Sunday, October 30, 2005

The Stones, the Road Trip, Mystery Guests & other things


I'm off in the morning on a road trip to see the Rolling Stones! With Mötley Crüe as the opening act. The opening act. Mötley Crüe. Be sure to add that to their resume! Multi-platinum record sales. Drugs, sex and rock 'n roll! The epitome of a Decade of Decadence. Oh, yeah. Opening act for the Stones..... Looking forward to have a great time with great company (just.a.girl)!

Last call for HNT Mystery Guest entries! The last "official" one will be this week. A number of you have told me that you were working on one. If so, it's now or never! Next week I'll post the ones that weren't used, along with an alphabetical listing of participants!

Most of you will read this on Halloween. If you had a party that you went to over the weekend, or plan to dress up tonight, be sure to post your costume pics! I'll be on the road, so I doubt that I'll get to do anything. But you never know!


This was something I stole while visiting Leesa's site. Even Einstein recognized a good thing!

Speaking of Leesa, I read awhile back that she was lamenting the fact that living in the sticks of Montana (yes, there's sticks out in the sticks!) doesn't offer much in the way of entertainment or culture. She noted that Seinfeld sold out both of his shows in Helena in a matter of hours. Well, knowing that she would have liked to have had tickets, and that I had two, and that I'm not a really big fan by any stretch of the imagination, and knowing that I was going to need $$ for a new camera--I got in touch with her and sold her my tickets. I do hope that we'll get a chance to meet while she's briefly in town. We'll see what happens...

Another thing that I stole (well, it was suggested to me by Shumpy) was the map thing. It's pretty cool to see the distribution of us! If you haven't left your mark yet, click the button on my sidebar to see what it's all about!

Not much more. I plan to have my computer with me on the road trip, so I'll be online a little bit. A warning about HNT--I'll post the Mystery Guest picture, but I'm not going to have a chance to check anyone out until Friday at the earliest. So to my longtime regulars, make everyone feel welcome (as you always do!). You know I'll get to everyone eventually! Have a Happy Halloween!

Quick update

I had so many people wondering how things went last night, I figured I'd do a quick post. The concert went relatively well and fairly smoothly. As I figured it would. It just gets a little old having to kiss everyone's ass as much as I seem to. The performance was not as good as it should have been--I think fatigue played a factor in that. Unless you are a musician yourself, you have NO idea how physically and mentally exhausting it is to rehearse for almost 8 hours in a 20-hour period, and then be on top of your game for a 2 hour concert. I, of course, was stunningly brilliant and played virtually flawlessly for the concert, but I don't want to toot my own horn. So to speak.

I slept in today (after skipping the open bar reception after the concert last night....). I've been running around taking care of everything in preparation for my road trip that starts tomorrow. I'll be back to post again tonight. Until then...

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Small TIdbits

Here's alot of unrelated bits of stuff cluttering my mind tonight:
  • Shumpy recommended adding a Frappr! map for HNT. So I did. There's a button over there in the sidebar. Give your information, add an avatar, and let's see where we're all at!
  • I hope you all appreciated the comments section being available early. Once again, we're getting a little lax on the "Thursday" part of HNT. Again, let's hold off on posting things until 10:00 PM unless it's really necessary! Of course, those of you who live east of Cape Spear, Newfoundland, Canada--just post on Thursday!
  • My camera came today!!! My camera came today!!! My camera came today!!!
  • My stress level comes to a head this Saturday night when the Symphony performs its second concert of the season. For those who want to know: Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man", Kapilow's "Summer Sun, Winter Moon" (premiere performance) and Dvorak's "New World Symphony". The Kapilow piece was commissioned by three orchestras in celebration of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial. We will be playing the "final" version. Documentary film crew, Native American ceremonies, singers, dancers, musicians--this is why I've been so busy this past couple of weeks. That's also why I'm running away to see just.a.girl and the Rolling Stones next week! If you want to hear the "Fanfare...", check it out below (about 3 min. long).


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  • I had pizza and beer with Rachel last night. We watched "Ray"--an outstanding movie. And yes, we talked about many of you!
  • I anticipate a great surprise for you next week! No hints, no clues!
Time to go check out the rest of the HNT posts. Kudos for a fine holiday theme! For those of you who missed the word on that, don't worry about it. We still love ya! And I have to get up to speed with the camera.

Halloween HNT Mystery Guests!

The great Halloween HNT Mystery Guest thing was a bit of a flop. I did get three submissions, so that's a good thing. And they all had something to do with head. My head. Make any nasty connotation that you feel you need to do here. Without further ado, here they are (in no particular order...)!

This came in from Spinning Girl, who modified one of her previous HNT pics. Love the mask, love the lips!




This one's from Gigi (a.k.a. Goobergirl). Lovely girl, but I don't want to get on the bad side of her!




Lastly, we have the submission from Bricotrout. Feel free to use this as the template to carve your own pumpkins!



Many thanks to these three who answered the call! As usual, there were the early entries, but I was smart enough to be able to include them in the comments below (if you already commented, you don't have do it again!). Happy Halloween!!!

Monday, October 24, 2005

Halloween HNT Mystery Guest Deadline

Time to get your Halloween Mystery Guest photo in to me. I've only received 2--I was certainly hoping for more! Check out the previous post for details--



BUT THE BIG NEWS!!!



