Making faces

Lately all my pets appear to be making faces at me. Maybe they are catching on to this camera thing. Actually, Sable is very camera shy. (I think it's the flash). She was in the beginning of a huge yawn when I snapped this photo. One of the biggest complaints about Canon cameras is the delay between pushing the shutter button and the actual taking of the photograph.

I've been cooking already this morning. My pets are confused. Bacon? There is something I cook only once or twice a year. Only for my calico beans. We don't eat the stuff. I am not fond of it. Now, sausage on the other hand.

My daughter requested that I make nacho cheese dip with sausage. I've not made it before, but I always wanted to. She liked it. I lost my appetite yesterday evening for some strange reason. I started to get a migraine and this is the first time I have taken my new medication Imitrex. It took a while to kick in.

Big family get together today. Not sure what the weather is predicted to be. I haven't looked. Right now we have cool and sunny. This event is forty minutes north of me. Starts at 2. I better get my camera ready.

I received a digital photo picture frame as a gift. I don't have the kinks worked out, but it is sweet. This one reads compact flash cards, many different types of memory sticks, usb (thumb drives) and a mini port for the camera.

We watched Yours, Mine and Ours last evening. I like Rene Russo and I can tolerate Dennis Quaid. Of course, I have seen the original movie with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda.

I liked YM&O much more than Cheaper By the Dozen. I can recall reading the book back in the early 70's. I've never been a Steve Martin fan. Probably my favorite movies with Steve are Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Little Shop of Horrors. I can go around singing "Suddenly Seymour" all day, much to the chagrin of my daughter. (And most likely, my neighbors).

Surreal scene

I took one of my colorful patio twirlers and shot the camera through it. This is how it came out. I sharpened the photo up a bit with the contrast, but that was all. No color added. I have one other one that came out pretty neat, but all the rest didn't. I must be in a picture taking frame of mind these days. I just came back in today because of the rain. Sable (dog) and I were going to go for a walk.

I got all the supplies to make calico beans, taco layer dip and my usual cheese ball for tomorrow's cook-out at my sister's house. I am not certain I am going to have anyone here on Monday to cook for or not. I think my Columbus crew has to be back by that day.

My fingernails have had a growth spurt. I wish I knew what it is that makes them grow all of a sudden. Every three years or so (it used to be about once a year) I will notice that all of them are long and healthy. I hurry up and put clear polish on them. My Mom used to say it was digging in the fresh earth that did it. Maybe so. I used to recall my nails would grow around November, so I am not sure that is it. I was spared the habit of biting my nails. Two of my sisters do and my daughter does. The sister's cured their nail biting with fake finger nails.

I like my nails long, but it isn't practical when I am using a screw driver and working with the equipment that I do. It would be similar to working on car engines with long nails. It just wouldn't work. Since schools have not had much money to purchase anything, I am safe from breaking my finger nails. Probably for the entire summer. Here's to better funding in the fall.

I've discovered that the peony plant on the East side of my house is a different shaped flower than the one that blooms so well (on the West side). I bought them at the same time. This one looks a bit more like a rose when it starts out and has a wider outside petal that surrounds the flower. I have a couple of pictures and I hope to get more as the plant blooms better. I planted them five years ago. I had no idea it took that long for some flowers to bloom. I actually thought they died the first two years.

I am thinking that my hydrangea is going to take a year off from blooming. It is green and healthy but not very big. I may have pruned it back a bit too much last fall, but the web sites for the flower say that this is a good thing. I must be patient.

Time to get into the kitchen to start cleaning and cooking. Stupid rain.

Ants on my peonies

After my daughter's ultra sound we had breakfast at Denny's. She came home and went back to bed. I grabbed my camera because I had a poppy blooming and I tried many different shots of the ants crawling all over my peonies.

I blurred most of the shots, but about 30 came out relatively clear and four came out very clear with an ant or two to show for my trouble.

Then I went to work and played with Cisco's Security Device Manager. I am aware that this feature set came out a couple of years ago, but my schools have not had enough monies to purchase new equipment and when some finally did, I got to play.

For a few years, my home office did all the router configs and just handed the equipment off to the satellite workers. "Mount it on the rack and plug it in," they said. Except for a tweak here and there we did not have much configuration to do. My skills dwindled away. A sot off the street could have done the job.

Now, that I have four new routers and time to play I am learning again and am happy. It is hard to want to learn and do the valuable stuff, but you don't get the opportunity. If my home office is aware of how to use SDM, they haven't said anything. I called my co-worker in the other satellite office and showed him the feature. He liked it, too.

I am usually pretty good at documentation. Most of the instructions that I type up are for the school technology personnel and I post it on my work web page. No passwords are needed for this access. Router configuration and access needs to be kept in house and we do have a knowledge base located on our helpdesk to post instructions and other informational data but I do not have the privileges to post anything. So, I'll type up the step by step instructions and keep them to myself.

I had some folks chuckling today. I bought new garden gloves and when I mowed last evening the new blue dye faded onto my wrists. I saw it in the shower and washed most of it off. It left two blue/green lines across each wrist. I looked like I had handcuff bruises! I'll scrub harder tonight! LOL!

Close to bursting

Me and my peonies. I am close to cursing and bursting. I came inside the air conditioning to cool down. I had a rotten day as it was. No migraine. I don't even want to think about the monkey because I swear that will even trigger the monster.

I was in a vendor meeting all day. Four vendors trying to sell their stuff. Man, you want to talk about pompous airheads. They sure are full of it. Where do they get their arrogance? It really must be bred into them. Do they even realize how people make fun of them when they go?

