New Stuff

Remember last week when I mentioned that a certain blogger was about to pop out a baby? Well, she did it on Friday! The blogger in question? Cowgirl (or Cute butEvil, as some of you might remember her)! You can see her submission for the HNT finale here. Momma and baby boy are at home and doing fine. Sorry...no more details. But I'll bet that if you emailed her, you'd get the same picture that she sent me!

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It's almost too late, but Monday is not yet over, and I wanted to start something new here. I'm not going to name it, but if I were, it would be "Pomplamoose Mondays". I'll be posting a different Pomplamoose video each Monday. Get it? I certainly didn't want to be alliterative (go look that up if you don't know what it means), though it sort of is. Anyhoo...here's the first posting. A cover of I highly urge you to spend many hours on YouTube watching their videos!

Bear Hugs 'n Stuff

Spent the past couple of weeks reading about a certain blogger's mom, who suffered two major strokes, and died this past weekend. It sucks when you can't be there to give them a big ole bear hug...

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On the other hand, I chatted with another blogger who is due to pop out a new baby at any time now. It sucks when you can't be there to give them a big ole bear hug. Though that might not be the wisest thing to do at the moment...

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The worst possible scenario happened in the NFL...a Giants/Patriots Super Bowl. My disinterest in this game is as close to my disinterest in the NBA, NASCAR, and MLB. There have been 45 Super Bowls, and I can only think of one that I haven't watched. It was the early 70s, and I was sick in bed, while my parents threw a SB party outside my bedroom door. There's a handful that I don't remember much of due to massive consumption of beer. But this one...this one holds the potential of being avoided on purpose. There's literally nothing that interests me. The commercials will be online as they go. Madonna at halftime? No thanks. I'm going to have to come up with an alternate game plan...

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Plenty to keep me busy this weekend on the music front. Symphony concert on Saturday night, sprinkled with equipment moves, stage setting, and a soul band rehearsal, just to cleanse the palate. Actually, this will be a pretty good concert. "Rhapsody In Blue" will be the popular piece, but we're doing Bernstein's "Symphony #2", which is more of a piano concerto (solo w/orchestra). Not a familiar piece to most, but a great piece of music! And it's difficult, but "doable". Will report after the fact...

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Playing quite a bit with my new toy. Looking for more iPad apps, but am very pleased with the way it works with Facebook. Flipboard is pretty good too (thanks for the suggestion, Biscuit!). Maybe next weekend should be spent consolidating and syncing all my various computers...

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Don't forget to check out "...the Other HNT" these days. It's still going strong! And always looking for submissions!

Still here!

I just mentioned to someone in an email today that I can't believe that I actually had time to deal with HNT during the week! Work is kicking my ass these days, and there's no time for play!

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My fantasy picks for the NFL post-season went down the drain with the losses by the Saints and the Packers. In a twisted reversal, I was actually rooting for Brady and the Patriots. Only for fantasy purposes--I still hate all that they stand for. At this point, however, since I don't have any money riding on the outcomes anymore, I'm rooting for the Niners all the way. If it ends up to be a Jets/Patriots Super Bowl, I might very well look for some professional bowling coverage that night...

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Big news! I'm the proud owner of an iPad 2. Officially one of the cool kids. But now I need to figure out how I'm going to use it. It's not going to be my primary toy, but it would be really nice to get the right apps on it to use it while doing symphony stuff. Just means I'll have to spend time on it to investigate! My only disappointment so far--my Words With Friends app seems wonky. I get notifications when it's my turn, but the board doesn't update. Need to figure that out...

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If I would have written this post last night, I would have made mention that our temps were in the upper 20s, no snow and no wind. That all fell by the wayside last night. Depending on what weather app you looked at, it was anywhere between -18° and +9° this morning (probably closer to 0°), about 4 inches of snow, but fortunately, no wind. We are right on the edge of the cold front coming from Canada. Temps 60 miles to the north of us are 20-30 degrees colder (or more!), while 60 miles to the west and south of us, they're 20 degrees warmer. And all the snow that Portland and Seattle got missed us, but the northwest part of the state is under feet of snow. Go figure.

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News on the symphony front...I lamented the fact that the project manager for last summer's big concert dropped the ball in a major way. It appears that, due to some other administrative surprises, her position and donor's coordinator's position (for lack of a better term) are going to be combined, then redistributed. Which means we've got a great person with a good track record going after the money, and I'll be in charge of the rest. Sort of what I've been doing in the past, but with the added tasks of production logistics (ordering porta-potties, dealing with vendors, renting the stage, etc.). Which means that, for the first time since 2004, I won't be onstage performing. Considering the amount of money I'm going to be getting paid for this additional work, I'm not complaining!

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Hope all of you in the US has written, or signed a petition, to your Congressmen regarding their vote on SOPA/PIPA. It's important! And if you don't know what this is, then look for it on Wikipedia today. Or check out this link from TheOatmeal.com


SAVE THE KITTENS!!!
(Well, poo. The animated gif isn't working. Click on the link above it to see it.)

