thankful that we're not like those who got left behind.
Spin groovy and rock on, kids.

joy joy

whew
made it

need

This past Sunday, Butter was shown about blogs by me. She doesn't have an internet connection. Butter was a homecoming queen in high school. People speak about her now in sentences with crack and aids. It just seemed like a kind thing to do. There is an element of cheap therapy in blogging. Whether it's reading other blogs and feeling a bit safer that someone that messed up lives so far away; or, writing out thoughts that would have been illegal physical manifestations had they not been blogged out of one's system.
Butter was just over here a minute ago and it seems that now here ex-boyfriend is out to get her and me. Kinda wish that news story about the two teenagers cutting that guy's head off didn't pass before my eyes this morning. Oh, no. Just remembering the part about the blowtorching. It was such a beautiful day outside today too. outside the sun is shinning, seems like heaven ain't far away
Butter just needs twenty bucks to take out a temporary protection order. Of course, it's ten pm and all the good clerks are at home or in some neato cybercafe blogging now.
Apollo needs a Wwii. Is that how it's spelled? They call it wee and for Christmas it will be key and king to many a young girl's and boy's jumping for joy.
All this blogger needs is for everyone to stay alive until tomorrow when everything can be solved. it's good to have you with us, even if it's just for the day

head

It weighs about 4.5 to 5 kg (10-11 lbs) when you're dead. Supposedly it's about 8% of the human total body mass. Next time someone tries to back out of a commitment claiming a head cold, say, "You've got ninety percent working. Now get your game on and get going."
Several weeks ago a fever and head cold drained all my energy during the day. Then laziness wrapped itself around me and kept me from working out for about six weeks. Worked out one day last, one day this week. It just feels better being in shape. Higher energy level and better self-esteem could result from working out. Not to mention an increased velocity when dashing away from meanies after having run the big mouth too much. (Not that this blogger would know. It's just a theory.)
Apollo lost 13.6 kg last January. Diet and exercise. Yeah, we're all proud of him. To quote him, "I was just a big ol' blob of goo." He's a funny dude.
To me, it's not what you weigh, it's what kind of weight you have. Muscle weighs more than fat. Not really a fitness freak, it's just that my sense of the day ahead is good and groovy. Paradise has that kind of affect on a high percentage on humans. We need some rain, but it's still pretty incredible here. It's just a matter of getting your head in the game.
High energy and love to all.

about

Ten things about Endymion
1. On a scale of one to a million, musical talent=3
2. Enjoyed multiple choice tests in school
3. Camped out near Cape Canaveral and saw an Apollo liftoff
4. Does a terrible British accent incessantly
5. Ate a bug in high school for $15 (it was big and crunchy)
6. Loves dogs
7. Poor at math

g'day

Happy birthday, Apollo.

Joan's Knife part b

Joan attempted to catch up to Kathy but tripped right at the moment she had reached out to put a hand on Kathy's shoulder. Joan landed hard on her own shoulder against the ground but avoided bumping in to Kathy. Having heard the tumble, Kathy stopped and looked down at her friend on the ground.
"What is the matter with you?" Kathy asked. Athletically, Joan leaped back upright.
"Kathy, I felt so sorry for that guy. He doesn't even know his own name. I ... I thought that I could bring him by here real quick and we could clean him up and send him on his way. Something just flickered in my conscience when I was on my way to the party here." Kathy gave an incredulous look at Joan then walked to the Jeep and approached the guy in the passenger's seat.
"Hey, buddy. What's your name," Kathy asked. The guy looked straight at her and smiled gently.
"Good afternoon, ma'am. My name is Leon Drummer. That's a beautiful dress that you're wearing," the guy said. Joan looked at the guy quickly with her lips pressed tightly together and daggers in her eyes. Kathy looked briefly at Joan without responding to Leon.
"I just wanted to have a real good party so we could all get together and blow off some steam without any guys around. Was that too much to ask? Could you get this bum out of here, please?" Kathy said with a touch of anger.
"It's not too much to ask, Kathy. If you only knew how much I regret picking him up now," Joan said as she cut her eyes toward Leon with hostility. Kathy sighed and turned from Joan, the Jeep, and Leon without saying goodbye. Joan was about to plead for forgiveness but thought better of it. She hoped in her Jeep curtly, set her jaw tight, and fired the ignition. Leon bowed his head and said,
"Good evening, afternoon ma'am." Joan forced her jaws tighter, backed the Jeep out, turned up the driveway and headed away from the party. What happened to I-can't-remember, Joan mumbled under her breath. On the highway, Joan accelerated past the speed limit and enjoyed the wind whipping through her hair. She glanced quickly toward Leon and saw that his hands were clutching his knees with a wide smile on his face. She calculated that the damage to her friendship with Kathy could be repaired over the next couple of weeks even though it might take six months to get invited to another one of her parties. At the corner of Jupiter and Third, Joan decided to drive to the Rock. She could the sun and some wine coolers and Leon could get cleaned up there. It could also be a good place to push him over a high ledge; accidentally of course. She pulled in to the 6-12 to pick up some wine coolers.
"Want some beer, Leon?"
"That would be good, ma'am. I could use a bath though," Leon said as he reached into a coat pocket. Joan immediately put her hand on her knife. Leon didn't see her as he pulled out several bills from his coat. He pulled one apart from the rest and handed it to Joan saying, "Let me pay." She took the bill from him thinking that it was only a one.
"Thanks, Leon. This'll help. What kind of beer you drink?"
"Cold." Joan laughed at his answer and walked toward the convenience store entrance. As she reached to open a cooler door inside the store with the bill in her hand, she noticed that it was a hundred. She immediately looked back toward her Jeep where Leon was sitting. Drug dealer, Joan thought to herself.

