Joyous Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my sister and her husband. They are quite the couple and I hope to grow up to be just like them.

648 Dead, 322 Hurt in Iraq Bridge Stampede - Yahoo! News

This is exactly the definition of what a terrorist does. So sad and pointless....

Man who fatally beat wife put to death in Missouri - Yahoo! News

Sounds like the death he got was too good for him. "Painful and protracted" would probably have been more appropriate.

Loss

We just found out today that someone we know was killed in Iraq this week. We weren't close with him, but just having it within touch like this is hard enough. I know his family must be devastated.

It just doesn't make sense to me...

Standards

Don't toothbrush manufacturers have standards that all toothbrushes have to meet? Why is it that all the new toothbrushes out there do not fit in the toothbrush holders on sale at all stores????

Darwin Awards Inductees

Wow, if these idiots had managed to kill themselves, they would be in the running for sure...

True Love

True love is taste testing borderline milk so the other doesn't have to....and boy did it taste bad. Yuck!!!

Little League World Series

We just finished watching the LLWS this weekend. It has been on TV for a couple of weeks now as the tournament has progressed.

I have to say that in watching those kids play with their hearts, it makes me enjoy watching sports again. I wish the grownups in professional sports could learn a few things from them. They really brought integrity and honor back to the sport and showed the world what playing a sport should be all about.

Congrats to Hawaii on their win in the Championship game. It was a great game to watch, extra innings and all.

Limited Use

It seems my video/graphics card in my PC might be dying...and if so, I will need to get a new one soon. My school semester starts in less than a week so this is not really the best time to be having a computer fall out of service.

Until then, I will be using my laptop on the Internet and hoping that there is not critical stuff on my PC that I need. Such is life. I hope to get some answers to this whole thing later today but for now, the weather is cool and dry so I am thinking some yard work is in order...

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Update: Haven't fixed it permanently but was able to find a work around. I turned the Hardware Acceleration all the way off, so no gaming (not that I do much) and not too much video editing for a while but hopefully this will not be a long term fix...

Newest Addition

I just got home from running a few errands and stopped at the fish store to get some fish. I didn't do it sooner because I had to clean the tank yesterday and wanted to give it a day to settle.

They didn't have any Silver Lyretails so I got two Dalmation/Marbled ones. One male and one female. I might see if I can get a Black one someday soon too. We'll see. They seem to be adjusting to the new tank well and we'll see if they get along with my girl.

PETA asks NCAA to ban Gamecocks nickname

Okay, while I don't think cockfighting is a noble sport (and apparently most of the US doesn't either because it is illegal just about everywhere) I do feel that PETA would better spend their time and resources addressing real animal abuses. Their argument that the name "Gamecock" inspires people to honor cockfighting is just plain weak. They have in no way shown that by using a gamecock as a mascot, these communities are more prone to animal abuses.

What I would like them to address (and here is where my own hypocrisy steps in) is chicken farming. I am an eater of chicken, I admit, and I do buy my chicken from the store, so I am as much to blame as anyone else for this industry. I was stuck behind a chicken transport truck the other day on the highway (there are a lot of chicken farms here), and it was almost enough to make me stop eating chicken, at least mass produced chicken. I can't even begin to describe the smell coming from that truck, but that is not the worse of it. This truck was hauling chicken cages but not one of the cages was more than 9 inches tall. It seems most birds are taller than that because not one of them was standing upright, they were all hunched over or laying down. I felt so bad for them cramped in those cages like that, probably scared shitless (hence the smell), not knowing what was happening to them next. It truly was a sad sight to see.

Why can't PETA take on some of the ridiculous livestock issues that we just turn the other cheek to in this country? I know that there are farms out there that do take treatment of animals seriously, and I applaud their efforts but mainstream America is still going to buy the cheapest chicken they can find and that means the status quo for most farmers. PETA's efforts would be taken more seriously by me and many others if they were trying to make real changes and not just trying to make headlines over idiotic issues like mascot names.

(Note to those that will argue that PETA does a lot of good in other areas that don't make headlines, I know that. I also know that they have addressed the livestock problems in this country. My issue is not that they don't have good results, it is that when they address stupid issues like mascots, they take credibility away from themselves and all of us who do believe in treating animals right.)

Evangelist backs off Chavez assassination call - Yahoo! News

Someone needs to shut this bonehead up...now he is saying he didn't mean "killing"...kidnapping would be adequate. Duh...can we possibly put our foot farther down our throat?????