I've finally bitten the bullet. Purchased it this evening. I present to you the
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H1 5.1 Megapixel Digital Camera



Features:
  • 5.1 Megapixel (2592 x 1944 Pixels)
  • 12X optical zoom lens
  • 2.5" LCD monitor
  • Super SteadyShot® Optical Image Stabilization
  • 32MB flash memory built-in

I won't get it before the weekend, so I'll still need your Mystery Guest pics. And I need to get used to the thing to see what it can do. If any of you have this camera or experience with it or want to tell me what a sucker I am for buying a camera from the same people that invented BetaMax, feel free! I'm also looking at possibly naming the thing, so if you have suggestions....

Schedule of events for HNT Mystery Guests:
  • Thursday, Oct. 27 - Halloween themed Mystery Guest (all entries submitted will be displayed!)
  • Thursday, Nov. 3 - Mystery Guest (I'll be returning from the Stones concert. Your help still appreciated!)
  • Thursday, Nov. 10 - Final Mystery Guest posts. All remaining pictures that haven't been used will be displayed. A list of participants will be posted (alphabetical order--I won't specifically identify anyone)
  • Thursday, Nov. 17 - First HNT with the new camera!!

Halloween HNT Mystery Guest!!

OK--I've gotten a few emails about what HNT will be doing for Halloween. I've weighed the pros and cons. Primarily--do we want to use Halloween costumes for HNT? Most costumes are not going to be very "nekkid-friendly", and everyone is going to be putting up costume pictures anyway after the fact (except me--I have no camera, remember?). But I had a wonderful suggestion given to me for HNT this week.

I'm going to open up the Mystery Guest position this week to EVERYONE who sends in a Halloween-themed HNT Guest post. MOST IMPORTANT--TO BE A GUEST POST, I MUST APPEAR IN THE PICTURE SOMEHOW!! You've seen how others have done it. Give it a shot yourselves! All entries will be identified by entrant (if not already obvious). All other rules for the HNT Mystery Guest will be followed. In particular, I will need pictures sent to me by early Wednesday morning at the VERY latest! Feel free to go with the Halloween theme on your own sites too! And put up any costume or party pics next week, but let's pick up "regular" nekkidness on Thursday, Nov. 4th. (Yes, if you got half-nekkid at a party, you can save it for then too!)

Sorry this is a bit late, but I have no doubt that you'll come through with flying colors!

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Time

Too Much Time On My Hands

Time

No Time

Time of the Season

By the Time I Get To Phoenix

Time After Time

A Time For Us

Time Warp

I saw this link on Lee Ann's site (she's a HNT newbie--go check her out!). I first saw this about 3 years ago. It's still as funny now as it was then! Check it out, if you've got the TIME!

Friday, October 21, 2005

Ever have one of THOSE days??


Yesterday goes down in my book as one I'd rather just forget. No do-overs. No acknowledgment. But I can't. It kicked me in the ass, over and over and over. With really pointy boots (which I sometimes like, but I digress...). HNT was a bright spot, but even that wasn't perfect. Let me list some things for the day:
  • Death in the HNT family (see post below).
  • Another death this week, less publicized, in the HNT family.
  • Snide comments on other sites from some total jerks, but hey, it's all they know.
  • My phone is disconnected in the afternoon without my knowing it. At the same time I'm home waiting for phone calls to be returned.
  • Being made to feel totally incompetent due to the dependence upon others who can't respond to phone messages or emails.
  • Realizing that I'm that way quite a bit myself.
  • Continuing my fight with phone company from the Symphony office, since I don't have phone service at home. It's been rectified.
  • Staying at the office for SIX hours trying to contact people. Have I mentioned I sometimes hate my job?
  • I only got to about 70 of the comments (out of 250+). I haven't seen many of your HNTs. I've neglected alot of newbies, so they will be my priority in the next couple of days. I promise I'll get to all of you (even if I don't leave a comment....).
  • No lunch, no dinner.
  • Blogger had its head up its ass last night. I wanted to post this then.
  • A good friend of mine is having some real life issues. You know who you are--HUGS TO YOU!!! If you're not sure if this applies to you, then it doesn't.
  • Sometimes I feel like Jimmy Stewart in "It's A Wonderful Life".
  • Sometimes I feel like Jimmy Stewart in "The Glenn Miller Story".

The list could continue, but you get the idea. Today won't be as bad, but it's not going to be stress-free.

There were a few good things to list:
  • EDIT--Hell, I forgot the biggest news--Addict was visitor #50,000!! At about 12:45 AM Mountain time. (And I've gotten over 2000 visitors since then--about 38 hrs later!) Anyway, she's the recipient of a prize. Not quite sure what it will be, but I've got a pretty good idea!
  • I was "discovered" by an old teaching buddy from 20+ years ago. We've settled into the Christmas card relationship over the years. But he tripped across my blog, and was duly impressed by my apparent popularity! I blush. I do need to reconnect to him and his family.
  • I won a contest yesterday!
  • I'm pretty sure I've got Brico's contest won, but I'll hold back my gloating.
  • I got notice of some new Mystery Guest pics coming soon!
  • The weather is still absolutely gorgeous these days!
  • Ummmm......

I'm sure there's some other stuff, but it's not coming to mind.

Hope you all have a great weekend. I'll post some more later....