Sharon Stone

"The Quick and The Dead"


Hawt!

Carry on...

This 'n That

It's been a productive couple of days so far. Nothing major--just little oddball chores that have been taken care of. Things like replacing the light in the microwave, switching out the battery in the smoke alarm, and getting a new key made. Little stuff that's piled up for awhile.

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Since I busted my ass to get my apartment clean for Moose's visit last month, and now having a new bathroom floor, I'm finding I sort of like living in a clean apartment! And maintaining that is much easier than putting it off for any length of time. Who'da thunk it?

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There's a decent chance that another blogger/HNTer will be making her way out here this spring. Woohoo! Another reason to keep the place cleaned up!

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Thank God the college football season is over. Not so much that it's over, but that the hype of playing in a bowl game is over. For a few months anyway. The current bowl system is such a joke among the fans. The BCS committee lamented last week that bowl attendance was low this year. No shit, Sherlock! When you've got teams with a losing record "earning" a bowl game appearance?!? Remember the old days, when there were FIVE major bowl games, and maybe another five less major ones? It's too bad that corporate America runs the BCS...

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Spent a late night online over the weekend and got myself into trouble. Put in a bid on something that I really didn't think I'd win. On something I hadn't convinced myself I needed yet. But I won, and I'm about to become one of the cool kids! Hope this doesn't bite me in the butt...

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The soul band has a rehearsal tonight. We haven't played together since September (August?). It'll be good to get back into playing with them again.

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I was only mildly annoyed at Geico's zipline piggy at first. Now...I'd like to shoot the TV.

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There's a new radio station in town. In the interest of giving it a chance, I've been listening to it exclusively for a week now. Granted, our music choices here are primarily country or classic rock. This station was started to tap into "today's music". Oh, the state of music is worse off than I had imagined. I've hear ONE song where the vocals weren't somehow synthesized. I've heard "Stereo Hearts" literally every time I've gotten in the car. Every song has that thumpa-thumpa rhythm sound. I might have a full post regarding the sad state of affairs of "today's music"...

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Speaking of music...I heard Roberta Flack's "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" yesterday. For the first time in ages. What an incredible song! Achingly slow, subtle accompaniment, wonderful harmonic structure. And that fantastic voice! Really, there's no comparison with the drek that's put out there today...

Sometimes It's the Little Things...

Nothing points out the fact that I need to get a life as the giddiness I feel in sharing these two pics...

Since mid-July, the ceiling above my toilet has been dripping. Not at a constant rate, but enough to time one's business on the toilet in order to avoid the next drip. Fortunately, most of the drips ended up directly in the toilet, but occasionally, the drips would divert away from the direct drop, and hit the carpet. Yes, carpet. My bathroom was carpeted. Let that sink in... Eventually, the carpet got to a condition where it needed to be replaced. Mold, discoloring, and an appearance that looked like I had the aim of a two year old. Moose would probably concur.

Without getting into the hassles I've gone through in getting this taken care of, I can happily report that I now have a new bathroom floor (vinyl, thank you), and the chunk of ceiling that was basically falling out has been prepped for patching. It's the little things in life that bring me joy and happiness. Such as the joy of not having to be the one who ripped out the carpet (can you imagine how nasty that had to be???). It appears that 2012 is starting out well!!

Final Thoughts About HNT

Someone asked me if HNT was going to just walk away without any final thoughts. My first reaction was no, but it would be somewhat negative, and as Emmy posted a few days ago, do we really need that? Then again, I've bitten my tongue on just about every subject that's come down the pike for six and a half years. It might not be so bad to let some of it out. So I'll compromise... I'll write about the good stuff, then some of the bad stuff after that. I'll warn you, so if you don't want to read it, you don't have to...