weekend

Duke has one of the most beautiful campuses ever put before my eyes. It's been said that the kids there are smart and study a lot. They were partying like rock stars with no tomorrow when we got there at 8:30am. They won my respect. "Never let college get in the way of your education, o ye hapless youths."
They served fried Snickers bars on a stick at the stadium. Forget to get one of those. Looked kinda yum.
Ah, yeah. We won. We danced. We sang.
Kind of exhausted now.

yabba dabba

The sun is warm, my basket is getting less full, and the sky is as clear as carribean water. At 4 am tomorrow, Apollo and I will take to the road for the last away game in the regular season. The excitment level for me right now is so high that I'm about to wet my pants. The season hasn't been exceptional by any means but I love this team and it's traditions and just being near it all is very exciting. There's always the possibility that we could get splattered on the highway similar to dragonflies smacked against the windshield of an oversized suv. Yet, what is more mortifying than want of fruit for lack of courage to shake the tree? Can't remember who wrote that; Logan Piersall Smith maybe.

Here's to good health for everyone. Here's to good decisions as well.

courage

"It is not rebellion itself which is noble but the demands it makes upon us." -The Plague, Albert Camus

Ours

This past Friday, my internet connection was lost. It was lost because a certain bill went unpaid due to a forgotten password. The password wasn't retrievable because it was listed in connection with an old, non-working email. Sometimes money is groovy though, and now, everything is cool. No, not everything.

On a beautiful summer day in 1994, Sam Nunn gave a talk to several thousand people. He spoke about a conversation that he had with a reporter who had been in Yugoslavia. The reporter heard an explosion and then some gunshots at a very close range. Soon after that, a man carrying a young girl approached the reporter.

"Can you help me, sir? My girl is wounded and I need to get her to the hospital." Before the reporter could answer, the man carrying the young girl said, "Please. Just drive my car and take us to the hospital." The reporter followed the man, got in the car, and drove as fast as he could while following the man's directions to the hospital. The young girl didn't survive the trip. The reporter apologized and offered his condolences to the man holding the young girl. With tears in his eyes, the man said, "I have something very hard to do. I must go tell her father."
The reporter responded,
"I thought that you said she was your child?" The man looked down at the lifeless young girl and said,
"They are all ours."

Today, a young man shot and killed seven classmates and a principal in a school in Finland. Youth is for living; not dying, not killing. My sad heart is with the families, friends, community and especially the parents of those young lives. I hope and pray for strength, healing, and love. A young life close to my heart was lost several years ago. The healing will take some time. There will always be a very tender place in their hearts and minds and also in ours.