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Death in the HNT Family

As most of you know, Tony (BTExpress) has been a presence on HNT for quite awhile. Always one of the first to be checking on the week's posts, and always leaving comments. What some of you might not realize is that his wife has been enduring inoperable brain cancer for a couple of years. Well, her pain is no more. Tony's wife of 33 years, Barb, died on Monday. She had taken a turn for the worse after the weekend. Obviously this is a tough time for his family. Even though this was the expected outcome, and he was quite open about that, it doesn't take away the sadness. He asked me to convey his thanks to those who have already left words on his site or by email. He also approved my posting about it. Head over to his site and offer your condolences, especially if he's commented on your site quite a bit. He'll appreciate it.

HNT Mystery Guest V

I haven't had much of a chance to post (or even communicate) over the past couple of days. I'm getting frustrated in my job with the Symphony. Well, I've always been frustrated, but it's gotten worse. A little history--the Symphony celebrated its 50th anniversary last season. For a vast majority of that time, it's been tolerated as a nice cultural group. A place for music lovers to get together and play, but not worry about getting fired or replaced. Because it's a volunteer group, you have to do a little back-bending to keep people happy. About 4 years ago, we had a nationwide search to find a new conductor. We've got one now who is decades wiser and more knowledgeable than his 35 years would imply. He actually wants to make us a legitimate performing group! There's a concept that's new around here!

So what has he done? In this, his third season, he's increased the budget 300%, increased season ticket sales almost 350%, increased audience size by at least 300%, corporate sponsorships have skyrocketed, and he has elevated the status of the Symphony around the state to being one of the best. By using most of the same musicians as before. And without the benefit of a local university music department to draw musicians from. So what's the problem? Dealing with musicians who question everything he does. Who commit to playing, then have something "come up", or pick and choose which concerts they want to play. Excuse me--if I make the team, do I get to tell the coach which games/practices I'm going to show up for?? Same thing here. Too many years of being a social group, not a performing group. I can't wait for the musicians to be paid (which will be phased in next season). Funny how a little cash will improve one's approach!

So what does any of this have to do with HNT?? Absolutely nothing. Other than allowing me to vent and sort of explain my lack of posts this week. This week's Mystery Guest was the favorite of the committee, though personally, I was hoping for a different one (no offense to this week's winner). Yes, I bowed to peer pressure this week....


Updates since I drafted this earlier today--Astros are in the Series! Nice to have something good happen to the Houston area! Also--a whole slew of early posters tonight. Check out the comments to the prior post to see who's already up!

Have a great HNT this week! I'll be checking all of you soon!

One more thing--I'm getting my 50,000th visitor sometime in the next hour. No promises of a prize, but you never know!
It was brought to my attention that HNT is exactly 5 months old tonight! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Well, it took about 2 1/2 hours from the time that I called it, but I've surpassed the 50,000 visitor mark! Many thanks to all of you! This is the person who hit #50,000. Doesn't look like they spent any time here, but they came here from Addict's site, and they live in the Pacific time zone (not Denver). Anyone recognize this IP address? Is this you Emily? Click on the picture to make it a little bigger. Let me know!

Sunday, October 16, 2005

The lottery, Bud Light and college football

I certainly expected to post this much earlier than I am. Real life has bitten me on the ass once again. I'm finding that I'm incredibly busy, but don't seem to be accomplishing much. I need to put some things into perspective. I need to start to multi-task better. I need to learn to say no. For a long time I have been the go-to guy when things needed to get done. I'm the one that can take care of things. I'm the one who knows alot of the answers. I'm the one that usually is taken advantage of, with no thought that it's an inconvenience. I'm the one that everyone thinks is available 24/7 because I have no life.

The two biggest problems with this?
One--I like being on the "inside", being the one in charge, being the one that people know to go to.
Two--I've let this happen to me. I'm too nice of a guy. I want to make everyone happy. Lord help those who get me drunk and allow me to vent!

Having gotten that off my chest, damn, I need to win the lottery really, really badly!

Look Ma! New pics! These were generously donated to me by Rachel. We had a great time at the football game Saturday. We were a little late getting there, so we didn't get to enjoy all the tailgating that I would have liked.

Here's a shot from Rachel's viewpoint of the perimeter of the tailgating crowd, with the stadium and scoreboard in the background.


Like you'd expect from a good Catholic college, the Knights of Columbus were there selling beer. Bud Light. I don't want to sound like a beer snob, but Rachel and I have become beer snobs. We haven't had a domestic beer in ages. Much more into microbrews. I think the Bud Light contributed to Rachel's "incident".


This would be a Black Hawk helicopter from the National Guard delivering the game ball. Well, two servicemen recently returned from Iraq stepped off the helicopter at midfield to present the game ball to the head coach and president of the college. As the helicopter lifted off (blowing everything within 300 yards clean!), you just can't help but be awed by the sight and the sound. General concensus--that was SO cool! I don't know who the large gentlemen in front of us are.


It was a gorgeous fall day--a great day for football! Not too many places in big college football where you get a view like this! The picture doesn't do it full justice--the leaves are at their peak color change, the temperature was ideal (almost hot), the tailgate charcoal wafting over the crowd, and the home team demolishing the visitors! When God invented football for the fall, it couldn't have been much different than this!


There gets to be a point in a rout that you start ignoring the game, and start wondering about mowing the lawn one last time, or if Home Depot has a sale on those leaf bags that look like jack-o-lanterns. The day was SO nice, and the game got ridiculously boring and predictable that we left at this point. Good thing, too. This was the final score. By coincidence, the sponsor being featured when she took the picture is the Brewhouse, where we go to drink beer in our snobbishness!