THE GOOD

• Obviously, the friendships and community that have come about because of HNT would be its biggest strength, I think. Generally, most people who gave HNT a shot, did so with some trepidation, but found that there was an entire community happy to meet them. I think that if anyone didn't feel it, it's because they didn't really try to interact with those who stopped by. That sort of faded some by the end, and many discontinued because they didn't feel they fit in. And that's too bad. As far as friendships go, I think we've all made some true friends through all of this. I've been fortunate in that I've got 6+ years of HNTers I can call 'friend'. Of course, that's long enough to have lost some friends in that time, too. And that's too bad. I still find it amazing how many HNTers from those first couple of years are still friends on FB, commenting on each other almost daily, in spite of leaving HNT behind long ago.
• Some people look better in front of a camera than others. That's just a fact of life. But everyone who joined in, whether showing all they had, or restricting what they showed, had to develop a bit of narcissism. Something that we might not have had when we started. Confidence was bred out of that, and I think we all came out stronger at the end of it. Did that come from gratuitous, generic comments? Sometimes, sure. But it sure beat out anything negative that occasionally popped up!
• Photography skills improved over the years. Which is not to say that everyone became photographers. Many people got fancy DSLR cameras over time. Some learned how to use them. Others didn't. Many learned the basics of Photoshop. Others learned the secrets of Photoshop. Others didn't. Some learned that it's not the camera that makes the picture--it's the person taking the picture. Even if it's with a tripod and timer. There's been a great deal of variety in the styles and types of pictures taken. While HNT was never intended to be "artsy", I'm glad that many HNTers took that route from time to time.
• Without HNT, I know I would not be exposed to the lifestyles that many of you lead. Some of you are real freaks! ;-) I'm not judging good or bad--just that life is far more complex than I was led to believe when I was growing up. I think that many of us had our eyes opened to that as well.
• In the early days, when half-nekkidness was rather fresh and unknown, it drew attention around the internet. A quarter-page article in an Indian business magazine; a radio talk-show host in Winnipeg talked and blogged about it; it got mentioned in passing on Dr. Phil; Dr. Gregory House even mentioned it one week (sort of, but not really, but I'll take it!); numerous sex blogs made mention of it; it was discussed on at least two internet radio shows; the list goes on and on. Usually positive, but sometimes slammed. HNT stood tall throughout...
• The secrets. Oh, man, the secrets. I've always claimed that when I write the HNT tell-all book, I'd become a millionaire. Either from people buying it to read it, or from the money people would pay to not let it see the light of day. No worries...that won't happen. But I do know the secrets. It's part of my nature. It's what I do with the symphony. I know all the inner workings. I think that trust sprung from OHNT. There's a huge number of HNTers who have sent submissions there that would never admit to it, or wouldn't even hint that they even knew what OHNT was. Even I was blown away by some of the people who joined in there! That takes some trust in me. And I don't take that lightly. Out of that, in chats and emails, I've learned that there's an awful lot that goes on that we don't generally know about. Secret blogs, secret affairs, secret rendezvous, backstabbing, gossiping, screenshots from Twitter, screenshots from texts, sharing emails received from super-skeevy guys (thanks for the term, Ms. I)--only to find them almost verbatim from someone else earlier, etc., etc. Gentlemen, some of you really need to develop your schtick--many of you are just getting laughed at behind your backs...
• I liked the marketing technique that HNT became. It's a long held belief that "sex sells". Not really a whole lot different here. Except that in most cases, "sex" would be too strong a term. There's not one of us who did HNT who didn't get some sort of a bump in our stats. There are many who got disillusioned by people only coming by on Thursdays for pictures, and not sticking around to read their writing. That's the problem with "sex sells"--if the product (the blog) isn't interesting, people won't come back. There's many who dropped out of HNT over the years who have huge followings. Their product is interesting. There's others who dropped out and their blogs floundered. Their product is not interesting. Of course, you can then get into the whole debate about why the blog is being written in the first place--for themselves or an audience. And there's all sorts of different answers to that. However, I still believe that HNT was as much a marketing tool as anything. And some people used it quite successfully!
• I loved some of the relationships of HNTers. There's a good number of spouses/significant others that do it, either together or separately. Did you know we had a mother/daughter team who helped take each other's HNTs (not as raunchy as that sounds, pervs!)? Or a few sets of sisters who HNTed? We even had a brother/sister duo that HNTed (not together, of course). And a few cousins!

Nothing else jumps to mind with the positive stuff. It was a lot of fun!

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Now here's where you might want to quit reading...
THE NOT SO GOOD
For six and a half years, I've pretty much kept this stuff to myself, with an occasional chat with some trusted friends. Much of what I see on the negative side comes from the hidden side of HNT. From the secrets I mentioned above. From the chats and emails I've received over the years. And the mind-numbingly repetition of words and phrases, used from woman to woman...

• I am disappointed in the number of people that never "got" what HNT was. Even up to the last days. I question if most of these people ever glanced at the guidelines (see that tab at the top of my blog--"HNT Guidelines"?). The current attempts to keep HNT going appear to be spearheaded by those who don't "get" it.
• It didn't happen a lot in the early years, but enough that it still sticks in my mind. The nasty commenters/trolls. While 99.95% of HNT comments were complimentary, those that weren't tended to be quite nasty, mean, and totally unnecessary. And almost exclusively from non-HNTers. More recently, any nastiness tended to be aimed more at blog content than HNT pics. Regardless, trolls should be strung up!
• I really dislike the long-time lurkers that don't HNT, or worse, don't blog! There's quite a few of them, and really, they're harmless. But it smacks of hiding behind the curtain in a back-room peep show. Sneak in, get their jollies, sneak out.
• I have an intense hate for the guys that misrepresented HNT as "theirs". That enticed new HNTers by simply saying it was a day to show boobies. With no mention/regard of the guidelines, or even about upping themselves each week. Fortunately, and to their credit, a number of women either dropped out of HNT, or altered their participation in it, when they found out the truth. Too many of them were made to feel uncomfortable, because they wanted to "fit in". Others, on the other hand, didn't really care that they'd been duped and continued on anyway.
  
