Tuesday, February 28, 2006

In need of a caption...

I don't generally like politics, talk politics or write politics, but this picture was sent to me in an email, and I felt I had to share. Please leave your caption in the comments!

Scarf on eBay

I don't often do this sort of thing, but WarCryGirl asked if I would be so kind as to make mention of it. As you can see, she is modeling this fine scarf that she made in November. She now has it up for sale on eBay. I think it would be a kind gesture to go make a bid on it. It's not often that you can grab a piece of HNT! Here is the eBay link. Now go bid on the thing!
Then go vote for Summer!
And submit a Mystery Guest picture for consideration this week!!
Then go to Lecram's site to check out the publicity for the Rogue Festival!

Monday, February 27, 2006

Busy, busy week & HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I am caught COMPLETELY unprepared for this, but today is Rachel's birthday! She's a close friend and beer drinking buddy that I've met through blogging, and thankfully only live minutes away from me. She deserves a full tribute here, but it slipped through the cracks. My apologies dear (then again, Moose didn't get one either...). If you haven't been there yet, go wish her a Happy Birthday!!
LAST CALL!! If you haven't voted for a weekend choice for Addict's Playdate, do it now! Voting ends in the next couple of days!
A surprisingly busy week last week. There are some emails I need to answer soon--my apologies. A rundown on some of what happened (a warning--alot of this is quite boring):

I got my phone rebate for my new cell phone from Verizon!
I found out that a musician friend of mine from another town has a brain tumor. If it's grown at all by mid-May, they operate BY GOING THROUGH THE ROOF OF THE MOUTH. The "good" news--it's a benign tumor.
Said goodbye to a friend.
Danced Saturday night with a dark-haired version of Scarlett Johanssen (too busy to post a link). This is shocking to those who know me, because I haven't danced in 16 years. Since the night I broke my sister in half (S2). Long story, but suffice it to say that it affected me enough to give it up. Besides, I'm a musician. I can't dance!
I won Brico's sudoku contest. Stole it away from SisB!
I guess I also "won" my own CD contest by admitting that I own some Mandy Moore, but not Van Morrision.
Voted for Summer probably over 20 times last week in her quest to become 5.0 Mustang Magazine's Babe of the Year. Voting continues for another 2 weeks or so.
In spite of missing her birthday tribute, Rachel dragged me along to run errands, then dinner. So I got to join her as she shopped for underwear (not the first time I've done that), then got hammered at Applebee's from their fruity drinks with dinner.
Saw that Disney's "Lady and the Tramp" is being released for it's 50th anniversary on DVD. Does anyone else find Lady just a little bit hot?
Played a symphony concert (complete with a boatload of rehearsals all week). Celebrated "Shakespeare In Love" with Weber, Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn.
Finished up a blogpage for the Rogue Festival. That starts this week!
shobnr

I need Mystery Guest submissions today (tomorrow AM) if you want to be considered for this week. An awful lot of you promising, but not committing!
Called my baby sister (S3) to get the numbers from her blood screening. The girl is a walking timebomb. I beat her by 70 points (which = $70!) on the total cholesterol: 194 vs. 264! And her triglycerides (fat in the blood) are almost double what mine are. Her blood pressure is just this side of a freshly dead corpse. Yet she eats relatively healthy (kids will make you do that), doesn't drink to excess, doesn't smoke, (doesn't exercise...), and generally tries to stay as healthy as her husband (who is in disgustingly good health). It really pisses her off that her overweight, sedentary, pizza-loving, beer guzzling brother has better blood! The only place where she smoked me was the glucose levels. I can attribute that to increased beer drinking with both Just.A.Girl and Rachel. In any case, I'll still be asking for the money in twenties!

This is why I avoid these sorts of things...

I find this result a bit humorous today.

LOVE!
LOVE!
which chinese symbol are you?

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Another one!

Once again, stolen from the ever lovely Kerri. This one is actually better than the last one!