Sigh. My niece took the wrong mower. She took mine instead of her brother's. He has this habit of purchasing a duplicate of almost each item that I do. Maybe he does this with everyone. I don't know. I bought a Craftsman 6.5 hp self propelled lawn mower, he bought a 6.25 hp one. I am left with that. I didn't check the oil because I was ticked off. It quit on me. I unscrewed the lid to the oil pan. Smoking. Nuts! I am lucky the thing didn't catch on fire. I am letting it cool off while I cool off.

Anyway, my peonies are ready to burst, too. Both plants on both sides of the house look like they are going to have a banner year. My tulips bombed this year, as did my lilacs. Hopefully, my orange tiger lilies will be vibrant. I am still anxious about my hydrangea. The plant is leafing out, but I won't know it's color. I want to add more of the sulfur stuff (or whatever it is that I have) but I am afraid of adding too much.

My daughter gets an ultrasound tomorrow morning at 6:30 for her stomach aches. She is not allowed to eat anything but clear liquids and jell-o all day. She says the jell-o is sickening. I agree. So, she is not eating anything. How can I eat in front of her? So we are both grouchy and hungry.

Let's just say I will be glad when tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. rolls around. She said that I have to take her out for the biggest breakfast ever. I hope she doesn't get a stomach ache from eating so much after 34 hours (or more) of fasting. She really hasn't eaten since 7 p.m. last night.

Green lake

Just a pretty picture I took on my way home Sunday. My daughter had left the graduation party with my sister, niece and nephew so I was able to take a back road and take my time and reflect on the get together. I am always sad when they are over. I want them to go on forever. I'm like the first to arrive and the last to leave.

Moose is watching me

Still shy sometimes

A couple of times I just grabbed our cat Moose and gave her a huge, big hug. Her reaction was not at all what I expected. She seemed to follow me around more after I did that. It seemed to have drawn her closer to me. She still does the dead goat thing. Above, she is watching me cautiously. She was probably hoping I wouldn't pick her up and hug her. Usually I am very quiet and calm with them, but she just was not coming around. Sometimes she sleeps on my bed so I know she doesn't hate me.

I don't know about The Lake House. I don't think either Ms. Bullock or Mr. Reeves have much acting range. It seems to me like they play the same character over and over in their movies. Their looks don't change, their personality does not change. I can tell Mr. Reeves by his walk even when he is clear across a field and Ms. Bullock does that little scrunching of her nose in every movie.

My daughter is scheduled for an ultra sound for stomach aches. I hope they don't find anything. I certainly don't want them to find gall stones.

Jasper makes a face at me

Aw man. This is ugly. I caught him at the right time to get this shot. He was laying in the sun enjoying the warmth and I was pestering him with the camera. He was sleepy and he made a face at me. Not exactly his best.

Jasper used to be very skittish. When we bought the house in 2002 we had just adopted Jasper and his brother Casper. At least I thought they were brothers. Jasper came and found us first and a week later brought Jasper. We lived at the apartment. Since I knew that I was purchasing a house I kept them around and fed them.

Jasper rarely came up out of the basement. Casper has always been very friendly. Jasper has become very affectionate the past year or more. Whenever I sit down it isn't one minute before he is in my lap. I talk to them, all of them.

Yikes!

Milo and Sable

A week or so ago my niece brought over her new kitten, Milo. My dog Sable was extremely jealous of her. Or, maybe just interested, I am not sure. She would lay between the kitten and the rest of us until finally she tired of the new critter. The other cats didn't care at all about the new kitten. The kitten went back home with my niece who is living with a friend for the summer. I get the feeling she wants to move back in with me.

I have a graduation party today. The weather does not look that great, but it is indoors. A lot of family is going to be there and I just feel that 4 hours is not near enough time to see and talk to everyone. Especially when there are going to be a lot more people than just family.

I also get family time next week during the Memorial day week-end. I am also looking forward to that.

I am having my summer bash on July 7th. I checked the town Park's website and that is the night they are putting off fireworks. I have the entire week prior to that Saturday off from work, so I hope to have my yard and house in order.

We ate at Damon's yesterday (my daughter loves their ribs). Her beau found a square of plastic in his 5-cheese sandwich. We notified the waitress so that she could inform the cook. She brought another sandwich out for him. His buddy challenged him to forgo eating meat for six weeks or so. He has been doing pretty well with it.

Saving as....

Open notepad or word pad and type the above onto the screen. Save the file to your desktop as filename.htm. You can call it whatever you want. I named mine personal.htm.

Close notepad (or wordpad). You should have an icon on your desktop titled filename.htm or whatever you named it. If you use Explorer it will be a blue lowercase e. Double click on the icon. It should open the page shown above.

This is the bare basics of creating a web page using html.

The first line:

< !DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN" >

defines the doctype declaration. Actually, I am way behind in versions, so if one were to create a web page, you should go here for a list of current DTD (document type definition) to use.

The next line is HTML surrounded by the left and right carat symbols. This is the opening tag for Hyper Text Markup Language. (Basic web language).

The < > symbols form an opening statement. So if you open a statement, you must close it at some point and time. Closing the HTML tag looks like this: < /HTML >

The simple page above consists of the DTD, the HTML, Title, Head and body. I forgot to close the Center tag, so anything I add to the page would be centered.

What I am getting at here is you can view any web page on the Web. While viewing, take your mouse and click the right mouse button. This will bring up a pop-up menu. Using your left mouse button choose "View Source" . Depending on your browser you may have a different name for this feature. Firefox titles it "View Page Source" and Explorer calls it "View Source."

This will bring the source code up in a text formatted window. Save the file to your desktop. It should already have the extension of .htm or .html behind it. Close the text page and minimize your browser and any other programs you have open until you see your desktop.

Select the icon of the file you just saved by clicking on it once with your left mouse button. With the cursor still on the icon, click your right mouse button. This should bring up a pop up menu. Choose "Open with..." if you have that feature and open the file with word pad. (Notepad works, but word pad will filter out some very strange symbols that Notepad won't.).