• I really dislike the number of HNTers (both male and female) who don't recognize the line between fantasy and reality. There's been one or two guys who have actually shown up unannounced and unwelcome on a woman's doorstep, thinking that whatever cyber-playing they've done allows them them to do that. Requires a great deal of stalking, too. And there's plenty of women we've read about who are lamenting the fact that their cyber-lover has disappeared. Probably because he's too busy taking care of his other cyber-lovers. The line shouldn't be that hard to see, and crossing it is rarely a good idea.
• Speaking of lines--I HATE some guys' assumptions that if a woman posts some sort of classy half-nekkid (or more) picture for HNT, it's an invitation to ask all sorts of inappropriate questions or spout all sorts of juvenile comments like they were in junior high again. Or that they must accept unsolicited cock shots. We've lost so many HNTers because of that. They didn't join in on HNT to be subjected to that. There's just a common decency line that shouldn't be crossed.
• I hate that, for some, HNT was nothing more than a meat market. There's an entire post that could be written about this rant, but I won't do that.
• There's the guys that I call the con men. They're like pedophiles standing outside the playground, waiting with a bagful of candy for the kids. These guys put the effort into emailing HNTers (particularly new ones), seeming like "they care", and befriend them. It doesn't matter what's going on in the HNTer's lives--they've experienced it too, and are more than happy to give advize. It gives them a foot in the door, and they don't seem as sleazy, despite their ulterior motives.
• Probably the most frustrating thing that's happened to me is the amount of misquoting and assuming that certain bloggers have attributed to me. People like to only hear/read what they want. A couple of examples:

The Mystery Guest spot has always been fun, and when I first started, I had MGs ready for weeks in advance. Anyone who wanted to be MG just had to let me know. After awhile, I had to make requests, and sometimes they didn't get filled. But I was never flat-out refused until one day someone questioned why I would choose her. She seemed offended that I would ask her to participate. Like I should have asked her much earlier. I was flabbergasted. She assumed I had some sort of hidden agenda going on. After awhile, it became apparent that she had other issues with HNT in general, in spite of her continuation...

I've been accused of having a bias against "sex bloggers". Nothing could be further from the truth. This was based on a post I made a couple of years ago that far too many HNTers considered themselves "sex bloggers", and I still hold to those thoughts. But I never, ever said that I disliked them. Didn't matter. Word got out, primarily from one person, that I didn't want "sex bloggers" involved in HNT. In reality, if she felt there was some sort of bias against certain "types" of HNTers, then it was her own insecurities that told her that. To this day, I don't know where that came from--it wasn't me, and I don't recall seeing anything like that in the community.

I've been quoted as saying that I didn't care if someone took over HNT after its retirement. Wrong. Never said that. I said that I didn't care if people continued to get half-nekkid on their sites (who am I to tell someone what they can/can't do? or when?), and would hope they would, but that HNT was officially retired. Still holds true.

There's been instances where a commenter has expressed one opinion in my comments, yet spouts all over Twitter something totally opposite. In an attempt to look "good" to the HNT crowd (ah, those pesky Twitter screenshots that someone keeps sending me...).

There's plenty of guys whom I wish never found HNT. They offered nothing of value to it. They caused all sorts of strife for many. They had a super "ick" aura about them. Many of you can come up with your own list. That doesn't include the many followers here, or at OHNT, that came from porno sites. Yes...OHNT has been listed on a couple of porno link sites. Ick.

So there you go. Probably the last thoughts I'll post about HNT. I hope. Actually, there's one more--some of you have said on your blogs that you'd like to keep getting half-nekkid. I'm all for that! But don't wait for a specific day to do it! If you have a post where nekkidness fits, post it. If you want to do some sort of daily/weekly series, do it. Many of you already embraced this concept before HNT's retirement. Break free and get half-nekkid whenever you like!

P.S.--Since these are MY views and opinions of the past 78 months, and HNT is retired, and I'm not really interested in your views and opinions on this, I'm not taking comments. Havaniceday!

Well, this feels odd...

Go check out the HNT Finale project. We've got a late entry! Find her in the bottom row of the thumbnails, then go leave comments for the others, too!

The Highs and Lows of 2011 - The Highs

I actually found 2011 to be a pretty good year. When making these lists, I found more "Highs" than "Lows", and that's a good thing! Nothing surprising or earth-shattering though. Be sure to read the post below this one first!! It's my "Lows" list. Makes the "Highs" list much better (most have links back to posts).

"The 10 High Points of 2011"
(from less high to highest of the high)

10. Beavis & Butt-head - I know. It's sort of lame for a guy my age to be excited about their return. But with the amount of crap that passes for "entertainment" on TV these days, it's nice to be totally carefree for thirty minutes and openly laugh at their moronic adventures. As I noted when I excitedly posted about this--the kids of today probably aren't watching it as much as their parents are!

