Finally!

Got a letter from The Boy/Marine-to-be!!! Woot!

Says he's been really busy and that last week was swim week and he now "hates swimming pools"
He still has his sense of humor, though. He says on the way home he wants to eat at a "Japanese steak house, Waffle house, a regular steak house, and a Chinese Buffet" and he wants a back massage. And he wants to read Harry Potter.
That's my son.

I had written him telling him of a feeling I had, that I felt something was wrong. Now, I know there are unbelievers. But, I bet your not a mother with a son. We have a connection, I'm telling you.
Well, I was right, he had been sick and it started the day I was so worried about him. But all is well.

I feel much better knowing he is fine.
Tank all of you so much that wrote to him. I appreciate you so much, taking time out of your day to drop him a line.

Gravity

I'm not a big fan of John Mayer, but I like this. I heard this song was his desire to not let life pull him down.
Nice.
I prefer this to that breathy pop stuff he did. Hell, I might buy the album. I need some new tunage anyways.

Gravity, John Mayer

Gravity
Is working against me
And gravity
Wants to bring me down

Oh I'll never know
What makes this man
With all the love
That his heart can stand
Dream of ways
To throw it all away

Oh Gravity
Is working against me
And gravity
Wants to bring me down

Oh twice as much
Ain’t twice as good
And can't sustain
Like one half could
It's wanting more
It's gonna send me to my knees

instrumental

Oh twice as much
Ain’t twice as good
And can't sustain
Like one half could
It's wanting more
It's gonna send me to my knees

Oh gravity
Stay the hell away from me
Oh gravity
Has taken better men than me
Now how can that be?

Just keep me where the light is
Just keep me where the light is
Just keep me where the light is
C’mon keep me where the light is
C’mon keep me where the light is
C’mon keep me where keep me where the light is

And the Music Flows!

Ever get a song in your head? I woke up the other morning with this song in my head. This is one of my all time favorite songs, I have a wonderful memory of listeningto it on a guitar in Cheaha State Park.
I love music, as you probably remember, so it's fitting that I finally learn how to embed some in my site.
I've seen others have music in their posts, but finally asked the bodacious Erica to help me out.
Thank you Erica, I love me some Brooklyn Peeps!

It's been almost a week since we've heard from our son. I hope all is well.
In other news, life here is boring, and full of cleaning. I'm finally moving Pete into her brother's room. It only took 5 weeks of him being gone to be able to go in there without crying.
I'm really proud of him and I'm glad he's moving on with his life, but I sure miss having him around.

The White Stripes - Ball And Biscuit [Live]

I can't always get into The White Stripes, but this song is pretty good.

Anthony Bourdain is my hero!

I felt like I'd been peened over, to steal a phrase, yesterday, so I was a layabout good for nothing in pain. But, on the bright side, I got to watch a few hours of Anthony Bourdain. This guy is the quintessential man, is he not? Charismatic, self-assured, funny, intelligent, dare devilish, in-your-face kind of guy.
On his trip to Malaysia, I think it was, he stopped to visit a holy shrine. He said he felt very out of place, a veritable turd in a punch bowl. I thought Ellison was the only one who said that. But it makes sense, doesn't it. If there was a guy that you would expect to know about drinking games, or food limericks, it would be Anthony. And he likes tattoos.
Not bad.
I liked how he thinks of himself as a journey-man. There's something that calls to us to go around the next corner, or to the top of the next mountain, isn't there? To see, explore, to satisfy our curiosity.
Heh, I'd drink some punch with him.

First love

There's a story over at RSM's about first loves. Thought I'd contribute mine.

Hubby, you may want to leave now.

I was 10 the first time I met Robin, even then at 13 he was so tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes. I was friends with his little sister. We were in the same circle that summer, listening to Kiss, Dr. Hook. I think he liked my sister, but then, my sister was already stopping traffic. Nothing came of it. Then school started and time flew.

Fast forward to when I was 13, and I see him again. His family lives around the corner from us. He and my brother get to be pals (for now) and I'm back to being friends with the sisters.