Now, you can see the source code that folks use to write their web pages.

Sigh. Most use fancy canned packages like Dreamweaver or Frontpage. This is okay, but I wanted to learn the nuts and bolts. I wanted to create a web page from scratch. I have a long way to go and mine is not very fancy, but it is the way I like to do things.

The next time you are in your blog's dashboard area, cruise on over to the template section. Beginning with the < !DOCTYPE line and ending with the < /html >, select all of the text in between with your mouse and save this to a text file. Once the text is selected and high lighted, click Edit Save. Open notepad or word pad and click Edit, Paste. The template should appear on the text document. Choose Save as... and type filename.txt or whatever you want to call it. Template.txt. This way if you have any problems with your blog, you can go back and compare it to what you last saved it as to find out what happened.

And, once it is saved to your desktop or the folder of your choice, you can save another copy and name it template.htm. This should appear as the lower case blue e on your desktop (if you use Explorer). Double click it and you should see the bare bones of your blog's homepage.

Ah, I hope I didn't bore you too much with this post. I think I will take it and section it off into steps and post it on my homepage for basic html beginners. I don't know anybody that wants to learn html anymore, but I did. I don't know a lot about it, but I taught myself enough to start my own web page. I wanted to go farther with it, but alas - time.

LARGE

Click the photo

This is my entry for Photo Friday's weekly challenge: Large. No matter which way you look at it, this is one large horse.

The Buffalo

A while back I told about this buffalo that appeared in the front yard of a house in the main section of town. I promised a picture of it if and when I got one. It isn't the best photo, but it is a very busy section of roadway and I couldn't stop to adjust. This one was snapped through the front windshield of my car.

The newspaper had an article on the guy who put the buffalo in his yard. He has a big pole barn behind his house and gets deliveries often. He was tired of the trucks missing his driveway so now he can tell them to "Turn right at the buffalo". My sister lives in another town about 25 miles East of here. She said she saw it go through town on the back of a pickup truck.

My doctor did give me Imitrex for my migraines, now. I have not filled the prescription yet. Reading up on it, it keeps saying "dogs given Imitrex... blah, blah, blah." I don't care to have animals used for testing but I am realistic enough to understand that medicine would not be anywhere near where it is today without the testing. Are there other ways to test? I'm not certain. We have come a long way and are not near as barbaric as what our ancestors were or our enemies across the seas.

The day is gone

I lost a day. Sunday. It infuriates me. I should be used to it by now. I see the dr. this Wednesday and I plan to change migraine meds. My body must be getting resistant to the one I am currently taking. I'll see if there is one out there the I haven't taken, yet. I have been on this one for about two years, so I can't give it a bad rap.

I had a gazillion things I wanted to do. Outside and inside work. I got the basics done. Kitchen cleaned so that there is no odor or ants. Clothes washed. Stupid weather change rolled in. The air was nippy. Which would have made it perfect for working outdoors. Grrrr.

The photo is probably the last of the sunset series I will post for a while. Since I wasn't moving from spot to spot, the set became redundant. I did catch a spider close up (again) that I was not aware of until I looked at the picture on my computer. Yikes.

Work is busy. May usually is.

Gripped

Gripped by the migraine monkey, again. Until he leaves....

A Golden Sunset

Another shot of the big lake at sunset.

Patio decorations

I bought some colorful twirl patio decorations a couple of weeks ago. My daughter and her beau hung them for me. I think I have 12 of them. Not all like the above, some are the longer, more popular stick-twirlers. I wanted color. This photo is facing northeast.

Again, the lake

I've seen a lot of this lake this month.

I killed weeds.

I killed ants.

I killed time.

Watching Dreamgirls.

It just did not do it for me.

Changes

Her hair is shorter than this style, now. This is one of the first times we had it cut. She cannot tan, because of her fair skin and her tendency to produce dysplastic nevus. So, I let her go wild with her hair. She has been working 5:30 to 10:30 every evening and Saturday 10 to 6. This is a two week training, and then she will probably get a day off during the week. Summer starts soon and she can sleep in. Mom is a bit of a basket case. Am I doing the right thing? Is she going to get sick? She is sleepy in class. Worry, worry, worry.

Oh, and if a young, female telemarketer calls you that tends to speak a little too fast, let her down easy, huh? It makes me cringe to think of things I said to them.

In pursuit

The road ahead

I am always on the road to my 'Pursuit of Happyness.' I watched the movie. I cried. Well, my eyes watered if you want to call that crying. I teared up. I don't sob at movies.

Did you know that the fellow they walk past at the end is the writer of the book?

Knock knock.

Who's there.

Nobody.

Nobody who?

Silence.

Nobody who?

Silence.

Ha! Ha! I get it!

Springwood Nights

The lights of Springwood, Ohio

Saturday night was spent with good friends around a campfire by the lake. I can't wait until the next time. Not just because of the good times, but because I will wait until it is eerily quiet and dark and then tell the girls that The Nightmare On Elm Street took place in the fictional town of Springwood, Ohio. LOL! That is the name of this campground.

The photo above is my friend's camper all lit up with her colorful lights and colorful decorations. Check out my car's antenna. Pretty wild.

My horse didn't win in the derby. We pick names out of a hat. I pulled Circular Quay.

Farming Ohio

A farm in Ohio

Farming is hard work. I got up with the cows this morning. Actually, I had a touch of insomnia and awoke at 4 a.m., and have not been back to sleep. I have been up for 20 hours and I am a bit whacked in the head. I had one beer and it feels as though I had six or more.

We met family for dinner in Canton. I have my sister staying with me. So darn much fun. My cheeks hurt from laughing.

The above photo was taken after I left the little school near Sugarcreek this morning.