9. Do It Yourself! - After too many years of putting up with a damaged screen on my PowerBook, I took it upon myself to replace it. On my own. With no prior experience in doing such a thing! Armed with online videos and printouts from some Mac repair sites, I dove in. I had the luxury of knowing that this wasn't my primary computer, so I had a little less pressure than normal. In spite of having a replacement screen that wasn't exactly what it should have been, I only ended up with six screws and a spring that didn't make it back in...

8. 1,000,000 - It took six years, four months before my Sitemeter in the sidebar said I hit one million visitors. I find that remarkable. The lucky person? Someone from Germany. Too bad I couldn't figure out who it was. There was a cash prize and everything!

7. OsShirt revival - Interestingly, this ranked #7 last year, too! The OsShirt is, in fact, alive and well, and currently floating around South Africa! This after spending the first half of the year in England. It was hung up in customs in Cape Town for awhile--not sure what the hold-up was there. Soon it should make its way to it's next island destination... I'll try to get the OsShirt site back up to speed soon, too!

6. Opera, Nutcracker and Summer - I've been doing more of the production coordination of our performances this year than in the past. Pretty much all the same stuff I've always done, but now with the understanding that I am the one in charge. Simply clarified where the buck stopped. And where the buck started. Of course, that's a bit more pressure on me--the opera was a particular challenge, the summer concert found me smoothing out many rough spots, and the Nutcracker had me having to call time-outs for both of the leaders of the organizations involved. It's a lot of work and pressure, but ultimately, well worth it!

5. Big Soul Band - We didn't have a huge number of gigs, but the ones we did have were fantastic! Great music, great musicians, and a whole lot of fun! I have to write all the horn charts, and love every minute of it. It's a nice diversion from the classical stuff too. Our goal for 2012 is to book at least two of the bigger parties/functions in town. People love us and need to hear more of us!

4. Return of the Griz - Last year was not a banner year for the University of Montana Grizzlies football team. They finished with a 7-4 record, which many schools would consider highly successful. They didn't win a share of the Big Sky Conference title. They didn't make the playoffs for the first time in 18 years. And worse of all--they lost to the Bobcats of MSU. Gucci's team. I lost our Griz/Cat bet. This year, however, was much better! They won the conference, they were seeded #4 in the playoffs, their coach was named Coach of the Year, they beat the Cats and Gucci lost the bet this year. That might have been the best part of all!

3. OsTour '11 - OsTour '11 was pretty low-key, compared to previous ones, and that was fine to me! This was pretty much a one-person trip, rather than partying with a lot of people. I spent 3 days with Redneck Eskimo, which was a wonderful time. Someone I've known quite well since the very early days, but never had the chance to meet until this summer. I was also able to sneak in some layover time with Crystal, from Boobs, Injuries & Dr. Pepper, and with Lola! (and Jasper) from Sex Babble. These were first time meetings too. Oh, yeah, there was also the 90 seconds on the tram talking with Sen. Al Franken! Looking forward to seeing where OsTour '12 takes me!


2. Y'all Come Back Again, Y'hear? - In a twist on the norm, I had three bloggers come to me this year! Well, one of them is norm, and the other one I had to travel a little. First it was No One Special that came to town. The girl lives far too close to only see on rare occasion. Then her Gucciness came to town (well, Missoula--I had to travel) and we spent the night drinking, eating, gossiping, pinky-pacting, pool-playing, and telling each other some of the most interesting things... My last visitor, of course, was Moose, who was here just before Christmas. It's kind of nice when people come to see me instead of the other way around! :-)

1. HNT - Half-Nekkid Thursdays. What a ride. I have made so many friends from this I can't believe it. It's hard to imagine what life would be like these days without the contact I've had with so many of you. Contact that I wouldn't have if it weren't for your participation. So many things in my head to say, but it would all be babbling. Thank you for coming into my life, in whatever way you have. I hope that you'll still be stopping by on a regular basis in 2012. I might not have anything quite as exciting as HNT to offer to you, but I'll try to come up with something!

There you have it. My "Highs" for 2011. Noticing that I sort of rock the same look in those last five pictures...

Many of you are probably already at parties as I'm posting this. I'm staying home and watching "The Walking Dead" all night. I hope that everyone is having a safe but fun NYE! Looking forward to a great 2012!!

The Highs and Lows of 2011 - The Lows

Once again, it's time for my annual recap of the year. In the greater scheme of things, this year really wasn't too bad. This is my fifth year of doing this, and as I've found in the past, it's hard to come up with ten real "lows". And once again, one or two on this list will make the "highs" list! Of course, there were some terrible things that happened in the world, but these are things that affected me somewhat directly. They don't necessarily mean they were bad things, or that life as I knew it changed. Mostly just things that brought me down or perturbed me during the year. Most of these won't have a link to a specific post. This is what makes my "lows" list (the "highs" list can be seen above...):

"The 10 Low Points of 2011"
(from least low to lowest of the low)

10. Curiosity Killed the Cat - Something caught my eye on someone's Twitter timeline in their sidebar, so I checked it out (this in no way implies that I approve of, or will be setting up my own Twitter account. it is still the spawn of Satan.). The short story--I found the tweets of someone I know. Along with nekkid pics of his wife (not an attractive woman to begin with), pics of him with strippers, and discussion about waiting at a bar for his wife for a threesome--he didn't care if she brought a man or a woman. Basically, a bunch of stuff that I might enjoy reading from one of you freaks, but not someone I've actually worked with (the wife) or played music with (husband). Fortunately, I've not run into this guy or the wife since reading, and have no idea what my first reaction will be when I do...