follow

Internal combustion machines never held my interest growing up. Despite the smell of gasoline being high on my list of non-edible pleasurable aromas, air-bound craft held a higher fascination for me. Oddly enough, that's why I never learned much in my youth. There are clear memories in my mind about being clueless in class because a clear scene involving smooth, gleaming metal, aerodynamically shaped, zipping just over a treetop or metroscape was in place during whatever it was a teacher was telling the pupils. This started in the first grade. In kindergarten, Wilma Faust, who sat two rows over and one seat ahead of my eyes, filled my mind from neuron to neuron. She was in my dreams about hunting Easter eggs, eating pancakes, and playing "war." It thrilled me to exciting ends to imagine offering her the best dart gun before an exciting day of "war." We never played "war" but females like her have filled my dreams ever since. Last night, Vickie Sweetisland was there. It seemed she wasn't too happy about anything. She was dressed for a day of taking care of kids and not a romp on the beach. Yet, on the beach we were. In place of an internal combustion machine for transportation was a Big Wheel. Reluctant she was when asked to see if we could both sit on the Big Wheel together. Dreamily enough, we both fit on the plastic contraption very comfortably. Before getting over how easily and comfortably we could both sit on the three-wheeled vehicle, my amazement was quickly flooded by the ease in maneurabiltiy we enjoyed. We went to beach after beach on very smooth rides with zero perspiration. The dismounting process was never mastered and my concern that she was uncomfortable while doing it was partially erased by how much she laughed during each dismount. The energy focused on the dismount was directly responsible for losing the camera. Any possible distress that could have been caused by losing something was smoothed out at the almost rugged, but all too tasteful ice cream outpost. Here at the outpost, after consuming frozen delight, Vickie conveyed how wrong my thoughts were about her lack of desire to kiss me. Waking up with a smile on a Saturday morning during Fall in the South is a good experience. Even though I had intended to build an airport this weekend, I'm gonna run over to Toys-R-Us first and see if they have any Big Wheels in stock. Like they always say, "Follow your dreams."

The day is really beautiful and being here typing is not number one on a short list of things to do today. On my way to Toys-R-Us, it was remembered that Dreamgirl had asked me to get a phone number for her. Dutifully, mission A was abandoned. Mission A1a was launched. Dream wants the number of the person who runs the business in a building that she owns. The guy runs a restaurant and there lunch was eaten. The guy wasn't there but the shrimp salad and enchilada were tasty. The waiter made a humorous comment about my hunger after he took my order. Being small will laugh at me for the next three lifetimes. The cashier wouldn't give me the restaraunteur's phone number but did give me a time when he would be in. So now, typing for twenty-five minutes will be spent until the owner is in. No doubt, all the Big Wheels will be sold out by the time mission A is relaunched.

After the phone number was retrieved, the Square lured me downtown. It was a beautiful day to be out walking. "They don't allow cameras at the fesitival," Apollo yelled at me before my destination was achieved. He had his offspring with him. We all roamed around for a while. A sheep made a dash at the opening in a pen with limited success. Of course, a few minutes outside of a pen and dashing around madly might be considered quite a success to sheep. It was fun getting to dash about madly in the guise of catching the loose animal. The guy who caught the sheep did so with a nifty leg grab. The sheep didn't budge after that. There was a stage and country music was sung. Cheap stuff was bought cheap, Hawaiian Ice, formerly known as snow cones, was consumed ravenously and big tales were told. They even had these huge sling shots that they were loading with small kids and launching them into the air. That was fascinating.

fame

It's extremely difficult to exist in the United States without hearing about American Idol. I've watched one episode and the only reason was Paula Abdul. I had heard a little about Diana Degarmo as a contestant. Now I see that she's performed on Broadway, was Miss Teen Georgia, and a whole bunch of other stuff. She sang the national anthem at the football game that I attended last night. It was the best national anthem that I've ever heard. She has an incredible voice. She sat behind us during the game and is a very charming and vivacious young woman.
There's been a lot of whining about female reporters on the sideline of football games. It comes from both men and women. They need to shut up. Erin Andrews was on the sideline during the game. She's very skinny and she's very blonde. She seems to be the type who will scrap for anything that she gets. It would be easy to say that I only like her appearance. That's partially true. I like her scrappiness and work ethic. Got her autograph, either way.

Thanks, Diana. Thanks, Erin.

boohoo

Give me three Presidents Days to Halloween any time of the year. I love ghost stories, scaring people, and eating candy, but Halloween just isn't my idea of recreation. It's fun to dress up and act out a different persona or impression of a famous individual. Heck, I do that daily. Getting good with my Marilyn Monroe, too. The fall festival movement was a step in the right direction. Let's end Halloween and initiate North America Carnival Day. What the hey, let's make it a week long. Throw in some fireworks and bongos and now we're talking recreation. Have firetruck races down Main with every siren in the county wailing away and Tina Turner as the national emcee every year. Let's leave the dead alone and celebrate life. Muaah.