Time to find my pillow.

Let it go, walk away

I will turn and walk away

This was before I saw the snake. He didn't see the snake. I had walked about twenty feet to the right before I came upon it. This goose was travelling alone. Solo. I talked to him for a bit, he just ate grass. We both parted and went our separate ways. I hope he finds his feathered friends.

You deserve a break today

Driving by the lake again

I got to drive the scenic route 250 today and when I do I can't resist to take a few moments and capture some shots of the beautiful lake. I turned off the route and found a side road that I had not ventured on before. The photo opportunities did not allow me to shoot the lake at it's largest, but still had it's own charming spots.

I waved to a fisherman as I pulled off onto the side of the road and quipped "We have it so rough, don't we?" He laughed and said "Ah, I hate it!"

Well, I paid for that remark. When I arrived at my destination I was so darn busy I did not take time for lunch. I made up for it on the way home. I stopped to grab a grilled chicken sandwich and proceeded to eat it at the lake's roadside rest. I took more beautiful photos. One of a lone Canadian Goose that I will probably show later this week.

I almost stepped on a snake. I told myself when I started that those rocks along the shore line were very warm and certainly would house snakes wanting to warm up. I forgot and sure enough, we surprised one another. I made a sound that was NOT very lady-like (it wasn't a curse word). There was nobody around to hear, but my daughter laughed when I repeated the noise I made as I told her about my close call.

My daughter had me "hardlight" the photo a bit. My day didn't calm down much after I returned home, either. I bounced from one thing to another like a wobbly spinning toy top. Now that it is time for bed, I must somehow slow my brain down and try to relax for sleep.

This, you gotta see!

I asked, and she said "Yes."

LOL! I asked to take her picture. She said "Yes, as long as you don't get my face." You gotta love it. I am not a jewelry person. I don't wear any. Maybe once in a blue moon I will wear a necklace. I have never, ever wanted a diamond. Why? Beats me. Just don't. I was engaged to somebody, but only wore the ring for a month or two. I also wore my high school ring for a year.

I asked the lady how many. She said 57. I can't count more than 44. But, I don't see her thumbs. I can't recall if she had any on her thumbs. Why leave them out? Click on the picture to count for yourself, I posted a 1280 x 960 pixel shot. She said she never takes them off, never. She washes her hands with them on, everything. She was working in the 'to go' window of a fast food restaurant. Hey, maybe someday I will find a ring in my bag! Woot!

You recall I did wear my Mom's wedding and engagement ring at a time I was around 13. The above rings remind me of her set. Who knows what in the heck ever happened to them. When we find ourselves asking about "what ever happened to..." me, my brothers and my sisters always say she must have sold everything during her yard sale/flea market phase in the late 70's and early 80's. She sold everything that wasn't nailed down. She would have loved E-Bay.

I thought this was a good picture for after watching the movie "Blood Diamond." Have you seen it? Yikes. The part I liked the most was when the old man said, (after his little village was burnt to the ground) "Let's pray they don't find oil." What an eye opener. Greedy takers. Humans are greedy takers. We take what we want without any thought of how it will affect future generations. Have you started to store your water supply? Why bother. If anyone finds out that you have water, (or anything else in demand) they will just kill you for it.

Time must have gotten away from me. I don't know if I have been too busy to blog or am getting bored with the deed.

Just around the bend

Scenic route 250

Warmer weather is just around the bend. I am looking forward to some sunny days. It's been wet for a while, now. Very wet. I was digging around my patio's spout to relieve some of the water pooling around my sidewalk.

I hope to get some seeds in the ground this week-end. Is it too early for that? I don't know. I figure "What the heck?" If I don't do it when I have a free week-end, they will sit in their bright colored packages for years and never get planted.

I gave my hydrangea the sulfur mix I bought at the garden center last year. I worked it into the soil all around it. My fingers are crossed. Think blue, think blue, think blue. Purple would be great, too!

Recently a former classmate's father passed away. I usually like to read the obituaries to see where my classmate is living, now. This is how the obit. started out...

On Sunday, April 22, 2007, the world lost one of its greatest men, Mr. John Doe...

Give me a break!

A splash of yellow

Can't hardly wait for sunny yellows

It was a cold, gray day in Ohio. Rain pouring, no sunshine. Dark, dreary. Blah. My daughter had an appointment with her dermatologist today. She thinks more moles need to come out. She said if we want we can go to see another doctor that specializes more in plastic surgery. She also said that the scars will stretch out as my daughter continues to grow.

My daughter is starting her first job on Saturday.

Lovin' the little ones

My Grand Niece

The munchkin came to visit me Saturday. Oh, my sister came with her. This is her grand daughter. We had to laugh because she was trying to pick up five markers with her little hands and a nerf ball too. She finally put a marker in her mouth. We all put one in our mouths. Me, my sister and my daughter.

It was a fun day. We finished the day by meeting up with six other family members for a wonderful meal.

I was sick during the night last night (after the storm while the cold front was moving through) with a huge ice pick pain in my right eye. I finally broke down at 3:30 this morning and took a Relpax. I don't know why I didn't take one before. I actually thought it would go away with sleep. It went away but left me so tired from being awake for four hours during the night. I ended up taking the morning off and sleeping.

This afternoon when I went to work I was hit head on with a school down. It took an hour over the telephone, but we found the loop. Those pesky kids. One of them had plugged one end of an Ethernet cable back into another wall drop. This brought an entire network down. The horrible part of the situation is that some company had sold this school district on IP Telephony. So, when the Internet goes, so do the telephones. No communication. They are out in the boondocks, so no cell phone service. As it was, the company that sold the the IP Telephony service had set themselves up a modem connection to their equipment on an analog line and I walked the tech through connecting a desk phone to it. We just made sure we plugged the modem back in when we were done. Hee hee.