Yellow Seedless Watermelon

I bought a yellow watermelon recently that was locally grown with a guarantee from the seller that I would love it.

I did, the color kind of threw me off a bit but it was sweet and delicious (and seedless) just like its red counterpart. I highly recommend it.

Expensive Trip

This weekend, J and I went to a nearby town to do some shopping and get his watch band adjusted. On the way there, we got this in our windshield...
I had it looked at yesterday and it is too big (about 1 1/2 inches across) to have fixed, so we will need a new windshield on our less than a year old truck...fortunately the comprehensive deductible is only 100 bucks.

U.S. obesity rates on rise-report - Yahoo! News

I don't understand how anyone can be surprised by this when most schools only require physical education 1 out of every 5 days. The media always comes out with these reports like it is big news that if you eat crap and don't move enough, you will get fat...don't we know that already? Why aren't we doing something about it?

When I went to school, we did PE everyday all the way through high school. And as far as the blame being put on having fast food restaurants close to the school....we weren't allowed to leave our school grounds until we were juniors in high school. These restaurants should not be a factor if the schools are requiring students to remain on campus (which we better hope elementary and middle schools are).

Here is a break through thought....eat healthy, and move around some everyday. Do I get extra points for putting it in writing?

U.S. evangelist calls for assassination of Chavez - Yahoo! News

Okay, can we say that Pat Robertson is an idiot?

I know Chavez is not a nice guy either but this statement is just the latest in a string of idiotic things that Robertson has said over time. I find it amazing that he calls himself a religious person and that anyone listens to him.

Krispy Kreme

Today while working my ass off on the elliptical machine, an overweight guy walks by me with a TShirt that reads "Eat Krispy Kreme"...don't know if he was trying to help us all out, or making a statement...regardless, I thought it was hilarious.

Chicago Bears Yeah!!!

Chicago has been my favorite football team since I was little. I don't know why exactly, I have never lived near Chicago but I do have a fascination with the town (which I am sure I would be totally over if I ever spent a winter there).

Anyhow, they beat the Colts on Saturday in preseason...and I am hoping this means a better season for them (and me) than last year.

Both J and I are a bit turned off of some professional sports these days with all the crying about contracts, drug abuse and arrests, but I can't help but be excited for Chicago. Let's hope their season ends up being one of a kind.

In Memory

The second of the original batch of fish I got at Christmas time died today. It was the male of the silver lyretail mollies I had. He was one of my favorites but was never one of the healthiest fish in the tank. I am bummed...I will have to find someone new for the female to hang out with soon.

Stereo Clarification Revisited

Had to revisit this one from March 2005, because it has resurfaced in my life and I didn't find any answers then. Thought perhaps I might find some now....
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Could someone more hip than me answer this question for me? Is having your license plate rattle because your car stereo is so loud, a good thing or a bad thing???? I think it sounds and looks horrible but maybe I am just not getting it.

It seems to me that if you are playing your stereo loud enough to share music with all the cars in a 1 mile radius, the motivation is to impress people. I don't find the rattling license plate impressive, just hysterical...(I don't find the loud stereo impressive either but who am I to judge, I played my stereo loud in high school too).

Squirrel Aftermath

I posted a few days ago about this grey squirrel I saw dragging a huge pine cone up the tree to eat it.



Well, yesterday, I guess there was one in the tree near our front door and when I opened it to go to soccer, I startled it and it dropped the cone half eaten and then jumped on to our roof with a huge thump and scampered off. I didn't mean to interrupt its meal but since the cone was still out there this morning, I thought I would get some shots.




The other day, we found two of the completely eaten cones in the front yard with all the remanents around...at least now we know how they do it, right?

The Order of Sandwiches

It wasn't until I was in high school that someone mentioned a "right or wrong" way to put toilet paper on the roll, and it wasn't until 13 years of marriage that my husband informed me that there is a rule to the order of sandwich making.

I guess I knew that I had preferences to certain things on a sandwich being near other certain things, but I didn't realize that there was an order. I was putting a sandwich together for the two of us for lunch recently and he came over and started correcting the order of items. I laughed and said "it's not like there is an order" and he looked at me like I was out of mind and not living in the current century. He said "of course, there is an order, everyone knows that"....so everyone, do you have an order, and if so, what is it?