On an aside: the only fight I ever got in to (besides with my brother) was over that girl. Seems 5 sisters, all younger than me, started picking on her, kicking her with their roller skates while she was down on the ground. So I wade in and start bitch slapping and tossing little girls. Heh, still not sorry about that one.

So anyways, Robin and I take a shine to each other. My brother all of a sudden thinks he's a bastard (i should have listened). I was so crazy about him, you know how that feels. He was all I could think about. We spent all kinds of time together. The first time he kissed me I very clearly thought, "I need to remember this, exactly. Nothing this good is ever going to happen to me again." I even counted the number of times he kissed me. I'm a little embarrassed now remembering what a sap I was. I thought he hung the moon.

It went bad after a while, of course.
Sometimes I wonder what prison he landed in.

A slanted view

Pete went to the local Cosmetology College with friends last night and got her hair cut in a very cute bob. It's a great look for her, she can wear it several different ways. Unfortunately, it's very uneven. We go Wednesday to get it evened out. Oh ,well, we've all had a bad haircut before!

Faster Pussycat Babylon Custom GH2 song

some days when Pete starts babbling, all I hear is this song in my head.
I know- Bad Mommy!

The Aliens Are Coming!, A Priimer

Here is a list of some of our closest stars



Sol- 93 million miles, sometimes

Proxima Centauri, 4.2 light years

Rigil Kentauris, 4.3 light years

Leo, 7.7 light years.



Let's make, for sake of argument, the following assumptions:



1. There is life on other planets revolving around at least on of these suns.

2. We want to go there.



OK, a light year is a distance, not a time. In fact, it is the distance light can travel in, you guessed it, a year.



The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second, or 700 million miles an hour.



A light year is 6 million million miles

or

6 000 000 000 000 miles.



The Helios spacecraft orbits our sun at mach 227 (227 times the speed of sound) The speed of sound is 761ish mph.

So, 761 X 227 = (wait gotta use my toes)= about 17, 000 mph.
And that's the fastest thing we got going.

Any one else beside Bou still with me?

If we travelled at the speed of light it would takes us 4.2 years to get to our next closest star.
Our fastest spacecraft is 41,000 times slower!
Even if we travelled at a tenth of the speed of light, it would take 42 years to get to Centauri.

What's the point of this?

It is so far and it would take so long that is would eat up an incredible amount of resources. And just think of all the beer we'd have to make. We would have to have a functioning city on the spacecraft before we even left.

Let's just go explore the ocean.

That is all

I think I might vomit

Wanna go?
You will discover extraordinary teachings about sensuality, science and consciousness in a multicultural and festive environment.

and this? Oy, THe Sheik, Bill and Melinda must be so proud

Want to adopt a clitoris?

These are perfect examples of what happens when you are bat shit crazy AND rich.

Where my heads explodes

So I was having a discussion with a very good friend of mine, filling her in on the extremely boring events of my life.

Wait, go get a beer, this is gonna be a long one.
.
.
.
.

So, where was I? Oh, yes. My friend. I was relaying a conversation that I'd had where I asked the following question:

"So what do you think About Pope Benedict saying the Catholic Church is the One True Church?"

I keep forgetting that I live 10 miles from hell, and it's filled with Baptists. Who think the Pope is the Devil Right Hand Man. Who think women should be subservient to men. And cannot have an intelligent conversation with it being I'm right/ you're wrong in 5 seconds flat.

Wait, my head is spinning around on my neck, and the word BULLSHIT keeps popping in my head like it's the 4th of July!

Oosa, Oosa. OK, I'm good.
It was interesting, especially when she said the Catholics were wrong for worshipping Mary. Whoa, I like Mary. She gets the beautiful blue dress, and my grandmother prayed to her. Don't mess with Mary. It was also kinda neat to see her lips disappear in a frown when I told her I thought that when we died, that was just it. And that Jesus was probably a real guy with great ideas at the right time, much like Martin Luther King.

