An ugly fish

My sister cught this in Washinton State. Damn, that's almost too ugle to eat. I think it's a sturgeon, 50 inches long.

100 things about me

I kinda like the idea of coming up with a hundred things about myself, but I'm a little scared that there aren't that many interesting things about me. But, here goes nothing:

1. If I could get away with it, I would use cocaine as a diet drug.
2. I love music, especially rock and roll.
3. I've been going deaf in my right ear since I was 14.
4. Dark Chocolate makes me happy.
5. I cannot imagine never learning.
6. I've had sex in a Waffle House, a health club, on a beach, and probably many places I can't remember.
7. Bodily fluids REALLY gross me out.
8. I once got high on the Needle at Astroworld.
9. I started getting high when I was 10, and stopped when I turned 21.
10. I never finished high school, but I have my masters degree.
11. I moved out of my parents house when I was 14 or 15, can't remember now.
12. I was in a trailer during Hurricane Alicia in Houston in the early '80's.
13. I've had a gun held to my head.
14. I saved my father's life when I was 10.
15. I've seen 3 dead bodies outside of a funeral home (2 of them where my parents)
16. I smoked for 20 years before I quit cold turkey- but gained a lot of weight doing it.
17. I watched my mother die. (this is very depressing so far, huh?)
18. I could probably perform emergency surgery to save someone's life.
19. I think I'm pretty smart (maybe not such a good trait)
20. I used to drink Jack Daniel straight.
21. I love beer and would drink it all the time except for the fact that it makes you drunk and fat.
22. I've never had sex with anyone famous, but could think of a few guys I would like to get my hands on.
23. I'm a science teacher, and I think I have the coolest job in the world.
24. I hate guns and wish we lived in a world where they did not exist.
25. I know a lot of useless information (hence my blog title)
26. I'm afraid of sharks.
27. I'm a half-breed: born in Massachusetts and raised in Texas.
28. I would love to go back to my old stomping grounds and show everyone that I'm not a loser.
29. Meeting my husband is the greatest thing to ever happen to me.
30. Hubby and I were living together within two weeks of meeting each other.
31. My parents met on a Friday night and were engaged on Sunday morning. They were married for 35 years and one day before he died.
32. I would love to "upgrade" myself and get an implant into my brain to transmit music.
33. I was the reason for one divorce- but I wasn't having an affair with him, his wife used our friendship as an excuse.
34. I've been in love with three men in my life.
35. I don't like weak women.
36. I've thrown away a couch to make more room for books.
37. I've read Darwin's Origin of Species, but not the Bible.
38. Don't try to argue against evolution with me, I'll just think you're an idiot.
39. I've read all of Stephen King's Books.
40. I had to take remedial math in college, but ended up with a B in calculus.
41. People used to clear the dance floor to watch me dance.
42. I really really hate to be laughed at.
43. I've been homeless.
44. I would like to know more about classical music.
45. I am not the least bit graceful.
46. I love cheesy jokes.
47. If I had to choose 3 albums to bring with me on a deserted island they would be Back in Black, Joshua Tree, and Yes, I Am.
48. I could probably have a female lover, but never have.
49. I would like to invent something the world couldn't live without.
50. I can be very critical of other people.
51. Sir David Attenborough is one of my heros.
52. I don't do thongs.
53. It is very gratifying to me to make other people laugh.
54. I've been skinny dipping at Hippy Hollow.
55. I like power tools for presents.
56. I would like to know how to fly a helicopter.
57. I think teenagers would be put on mandatory birth control at puberty.
58. I like to be in charge wherever I go.
59. I get nervous speaking to adults, but almost never in my classroom.
60. I adore college and can't wait to back to get another degree.
61. I love spending money, but hate the fact that every thing costs so much.
62. I think my husband is smarter than I am.
63. I don't want to live in California- that whole Earthquake thing.
64. I talk on my cell phone while I drive.
65. I once caught my friend's back yard on fire and put it out with a shovel and my shoes.
66. My favorite color is green, but I'm also partial to purple.
67. I'm good at untangling knots.
68. I'm not nosy, I'm just extremely curious.
69. I've been in one fight in my life.
70. Sam Adams is my favorite beer.
71. I would like to visit St. Petersburg in Russia, as well as Rome and parts of Germany.
72. I'm sorry I voted for Bush.
73. When my oldest child starts college, my youngest will start kindergarten.
74. I love Riddick.
75. I have hazel-ish eyes, my favorite part of myself.
76. I like to BS people to see how much I can get them to believe.
77. I'm the shortest child in my family at 5'5", but my mother was 5'2".
78. I'm afraid that one day I'll have Alzheimer's.
79. I used to think I wouldn't have plastic surgery, what a fool I was.
80. I wish I was a more creative writer.
81. After 1st child was born I was told I couldn't have any more kids- I have three.
82. I think Pedophiles should be executed.
83. I believe in a woman's right to choose, but don't think the death penalty is particularly effective.
84. I would like to take a minivacation all by myself.
85. My favorite car is a 1966 convertible Mustang.
86. My favorite shows are Grey's Anatomy, Star Gate, The Soprano's, Deadwood, and Farscape.
87. I like to do all the driving.
88. I drove around Atlanta for about a year before I ever got on the freeway. And then, someone had to be in the car with me. I would sweat buckets on I285 and I85.
89. I am impatient in the car with other drivers- I yell obscenities.
90. I cuss- a a lot.
91. I sometimes have an irrational fear that I'm going to fall out of my car when it's moving.
92. My sister and I were key witnesses in a murder trial when I was 10.
93. I have an older brother that I look so much like we could be twins.
94. I like to color in coloring books- with colored pencils.
95. I don't talk to my blood family very often. I guess I should feel bad about that.
96. I love the Blues, but Jazz just irritates me.
97. I would like to be a better gardener and grow more of my family's food.
98. I wish I had more energy. I have high blood pressure and the meds make me a zombie.
99. Several of my friends are bi-polar. What does that say about me?
100. When I retire, I want to live on a house boat with the hubs and a couple of cats.