It was a fun afternoon, and Carroll won. They may very well walk away with their 4th consecutive national championship this season. The only weird part of the afternoon was Rachel's incident. It's too late for me to spend time embellishing the story--it was actually a little scary for about a couple of seconds. Carroll scores its second TD of the day just after they recovered a fumble across midfield. A gorgeous toss, great catch, and everyone jumps to their feet to celebrate. I don't know if it was the lack of breakfast, or the Bud Light, or what, but I notice Rachel grabbing my arm and not really jumping up and down. Actually, not doing anything. She did ask what people did when they fainted. I told her they don't ask what people did when they fainted, but she should sit and let the blood rush back to her head. After a minute or two, she was fine, but not quite all there. We got a burger out at the tailgate at halftime, and that seemed to help, but it was a little scary. Don't worry though. If she had actually fainted, I would have grabbed her camera and taken a picture of her first!

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Carroll College Football, and other things....

EDIT: Just a quick note to tell you that I won't be posting tonight. We have a gig tonight, so I'm off until sometime after midnight. And the update, if you haven't seen Rachel's site--Carroll 45, MT Tech 3. Pictures to come (her camera) and stories of Rachel's public drunkeness and near fall from the back row of the bleachers! Later!

I haven't really talked a great deal in the past about Carroll College. Carroll is a small Catholic liberal arts college located in Helena. They have an outstanding reputation as a small school, and their graduates are spread far and wide. I am the only member of my family who's not actually take a class there, but I was on staff there for 10+ years. But we don't care about any of that, because it's Fall, and that means FOOTBALL!


Rachel and I will be going to the big football game this afternoon. Carroll is the THREE-TIME defending National Champion in NAIA football. It doesn't matter what classification you play in. To be the THREE-TIME defending champion is pretty damned special. And it appears that they will probably win again this season. The championship game is played in Hardin County, TN (can you host a guest in December?).

One of the major reasons is due to QB Tyler Emmert. He is on target to becoming the most accurate QB in college football history. And that's at ANY level. Check out his stats here. The kid has lost TWO games in his entire career (high school and college).

For those of you who go to the huge games, you've got nothing on small college football. There is a very real connection between the community, the players and the fans. We've got the tailgate parties. We've got the rivalries. And we'll know many of the people at the game. There will be 5500 fans there today. For a school of 1700 or so, that's pretty good too. The temperature is supposed to be in the mid-60s and partly cloudy. Damn, I do love the fall! GO SAINTS!!
We certainly had an interesting week in HNT! Among the highlights I'd have to include superb displays of flexibility (thanks to Kalani and Aughra), TWO sites with "personal" piercings (yes, that piercing), Star Wars, half-nekkid breakfasts and a little bit of Andy Warhol influence. As well as the rest of the great shots! Oh, yeah. Ranting, too.Well done, once again!
Still looking for more Mystery Guest submissions! Things aren't rosy on the new camera front yet, so I'll still be taking MG shots for at least a couple of weeks. Be sure to email me your picture by Monday night so I can get it out to the committee! If you've got questions or need a file, let me know!
While out surfing and googling HNT and assorted words, I found a small group of friends in Texas who have been doing this for about 4 weeks. As far as I could tell, there was only one commenter that I recognized as one of our regulars. PLEASE, if you know of someone new at this, or has been doing it for awhile, have them notify me! It's certainly not a requirement to "check in", per se, but we all want to know who's joined in!
Nothing like a rant or a little controversy to bring out the emails. Especially when I've turned off the comments option! Loved hearing from many of you. I promise I'll respond to all of you who wrote. It was particularly nice to read about other thing besides the rant--a nice way of getting a better insight to some of you!
I would have posted this last night, but I spent the night playing THE GAME over at Brico's site. Check it out! See how well you know your fellow bloggers! But don't bother with submitting your answers. I finished and already sent them in....

Friday, October 14, 2005

HNTer needs your help!

Crystal is looking for your help (no money involved). Please do what you can!

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Rant Control (where's Frank Zappa when you need him?)

Well, I'm a little pissed. I might have known it was going to come to this. For those who haven't noticed, there's been a bit of a rant going on in the last part of my comments section of today's HNT (pause while everyone goes to check). No, not by me--I've been at work all day. And actually the rant isn't found in my comments. I'll explain....

Here's the scenario. A certain HNTer has chosen to post pictures of her breasts (so far, this covers an awful lot of you!). There's a comment or two made on my site, and then out of the blue, a comment by the first one to tell us that she's tired of the negative comments, and this will be her last week. Well, not knowing what the hell she was talking about, I go to her site and read some of the comments left for her. Pretty complimentary and friendly, as we've generally been. And then I see it. A long comment. Very demeaning and uncalled for. Of course, it's linked to a name I'm not familiar with, so I check it out. It comes up with a profile with absolutely no information. Should I be surprised? Probably not. But it was enough to bring out some others with equally negative comments. I checked those bloggers, and yes, they're "official". What was disturbing was that they are also HNT participants. One person in particular seems to be leading the pack, if you will, by having ranted a couple of times. And there are the followers, who thank her for her rant, because it needed to be said, yadda, yadda...

Here's the problem--there's never been a beauty/nudity/weight/pose requirement for HNT. But for one or two people to PUBLICLY attack a woman for posting pics, and to have others jump on the bandwagon is reprehensible. To me, there are two ways to handle this--1) If you must address what you think of as being "ugly" (and how dare you or anyone else impose your views of what's "ugly"), then you search out an email address somehow--even to the point of asking for it, and respond privately, or 2) You don't say anything, make note of the website, and never come back to it. Interestingly, the people who left the most acidic remarks were people who returned on at least a few occassions! To claim that they got here by hitting the "next" button doesn't fly--maybe once, but Blogger's got a gazillion other sites it'll send you to next. It's not going to bring you back to the same place.