So back to my true friend. She said I should have invited some of my pagan friends to the discussion. See, I used to belong to this group that got together a couple of times of year. Rest, recharge, eat great food, great tea. But then things got a little touchy, some people got a little crazy. Hell, some were just plain bat shit. One of the women suggested that there was a new race of humans who had DNA that no one had ever seen before and that it was different from every one else's. Aaaand, the Government was trying to cover it up.
For shizzle.
So, sayeth I, don't you think that if your government really wanted that covered up it would be? And if it wasn't and it was true, don't you think that every major, hospital, drug company, university, and tabloid would have their hands in it? We'd hear about it 24/7 for about 2 weeks. And where's the FUCKING SCIENCE?

So I'm relaying that conversation to my bright friend. Now, this woman has 2 college degrees, served in the Gulf War as a medic, worked the crash sites for several major airplane crashes, worked as a hematologist. And she can figure out how to make shit work, even if she has to create a part for it. Much like Og (whom I hold in very high respects, BTW).
Just so you know, the chick is smart!!!

and what, pray tell does she say about the new "species"?
Oh, you mean the Indigo Children.

FUUCK, there goes my head again.


So I Google Indigo Children and find

This
and
This

Basically, children who are high strung, a bit antisocial, prone to misbehaving, but since they are being raised by "New Age Parents" they are being touted as special, telekinetic, sensitive, mind readers, the new humans?
But I have a question
WHERE IN THE MOTHERFUCKING HELL IS THE SCIENCE?????

Educators say, this is crap, scientists would also like to see their science.


There are so many thing to say about this- but first go read the articles.
-ADHD is more prevalent. I don't know why, probably environmental, not genetic. Asberger's is very hard on the small child, but can lead to very fulfilling, highly organized and rewarding lives. But which would you rather hear, if you were raised in this instant gratification world, that your kid had a disorder or your kid is special and is here to save the world?
-I say Verily, Science (the search for knowledge) is about provable events, ideas, relationships. Without proof, I could say the Moon is made of Cheese, that I had made a Cold Fission machine, Aids is not rampant in African countries (what was that king's name?), our universe is geocentric, and, if Rael is to be believed, we can clone humans to reach perfection and then go back to the sky with the other extraterrestrials. (make sure to watch the video and send your donation to reserve your space on the ship.)

Holy hopping sheep shit, people. What has happened to the human race that we cannot think for
ourselves but will blindly believe the absurdity that shysters fling at us?

Re-arranging the furniture

My parents, mostly my mother, were freaky about the furniture. I mean, we moved a gazillion times growing up, but even so, my folks would rearrange the living room at least once a season.

I've got that bug. Poor hubby. He just has to do the grunt work.

It's like an itch. I just feel compelled to rearrange furniture.

I've been trying to rearrange my room, but sheesh, what a mess.

So I'm just gonna be satisfied with my blog.

Hope y'all don't stub your toe in the dark getting used to the new setup.

My Queens

If Pete is the Drama Queen, then Re-Pete is the Queen of Obvious.
Such as:

"See that High School Musical sign over there? It says High school Musical."
"I like to be bare-footed, but today I think I'll be shoe-footed"
"If yesterday morning was Sunday, what was last night?"

Now, that one took me a minute, then it dawned on me, so to speak.

If SunDAY is during the Day, then what happens at night? SunNIGHT? MonNight? Tuesnight?

Admit it, that actually makes sense. Or do I need to spend more time with adults?

Then there's this gem:
"What happens to the calendar? How do the days change?"

I have no Freakin' clue what she's talking about, and so I fall back on the the old "What do you think?"

"I think [The Boy] and his Marine Guys come in at night with their swords and knifes and change it"

Maybe.

This girl cracks me up, but she also slap-out amazes me with the way she thinks.
Of course, it could just be that she's average and my brains are slowly dribbling out of my ears every night whilst I sleep.

Happy Blogiversary to me, A Day Late

Happy Blogiversary to HofUK. It's been a year that I've been doing this, I think. I didn't have any goals in mind- other than try not to sound like a whiny butt. My dear husband has been into computers for many, many, many years (sigh). Some days I throw my hands up and just say, "I can't compete with your computer!" When I started reading on the 'net, I really didn't want to get too involved. I have a friend who did that and only bad things have come from it.