9. Montana Legislature - These guys were as embarrassing to the state as anything that's happened here in decades. Tea Party members and radical right-wingers felt they had free reign, and proposed some of the most ridiculous legislation around. They also attempted to overturn the medical marijuana laws that the voters approved by initiative. While they didn't totally succeed with that, they managed to screw things up, as well as clog the courts with a variety of related lawsuits. Other notable bills introduced: legalize hunting with hand-thrown spear; create fully-armed militia in every town; create an 11-person panel with authority to nullify all federal laws; allow guns in schools; legalize hunting with silencers; lift the prohibition on carrying concealed weapons in bars, churches and banks; and declare that global warming is good. There were many others. So much more to tell, so little time/space to tell it.

8. Tsunami Watch - This is one world event that did grab me for days. Killing terrorists and despots is one thing, but to watch what Mother Nature can do on a whim was truly jaw-dropping. From the very beginnings of watching the initial wave coming on shore from helicopters, to watching the water rise, to watching it continue to rise, to watching the nuclear power plant explosions--I was glued to the TV. Of course there was the anticipation of the tsunami hitting Hawaii, and then the west coast. Not as dramatic as expected from the movies, but still quite damaging.

7. Death of a Droid - My poor phone, a Droid, went through hell in the two years that I had it. I was able to deal with the shattered screen for most of that time. But eventually, it got to the point where the touch screen didn't work, didn't allow me to read what was there, and I had to go redneck on it and duct tape the protective cover to it so the glass shards didn't start dripping off. As luck would have it, I was able to baby it along until the iPhone 4S was released. As much as I loved my Droid (and I really did), the iPhone makes me a much happier camper! And the next day, Steve Jobs died...

6. Boobie-Thon Calls It Quits - After 10 years of raising money, primarily for the Susan B. Komen Foundation, Boobie-Thon has gone into retirement. And it appears to be for much of the same reason that HNT has retired--blogging is on the decline. I noticed this year as they started their week-long appeal that there just weren't as many picture submissions, and the money wasn't being pledged too quickly. They didn't raise as much this year as in previous years, though they certainly didn't do badly. After ten years of bringing bloggers together to raise money each October, the organizers can be proud of the work that they did.

5. Life Without Dad and Ray - Last year, we were still reeling from the deaths of my father and brother-in-law to really realize what Thanksgiving and Christmas were like. A year later, and we've gone through all the holidays that the family gets together without them. We're all getting through things pretty well. It's still sad, but we don't let it bring us down. Good thing we're a tight-knit group!

4. Summer Concert - This will make the "highs" list as well, but this year was the most difficult from a production standpoint. In spite of years of doing this, and things being somewhat routine, that only happens when the project manager is on top of things. This year's wasn't. She was pretty good about the meetings with sponsors, raising money, and working up contracts. But things on the local end were left to the last minute. Contacts and agreements and scheduling of all sorts of things (like port-a-potties, or piano moves) that should have been done 3 months in advance were scrambled for in the last week and a half. She made all sorts of assumptions, without understanding that outside entities need lead time. Of course, all that ended up on my shoulders at the last minute. We got through it all, and the concert itself was pretty good, but what a hassle (worse than normal hassle, I suppose)! She won't be back in this position next season...

3. Alien Butt Probe - Shortly after my birthday, I treated myself to a flexible sigmoidoscopy. Not quite a colonoscopy, but just as exciting. And done without being put under. I was also blessed with a hot 20-something nurse to assist, rather then the male nurse. In spite of a clean bill of health, and no signs of anything wrong, I didn't get flowers or chocolate. I still feel used...

2. HNT's Retirement - This is a downer, in that it's been six and a half years of effort. Like retirement of any kind, I have no idea what's next. Nor do I really care. I would hope that everyone respects the retirement by not calling whatever it is they do in the future as "HNT". There's at least three individuals who have given some sort of indication that they want to try to keep it going (interestingly, none of whom I would say actually "got" HNT). Unfortunately, I fear that the intent and concept of whatever happens next, won't be Half-Nekkid Thursday. HNT was never about sex or nudity, and though that's never been frowned upon, it isn't what HNT was all about. I think that's been lost. It would be a big disservice to the hundreds upon hundreds who participated to have it confused with what surfaces next.