It was fun handing out candy to all those Spidermen, Cinderillas, Whatchamacallems, Ghosts, and Goblalightlys.

Tech vs. Tech

Thursday Night College Football. #11 Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech. ESPN, 7:30pm EST.
Virginia Tech let a game slip through their hands last week against Boston College. Up ten points with little more than two minutes left in the game, Matt Ryan lead BC to two touchdowns and an impressive victory. Matt Ryan deserves the Heisman Trophy this year. The Hokies had won five games in a row before crashing into BC. Can the Hokies Beamer-up and win on the road? Big question mark at the quarterback position for VT. The season's starter lost his position to a freshman. The freshman got injured in the game before BC.
Georgia Tech got scorched by BC earlier in the season. Even with a week off, Georgia Tech is still plagued by key injuries. The starting tailback and his backup are both out for the game. GT beat VT last year in Blacksburg. Missing from last year's team is the NFL's second overall draft pick, Calvin Johnson.
Both teams have strong defenses and questionable offenses. My prediction is a 0-0 brawl which will eventually be decided by how far each team's fans can throw one another's mascot down the field.
I really enjoy watching college football and can't wait for kickoff. I am terrible at predictions. Yeah, go buy Transmeta now.



Yo! from the lower 48!

47 degrees

Got cooked at work. The bad kind. Greeting my eyes was a (n unnecessarily) long list of undone marks and dashes taped to the blemished monitor at my desk. Set my scrawny jaw to the grindstone forthwith and reduced that list to a mere skeleton of itself. Got the lecture. Simple blowback. Process H people get treated similar to crack addict step-kids with malaria from Sturgis. Been that way from day one. Naturally, I end up with the process H hat. It's been documented, discussed, explained, yada whamwoozle.
Gonna go chew some light bulbs, dagnabit.
The weather was quite lovely today. 47 degrees at six fifteen am. 63 degrees around four-thirty. Bright warm sun smiling down on this green paradise with air sweet enough to kiss. Enough beauty in one day for at least one lifetime. It was similar to a day when Rome burned, but not as windy. Sometimes I get the cities confused.
Congratulations, Red Sox. It's not funny, but a clear memory from Boston was three-generational. A mom and daughter get out of cab near the Park. Grandmother has gotten out on the other side. She walks around to where mom and daughter have exited. The door is still open. She reaches in to grab something and the cab was about to go from zero to a million. For some reason the cab stopped, slammed brakes and coughed smoke, at half a car's length. Poor grandma got jerked sideways. She walked away. Cab driver hopped out wearing a litte Italy shirt and began apologizing for all he was worth. Mom chewed him out for all he was worth. Grandma was one tough broad. It would have been funny in a movie with Chevy Chase and Diane Keaton.

Joan's Knife

Smelling the promise in a new day, Joan tossed her cellphone in her purse, switched off the lights, exited the house, locked the door. She fired the ignition and backed out of her drive into "Boring" street and smiled to her soul as the sun warmed her in her topless Jeep. "Getting up early" to take the top down was tabbed a good beginning to the day. After three subdivision blocks and close to a dozen kids standing not too intelligently in the street, she turned on to Bobbi Davis Road. In less than a quarter of a mile, she saw "that guy" who had been wandering up and down the road for the past week. Joan clicked her tongue against teeth and shook her head as she slowed down enough to pull over to the side of the road. She wondered why she was doing "this." She maneuvered her Jeep right up to the guy. He turned his head toward her with a look of total incomprehension. What's going on here Joan wondered.
"Hey buddy, how ya doing?" Joan asked. She ran her hand through her short black hair as she noted the thick, sticky brown hair on the unshaven guy. She reflexed back slowly when she saw tears form in the guy's eyes. His head moved slightly left to right. Joan cautiously slid her hand in pocket for a clear grip of her knife. The guy looked at Joan with distant eyes.

"I can't remember," he muttered. He's helpless Joan assessed before killing the ignition.
"Is there anything that I can do for you?" Joan asked and almost cringed for having stopped in the first place.