I could write forever, but then I'd lose you (if I haven't already). So I'll list:
  • I'm not going to spend time babysitting bloggers.
  • One of the great things about HNT has been the support shown to others to post revealing shots of themselves, both inner and outer revelations.
  • Half-nekkid is in the eye of the poster.
  • Porn is in the mind of the reader. For the record--nothing that's ever been posted in the name of HNT can be considered "porn". Some of it "sexually explicit"? Of course, but you take the chance of that when you come to a site associated with the word "nekkid" in it.
  • If you recognize yourself as one of the "followers" I mentioned above, realize that I have nothing against your views or your pictures. But I find it a little hypocritical that you can agree with the rant, yet post half-nekkid pics of yourselves. You all had the chance to check out what HNT was all about prior to joining in yourselves. Having said that, I'd still like to see you continue HNT.
  • If you don't like what you see, leave. Or hit the "next" button.
  • If you are someone who lurks or comments, but doesn't ever post a HNT, your negative comments are meaningless.
  • If you are leaving negative comments in any sort of an anonymous fashion, including coming up with a false blog name, you are the scum of the Blogworld. You are a hundred times worse than spam. You should be deleted, ignored, and/or hung by your genitals. You have NO grounds for participation. If you feel the need to vent, at least have the cojones to leave some sort of contact for rebuttal!
  • I would never assume to tell any of you what to post, either in words or pictures. Your blog is just that--yours. Don't tell me what I should or shouldn't post on mine, because it's just that--mine.

Some final thoughts--I realize that we're talking about one or two "bad apples" here. And out of 300+ of us, maybe it should be expected. It still pisses me off. I think it's significant that the ranters and the followers are relatively new to HNT. Maybe HNT isn't something they should be involved in, or they don't quite understand the guidelines (press the blue HNT button in the sidebar). To tell the truth, there are some long-time HNTers whose sites I don't frequent much because they don't impress me much. I have issues with some HNTers based on the comments they leave others. I find it embarrassing as a male that women would be subjected to those comments. I've discussed this before. But NEVER have I found it necessary to demean, degrade or otherwise subject those sites/commenters with my personal opinions in a public or private forum. Their opinions are equally valid as mine. No more, no less. It's just not the place for it.

To the individual blogger who's going to be quitting, I'm sorry. I hate to see that. I would hope that you wouldn't, but I certainly understand it if you do. I think I'd do the same if I was in your situation. I'd apologize for what you've had to go through over the past couple of weeks, but I can't. Apparently there are people out there who are far better than you or me.

HNT Mystery Guest IV

A situation has arisen. Sort of. It's been brought to my attention over the past couple of days, and by a couple of people, that I spend too much thinking, breathing, living HNT. I've even blogged about it. It's probably true. It's affected my sleep patterns (5:10 AM before I went to bed last Wed./Thurs.), and I find that I surf too much at work. I have used HNT as an escape (as I suspect many of you have) to the detriment of real life commitments.

So tonight--I'm going to bed "early". No later than 1 AM, hopefully by midnight. Tomorrow, I'll spend less time surfing. What does this mean to you? Only that I might not get to your site before the weekend. But believe me--I'll get there! I anticipate a full 275 people will be joining in this week. The comments don't totally reflect the numbers--there's always a couple dozen that don't leave a comment for one reason or another. To the regulars that I see commenting ahead of me, thank you, and keep up the good work!

This week's HNT Mystery Guest photo was a unanimous choice by the "committee". Be sure to note the half-nekkidness of the toes! Many thanks to those who have sent in submissions! I anticipate receiving a few submissions over the weekend, but if any of you want to join in, email me for details or hi-res files! I'm always taking new submissions!


Early posters include: Mitzzee, Blondie, Mona, Aughra, Gigi, Evil Petting Zoo, Leesa, Paul and Castle. Oh, hell. There's too many more to list. Just look on the bottom third of the comments on my previous post! Happy HNT!

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

I'm a hit!

I've just come to the realization that I'm a hit! How did I figure this out? It's not because of HNT--you guys are the ones doing the work there. It's not because of my occassionally witty writing--I don't do nearly enough of that. No, dear friends. It's because not once, but twice, yesterday, I was personally attacked for comments I'd made on other sites! I'm ecstatic! That only happens if you've made it big!

Were the comments particularly insulting, bitingly sarcastic, or life-altering? Hell no! Should that surprise me? Hell no! I do believe they were left by two different individuals (yay! I've pissed off 2 different people!). They were left anonymously (duh!), and exhibited a total lack of comprehension of what was being written, or its context. And in both instances, they actually NAMED me and directed their comments TO me--ON SOMEONE ELSE'S COMMENTS PAGE!! So I apologize to Femi-Mommy and Todd in Vegass for using up precious bits and pieces of their fine sites to stir up these anonymous jerk-offs' juices. For your sakes, I'll try to behave in the future. Damn! I just tried to type that with a straight face!

I'm so excited! I'm a hit!!

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Birthday Wishes!

OK--I've still got 90 minutes to get this done before just.a.girl's birthday is over. I first met her in 2000. She was a timid, gawky looking teenager. A band geek. A cornet player. A former dancer.





