Hey, now that I think about it - the school is paying for the analog line. Sheesh.

A Eureka moment

After the storm

I had a Eureka moment this evening. Kind of like a Kodak moment, but I use a Canon. I was sitting in my room watching the storm out my window. It was dark out and the lightning kept flashing the night into daylight. I was thinking to myself, now from what I have read on Photo Blogs they get their night shots by holding the shutter open for a long period of time. And I was wondering what that setting would be called. And then just like a flash of lightning, it came to me. As I experiment with different settings on my camera to see what I can get, there are two settings where it sits and the little indicator lights flash for a few seconds and then the shutter clicks and all I get is a huge white picture. Duh! That is because it is during the daytime and there is so much light let into the view finder. This setting was for the night pictures. I jumped up and grabbed my camera. Found the setting and snapped away.

Well, I don't have the procedure perfected, but at least I am getting there. When the lightning flashed during the few seconds the shutter was open, it made the photo look like it was taken in daylight. I see now how the car tail lights are streaked across the photo also. I did one car photo, but it didn't turn out real well. The car was turning into a driveway and was going too slow.

You'd think I would just crack open the manual. Or, read the CD that came with the camera. Huh.

The neighboring county to our west had a tornado warning. We didn't get that rowdy of weather. We just got the thunder, high winds, rain and lightning.

The sun also rises

A little northeastern sunshine from last autumn

I felt well enough this week-end to actual start some spring cleaning. There was so much to do. I started in the garage. It was a literal walk down memory lane. I am (my family is) notorious for being pack rats. I come by it legally. I went through about four big boxes for an upcoming yard sale my niece wants to have. My daughter went through two boxes. I came out with two big boxes for the sale and three huge industrial sized garbage bags of trash. YES!

During the cleaning, I stumbled across an old Panasonic CD player that I had purchased for my daughter a couple of years back. Before I got her the Creative Zen mp3 player. I made sure this player would also play mp3's. I wondered if it still worked. I put fresh batteries in and plopped in a new CD and found my old headphones and I was in heaven. I hurried to my computer and quickly shot off the making of a CD with over 100 mp3's. (The mp3 format will fit many, many more songs on a CD than if you create a CD for an ordinary music CD player). I started long ago purchasing all my DVD players and CD players that would also play mp3.

I found it much easier to Spring clean. The player is bulky, but I found a pair of old sweat pants with a pocket big enough to put it in and I can travel all over the house/yard/garage and clean. Totally oblivious to the world around me. Oh, I also made sure this player had the no skip feature. So far I have worked for four hours here, there, and everywhere with NO SKIPPING.

There is yet another plus to this player. My neighbor had brought in a jack hammer connected to a large Bobcat vehicle and is tearing up his driveway. This is 50 feet from my back door. Aaarrgghhh! They have not started yet today, but I imagine it won't be long before they do.

Last evening they started at 5 p.m., right when we were leaving to meet family for dinner. What great timing!

Speaking of family, if you have had a divorce in your family you may be able to relate to this. What do you do about the ex in-laws? In this case it is an ex sister-in-law. She is still the Mother to my niece and nephew. We met her for dinner. We try to reach out and make an effort to see her and make her feel loved. She was part of our family for ten years. It has to be very hard for her.

Okay, the back has recovered somewhat. Back to it.

You've humiliated me for the last time!

So, how was school today dear?

In case you didn't get the chance to hear Alec Baldwin's enraged message he left on his daughter's cell phone, this radio station has the audio. Click on "Alec, at his best."

I was flabbergasted, as was everyone who listened to it. Our jaws dropped open. I never cared for the jerk anyway. Don't like his movies, don't like his looks, don't like his mannerisms. Now, I certainly don't like his parental skills.

He can't even see that he is calling her names when it is in fact, he himself, who is being the total idiot. He called her a pig? A pig? The guy doesn't deserve children.

Alec, you are in all areas "A loser!"

The blues

The Friday challenge for last week (the 13th) was "The Blues." I posted the large view from my deja-view web site. I kind of go back and forth. That site does not get many visitors, it was created for family. Fortunately, I have some extended family members in Washington state and New York state who stumbled across this site and in turn I directed them to that web page because it is meant more for the family. I have some old family album photos there and I really need to scan more photos so they can see them.

I have been told of a house not far from me who has set up a huge, life-sized fake buffalo in their yard. It is on a main street and everyone is talking about it. I will have to take a drive over to see it and get a photo. If I get a decent one, I will post it here. It would be perfect if Photo Friday were to title this week's challenge as "buffalo" but I doubt that will happen. They don't get that specific.

This has been a long week and I am really looking forward to Friday.

Street at dusk

The curved building was our hotel

I loved the blue dusky sky as we walked back to our motel one evening in Cincinnati. It was unusually warm weather and there were a lot of people out and about. We needed no jackets.

One of my co-workers has a cousin who is a minister. She talked with my co-worker for three hours last evening about how wrong the gay lifestyle was. How they are confused people and their lifestyle is the reason for all of their strife in life. She also rebuked another bible verse that we spoke of. The one that states "women cannot speak in church." She said if we had read the entire chapter we would see that this was an isolated incident where the women sat on one side and the men sat on another side during the service. They tired of women calling out to their husbands and disrupting the service (you know how women can't shut up, right?) and this was the incident spoken of in the verse. We took it out of context.

Maybe so, maybe not. She went on to explain that women were men's equal according to the bible. I guess it depends on which book you are reading. Maybe I only hear what I want to hear. I didn't approach the first book of Ezekiel to my co-worker. I really don't think she can wrap her mind around that one.

I am sure her cousin has her convinced that I have been sent by Lucifer himself. I hope they prayed for me. I probably have an evil spirit inside of me, thus causing my migraines.