The music was loud and exciting to hear. The big firs lining the drive felt like old friends leading the way. Joan almost chuckled to herself at the confused wonder look on her passenger's face. Better laugh now before Kathy raises hell when she sees this guy. As soon as the firs stopped, cars were parked everywhere. The gathering looked bigger than Joan had expected. She hopped the turnout might quell some of Kathy's reaction. As soon as the Jeep was parked, laughter could be heard even over the music. Joan turned to her rider whom she had dubbed Guy.
"Stay here. I'll be right back," Joan informed Guy. He gave her that same look of confused wonder yet without tears. Joan started walking to the rock path on the side of the manor that lead to the back gardens. Before she even got the path, the front door opened and Kathy greeted her.
"Finally. I was afraid you might have met someone interesting on the way over and well, ... whatever it is that you always do on my invitations," Kathy laughed with a hint of alcohol on her breath. She hugged Joan with champagne in hand. She was about to comment on Joan's fitness when she noticed Joan's distracted expression. "Oh, I'm just teasing hon. Come on, let's go have some fun." With her arm around her young friend, Kathy tried to lead the way to the party. When Joan didn't budge, Kathy stopped and immediately asked neutrally, "What's the matter, Joan?" Joan pressed her upper lip tightly on her lower one and gave a slight as possible look toward her Jeep.
"I was," she began. Kathy looked toward the Jeep, squinted to focus. She tried to continue, "wondering if you, ... we could, ahm, ... oh, I just ..."
"What the hell is that, Joan?" Kathy asked with displeasure.

future part a

Someday, humans will have their minds transferred to healthy young bodies that have been cloned from stuff inside the human body. Aptitude tests will determine who will be the processers, lifers, controlers. The lifers basically live a recognizable life and get to do all the fun stuff included in a lifetime. The processers don't make any decisions. They keep an eye on the good bodies and snag the minds that have begun to deteriorate. The controlers have a pretty dull time too. They make sure the lifers are happy and keep an eye on the processers. The privelege of having children requires a huge work trade. Just about everybody will sleep in tight tubes and houses will be obsolete. Communal living will be the norm. Life will have very little structure. Forty hour work weeks would be a silly idea to the future if they could even understand the concept. Some people will just lay down on the grass to sleep during the night. Park Rangers will have more power than anyone. Musicians and artists will be fewer, but much better. The sun will power everything except bubble carts. Vegetarians will have large farms and incredible skill at getting high harvests with no cides. The average iq will be 410. There will be a war every thirty days but it will never last longer than five minutes and usually involve no more than two hundred combatants. By then, most people will have telepathic abilities to read parts of another person's thoughts. A favorite passtime will be two to six people spending a couple of days probing each other's mind. Division of labor, neighborhoods, and the National and American Leagues will no longer exist. Human emotions will be stronger than they are now. Emotions will be used a lot to interest others in probing. Tranportation will be in bubble carts and ownership will be a very slight concept. People will eat a lot of beans before using a cart. Human flatulence will power the bubble carts.

hi as a kite would say to sparrows

The weather outside is truly delicious. The sun rising over the fecund hills of northeast Georgia is warm and there is a wet coolness hanging half-heartedly to the air due to a day and a half of rain. It's been unnormally warm and I dig the unnormal similar to the way a byte digs electricity. So I'm just going to bang out a few more unorthodox phrases then throw my skinny body against the ever renewing rage against gravity. My concentration is low because I stayed up to five am selecting my 45 tracks for my new Finetune playa which makes really suspectible to just about any fat-bottomed girl sweeping me off my South boy feet. Do I have a hard time making decisions? Gimme a few minutes on that, Major. True, this blog descibes me as fast. Fast in action, slow in thought. Heck, I'm so fast I'll take your whole family to Wal-mart, leave you on planet Dollar General. So why don't I have that nifty player on the blog page? Heck, if I know. It is being listened to at the moment but I've "copy to clipboard[ed]" my little keys to exhaustion.
This is the first weekend since September that my little self hasn't been headed toward or standing outside a college football stadium. At the first game of the season, a skinny red-headed female who knew football sat next to me. Tell me that you love defense at a football game and I'll buy you Dairy Queen banana splits for the rest of your life. Which reminds me that last night one of the dreams about giving the head coach an earfull. Needless to say, his performance is disappointing. Nobody's perfect. So we're all just swimming around seeking out an acceptable island of imperfection to erect our broadcast towers of self on.
She doesn't even need a drummer to march. The scar beneath her eye is more about the beating her opponent took. She'll start it and she'll end it. Her path is narrow and best left clear. It hurts most of the time to reach in with intended help and end up getting cut. The first one isn't always the deepest. Maybe she is just a mean, little girl, some soulless wildcat twisting toward total destruction. Maybe she's just tuned in to a special frequency inaudible to the mass of "hand me the sign and show me the arrow." She makes the "us," "them," and "me" categories confusing. Maybe that's her purpose.

Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom - Buddha

Frolic

Life isn't about destroying the bad. Life is about creating good. So you and I, let's sing along with a lively band of angels and a pride of lions. I'll wear the coat of capitalism if you'll plant the azaleas, or you can wear the coat. I'd much rather dig in the dirt. I'll act sad and tragic to fulfill your need for purpose. You can school me about committment, fidelity, and honesty. There is much for me to learn. There are many things to do. We can take kids to the zoo, diagram sentences and space labs, frolic gallantlly during prime commerce hours and randomly mow lawns in neighborhoods far from where we live. Or, we could just there on the couch and watch the world unravel before our sad, tired eyes. Of course, there's no way we're ever going to do any of this stuff unless we eat a lot of this:

http://www.stonyfield.com/

Freeyum

At about eleven or twelve years old, I loved getting naked and running. Inside and around the house, outside through the woods, late at night down the street, the urge to run nude surged through my young and confused body. It was such a good feeling. It still is. Now I've always been careful not to make it a show, except when I'd had too much alcohol. People act kinda funny about seeing a nude person. So it was never about being seen and such.
Now it isn't necessarily connected, but an exceptional idea would be to let young kids get naked together. Keep the age ranges close and be very explicite about the no penetration rule. Let them lick and suck all they wanted but absolutely without exception, no baby making. Naturally, the parents would have to agree to the set-up and supervise it. Yeah, it would take a long time for people to come around to it but in the long run it would save a lot parents a world of worry. Instead of having to worry about whether or not their precious young 'uns were doing it, they could observe them first hand. The teenagers could get a lot of "stuff" out of their system, increase their emotional and physical security, and become stronger human beings to build a better society.
Yes, there is a huge potential for abuse in this situation. Of course, there would be a level of control over the exchange that would immediately "finger" the abuse which would, in turn, eliminate its possible existence. Abuse is going on now like crazy, so no one can really say that the current system is "working."
Of course, that's what college is all about.

Something that I like

The mental and physical exhiliration felt when I put my hands on a football are as powerful as sunshine when a clear day is wanted and as thorough as rain when thirsty. Football isn't the greatest sport ever created but my love for the game is complete. I respect the game. I never boo opponents or an official's call. Though I feel bad when my team loses, I always come away from a game with an appreciation for having been able to experience such a wonderful display of stategy and athleticism.
Football creates an opportunity for an individual to improve the self, through physical training and mental analysis of the game, to become stronger and tougher. Being tough is extremely important in life. Football also teaches teamwork. Teamwork is extremely important for society.
Society needs physically stronger and tougher people. It gets kinda old listening to people whine.
There are people who have played football who have done some terrible things as human beings in life. Football does not do this to people. Though I have not studied the data, there is no doubt in my mind that statistics would bear out that non-football players commit more crimes against humanity and society than football players.
I will never defend an athlete getting preferential treatment. Everyone should be responsible for making their own way in life.
This season, I've been to South Bend, Charlottesville, College Park, and Miami to see my team play. It's fun to be in a stadium with thousands of people and yelling until hoarse for a few short hours on saturdays in the fall.
As a young boy, I would listen to my grandfather's praise of Bobby Dodd. In South Bend I went to the college football hall of fame and saw Bobby Dodd's college varsity jersey. That was a beautiful moment in my life.

Inner

It's very peaceful now. After work, life is usually peaceful. Work seems to create or invite or stimulate artificial stress.

Loser

The "f" used to stand for football. Sadly, it seems to be in a transition to felon. I quit watching the NFL several years ago. I love football. The athleticism required to play, the explosion of energy on each down, the strategy involved to ram the ball down their throats to score all provide a high level of interest to me. I am also a friend to "man's best friend." So when I see that a very high profile NFL star is involved in something so dark and disturbing as dogfighting, it definitely makes me wonder what the league is all about it.
A guy named Mark Bradley, supposedly a sportswriter, wrote an article about how the NFL and the Atlanta Falcons should not be quick to judge Michael Vick, who is currently under federal indictment. I used to think that Mark Bradley was just a poor sportswriter. Now, I see that he is a poor human being. There were blood stains in the carport on Vick's property. Maybe I'm not familiar with how Americans live, but I just don't believe that that many people have blood stains on their properties without having a slight suspicion or misgiving about that circumstance.
Nobody's perfect and everyone makes mistakes but for someone with a $100 million plus contract, there is a higher expectation on many levels of interaction with society. Both the Falcons and the NFL are tarnished by association with Vick. In contrast to Bradley's advice, Nike has delayed the release of a Vick shoe edition. The NFL doesn't have a pristine reputation but it would go a long way in restoring public goodwill to take a strong stand for humane conduct and suspend Vick's current access to the league.
I'm pretty sure that Vick didn't dig all those dog graves on his property.