Generally, I put the cheese on the mustard side of the sandwich because I like the taste of mustard and cheese. If I am making a sandwich for J, I don't put mayo on both slices as he doesn't like mayo that much. If I am making a hamburger, I don't put the ketchup and tomato next to each other (sortof defeats the purpose). Oh, and I usually build the entire thing on one piece of the bread so that I can just cap it at the end with the other piece of bread and not have to try to flip two pieces of bread together that both have stuff on them. That is it, I don't have any more rules for my own sandwich making and I don't really consider any of them rules...I'll eat a sandwich regardless of how it is put together anyhow.

Out of Control

You know when things are getting out of control when you will pay more (it was only a 6 dollar difference) for a plane ticket to avoid connecting in an airport named after someone you don't like. I know it is silly but I just couldn't make myself connect there.

Ends up, I didn't have to pay more. After Travelocity, Expedia and Hotwire couldn't give me the flights I was looking for, I went directly to the airline, and ended up with the flight and seats that I wanted and 5 bucks cheaper because I didn't go through a "travel agent"...I might have to try this again sometime.

Workman's Comp

See my "on the job" injury? This is a blister on my right thumb from the shovel and rake while trying to fix my easement...I know, it is taking a long time, but it keeps raining and therefore thwarting all my efforts...I have been wearing gloves even...so that shows you how hard I have been working.

Anyhow, I am off the shovel and rake for a few days so I can heal up a bit. Gross, isn't it? It is exactly in the wrong spot too. It seems that I use that part of my thumb for just about everything...who knew? Oh, except for golfing...I can still hit a golf ball without hurting it...guess I'll just have to do that instead...haha.

Led Zeppelin

I just finished watching a show on VH1 on the top 100 hard rock artists and of course Led Zeppelin was the top and considered the grandfather of all other hard rock, metal and alternative to come after it. You're probably wondering why I would even stop on a program like that, but there are quite a few bands on their list that I either listened to as a teenager (Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest) or listen to now (Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC). My musical taste runs the gambit from HipHop to Classical composers. I like a little of just about everything out there and then some more of certain genres.

Music was an intricate part of growing up in our household. My parents introduced me and my sister to music at an early age. I remember listening to Sonic Seasonings by Wendy Carlos (aka Walter Carlos), when I was a toddler at bedtime. We lived in a commune in So Cal at the time and everyone in the house sang or played an instrument. Music surrounded us, and many of my earliest memories can be triggered by just hearing a song from those times.

As I got older, music continued to be an important part of our lives. We listened to music more often than we watched TV. My dad worked for a while as a board operator for a college radio station in Oregon. He worked during their Classical music broadcast and I was exposed to another genre through that. American Folk, Blues, Rock, Classical, Country, you name it, we listened to it at our house. We all sang to music, cleaned to music, and studied to music. Whenever we would be turned on to something new in the music scene, my sister and I would share it with our parents and get their view on it. We had them dancing and enjoying bands that they had never heard of and watched them knowingly smile when we would "discover" something from a band that had been around for ages.

I think that I am able to appreciate the broad range of music out there today because of the early influence music had in my life, and the fact that my parents were open to so many types of music. I don't think I ever heard them yell "Turn that crap down" like so many of my friends experienced. I am so thankful for that.

Owens Leaves Eagle Camp After Spat

Doesn't TO realize that people are forgetting what a great player he can be because he makes more news being a jackass?

It has a lot more to do with how well you can catch the ball...you have to be part of a team...duh!!!!

S. Korean man dies after 50 hours of computer games - Yahoo! News

Why would you do this to yourself?

Pine Cone

I saw a grey squirrel pulling this up a tree to eat the other day. The cone it had was almost as big as the squirrel itself. I guess it felt safer 60 feet up in the tree, rather than eating it on the ground.

Hilarious to watch...but you have to give them credit, when they get their mind set, there seems to be no changing it.

ABC News anchor Peter Jennings dies of cancer - Yahoo! News

I guess I had no idea that he was even sick...what terrible news. With him, Brokaw, and Dan Rather all gone from the news...an era has passed. How sad that he died so young.

Now I know how my parents felt when Walter Cronkite left the scene. You get used to seeing the same face every night. I remember seeing Walter on the news when I was a kid (especially during the Iran hostage period).

I am just sitting here in shock. It is so unexpected for me, because I didn't know he was even ill. Where have I been? Wow...

Signs

You know when gas prices are high when radio stations are offering gas cards as prizes rather than concert tickets...