As her years in school passed, she was still a bit camera shy (yes, those are her legs on the left), but could always be counted on to have her cell phone with her at all times!























By the end of her school years, she had blossomed into a wonderfully social young woman! A beer drinker! And a bit of a devil, to boot! Complete with a few surprisingly interesting secrets!

































She now lives in the Portland area going to optometry school.


She's not quite as shy as she used to be in front of the camera.




And she makes friends a whole lot easier now....





To top all of this off, she's a Star Wars geek!! I've known this young lady for about 5 years. We've been good friends for about the last two. She's brilliant, witty, a babe, and I'm happy to call her my friend! Stones, here we come!!

Damn, it's 12:02. Well, it's only 11:02 there, so I'm OK..... Whew!

Monday, October 10, 2005

Google Images

I stole this from Ago-go, who stole it from the lovely Kalani, who stole.....

Directions:
Go to Google and click on the images link. Type in the following and post the first (or your favorite) picture the search engine finds.
    - The name of the town where you grew up
    - The name of the town where you live now
    - Your name
    - Your Grandmother’s name (pick one)
    - Your favorite food
    - Your favorite drink
    - Your favorite song
    - Your favorite smell

TOWN WHERE I GREW UP



TOWN WHERE I LIVE NOW (same place)



MY NAME (yeah, been there, done that, looked similar)



MY GRANDMOTHER'S NAME (yes, indeed!)



MY FAVORITE FOOD (if you can still hear the moo, it's perfect!)



MY FAVORITE DRINK (so hard to pick just one...)



MY FAVORITE SONG ("Amie" by the Pure Prairie League has long been one of my absolute favorite songs. Google came up with this as #1, then alot of girls showing boobies. I figure we've seen enough of those to justify a break, so this is what you get. I may have to re-think my favorite song....)



MY FAVORITE SMELL (MMMMMmmmmm......)



Again, no tagging. Take it if you want it.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

I suck

Moose, I'm sorry. I'm not going to be able to put up the birthday tribute that you so richly deserve, and I should have prepared weeks ago. You know I love ya, and would do anything for you. But this ain't going to happen anytime soon. I might surprise you in the future with one. Just.a.girl (who's got a birthday coming up on Tuesday!) won't be getting one either. Sorry guys. I suck. I'm scum. I don't deserve your friendship.

Well, maybe that's a little harsh...

I'll do something for you down the road!

23rd Post

I was tagged by Michelle, but she doesn't realize it. I generally don't do these, but I got curious as to what the result would be, so--

Fun with Archives
The Rules:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same.


"If you don't have an account, you can sign up for one for free."


How lame is that? I was talking about a Christmas thing I had done for friends--I did a photo album. Basically a review of 2004. I did it at Ofoto, and the above quote was sentence #5. If any of you are interested in checking it out, email me and I'll send you the link.

I tag no one on this. I think everyone's already done it. If not, go ahead and do it!

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Three Truths and a Lie

I've seen this on a couple of different sites. Use it yourselves, if you like.

  • I don't smoke pot, but I used to grow it with my roommates when I was in college.

  • I had sex with the twin sister of my girlfriend, but was too drunk to notice the difference.

  • I have not shaved my upper lip since New Year's Eve, 1976.

  • I was offered the chance to tour as the bass player of a country band in the mid-70s.

Three of the four statements above are true. This inadvertently turned out to be more 70s based than I planned on. Then again, I kind of like that. Those of you who weren't around for the 70s need not make comment about the fact that I'm old... Look for another 3T&aL in the future!

More thoughts....

  • I'm still getting a few submissions for the Mystery Guest posts. Remember--I'm posting them until I get a camera (and I need one before I head to Portland at the end of the month!). It's interesting to see who's submitted pics. And I'm a little surprised that I haven't gotten any from certain individuals... Maybe you're waiting for a really good one...

  • I've made some great friends from HNT. Friends that I find myself wanting to know more about. That I want to someday meet in person. That I want to go drink beer with. That I want to help out when I can. That I can tell/share things with that I usually can't with "real life" friends. Fortunately, I have met a couple of them. Hopefully, I'll meet more in the future. I know I'm not alone in this, but I just wanted to say thank you to all my new friends!

  • Which brings me to something else that I've thought a great deal about over the past couple of months. If it weren't for Blogger or HNT, would any of these people be my friends in real life? To be honest, I don't think so. Would Rachel and I be the beer drinkin' buddies that we are? Probably not. I think part of the problem lies in opportunity--we all do things within our own little worlds that don't intersect with others. If we all somehow lived in the same town, would we run into each other? Would we interact on a personal basis? Or would some of you just be the harried mom with 3 kids at the supermarket? Or the IT guy at work? Or that hot babe sitting by herself in the dark? Or the unhappy cubilcle worker? Sad as it is to say, I think we'd all keep to ourselves. But thank God for Al Gore, we have the internet. We have blogging. And we have HNT!

  • I've been in a relatively positive mood as of late. I need something for Peeman to do his business on. Any suggestions? Remember, too, that I do take requests...
    iTunes Boondocks, Little Big Town
  • Whew!