I've met some really fine folks doing this, some funny, some endearing, some a little creepy, some just piss me off. Some of your gross me out, but I can't wait to see what you come up with next. (When Dick says don't click, you really should take his advice) But for everyone of you guys and gals I've met, I bet there are a dozen I would like to meet.

I thought that my blog would be anonymous, but I'm delighted to say that I've made some really good friends-you know who you are. I've enjoyed having you here, meeting you for a festival, or having dinner elsewhere. Can't wait for Helen this year.

I'm pleased as punch that 20 odd people a day come visit me. I remember lamenting the fact that only 3 or 4 people visited a day.

The family and I went to have breakfast with some friends, new and old, Sunday morning. I have a few thoughts on this:

It is totally bitching that I get to see my hubby on a Sunday Morning. We've probably had 50 in the last 20 years. It's really awesome to do normal things with him.

I got to see some friends- Zonker and Denny. It's interesting that I have friends that I met on the Internet. One of my friends met several people that way, and most ended badly, so I had my mind set that I would not follow her footsteps. To my surprise, the great majority of people I have met through the net, and in subsequently in person, have been awesome. So it's nice to see those guys again.

I met some new friends, 2 sisters and three sons. What nice people there are. Sorry if i hogged the conversation.

Pete, Re-Pete, Bones, Ringo, and Mr T. sat at a separate table. They had a great time. A little loud here and there, but we're talking kids here. No food fights, no weird body noises. The "Adults" had their share of noise. We got loud, too. I noticed a table of 4- a man, maybe his wife, two boys. They said maybe three words to each other the entire time they were there. One boy had some sort of handheld game. He played nonstop, only stopping to take a bite.
I wonder- were they antisocial? Had there been a death?
Here we were a gregarious bunch, and yet they sat there so silent. Sad, that.

help!

Somebody please tell Keesie I can't seem to post a comment at his site, nor can I do a trackback. I love those pictures!

A story for you

Once upon a time, there lived a goodwoman with her Goodman and Goodchild. Goodman was very, uh, good with his computer, having taught himself the internal ways. But he was very covetous of his computer and would only allow certain people to do certainthings on it. Goodwoman had very little to do with this gadget, having not been infected by a computer virus yet. Goodchild was a natural prodigy, and loved to use his Goodfather's computer whenever he had a chance. But there were things he knew not to do- Turning It Off being of paramount importance.
One fine evening Goodman came home from a hard day of wrestling waffles to find that, indeed, the computer had been Turned Off.
Wicked!
Tyranny!
Blasphemy!
and finally, Blame! was laid first at Goodson's feet. But He denied, denied, denied. He had not been near the gadget.
Goodmother, then? Nay, sayeth she. She knew touching the fickle beast was dangerous and might cause Blue Screens to appear and odd noises to be heard and smoke to be issued.

Then, cried Goodman, the only other explanation-
Someone must have broke into his Goodhome (in the broadest of Daylight!) and Turned Off The Computer! Villains all! (but leave everything else)

The End

Forgive me, Goodman, for the re-telling of such a sordid event...

Blah blah blah

Since my darling hubby has to get up a ridiculous o'clock in the morning and go to work, I took my Pete and Re-Pete out for a few hours. I guess I could also call them Mary and her Little Lamb.
1st we went to Wendy's and had baked potatoes. Yumm!
Then it started to rain. No biggie.
We went to Home Depot because I wanted to price some paneling and paint. I want to do a Wainscoting kind of thing, make the bathroom onto "old rustic beach house". Well, the bottom dropped out of the sky and we were stranded for half an hour.
Finally I gave up and ran through ankle deep water in my flip flops. (I never learn)
Then.. it was off to grocery shop, in the pouring rain.
To the car, in the pouring rain.
Home, in the pouring rain.
The entire time the girls babbled. Non.Stop. Yada. Yada. Yada Blah Blah Blah.