Thursday, February 23, 2006

CD Contest Results

Well, I was able to fool all of you all of the time! A talent I share with F3M1. Out of 28 responses, 9 out of the 10 were mentioned at least once. All but the real answer! And I'm apparently going to disappoint many of you with my Mandy Moore collection! Without further ado, here are the details of what I've got:
    1) Gretchen Wilson--She's only got two CDs out, and they both kick ass. She's not the cutesy beauty that seems to have infected country music today. She could kick your ass in the back alley. And look good doing it! Her music reflects that. She's bad-ass! (note that I use the word "ass" 3 times!)
    2) Jamiroquai--If you haven't heard this guy, you need to. Anyone old and obscure enough will think he sounds like Gino Vanelli. His sound almost has a 70s disco style to it. Great dance groove, great sound. My favorite album would be "Synkronized".
    3) Van Morrison--This is the one that no one chose, and the only one in the list that I lack. I have all the big early hits on a variety of compilations, but I don't own that first one with "Moondance", "Into the Mystic" or "Brown-Eyed Girl". Or any of his others. As a child of the 60s/70s, I suck, in this instance.
    4) Mandy Moore--I'm going to take shit for this. I own her debut album, because it was a promo CD at the music store I managed. But while Britney and Christina were trying to out-slut each other, Mandy concentrated on her acting (well....) and her vocal talents. Her 2003 album "Coverage" is outstanding. She sings cover songs from the 70s and 80s, and in many cases, delivers a stronger song than the original artist. Her version of Elton John's "Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters" might be the best on the album. Yes, I'm proud to say that I own some Mandy Moore!
    5) Tower of Power--One of the funkiest bands of all time. Still going strong with a majority of their original line-up after 30 years. Horn section schooled on the sounds of James Brown, and a rhythm section that is unparalleled in any form of music. I think I own everything they have ever issued. "Monster On A Leash" is probably their best "modern" album, but even when they went through some hard years, no one could touch them!
    6) Mariah Carey--Before Mariah learned that she had boobies (monster boobies), she had an incredible voice. And a fear of audiences. I own a couple of her early albums when she was actually concerned with MUSIC and SINGING. Her breakout album was the one that came out of her MTV "Unplugged" concert, which was one of her first concerts. No samples, no dance beats. Just a string section, acoustic instruments, and her amazing voice. Her version of Michael Jackson's "I'll Be There" still runs a chill up my spine. Too bad she weirded out...
    7) Guns N' Roses--When I was teaching HS band, a couple of my students got me to listen to "Appetite For Destruction". Damn, what a great album! They also conned me into writing pep band arrangements of "Paradise City" and "Welcome To the Jungle". Much better than playing "Louie, Louie" or the "Hey! Song" at games. As usual, GNR went downhill after awhile, but those old albums still bring a smile to my face. Perhaps this would be my secret vice...
    8) Big Bad Voodoo Daddy--Modern swing. Gotta love it. I was slow to embrace it, but once I did, I was hooked! Even though the craze has faded, they continue to record, and I continue to buy everything they put out!
    9) Elton John--Early Elton John was unbeatable. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy", and my favorite, "Caribou" (using the aforementioned Tower of Power Horns!). I don't particularly like his crap after the late 70s, and certainly none of his Broadway musical collaborations. But no one rocked like the "Rocket Man" in the 70s!
    10) Shania Twain--Shania changed what women in country music could do, and probably was a major force in changing people's perceptions of what "country" music is. Her first three albums broke all sorts of barriers. And when you're married to your producer, who also produced the "sound" of groups like Def Leppard, then some of that's going to creep in. We (In Cahoots) play songs from all 3 of those first albums, but I would have bought them anyway, I think.
So there you have it. No one gets burned CDs from me (except you. maybe you. oh...and you, too). I may try this again down the road. Thank you all for playing, and thanks to Brico for coming up with the game.

Olympic HNT

Moose and I were talking last night, and I was lamenting the fact that I didn't have a HNT photo taken yet. I was watching the Olympics in the background, and a thought struck me! I could pose like an Olympic athlete, with the athlete in the background on TV!! Unfortunately for you, it was the short program of women's figure skating on at the time. But I'm determined, so I get half-nekkid, IN A TUTU (don't ask--yes, one exists), and I set up my camera, tripod and TV.

Have you watched the things those girls do? I gave it my best. Not easy to do to focus, set the timer, get in front of the TV, and time your moves with both the TV and the camera. I think having TiVo might have helped here... I did the grab-your-foot-and-bring-it-up-behind-your-head move. I tried one of those triple toe thingies, but the downstairs neighbor wasn't too happy, so I didn't try anymore leaps. I did the squat thing where they do the spiral, puke-your-guts-cuz-you're-dizzy moves. I even threw in a couple of the post-performance, kisses-to-the-crowd things. All in all, a great night of photos for your pleasure.