Tennessee vs. Arizona

Awesome Arizona. Marvelous Mowatt.
Arizona had a long hill to climb but they charged to the top of it like champs. Scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth in game one against Washington set the tone for the day. Sam Banister doubled in two runs with two outs. The day had Wildcat written all over it. Winning the first game 2-0, Arizona never looked back. Riding on Taryne Mowatt's excellent pitching, one earned run in five games, Arizona found their bats in game two and put 8 runs on the Huskies. Jenae Leles got Arizona rolling in game two with a two rbi double in the first inning.

Tennessee's Monica Abbott had 17 K's while dismissing a tough Northwestern team.

It's only four hours until the Volunteers and Wildcats face off for what should be a fierce series. I believe that the series will go all three games. Tennessee is on top of their game now, but there is no quit in Arizona.

WCWS

Washington and Tennessee are definitely in the driver's seat today in the elimination round of the WCWS. Washington will meet PAC-10 companion, Arizona at 1:00 pm est. Washington has an All-America sophomore, Danielle Lawrie, from Canada who threw a no-hitter on the opening day of the Series against Depaul. After beating Depaul 3-1, who scored on a walk and throwing error, Washington then trounced Northwestern 9-0. Arizona has to win consecutive games to advance to the championship game. Arizona is the defending National Champ and comes from a conference that sent every team to the Series Tournament. Arizona beat Baylor in nine innings on day one then lost to Tennessee on day two. Yesterday, in a must win game, Arizona downed Depaul 3-0. Taryne Mowatt pitched a great game against Depaul, giving up only two hits.
Can junior Mowatt, 800 K's, out-duel the sensational sophomore, Lawrie? Can Arizona's All-America, Caitlin Lowe solve Washington's pitching dominance?
Tennessee senior pitcher Monica Abbott is on fire. 16 K's against Texas A&M on day one put her at 665 on the year. That's the NCAA single season record. A&M went hitless against Abbott, giving her 23 career no-hitters. She holds three other NCAA records: 187 wins, 2397 strikeouts, 110 shut-outs. She's 6-3 and seems unhittable. She threw 16 more strikeouts against Arizona on day two. This is what Northwestern is up against. Northwestern features two powerful hitters with Tammy Williams at shortshop and Garland Cooper on first. Northwestern came back from a 9-0 drumming by Washington to crush Baylor 7-0. Northwestern has strong coaching. Head coach Kate Drohan is assisted by her twin Caryln. Piching for Northwestern is senior, Eileen Cannay. She's experienced and savvy.
Can Williams and Cooper get to the dominating Abbott early? Can Northwestern win two?

pirates

Saw Pirates of the Carribean last night and it had some really good scenes. I think this one is called, "End of the World." Keira looked fine. While the first Pirates is my favorite, Keira looked so fantastic and had such a strong role in this one that I would recommend it. There are some embarrassingly ridiculous moments in all three of these movies but I guess that's inevitable when the objective is to squeeze out amusement park dollars. It would be great to see Keira as a pirate queen with an all female crew wreaking havoc on all challengers and a pair of Jamaican sweethearts (female).
Johnny Depp is quite good again. He and Cary Grant have to be two of the best male actors of all time. The more textured the script, the better Johnny does. End of the World has another tight script. The weakness seems to be in the producers trying to force some unrelated element into the plot. In the first Pirates, why did they put the "skeleton ballet" in? It's just good business?

WINNERS

Last night was beautiful, clear and brilliant. A National Championship was won. Now winning isn't the only thing in life. Winning is fun. Winning is important, though it isn't as important as understanding nature. Here's the list:

LOVE

NATURE

WINNING

Keep these close to your heart and high on your mind and you will do well sister.