Planted lips

Potted plant - Cincinnati

More like weeds growing. I wanted to paint the lips on the pots around the square. Add some color. I wonder what they look like with flowers (or at least something colorful and pretty) growing in them. Has it really been two weeks already?

In lieu of a vacation over the summer months I plan to take time off and re-do my bathroom. My bedroom had to be repainted before I moved in. The 70's green and blue was a bit nauseating for me. The bathroom is pink roses on pink wall paper with pink fixtures. Too much pink for me. I could live with it, though. This summer I am going to change that.

My daughter said that suits her just fine. She said she doesn't like to travel. What? How can this be? I love to travel. I used to love to drive until I started working for the schools and ended up driving, driving, driving for most of my work day. Okay, I admit. I do tire of staying in motels. After four days I begin to get really sick from a change in sleep patterns, scenery and foods. Vacations will be limited to a week or less unless it is a really big one.

The two co-workers who debate religion were at it pretty heavy this morning. I usually tune them out, but when their voices were raised I listened. They are three feet away from me. The one was speaking of her pastor saying in his sermon yesterday that ALL gays are sinning. That it is their choice they are gay and that they are disobeying God. I told her I disagreed. I believe that it is not a "choice" and I believe them to be born gay. We didn't argue but it wasn't long before the topic turned to bible scriptures. For all their talk, they sure didn't know much about certain bible scriptures. I quoted a couple for them and they said "No way!" I looked the verses up on the Internet and showed them. They were floored. They changed their tune. They said "Well, you have to study The New Testament and forget about the Old one." Oh. Okay. Let's translate the Bible to say what we want it to say.

It is okay with them. We laugh and carry on. We do not get mad at one another. We let each other say what we want and go on with our lives.

I know some folks who cannot have a thought process for themselves so they cling to someone who can persuade them to believe what they say is true. Sheep.

Black Monday

Something colorful for a dark, dark day

Well, I sure wouldn't want to be in the shoes of the Virginia Tech president any time soon. I had just eaten about four Hershey's miniature chocolates when I took a small break and checked the latest news on my work computer. The chocolate turned in my stomach and I thought I was going to be sick. I went to get a glass of water and clear my head. What was it? A broken romance? And after killing her, did he think why not take out as many as I can, my life is over anyway? Time will tell, I suppose. I am just guessing, here. I have not a clue.

It does sound like the people in charge are going to take some heat for not getting an alarm out to the students sooner. And, you had to know that Nancy Grace was going to race out there and elbow people and over shout them until all you could hear was her whiny mouth. That is when I shut the television off.

First birthday cake

We know where this is going, don't we?

A borrowed photograph

Pretty pink flower

I have borrowed this photo from my nephew's China collection. It's delicate petals remind me of sugar icing. The flower looks good enough to eat. His latest toy? A Garmin nuvi 360. Very nifty.

I am baking a cake today. I have a party tonight and was asked if I could bring a dessert. I decided to repeat the Butterfingers cake recipe. The last cake turned out very good, but did not get eaten very quickly. With only my daughter and I in the house it just sat in the refrigerator. For some weird reason, I don't like my own baking. When I taste a dish that I love and get the recipe, that is one sure way to ruin it for me. To bake it myself, and I am like "What happened? It doesn't taste the same!" Oh well. It is the kind of dessert you want to take to a picnic or a get together anyway because it is so huge and so rich.

I will also take my cheese ball and crackers. It is a sort of staple for me.

I am currently reading "Prime Green: Remembering the Sixties" by Robert Stone; "Singled Out" by Bella DePaulo, PH. D.; and "Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers" by Henry Jenkins.

We have 10 years and 4 months to plan the event. Total Solar eclipse. The closest area to me is Kentucky, Tennessee.

Wait for the Blessing

We went to church on Sundays, but my family was not big into religion. My Mom tried church and was dismayed by the gossiping that went on there. Ta, ta! Look at her! I quit going around 12 or 13 years old. Perhaps 15 when I started working every week-end.

We were not ones to say the blessing, but I needed something for Photo Friday's challenge of Blessing. To me the first thing that pops into my head when I hear that word is a family or someone saying the blessing before they eat. I didn't see many photos of that.

Pie!

It's gone

I need to work on the meringue. I have not made a meringue pie before, so I didn't know the little tips and tricks. I prepared. I called two wonderful pie makers. They didn't mention that I should not add the sugar before I beat the egg whites. I whipped. I beat. I electric mixed. I wire whisked. Damn, this shouldn't take this long! I finally gave up and plopped the silky white mess onto the lemon pie and baked it. I kept checking because one of them told me that it would burn quick. I finally took it out when the top became a beautiful creamy beige.

Personally, I loved the meringue this way. I didn't have peaks and I didn't have fluff, but it tasted wonderful. My tastes have changed. I hated lemon pie, but now - love it!

And, I think I got "Happy Feet." If we are ever visited by aliens, we are to break out into a lively rendition of River Dance and the aliens will think we are adorable, fall down and leave us alone.

Speaking of falling down, my daughter and I have decided that our latest addition (over a year) to our pet family (Moose the cat) is part Myotonic goat. For some weird reason she just falls over. Granted she doesn't stick her legs up in the air, but we laugh. She just "boom" falls over onto her side. I figured she wanted me to pet her when she does this, so I reach down and she runs off. She is still a bit skittish. We had never seen a cat do this before. Oh no! As I am proof reading this very paragraph, my daughter just told me she did it again. LOL! Crazy animal.

Panda Bear Nesting Dolls

My nephew brought back a set of nesting dolls for me from China. I didn't specify doll or animal, and I was pleasantly surprised with the Panda bear set. My Mom had a Russian woman nesting doll set. I think I may start collecting them. I don't see them very often and I am not certain, but I think my nephew had a time finding this set for me. My second choice was a wind chime, which he said he could not find anywhere.