I woke up this morning and could barely move. Fortunately, I looked at the half-nekkid tutu pics and decided against them. Instead, you get me, in my glory, just before jumping out of bed and running to the can to pee. Running in that hope-I-get-there-before-I-have-an-accident sort of way. This is the way I celebrate the Olympics. I wish I would have had the idea during the curling or the bobsled coverage....




I swear, I wasn't planning on the legs shot to do a comparison here. Mine are fat, white and dry. Hers are shapely, tan and wet. This week's Mystery Guest is a long time participant. Her greatest attribute is her legs. At least that's the subject of most of her HNTs. Though her Christmas series was quite nice! I will identify her sometime Thursday afternoon, but feel free to try and figure it out on your own! A hint--check out the scar and the moles. They might help you!

With her permission--today's Mystery Guest is No One In Particular from Tasty Tidbits Of Life. Stop by and see the top half today!



If YOU want to be the Mystery Guest, but sure to send me your picture! Don't be shy, and don't delay!

Don't forget to turn off your Word Verification for the day!

Be sure to check out some HNTs that had to go up early--Boo (no, the other one), Pieces, Binsk and Kerri.

Voting for Summer for 5.0 Mustang Magazine's Babe of the Year continues for a couple more weeks. I've been able to vote on a daily basis (even a couple of times/day!). Go to her site and give her your votes!

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

New Blood Numbers are in!!

This year's numbers are in! I posted my last wellness screening results almost exactly a year ago. As mentioned earlier, there's money ($1/point) riding on the cholesterol totals with S3. All of you medically inclined people can interpret these to your heart's content! The first number will be my current results (with the desirable results), then underneath, my numbers from the prior two years (2005, 2004).
  • Total Cholesterol
    194 mg/dl (less than 200)
    199 mg/dl
    184 mg/dl
  • LDL Cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol)
    121 mg/dl (less than 130)
    122 mg/dl
    121 mg/dl
  • HDL Cholesterol ("good" cholesterol)
    59 mg/dl (45 or more)
    53 mg/dl
    46 mg/dl
  • Risk Ratio (Total/HDL)
    3.3 (less than 4.0)
    3.8
    4.0
  • Triglycerides
    72 mg/dl (less than 150)
    120 mg/dl
    83 mg/dl
  • Glucose
    112 mg/dl (less than 110)
    99 mg/dl
    92 mg/dl

  • Oops! Forgot about the blood pressure!
    140/88
    (<140/90)
    156/92
    160/98

So in spite of my overweightness and piss-poor diet, I'm not doing too bad. I'm not going to give you specifics about weight, BMI or girth, because those numbers are big numbers. But dammit, my blood's good! A little on the sweet side, but not much fat floating around in there.

Other results--last year it was determined that I have lost the ability to hear in the 4 kHz range in my left ear. My right ear has joined in. That's about the pitch of the highest notes of a piano. I can hear higher and lower. Just not there. Unless it's amplified. Damn. The other result that was depressing was my combined grip strength. Last year it wasn't very good, nor was it this year. I expected better. I'm going to blame the early morning and frigid cold. Last extra result--I far surpass the flexibility test desired results. Again, with a large gut in the way and without any pre-stretching. Don't quite know how I do that...

I've already called S3. She was sick, so she'll get her blood drawn on Thursday. She seems to think that she might top 300 in the cholesterol total. I can only say two things to that--"sorry to hear it", and "I'd like that in twenties, please". I'll let you know how things turn out!

Monday, February 20, 2006

Apologies to Rachel, Kalani, and everyone else...

I offer to you a new view of "Star Wars". Sort of answers a few questions....
(shamelessly stolen from Kerri)

The CD thing....

By now, most of you have seen Brico's game on his site, or on a couple of others. I figure I should jump on the bandwagon too. Mine will be a little different. As a former music teacher, former music store manager, and current working musician, I've got more damned CDs that I've heard once, maybe, but keep in my collection. So the limitations for this are on my end. I will list singers/groups that I have at least 2 CDs of, and that I've actually listened to more than once. And one that I don't have any CDs of. I'll also stay away from my jazzy and classical stuff. Same prize that everyone else is giving--a mix of my current favorites.