A teachable moment

While this is funny, I imagine this will start a few conversations with my students...

RIP

'What" will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Thanks to this guy for the link

Stem cell research

read this and got frustrated again. A little science goes a looooong way. To clone a human being you must:

1. Be very very rich

2. Take a human egg, remove the nucleus (only 23 chromosome).

3. Then, replace said nucleus with a complete nucleus (all 46 chromosome).

4. Trick it into dividing. Form a blastula (a hollow ball of identical cells)

5. Here's the really important part- convince it to differentiate- different parts of the DNA in EACH of those cells must turn on so that the cells become a different part of the human body: heart, brain, spinal cord, etc.)

6. Implant that ball of cells in the uterus of a woman who shares DNA with the complete nucleus.

7. Wait 40 weeks for said woman to go into labor and give birth. The complete nucleus donor and the new baby will be genetically identical, but not the same since they will develop in completely different uterine environments.

Here's what science can do: make these cells become 1 thing- heart cells, bladder cells, skin cells

We can, and regularly do,clone other animals besides humans. Been doing it for years with livestock. BIG money there. We cannot clone humans, our DNA is too complex, we cannot get it to differentiate. I don't know why.

Do I think we need to be very, very careful? Oh hell, yes! But stopping research, or hindering it, is not the answer.

Of course, I also think we need to be careful how many people we save because of population control. If we cure all disease, what's to keep our world population in check? War and famine aren't enough any more.

Red, red wine

Well, white really. But it's Black Cat, and I be a buzzing!!

Remember ole Ken Lay, and how he bilked all that money, destroyed countless lives and a huge business? Now he's pushing up daisies? Got off easy, though, had a heart attack. Not like this guy that did the same thing in France with Parmalat. But, damn, what a way to go!

good one

damn!

Getting ready to go back to work soon, gotta get Re-Pete enrolled in a dungeon, I mean daycare. She was at a Montessori school- wonderful, wonderul, but the new owners moved the school from the place it has been for the last 25 or so years to a new place 35 miles away from me. Can't make the drive next year, just not enough time in my day.
Been doing a little bonding with Pete, origami is the current fave. She making the transition from little girl to Big Girl, getting her own opinion and everything! It's been nice hanging with her. She still likes to cuddle, too.
My old boss has been promoted to the highest level of his inadequacies, and new blood has been brought in. I really like the new boss: she smart, savvy, funny, and God knows we need more smart women in positions of power. She just makes the rest of us ovarines look good! Gonna be a good year, I can feel it!