Did you know that things sold in China do not have the "Made in China" stamp on them? Amazing!

Here is a thought to ponder. In the United States the government pays you to have babies. In China you pay the government to have babies.

I am still trying to get through "Happy Feet." One of my sister's agrees with me. She thought it fell short also.

New video card is in the machine. An ATI RADEON Sapphire X1950 XT 512MB. My daughter's frame rates in her game increased from 30 frames to 550 frames (I think this is per second.) So what does that mean? My daughter got motion sickness. Nice.

Mixed feelings

A soft glow of the rain forest flora

I find myself in a mixed emotional state today. For the past few days I have been contemplating writing a piece titled "The dumbing down of America." This phrase sticks with me because it is being used a lot right now. In the papers, on the news, etc... Lately I have become aware of the people around me and how they just don't seem to be in tune with what is happening in the world today. I guess that says a lot about the company I keep.

Am I reaching a stage in life where I want to move from 'watching the events unfold on television' to actively 'doing something about it' or educating people about it? This brings forth the question, 'Do people want to be educated about it?' I distinctly get the feeling that a lot of people don't care. I think that frustrates me just as much or more as the unbelievable events themselves. My feelings are not catastrophic, just needling me.

The dilemma itself has been lying under the surface for a long time, but more recently when I mentioned a current event and that person had not a clue as to what I was referring. Is it true then, that since the boom of television "entertainment" we have tuned out of what is really going on in the world to watching endless sit coms and reality junk shows? I like to laugh as well as the next person (you know I love Seinfeld and AFV), but I can only ask that folks balance this out with watching a documentary or watching the news channels. Preferably, one that does not flash the latest death, overdose or overexposure of a celebrity.

When you go to a get together and the topic of conversation is the overdose of someone that lived their life to the extreme tells me that there is something askew. I don't want to be the wet blanket. I just want somebody to be able to make a comment when I mention the latest controversial issue about politics or the environment as well as the latest gossip in the plastic world of celebrities.

I have heard of certain celebrities reaching a point in their lives where they are trying to say "Look folks, this is NOT real! What we do is entertainment!" They try to invest their time, effort and money into a cause that they are passionate about. I can imagine that they also reach the point where it get ridiculous to them. Like the Captain said at one of the events "Get a life!"

Is the world so overwhelming that some people cannot face the actual reality? Does it make them think too hard? It requires effort and time to study and learn. The alternative is 'let's tune out and tune in?'

I don't mean to get up on my soapbox today. I also, went through many years when I didn't even know who the Governor of my state was if somebody were to ask me. I was busy living my life, trying to make ends meet, trying to establish a well paying job, trying to develop a relationship, trying to keep a social life, and trying to find myself. Life gets in the way.

During the ghastly movie "300" I sat thinking about how they trained the Spartans to fight. It was a lifetime training and this movie depicted that aspect of their life very well. It reminds me of a conversation I held with my brother some time ago.

Let's say that the United States goes to war. Who do you think will win? The man who had to live his life scraping by, scratching at the dirt to make his living, climbing trees and rocks to get from place to place - or, the American who grew up watching "Happy Days" and spending his Saturday nights cruising up and down the boulevard in his souped up Chevy?

I understand that the details are much more complicated than that, but this was just an example. Oh, I think I have exhausted myself, now. And, I have come to realize that wanting to write about this has just now become a reality. Like a poison, I have gotten it out of my system.

Sweet 16

Cincinnati - getting ready for the show

Opening a new pair of ear rings that ended up being too heavy to wear for long. Never having pierced ears, I can't relate. I do know the clip ons can pinch like a... like a.... son of a gun. I quit wearing them years ago along with rings and bracelets. Once in a great while I will don a necklace, but that is it. I don't evern wear a watch.

So, the past sixteen years have flown by, huh? I had eaten a vanilla ice cream cone, and was riding around the camp grounds near the ice cream stand. It was unusually warm weather, didn't need a jacket. After the ice cream my water broke. In the front seat of a Ford pick up truck. Oh, yeah. Two or three hours later I was having an emergency C-section. My doctor had just returned from vacation that very day. It was a Sunday. I worked an afternoon shift by myself and had worked Friday night. I kept thinking "What if my water broke when I was at work by myself?" Well, really the hospital was about two miles from where I work and 25 miles from my house. So, it probably would have been okay.

Feels like a lifetime ago. I guess it was.

Blue and gold Macaw

Beautifully posed at the zoo

The person who gave me our bird (Peru - for whom this blog is named) owned other birds. One being a blue and gold macaw. I never cared to own a bird of this nature. Too big and much too noisy. They live to maybe 80 years or so. The person almost lost her thumb so the bird had to go. She went through her varied strange animals. Snakes and birds mostly. Personally, I believe she got them for the attention. The stranger the animal the more attention it would bring.

As it is, I guess we all do certain things for attention. Take my daughter's hair. The triple color brings about three remarks on a day that we venture out into the world. At the mall or in Cincinnati, people make a comment. All positive. I suppose if somebody does not like it, they keep it to themselves. I would joke and say "Hey, at least it isn't a tattoo or a body piercing!" They would laugh and agree.

However it dawned on me today. If it were a tattoo or piercing, it would be over and done with. As for hair, it grows out and fades. The money thing never stops! Arrgghhh! Saturday we are looking at getting teal instead of red/pink. I guess some girl at school did the same "do" and we just can't have that now can we? We must be different. We must stand out in a crowd. She said she wants the teal like the color in the peacocks or the macaw. I am hoping that this "fad" fades quickly.