1. Stealth's Death - For the first time, a blogger whom I actually met, spent quality time with, and developed a friendship with, died. She was someone that many bloggers knew, chatted with, or had some other sort of relationship. Sadly, it was almost a month to the day before I found out, and only because of a chance glimpse of her Facebook page. Her family knew nothing about us, so there was no need to find anyone to tell. Her body simply failed her--she didn't take her own life as many of us might have feared. What's truly sad about this is that her fiancé, the man who found her laying face down at the foot of their bed on that morning, died about two and a half months later. Sadly, in this instance, I think he took his life, though I'm not positive. All in all, a sad, sad day when I found out.

So, that's the downer list for 2011. Some not so bad, some really bad. But as I said at the top, the year really wasn't monumentally bad. Fortunately, there were lots of good things that happened too! You can check those out in the "Highs" post above this one. Go. Now!

Opening Lines 2011

I stole this from Leesa's site in 2005, and have continued each year. Except last year, when my dad's death sort of knocked me out of the "norm".

What was the first line from your blog the first day of each month in 2009?

January -"Ooh, look! A blog!" (I posted this about 6 days into January. Don't recall why so late...)

February - "In spite of his brethren's observations in other parts of the country, this furry prognosticator saw his shadow today, thus guaranteeing 6 more weeks of winter weather." (My HNT post on Groundhog's Day--a shadow in the snow.)

March - "Definitely going to have to experiment some more..." (My HNT post through the water glass--the beginning of a series of pics through various glasses)

April - "It's Master's Week here in America." (Nothing excites me in the spring quite as much as this golf tournament--truly the best sign of longer days and warmer weather!)

May - "It's Sunday night." (Ummm...OK)

June - "I hope that all of you in areas that have experienced the wierd, wacky weather today are OK" (There's been so much weird, wacky weather this year, I'm not sure which one I'm referring to. And thank you all for not pointing out the misspelled word from the original post...)

July - "Gotta love a mid-summer four day weekend" (My annual 4th of July/Canada Day post, complete with videos of people shooting bottle rockets out of their ass!)

August - "Went to see "Cowboys & Aliens" on Sunday afternoon." (Don't normally go to movies, nor do I write about them when I do, but I really liked this movie! Olivia Wilde--mmmm....)

September - "This week's HNT is primarily for the benefit of my beer drinking girls who have deserted me over the years." (The beer from their favorite brewery is now available in cans--had to make them jealous, since they can't get it locally yet!)

October - "We celebrated Mom's birthday (yesterday) by taking her out for Thai food." (Still don't know if it was "good" Thai--nothing to compare with out here in the sticks...)

November - "It's twelve hours into November in my neck of the woods, and it's already obvious it ain't October!" (For as nice as October was, weather-wise, it didn't take long to get cold!)

December - "Oh, it's all bunching up on me all of a sudden!" (Symphony...what else?)

For better or worse, there ya go! Feel free to steal it, if you're so inclined!

I Get A Gold Watch, Right? HNT

Wouldn't you know it? I've been anticipating this day for months, and now that it's here, I'm totally unprepared about how to send this thing off into the sunset... Granted, I've spent most every window of opportunity recently working on a final HNT project. You can find it here. Check it out--I think you'll like it.

But still, I could have been running things through my mind over the last few weeks as to what my final HNT words would be. It's currently early afternoon on Wednesday, and I still don't have a clue as to what my picture's going to be!

I could re-hash the history and concept, but you can find those in my archives, or check the "HNT GUIDELINES" button at the top of this page. I could write about all the things that are wrong with HNT, but I'm going to save that for a future post. I'm sure to offend certain people with that one!

I could do a post where I list all my favorite HNTs of the past six and a half years, but I've never envisioned HNT as a competition. There are many who made it a competition in their own mind, trying to outdo someone else's shots, then get frustrated when they couldn't. Sort of defeated the concept, I thought. Do I have favorites? Of course I do. There is one in particular that I've felt was far superior to any others. Beyond that, though, there's no list. I treated myself to listing 20 of them for my 5th anniversary post (actually turned out to be 22). But I won't do that now. Nor will I simply list my own HNTs that were my favorites. You can see all of mine here. Well, all except the last 10, maybe--I've been slacking...

I suppose that the best thing that has come out of all of this is the community. And that's different than 'friendship'. From the very earliest days, that community has been evident. Everyone was welcome to join. No dues, no site to join, no personal info to share. As with any community, there's various neighborhoods, and that has shown up here, as well. Without the gang warfare. Someone once said they felt it was more like a zoo. Where we were on display, and 'outsiders' could come and see us. Some would look and point, others would come back over and over, yet never become one of the displays. An interesting viewpoint. Regardless, the community has thrived. It's policed itself pretty well over the years, and we should all be happy we were a part of it.