The boy is home

After 16 days away, my 17 year old has returned home from a trip to Alaska, full of stories. Can't wait to go back. One Saturday they went kayaking in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Alaska. Smart boy that he is, he took a lesson in kayaking first. He had to learn how to flip back over in the water- in 40 degree water, no less. All was well and he survived, had a great time. Got some really nice pictures to post soon.

How to F*** up a kid

My mom used to tell people she put me on my 1st diet when I was 5. Always had to have fresh veggies around for Stevie (me), the implication being I have always been a tub o' shit. Matter of fact, my aunt gave me that nickname when I was 2 or 3. (she apologized a few years ago). The story goes- we're at a family dinner and all the kids are given the mike to record something for posterity. Little Stevie says, "I'm not a tub o' shit, you're a tub o' shit" Mom puts an end to that nickname right there.. Any way, by the time I was in 2nd grade I already knew I was fat. Hell, I weighed 68 pounds (!).
So my 8 year old, Pete, comes out of the bathroom, with her little svelte self and tells me she finally hit 75 pounds- yeah! She's a size 8/10 depending on the length of the pants. Not. fat. in. the. least.
So I realize I wasn't fat in the second grade either. Cool.

miracles and such

One of the arguments that the religous nuts have against science is that knowledge takes away some of the wonder of the world. Shit, if anything, knowing exactly how my heart beats (about a teaspoon of blood at a time, using electricity and sodium even) is amazing. Get this- if you put two living heart cells together in a nice warm bath they will start contracting- together. How cool is that? How about the fact that fats have 3 little arms hanging offa them. Your intestines recognize that three armed monster and lets it into your bloodstream to wreak its' adipose havoc. BUT... make that monster a 9 armed creature (Olestra, the "fake" fat) and your body won't digest it, instead it lets it slip and slide right on out the back door (hence the anal leakage we are warned about). Who came up with that? A scientist who said, "okay, I know the relationship between fat and digestion, and the consupmtion of fat and the feel-good factor, so if I can somehow make a fat that makes us feel good, but doesn't make us, um, well, fat, then I'll make a bunch of money!!!" And we were so happy, and we saw that it was good. But, said scientist underestimated0Aunt Bertha, who would sit down and have 3 family sized bags of Lays Baked potato chips and then spent the next three days shatting her brains out! Berty neglected to read the bag before she ate the contents, missed the minscule warning about the butt slippage. The scientists fault? Nay, but you have to ask yourself when was the last time you saw Olestra? Or a little anal leakage of your own?

best invention ever

I love my ipod, music in my farking head, man!! My letter to Santa this year will include an implant in head so I can hear anything I want whenever I want. Vin Diesel would be talking sexy to my all night long, baby!

the hubs

usually I try to act like my husband's crass sense of human pisses me off, but sometimes he's just too damn funny. So, we're at dinner, and Pete, the 8 year old, is chewing with her mouth open- "smack, smack"- and I tell her it's so gross, please stop, we don't want to hear her chew or see the food in her mouth. As I turn my head back, guess who's sticking his tongue out with food all over it? I shoot a withering stare at him and then we both crack up. Re-Pete, the 3 year old, just laughs because we're laugihng. Such is the life I lead.
I've been laughing at his gross and corny jokes for 18 years now, why stop now? What a fine example I am!!

so here we are

I read somewhere that there is a condition where a person believes that the world exists just for them. If you aren't around, you don't exist in my world, so to speak. You poof in and out of existence. Now I see you, now you don't. I never realized that people thought any other way. Has anybody ever said something to you that made so little sense that you just kinda blinked at them while you tried to process what they were saying? Do you just wish people would get off the crapping road until you could go by? Are you convinced that the world would be a better place if everyone would just do what you told them? Are you so sure of your right-ness that even if you're wrong, you won't admit it?