Nobody in the family has mentioned Easter dinner, yet. I wouldn't mind a quiet one. Usually somebody pipes up by now. Somehow I got to be the family go-between. I go between those with e-mail and those without. I make the effort to call everybody and get the show on the road. So and so is having the dinner, can you bring (usually what they enjoy making) and if not, whatever else they feel like bringing. Then, I call the person having dinner and fill them in on who is bringing what, who can make it and who can't, who will be late and who can only come for an hour before they have to be somewhere else.

My daughter wants a lemon meringue pie for her birthday. I have made a pumpkin pie and I have a made a no-bake cheesecake. My Mom made great lemon meringue pies. I never liked lemon pies so I never watched or took an interest in how she did it. I looked up a couple of recipes and I guess I'll give it a go. My Mom also made sea foam candy from time to time. Another candy I did not like. (I guess some call it divinity). Sugar, water and egg whites. Yuck.

When my daughter was young, I really got into throwing birthday parties for her. One of my favorites was when I dressed up as a fortune teller and told the girls' fortunes. (All good fortunes, of course!) I rented a costume and we had great fun. The past couple of years my daughter does not want any fanfare. Any at all. No cake, no party, no decorations. I feel weird with this decision. As if I am not doing enough or something. She wants to go out to eat (her favorite is Damon's ribs) and she wants to get her hair done. Pie and/or ice cream cake when we get home. Just me, her and her boyfriend. (And any other family that happens to be here that week-end). We are looking at a very quiet one, though.

Me? If I had my way? I would invite girls and boys, turn on all the disco lights. Blast the music and set up Dance, Dance revolution in one corner of the basement and karaoke in another area. I would decorate with green, purple and blue streamers with a tiki Island theme. We would have pizza, pepsi, chips and dip, candy and cake. I guess we already did that at the 11th or 12th party (before the boys). I recall one year doing the island thing. Oh, well.

Birthdays past involved skate parties, pinatas, limbo, Discovery Zone, Chuck E. Cheese and a handful of other crazy games and ideas. Sigh. Well, they were fun.

Snow White

A white hibiscus at the zoo

Beautiful and sunny bloomed the white hibiscus. I wonder what it feels like tonight with snow swirling around it? I covered the tiny green sprouts of my hydrangea.

We saw 300 today. As if they can make this blood bath more graphic. I used to cringe when horror movies showed blood. I could not stand Bravehart or any other graphic war movies. Well, I didn't choose 300. It is rated R, so an adult had to go. Handing my ticket over, the elder lady said "Oh, this is a great movie!" I looked at her "Really?" My spirits lifted. She said "It is... how can I say it? Pretty!" I asked "What about the blood and gore?" She replied, "Well, you know it isn't real." Well, sure I know it isn't real. But somewhere, the war fought in 480 b.c. or the war being fought today - blood IS real. And, I want to know what her definition of "pretty" is. My daughter thought that some of the hard lighting on the scenery was pretty. I have to say, pretty does not come to mind when I think of this movie. Pretty gruesome, pretty awful, pretty graphic... yes. But, the word pretty by itself? Nope.

So, take the blood bath. Slow it down. Way down. Enhance spurting blood all over the screen and shower it all over the battlefield as if it were raining blood. Slowing the movements down allows the viewer to experience the gruesome detail of heads being sliced off from every single angle and perspective. Lovely.

Sound effects must have taken on a whole new art form. The sounds were deafening. Iron swords sloshing into body parts. Slicing, dicing and making all kinds of sucking sounds. If it were possible, I believe I would have hurled popcorn. Not an easy food to bring back up. My eyes remained closed during much of the onslaught. My migraine medicine was a necessity.

Alright you heathens. I carried through on my promise to take you to that dreadful display of gore. I get the rest of my vacation to myself. Wild Hogs or Meet the Robinsons. Are the movies Happy Feet and Charlotte's Web out on video yet?

Giraffe

I guess this is what he thought of my picture taking

This photo combines The Lion King and the Zoo. The show was absolutely stunning, of course. Performance and costumes. I went in with a slight migraine (any travelling or change of schedule will certainly trigger one) and had taken my medicine three hours prior. The lady that sat next to me must have emptied her entire bottle of perfume on that day. It was strong. I understand that a migraine kicks all of my senses up about a hundred notches. Smell, taste, hearing, sight and feel. All super sensitive to any activity. This is why they tell you to lie down in a dark, quiet room. Block all the senses.

We had a beautiful day for the zoo. The critters were lazy, but so was I. Six hours. I made it six hours with many rests. I was constantly looking for an outlet to charge my one good battery for my camera. That was okay with me as it gave me a chance to sit down. I think I may have had more fun watching every body's little children experience the animals. I recall why I don't go to the zoo. I love the excitement and I love to learn but I hate to see the total boredom of the animals. My daughter will be sixteen. I believe the next time I will visit a zoo is when I take a grandchild.

I do have a humorous little story. I was sitting in a tropical room (waiting for my batteries to charge - both mine and my camera's) and this family walked in. The father must have sneezed a dozen times. I said "Sounds like you are allergic to something in this room." There was silence for about ten seconds. Sometimes when I am in a good mood I try to make light chit chat with the folks around me and I am delighted when I find another light soul. I especially like to have fun with the little children. I don't pursue anything if the parent does not give me some kind of signal that it is okay to correspond with their child. I read them and if it feels like I am intruding I quickly move on.

After the ten seconds he turned around and said "Why don't you leave and we'll see if I quit sneezing." I had to laugh. I guess he had allergies and this was a two month process for him. He mumbled something about "Every year like clockwork, two months I have this!" I notice that his wife was not saying "Bless you". She just kind of gave him a sad smile as if she knew he were suffering and couldn't do anything about it. Well, color me "put in my place!" As he left he said "See, I'm leaving and I've stopped sneezing." I smiled at him. Pardon me.