And since this post is far longer than necessary, let me make it longer. An example of the community. Follow the timeline (approx. times--not terribly important), and the players:

• May,2005 - HNT started by me. By end of summer, also joining in were Bloggers A, B, C D, E & J.
• Late Summer, 2005 - Blogger B lets Blogger A and me know about Blogger F, who was having some very rough times with her life. Blogger F becomes part of the community. I do think we might have saved her life. Blogger F's boyfriend is Blogger G, a soldier.
• Oct., 2005 - I pop in unannounced on Blogger A.
• Nov., 2005 - Blogger B visits Bloggers H and A (H was A's daughter)
• Dec., 2005 - I go to Nashville and meet Blogger C (and others).
• Winter, 2007 - Bloggers F & G get married (and have a couple of kids)
• 2007-2009 - Blogger C joins military. Bloggers F & G visit Blogger E. I meet Blogger D. Blogger C gets stationed in Germany at US Hospital.
• 2010 - I meet up with Blogger D again. Bloggers F & G visit Blogger E some more. Blogger G gets deployed to Afghanistan.
• Spring, 2011 - Blogger G suffers serious injuries in Afghanistan on Blogger F's bday. Blogger D reads this and contacts Blogger C in Germany, knowing she might run into Blogger G while he was evacuated there. She did, and she quickly becomes friends with Blogger F in the brief time G's there. The amazing part is that neither Blogger C nor F had a clue that the other used to HNT! Summer of 2011 - Blogger J spends a week with Bloggers F & G, to give them a hand in the midst of a chaotic time. Blogger J had never met Bloggers F & G before, other than online.

As you can see--it's quite complex the way this community works! And I would imagine that there's some other stories out there similar to this one.

As for friendships...geez, where do I start? I won't list names. The list would be too long, and inevitably I'd forget to include someone. The people I consider close friends should know who they are already. I've made many friends here that I would someday like to meet. I've made many friendships that I anticipate will last a long time. I know they will, because they've already lasted a long time after they walked away from HNT. This community knows far more about me than anyone offline does (including the family). I'll miss that to a degree, but then again, the friendships will continue on. OsTours will continue, and be blogged about. There might even be some half-nekkidness!

And you people have made similar friendships apparently! I am often amazed while surfing through the statuses on Facebook. Facebook is infinitely more "real" than blogging was ever was. Sort of tears down the precarious walls of online anonymity. But what often catches my eye is recognizing someone unexpected who comments on another's wall. It dawns on me then that these two people originally met through HNT. Even though neither of them has participated in years. It's seeing that sort of thing that I take the most...what, pride?...in. Maybe not so much pride, as a warm fuzzy feeling. And I'm generally all about the warm fuzzies!

Where do we go from here? I'm not sure. I anticipate that a good number of blogs will go belly up. There's many bloggers that only come back on Thursdays to do HNT. Others will look for other outlets for their nekkidness. But I suspect that we've seen the last half-nekkidness from many participants. To that end, though, "...the Other HNT" will be continuing on for awhile. Quitting things cold turkey is never an easy thing, so if you need to post a few more HNTs, then send them over there! And by all means--if you're comfortable being nekkid on your own sites, then don't wait for Thursdays to do it!

My final thoughts today... Thank you for daring to share yourselves with the rest of us. Thank you for making HNT something that was important in some way to your own lives. Thank you for putting up with me. I suppose that when I arrive at the pearly gates of Heaven, and a list of my life's accomplishments is read, HNT will be somewhere in the top five. And you know what? That's not such a bad thing. But if I end up at the fiery gates of Hell, I have an inkling that HNT will be on that top five list as well!

Michelle and I wish you the very best!

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"My Dear,
I am writing this to remind you of your 'essence beauty.' This is the part of you that has nothing to do with age, occupation, weight, history, or pain. This is the soft, untouched, indelible you. You can love yourself in this moment, no matter what you have, or haven't done or been.
See past any masks, devices, or inventions that obscure your essence.
Remember your true purpose, WHICH is only Love.
If you cannot see or feel love, lie down now and cry; it will cleanse your vision and free your heart.
I love you; I am you.”
― SARK

Stop by Thursday afternoon to find out who this final Mystery Guest is!
Of course, this last MG for HNT is the lovely Shizzle! There's really no one else who I'd have wanted to be in this spot. Thank you to EVERYONE who was the MG at one time or another! There have been probably between 250-275 of you (computer issues--can't tell exactly at this moment) who have held the postition, with many of you appearing multiple times. And a special thank you for those of you whom I could contact at the drop of a hat when someone else flaked out for some reason or another. I've only had one person flat out refuse my invitation to be MG--it was like she was miffed about not having been asked before--like being the last one picked for dodgeball or something (interestingly, she dropped out of HNT very soon after that). Oh, well--her loss! Thanks to all of you, once again!

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As mentioned above, "...the Other HNT" will continue on for awhile. Stop by and see who's joined in for the final one of 2011 though! Leave some year-end comments for your fellow HNTers, too! NSFW, of course...

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What an end to 2011! May all of you have a very safe and very Happy New Year! Don't drink & drive, and don't make too much of a big deal about those pesky resolutions! Love ya all!