Urgent 2nd Class

As I have mentioned in my reading list, Nick Bantock is one of my favorite authors/artists. I was turned onto his work by my dad who had discovered "The Egyptian Jukebox" and the first three "Griffin and Sabine" books. The art alone is what drew my dad to him at first.

At our dad's house the weekend he introduced us to Bantock, my sister and I spent a lot of time working on the puzzle in the Egyptian Jukebox. It was great fun. You can't find the Egyptian Jukebox new anymore, but sometimes you can come across it used. I bought a copy for my sister not too long ago from Powells.

I fell in love the Griffin and Sabine books because I have always been a corresponder and I loved the art, the story and the reader interaction with the story (the postcards and letters that were really there).

The thing that prompted this post was that I just finished up Urgent 2nd Class, which is another Bantock book where he explains how he finds the stuff he uses in his work and how he goes about getting it to work. As I was finishing up the last chapter about collages, I realized that I don't see the message (if there is one) in each piece. I just find the mixture of textures, color and items interesting but I am not sure if I am getting the whole picture or not.

I guess I have felt that way a lot of times when experiencing art (in all forms). For instance, in books or movies, the whole concept doesn't have to be perfectly pulled off for me to enjoy it. Sometimes the idea of the story behind it is interesting enough and sparks my brain enough for my own ideas that I still consider it good when others might think it was crap because overall it failed. I think in a lot of ways, this can be good because it means that I am able to enjoy more that is out there than someone that might only be looking for the perfect composition everytime, but at the same time, I probably miss the big picture a lot because I am not hunting for it, lost in my ideas.

Traditional art is the same way for me. There are some artists that I just enjoy because they are interesting, not because I really understand the message or idea, that overall, they might be trying to get across. I don't know if that is good or bad, but that is how it is for me. Nick Bantock is one of those artists for me. There are probably plenty of pieces that are supposed to be sarcastic or ironic and I have never noticed it, I have just enjoyed the physical aspect. I wonder if that frustrates the artist or if they are just glad you enjoy it, regardless of the aspect causing that enjoyment.

Microsoft BS

This is how stupid MS thinks home users are...

I had to go to their website to look for an update for a language program I am trying to use. You can't just look for what you want these days, you have validate your existence and then they tell you what you need even if what they think you need is not what you are looking for.

So anyway, one of the things it thinks I need is this security update for jview profiler (which I have never heard from). Mind you, I don't have my computer set up for automatic updates, never would, never will. So I just go to their page once a month or so after turning on all the required services on my PC and download what I need. Sometimes they have things I don't need and I don't download them. This is why I unclicked the jview profiler... I didn't know what it was, Microsoft didn't bother to explain it in their little blurb, so I wasn't going to download it unless I found out more about it.

I do a search on Microsoft's site, and all it comes up with is the same security download about a million times...not exactly what I am looking for. Anyhow, I finally did find the actual bulletin that might explain better what the jview profiler was.

They have two versions of the bulletin. One for home users and one for IT professionals. I clicked on the home users website first (thinking that this probably just explains it in less technical terms). Wrong!!! This is the website....http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/200507.mspx It doesn't tell you anything, it just basically says "here dumbass...download what we tell you and don't ask any questions!!!". And if you notice at the bottom of the first paragraph it even says that if you are an IT professional, you should go to the page so that things will be explained. I am amazed that they have the gall to pretend they put this little "bulletin" together every month.

Hmmmmm....see? They just think we are all idiots and don't need to know what is going on with our computers.

By the way, I did a google search (too bad MS's own site doesn't search adequately for their own shit) and found that the jview profiler is part of a javascript component in IE, so I do need it. Why couldn't they have just told me that in the first place? Jackasses...oh, and I have yet to find what I actually went there for.

How Nerdy Am I

I am not sure if it was because I was a math/biology major in undergraduate school (therefore took much math and science), I am currently in a computer systems management program in graduate school (requiring many hours on the computer), I built this computer I am using or some mixture of the three that pushed me into the middle ground of nerdiness.

I know that because I didn't retain much from college (too many extra curricular activities), and I didn't notice the elf ears kept me from being "very nerdy"...hee hee.
Thanks to PM at The Peevery for this one.

Book Hound

Yep, that is what you can call me. When I find a book that I am really into (good characters, easy to fall into), I just can't stop reading it.

Last night I read the book at the top of my August list right now, until I finished it at 3am in the morning. I think I started reading at 10pm. What was I thinking?