In no particular order:
1) Gretchen Wilson
2) Jamiroquai
3) Van Morrison
4) Mandy Moore
5) Tower of Power
6) Mariah Carey
7) Guns N' Roses
8) Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
9) Elton John
10) Shania Twain

Remember--I have at least 2 CDs of 9 of these. One of them--I have nothing. I'll take guesses until Thursday afternoon at 6:00 MST. Good luck to ya!

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Weekend in Haiku

Lots of crap to write.
Alot happened this weekend.
No inspiration.

My wellness screening.
Blood pressure's down from last year,
But it's still too high.

My cholesterol
Results should be ready soon.
Show me the money!

Played my horn alot.
Symphony had rehearsals.
Symphony all week.

I've lost a good friend.
I'm very disappointed.
No idea why...

Things could still work out.
At least I think that they could.
I'm willing to wait.

Damned cold all weekend.
Bright sunny days; chilly nights.
Twenty-four below!

Friday night downtown.
Listened to a bagpipe band.
I must find a life...

Beers at the Brewhouse.
Rachel had some company.
DWG.

Silver City Bar.
Line dancing and nubile flesh.
Much cigarette smoke.

Chatted with Sis B.
Also with Andi and Tish.
Chatted with Leesa.

Mystery Guest pics.
Received a couple of them.
Still looking for more.

Added some newbies
To the sidebar Nekkid roll.
HNT is HUGE!

Blue Hawaiian shirt
Has been spotted in Nashville.
It's going elsewhere.

Olympics are on.
Skating, skiing and curling.
MSNBC.

Go vote for Summer.
She's up for Babe of the Year
At some Mustang mag.

I am such a schmuck.
I missed my sister's birthday.
Happy Birthday, Sis!

That will do no good.
She isn't even aware
That this blog exists.

I now have clean clothes.
I was domestic today.
Laundry and dishes!

I was uninspired.
Haikus are the way to go.
You should try yourselves!

Friday, February 17, 2006

This oughta be fun!

My baby sister (S3) will annually pay for me to have a wellness screening through her workplace. Sort of an early birthday present. I mainly go to get the blood pressure checked and the blood work done. Funny how you start paying attention to that stuff after watching your father endure a couple of heart surgeries. And I found out last year from the general hearing screening that I have permanent hearing loss at a certain frequency in one ear. No, I haven't had that looked at...

Anyway, the real reason that I do it is for the money. It bothers my sisters to no end that I, the overweight, beer-guzzlin', fast-food-eatin', steak-and-potatoes-lovin' slug of a bachelor has lower cholesterol numbers than any of my three siblings. Yes, the semi-health conscious mothers. So we bring money into the equation. The premise is simple. One dollar per point (total cholesterol). Last year I won $45 from S3! Come 7:30 AM, I'll be there again, starting the process. I'm guessing I'll win at least $25. I'll keep you posted on the numbers.

The thing that sucks is that you have to fast for 12 hours beforehand. I haven't eaten since lunch, and my beer drinking for tonight had to be curtailed. That's OK. I'll be stopping off for an Egg McMuffin on the way home in the morning!
Many of you didn't catch the little trick I pulled yesterday with the comments. The newest comments stayed at the top. I'm trying anything for you guys to check out the late posters! That's generally where the newbies can be found, too. I think I'll keep it this way on Thursdays and Fridays for awhile.
It's -8 degrees out right at this moment (-22 for my Canadian friends). The wind chill is taking it down to -24 (about -30). Tomorrow's high is forecast to be -4, with the low tomorrow night of -26. And that doesn't factor in the wind chill. The good news (great news, actually)--we'll be getting very little snow out of it. Thank God! There's something beautifully odd about it being that cold, but the sun is shining and the snow is missing.
Fun times at Rachel's for the weekend. I love being in on shit like this!
Got a couple more Mystery Guest pictures to add to the mix. Again--the call goes out for more!
Please continue to vote for Summer in her quest to become Babe of the Year for 5.0 Mustang magazine. Scroll down for more info, or go to her site!
Alot of nice comments regarding my Frankenstein-inspired Valentine from a couple of days ago. My thanks to the ladies whose pics I used (without permission--oops!). Some of them were instantly recognizable; some were pulled from the Way-Back Machine. Interesting guesses on some of them! Shoulda made a contest out of it...
And finally, I found this disturbing news item on bbsgirl's site. I'm more than a little bit concerned....