    There's less than 12 hours left to submit pictures for the Fourth Annual Blogger Boobie-Thon! If you haven't checked it out already, you need to! And submit a couple of pics! And while I'm more interested in getting people to participate, if you want to let us know you've participated, that's fun too! There are a number of HNT regulars who used current or prior pics for their covered boobie shot, and quite a few that bared all for the uncovered boobie shot! To those who are hesitant, I offer this--your boobs will simply be one pair in a huge sea of boobs. No faces, no butts. Just boobs. Pretty good anonimity, and there are only an extremely limited number of people who might recognize them. Unless, of course, you let us know which are yours! To those who have confirmed that sort of thing to me, my thanks. I feel honored to share!
    I have, over the months, been quite remiss in thanking all of you for joining in on HNT and making it what it's become. There were 5 of us that did this the first time, and I honestly thought that within a couple of weeks, we'd get bored with it, and move on to something else. Instead, it's still developing into an important social part of our blogging experience! I've had 2 friends this week make the comment to me that I'm "addicted" or "obsessed" with HNT. I protested, then thought about it. I am. And many of you are too! To some, it's a thing to do on Thursdays. To others (and you know who you are!), you're so anxious to get started on Thursdays that you'd prefer to post at noon on Wednesday and enjoy the ride! Whichever side of the fence you ride here, I just say THANK YOU!!! Other thoughts and thanks--
    • I think this past couple of weeks has been a transition period for HNT. I think there were alot of people who bared alot more than skin during this time.
    • Constant participation has taken its toll. Within the past couple of weeks, a number of HNTers have written that they're going to take a bit of a time-out. Some are even backing out of blogging altogether for awhile. To those people--take some time to rejuvenate. We'll miss you, and hope you'll come back. Thanks for being a part of this!
    • Many have written that they haven't accomplished any kind of work on Thursdays anymore. Generations from now, the decline of productivity vs. the rise in public nekkidness on a global scale will be traced back to a small band of rebels in the early, early 21st century. Your great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren will be learning about you in high school history classes!
    • I've noticed that, if quizzed about it, I can no longer go to the sidebar and automatically pick out a specific HNTer. There are some relatively new ones that I'd like to go back and check in on, but I can't keep the sites straight in my mind, and end up scrolling up and down the list in vain! I need to come up with a separate, private roll, if that's possible....
    • More to come later......

    iTunes: Land of Make Believe, Chuck Mangione

    Friday, October 07, 2005

    Battle of the Sox

    I've got a whole huge list of stuff I want to write about, but I ended up drinking beers with Rachel while watching the White Sox walk all over the Red Sox. We drank, ate some chips and salsa, drank a little more, had some fries w/ranch, drank a little more, took some phone calls, talked about all sorts of things, reconnected with one of the bald-headed guys with the thingy from the other night (see an earlier post on her site), drank some more, cursed out an old guy who dared to make demeaning remarks about Veritek (that was her doing...I just drank), then decided after the game that we should leave and go shopping for shoes and underwear. I still don't understand why it's so difficult for women to shop for underwear. Then we called it a night. I need to take a nap before I spend time online tonight. But don't worry. I SHALL RETURN!! (with a vengeance!!)

    Oh, yeah. It's my very best friend's birthday today, and she had to spend the day at a conference, walking around for hours while waiting to go the airport, then sit on an airplane for hours. Hell of a way to spend it. I will, at some point this weekend, put up some sort of embarrassingly over-the-top tribute to her, but it'll have to wait. Go to Moose's site and wish her a Happy Birthday!

    Wednesday, October 05, 2005

    HNT Mystery Guest III

    I had this whole thing ready to go, then Blogger went into maintenance mode. Dammit! Well, this week's HNT Mystery Guest selection ended in a tie. So it was determined by coin flip. And this is the winner. And what a winner she is! I can't give you any real clues as to who she is, but what I CAN tell you is that this person is a grandmother. A grandmother of FIVE!!! Are you kidding me???? And I got to see her in the shower! If you're interested in submitting a Mystery Guest photo, be sure to email it to me by Monday. The current and former Mystery Guests will help me in choosing the new one!

    In an unanticipated coincidence, the boobie shot works well, since I've been pushing the whole Boobie-Thon thing.
    And since I've brought it up, the Fourth Annual Blogger Boobie-Thon is in full swing! But it ends on Oct. 8th, so if you're going to submit a picture or donate money (or both), you need to get over there! I fully urge any and all of you to send them an uncovered boobie shot and force the rest of us to pay for the privilege of getting to see them (many thanks to those of you who already have)! It's a good cause to show off (as opposed to HNT)! I'm also going to keep the pink background through the 8th, so some of the text will be hard to read. Sorry 'bout that!
    Since we all had problems with Blogger, I wasn't able to get to those who posted early, so be sure to check the bottom half of the comments to my last post to see who's been up for awhile (gotta love them Asians/Europeans!). Happy HNT!

    Boobie-Thon


    OK. Here's the deal. It's the Fourth Annual Blogger Boobie-Thon. It runs through Oct. 8th. Last year they raised over $8000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. That's with money coming from schmucks like you and me. For a great cause. The reason for the cause sucks, but you know what I mean....

    Women (and men) submit pictures of their boobies (or chests/manboobs) for the rest of us to peruse. There are two sorts of pictures--"covered" and uncovered. The "covered" boobies are just that, though there's a broad interpretation of what that means. Paint, hands, jewelry, sheer bras--they all count as "covered". Those are available to be seen for free. The uncovered ones are available on a "pay-per-boobie" basis. For $50 or more, you receive a password to access the uncovered boobies. Totally out there for the world to see. What's nice is that there's no way to identify the boobies. There's no names or URLs given. Submitters have the option of being listed as a participant, but there's no way to attach a picture to a specific participant. It's pretty anonymous. The only way to identify a boobie would be if you recognized a tattoo or necklace or something like that. They even re-name each picture as it comes in. The money this year is going to either the Komen Foundation, or to the Red Cross (for Katrina relief). It's your choice.