Of course that meant that today was off schedule from the get go but oh well,...its a disease people, nothing I can do about it.

I started the second one on the list today (but only let myself read for an hour, since I have other things on my schedule) but I think I have read it before. Ugh!!!

I hate that, now I need to put two more on hold at the library so I can pick them up when I return these ones next week...ha!

Speed Limit, People, Speed Limit

I don't understand people that drive 50 in a 45 and then that same 50 in a 55....if you aren't going to speed, at least go the limit...or get out of my way.

Father holding baby slain in US road rage attack - Yahoo! News

A perfect example of stupidity.

This person just threw their entire life away over a traffic incident. This does not even touch on what the victim's family now has to face in its future.

What a jackass.

The Heat Drove Them Away

It's the only thing I can think. Since we went into heat index land a couple of weeks ago, my yard has been vacated of most birds.

I still have a few gold Finches hanging out at the thistle feeder and drinking out of the birdbath, but otherwise it has been lonely.

For a few days, we have had a break in the weather (the torrential rains I mentioned before), and that seemed to bring back some of the Red Cardinals, and I actually did see the male Eastern Bluebird the other day (but I don't think they are doing the third nest this year). I even noticed on my walk that there is just not much going on in the bird department. Usually the Blue Jays and Red Cardinals are everywhere and if you can't see them, you can hear them all over.

I wonder if they have all gone to cooler climates for a change...do they do that?

Pillows

I was watching a movie last night and it struck me that on TV and in the movies you always see the beds with tons of pillows on them. This in itself is not odd necessarily, I have 5 pillows on my bed right now, but that is only during the day. I do not sleep with all of them.

Thing is, that during this movie, they were in bed with one pillow each beneath their heads but behind their heads (between the top of their heads and the headboard) there were two more pillows each. That is like an extra two feet of space at the top of the bed being taken up by pillows.

So do beds on the big screen have extra leg room? Because if I had that many pillows above my head, my feet would be hanging off the end of the bed for sure, and I am of average height. Why is it that no one ever calls them on this stupid stuff that just doesn't make sense?

Multiple License Plates

Did you know that 19 states in the US do not require license plates on both the front and back of a vehicle?

Does this make sense at all? I just recently traveled in a state that only requires the back plate and it just seems stupid to me to not have a plate in front (can you tell I am from a state that does require two?).

It drives me nuts if I look back at the car behind me and they don't have a plate. What happens if they are a nut and hit my car, or they're a road rage person, or if they are beating their children and I can see it in my rearview mirror? In most cases, I would not be able to tell the police the make and model of the car as I have only seen it from the front, but if they had a license plate, then I could identify them. Doesn't it make sense that it is a safety issue?

What am I going to say? "Sorry officer, all I know is that it was a tan car with a rebel flag on the front where the LICENSE PLATE should have been."

Bleach

I love bleach...there is just something about that smell that says clean. Of course I hate it when I get it splashed on my favorite t-shirts while using it but that is a different story all together.

Anyhow, I always keep bleach drop-ins in my toilet tank (we don't have any pets that would drink out of the bowl). It keeps the bowl and water looking fresh and keeps me from having to scrub it all the time.

Thing is that when you first drop them in, the aroma each time you flush is much stronger than it is after it has been in there a while. I just dropped one in each of the toilets recently.

The intake for our A/C is right across the hall from the guest bath (which I just used and flushed) and now the A/C has kicked on and is sending a bleach smell through the entire house...how is that for air freshening without effort?

Modifications

J left this morning on a business trip for a couple of weeks so even though I have tons of things on my "To Do" list, I made some changes around here.

I logged onto Netflix to get a bunch of the movies that I know he won't care to see moved to the top (especially since my queue is at 98 movies right now), and I getting ready to hit the library for some reading.

When the cat is away, the mice will read, and watch movies, rather than attack the "To Do" list with vigor...

Note: I also plan to make and eat all the dishes that he doesn't like as much as me....hee, hee.

Length Issues

I finally just watched the Aviator, which I have had from Netflix for some time now. I just couldn't find 3 hours in the evening when I could sit down and watch it. It seems like movies of this length are becoming a trend and finding the time to watch them is hard for me to do (especially in summer when it is light out late).

I guess that it is good that I can have three movies from them because the other two were getting watched and returned pretty regularly but finding those 3 hours was just too hard. At least now, I am done with it and can return it today....let's hope I don't get another marathon movie anytime soon.