Sheesh. My ears hurt from all the noise!

dragonflies

You know, I can appreciate dragon flies. Look how cool they look:

I did some research and found out the following factiods:

• Smallest-The smallest dragonfly in the world is probably the Nannophya pygmaea (Pigmy Dragonfly), from eastern Asia. It has a total length of approximately 15mm (0.6 inches) and a wing span of only about 20mm (0.8 inches).



• Largest: The largest modern day odonate in the world is a actually a damselfly from Central and South America, Megaloprepus coerulatus, with a wing span of approximately 180mm (7.1 inches). The largest dragonfly appears to be the Giant Petaltail (Petalura ingentissima) from northeastern Australia; however, there is some argument about this. The Giant Petaltail has a wingspan of approximately 160mm (6.3 inches). Some claim, however, that the Giant Hawaiian Darner (Anax strenuus) is the largest. We have not been able to find the measurements for this dragonfly, but will continue to search for them.


• The largest ever (that we know of): an ancient fossil found to be about 30 inches wide (Can you say Holy Dragonfly Shit, Batman!?)



• They eat mosquitos and other little buggies, plus worms, and anything else that will stayt still long ebough...



• There are close to 2400 species known, about 400 of which are in the U.S.

Here's a shot of the Green Darner:

I love the beach- there are so many Marines around here. Someone said there's no such thing as an ugly marine-she is so right!!!
We've seen some dolphins here as well, but haven't seen hide nor hair of a jellyfish (do they have either?) Having a great time. It's a little bittersweet, since my friend is moving so far away from me. I keep thinking "it's the last time we get to do thus and so" I know we might get to see one another again, but it's doubtful.

Re-Pete is still getting everything she wants, and have all her wishes taken care of, but she's used to that. Pete is having a ball- her natural sense of humor is shining through, she is bronzing quite nicely, as well. My sister is like that- all she has to do is think about a sunny place and she gets a little darker.

Missing the boy, still. Don't think that's likely to change.

All is well, not quite ready to go home, but close.

I need a blogmeet.

Happy Independence Day

I never was a History freak. I liked my history in broad strokes: give me the main ideas and I'm happy. I'm not normally sentimental either, although certain things can take my breath away- the way my husband says my name, the sound of my children laughing.
But I just love The Fourth of July. I can sing the songs, I wear the colors, I do my nails all patriotic like. I barbecue, go to parades and wave like a mad woman, and I especially like fireworks.
I love this country. I can agree or disagree with anything any one says. In theory, I can have my own beliefs. We have the right to defend ourselves. I have the right to worship (or not worship) whomever/whatever I choose. Our soldiers have saved the lives of many, many, many citizens of other countries. I think I read somewhere that we give more money for aid to other countries than any other country. We believe in the spirit of helping others. And bettering ourselves. We have the right to get rich.
In other countries (North Korea, China, Cuba) people don't have any rights. Say something against the people in power and your entire family goes to a concentration camp, including the children. Get assassinated in China and your family gets to pay for the bullet. Children starve in the gutter while fat pigs in power get richer and richer. And why we haven't bombed that bastard in North Korea into 50 million pieces in beyond me!! That Piece of Shit gave up any right to breath about 30 years ago.
I have the right to burn the American Flag, or not stand when the Pledge of Allegiance is said, or not be respectful to our military. But I would no more do that than I would smack my mother in the mouth. It's wrong. It's disrespectful. It's despicable.
Some people might be tempted to do these things to show off our freedoms. Fuck you, says I. Yeah, it's great for shock, but you still suck for doing it.

Yes, you have the right to do those crappy things, but you're still wrong.


Happy Fourth of July to all...

Re-Pete likes to sing. She goes to the bathroom and stays several extra minutes just to sing. It's kinda fun to listen to her, and it works better than a bell around her neck.

So, anyway.

It's the day before we're scheduled to come home from PC. My friend M. comes into the room singing

The Rednecks are here

The Rednecks are here

Hi Ho the Derry-O

The Rednecks are here!



From the other side of the room we hear- in her sweet little angel voice-



The Rednecks are here

The rednecks are here

Hi Ho da Dare-we-O

Da Rednecks are here!



That's my girl, always ready to learn a new song.