    Here's the fun part--there are already a number of our HNT sisters who have contributed photos for both the covered and uncovered pages. One has gone as far as to promise her shots for this week's HNT. There are big boobies, small boobies, ugly boobies, pierced boobies, tattooed boobies, painted boobies, wet boobies, biopsied boobies, boobies with props, boobies with themes, boobies with.....well, you get the idea. There's even a picture of a guy with a third nipple! No butts. No lower extremities. Just boobies.

    So now for a proposition--I think that all of our HNT ladies (and guys, if you're interested) should submit a boobie shot to Boobie-Thon. Just take another picture as you're planning on your HNT. (For God's sake, don't forget HNT!!) Then let us know if you submitted a covered or uncovered photo (or both!). The rest of us will then have to pony up the $50 to see the uncovered ones. I've already done it. Have I recognized any HNTers? Possibly! But if you're going to do it, do it soon--things end on Saturday night!

    Is this a pathetic plea to see your boobies? Maybe. Is this a sleazy way to get you guys to fork over $50? Perhaps, but the money goes to very good causes! If you're hesitant to participate, or have questions, I would recommend you check out the sample pages for the covered boobies. I will say that many of the HNT pics I've seen over the past few months would fit in quite well!

    To end on a serious note--for the most part, breast cancer is killing our mothers, our sisters, our spouses, our children. Even a few men. There's not many of us left who have not been affected by breast cancer in some way. It's a monster disease, and the efforts to eradicate it need our support! If you can't give $50, give $5. If you can give $500, that's even better! Go to the site. See who's participated. See who's donated. See what you can do.

    Tuesday, October 04, 2005

    Gone to Hell in a Handbasket

    Dammit. This is my second attempt at this post.

    I go away for a couple of days, and things go to Hell. To wit (no names given to protect the "innocent"):
    • One blogger spent time in jail this weekend! At least she looked good!
    • One blogger announced she was pregnant!
    • One blogger spent the weekend, not just in a communal shower, but also a communal hottub. And has pictures! And has no intention of sharing those....
    • One blogger has some personal relationship issues that cropped up.
    • One or two bloggers took exception with the fact that I would be someplace that was relatively internet-free! My apologies. I'll try not to let it happen again!
    • One, if not two, bloggers have decided to throw in the towel and quit for one reason or another. We'll miss them if they actually follow through. Hope you'll still lurk in the shadows!
    I keep surfing, and keep finding new things happening! Guess I can't afford to take this much time off again!!
    • One blogger has been accepted to a snooty art school!
    • One blogger has gotten engaged!
    • One blogger got married!
    • One blogger accidentally picked up her baby's poop with her bare hand. She freaked.

    bt2005banner
    I have my own personal reasons for contributing to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (the same group that organizes the "Race For the Cure"). But I would imagine that each of us knows someone who has been directly afflicted, or related to someone directly afflicted, with this terrible disease. That, in itself, is enough to make you want to contribute to one of the various charities dealing with breast cancer. But there's a blogger-based site that's doing its share. Yes, there's boobie shots to check out, and if that's a way for people to contribute, then so be it! Go click on the above pink banner.
    There have been some more entries for this week's HNT Mystery Guest! A reminder that if you're going to submit a picture in time for this week's consideration, you need to have it emailed to me by late Tuesday night so that the "committee" can make their decision!
    In that sort of light, there are some HNTers who have said that they'd bare their boobies for a certain donation. If that floats your boat, then check the button above to see what's involved with that!
    I would have posted earlier, but I had to take a friend out for a few beers and laughs out in public. Funny how beer and a couple of bald-headed men will make you forget your troubles for awhile!
    I should mention a little about the weekend that I was away. We played for a benefit for the Catholic school system in Livingston, MT. We played for the same thing last year, where someone payed $40,000 for a tin of homemade chocolate fudge. I don't know who made them, but unless it was the original Betty Crocker herself, that price seemed a tad high. But the money flowed all night, and no one seemed to bat an eye! All in all, a pretty good gig. Saturday we had to ourselves. Didn't seem to make sense to drive all the way home, just to turn around and come back to almost the same place on Sunday! The drummer and I went to Bozeman to play golf. Gorgeous day, mediocre golf on my part. I can blame that on a lack of playing during the summer. On Sunday we awoke to cold temps and lots of rain. Almost snow. We travelled down to Chico Hot Springs to play for a wedding. Without great detail, let's just say that the night was great! While I don't usually like theme-based weddings, these kids had a "gangster" motif (thing more along the Mafia and "The Godfather"). The bride's family is all Italian (including Uncle Vito--of course!). Between the bride's family and the groom's family, they own a huge chunk of the bar/restaurant business in Bozeman! Sort of in that "family" manner! Found out earlier today that Lizabeth knows both families and alot of guests, and probably would have crashed the reception if she weren't galavanting around the hot springs in Jackson with her boy! Drove home at the asscrack of dawn on Monday AM through lots of inches of unplowed slush. That was sort of fun!
    I had really hoped to get caught up on all the blogs and emails today. It just ain't gonna happen.... I'll try to catch up in the AM. Happy October! Rabbit, rabbit.....