Here's to CHAMPIONS, the 2007 Georgia Tech Women's Tennis Team!

kayakayaka

Last Saturday, I went for my first kayak ride. There's a place close to here that rents kayaks for twenty bucks for a five mile trip. It took me about two and a half hours to complete. It was a lot of fun. I flipped over in less than five minutes and was totally soaked. Now these kayaks were open, not the typical kind that has legs contained. It was really too shallow for that type, but there were a few on the water. The neat thing about kayaks is that you can lean back, get real comfortable and paddle at the same time. It is tricky keeping balanced at times. It was only my first time and I had only one spill. I enjoyed it and will do it some more over the next few warm months.

happy hour

bad, bad, bad

I am sad now. A person who is gaining my respect so fast that soon it will become devotion seems to be leaving blogging.
Goodbye. (tears)
More power to YOU. Right is always right. I'm extremely impressed by your tenacity at staying true to your path.
I might not be able to help you at all, but never hesitate to ask.

b and c = a

She asked me why b and c didn't have the same information as a. I explained the information for a was the same for b and c. Simple enough. Heck no. She goes to the gm. Gm comes to me. Says drafting needs to change. I explain the simplicity of the status quo with less drag on productivity. He agreed with my point. She's made a very big mistake. Hey, ya know right is right and it always will be. I know the numbers and she's got very small ones. I'm a team player. Don't ever go behind my back. So the question: Do we change to accomodate her? Or the other question: Does she get on board with the team plan? She starts looking for another place to be mediocre.
It was just so uncalled for in view of the total picture.
So who cares?

On the floors of tok yo oh
Or down in london town to go, go
With the record selection
With the mirror reflection
Im dancing with myself

Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
Well theres nothing to lose
And theres nothing to prove
I'll be dancing with myself

When theres no one else in sight
In the crowded lonely night
Well I wait so long
For my love vibration
And I'm dancing with myself

If I looked all over the world
And theres every type of girl
But your empty eyes
Seem to pass me by
Leave me dancing with myself

So lets sink another pink
cause itll give me time to brink
If I had the chance
I'd ask the world to dance
And I'll be dancing with myself William Idol

somewhere

cause it's the new Mother Nature

taking over

it's the new Splendid Lady

come to call

it's the new Mother Nature

taking over

she's getting us all The Guess Who

Who pushed us inside? Why did we go? What is this definition of sanity all about? Nah, wouldn't understand it anyway. Just a bunch of words without heart, soul, or meaning. Commercial viewing and zeroed nutritional content on shelf upon shelf upon shelf. Oh yeah, another new plastic sign.

I'm one weird flippin' cat.

Mom

We koa'd our way across the USA. Mom made us these cool tote bags with elastic shoulder straps. She made 'em in her sewing room before we left for the Grand Canyon trip. There were three different sized bags; the smallest was a little bigger than a hip pocket. I had rocks from all over the lower 48 in my big bag. Those bags served many duties over the years. They're still in her house. Those bags are a great example of incredible craftmanship. Made to last.
When we were at the Grand Canyon, Mom made us enchiladas. The light, tastey tortillas that she made were out of this world. I can't walk by tortillas today without remembering the meals from that trip. That trip has a lot of great memories. Mom wasn't just about cooking and sewing though. We were all little kids on that trip. Mom had planned an elaborate sight-seeing win a toy adventure game. She'd helped Bacchus' mom make one too. Bacchus' mom gave up and just handed 'em all over by Texas. Maybe we learned something about earning on that trip.
It was a fun trip and we've all laughed for years at some of the things that happened.
One year we went North. Dad stood at the edge of green field with a far off look on his face. It was a place called Gettysburg. I looked to where he was looking but didn't see what he saw. He was seeing regiments and squads and a disastrous charge. We mainly crawled over some cannons saying boom. The best memory from that trip was a breakfast that we had on a sandy campsite. We had stopped at this place that had huge sand dunes and cold ocean water. One day we picked blueberries that were near camp. We had blueberry pancakes the next morning. That place was called Cape Cod. There were a lot of good memories from that trip as well. Waking up with a warm sun, ocean breeze and hot blueberry pancakes is tough to beat, though.
Mom isn't just about cooking and sewing though. She is excellent at both. She worked and worked hard. She taught in the classroom and then became a media specialist. I think that I learned a lot about work ethic from her. We were still in elementary school and, while still teaching, she went back to school herself to get a Master's degree. I was impressed then and I'm amazed now. Mom gets things done. It's no mistake that MOM is WOW turned rightside up.
Thanks for a great childhood, Mom.
Much love, Endy.

humming

The day earned some sunshine early.

It began to rain before I made it to the creek.

Enjoyed a light show.

Then the rain broke long enough for a picnic.

Saw a water bird.

Got a little wet.