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Forlorn HNT

It's interesting to me how people use their blogs. For some, it's their diary/journal. For others, it's a form of communication to other specific people, but that's left open to the public. And for another group, it's a place to hone their writing skills, photography skills, or even networking skills.

People will tell the world things that they won't tell their spouse. They'll write about mundane things that only a handful of people would understand. They'll write fiction and fantasy. And they'll write about real life--that elusive extra dimension of things around here. Alot of it tends to be sad. One who consistently bucks that trend is Ladybug. Even on her "off" days, she's such a pleasure to read. But like I said, alot of posts these days are sad. Or bitchy. Or just dark, in general.

This is a picture of me this morning, while reading my cycle of early morning blogs and emails. I hadn't shaved or showered yet. And I tend to play with my face while I'm surfing. Didn't realize that before. Note the furrowed brow. Apparently that stays with me during the day. It used to be hidden under the hair, but that's gone now. All in all, it was sort of a dark, cloudy day. Just in the figurative sense. Maybe I just need to read more of Ladybug.

And no comments about the reading glasses. I'm old. I need them.




This week's Mystery Guest is fairly new. I asked if she wanted to write anything,and she said, "I've decided to just let a picture tell a thousand words. if that is ok." OK

She came out early today--the MG is Trojan. Go check her out!




A couple of people asked to be mentioned because they had to post early and can't comment later on: Heather, Velma, SissyB, Britni, Ristak, DaMasta and TiffaneyC.
Please turn your word verification off for the day!
If YOU want to be the Mystery Guest (and many of you say you do!) please be sure to email me a picture!

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

The Day After...

The best thing about the day after Valentine's Day is that all the chocolate in those huge heart-shaped boxes is marked down at least 50%. Now that's what I'm talking about!! The day ranks second only to the day after Easter, when all the Cadbury's eggs go for half off!!

Monday, February 13, 2006

Vote for Summer!

NEWEST POSTS CAN BE FOUND BELOW!!
BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN!!


No, not the season, you goofs! One of our favorite HNTers, Summer (now former HNTer) was featured this past fall (September, I believe) as the "Babe of the Month" for 5.0 Mustang magazine. Sure, many of you have never heard of the thing. That doesn't change the fact she's up for "Babe of the Year". The surprising thing right now is that she's only in 9th place. Ninth place!! That's just wrong! You know her, you love her, you can't let her sit in 9th place!!

So I urge all of you to go to the 5.0 Mustang site and vote for her! Voting can be found about halfway down the page. I've tried to vote twice tonight--it wouldn't accept the second vote. I don't know if you can vote on consecutive days, but I'd give it a shot.... Voting continues for the next two weeks.... Good luck to ya, Summer!!

EDIT: It appears that you CAN, in fact, vote once a day. And if you have access to different computers.... Vote early, vote often!!

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Random Thoughts

Does anyone else find humor in the fact that the Vice President shot somebody yesterday?
Thanks for the early Valentine "gifts" that some of you have sent! The "collection" appreciates it!
Mystery Guest pictures are still being accepted! If you're interested, be sure to send me a picture! Especially those of you who were still in the "I think I want to" phase...
We had a gig last night. There's nothing quite like 75 year-old women getting grumpy because we haven't played "YMCA" yet.
There's nothing quite like old people getting down to "YMCA" (complete with the correct choreography).
My most recent haircut was just 2 weeks ago, and I already think I'm ready for another.
0211061409
These guys didn't even bat an eyelash as I got into my car. Please note the ugly brown of a dry winter in Montana. Where, oh where are the robins?
Having developed my musical "being" in the 70s, when everyone knew that "disco sucks", I have to question the use of said music for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics Friday night. Thank God they brought in Pavarotti to salvage things at the end...
On the other hand, using the fireworks to light the flame was pretty cool.
Las Vegas is calling my name, but I don't know if I can swing it.
Why do I find myself needing to watch the movie "Bloodsport" whenever it's on TV? I'm not sure if it's the incredibly bad acting from everyone involved, the slow motion fight scenes, or the guy who played "Ogre" from "Revenge of the Nerds".
In case you didn't catch it, Monkey and her family are going to be on Dr. Phil, probably next month. Check the past week or so of her posts, and you can find links to the specifics of what the show's about, etc. They've already had a film crew at their home. Now they go up for the taping on Monday. Good luck!
I could drink nothing but chocolate milk for the rest of my life.
Big surprises happening this week. Keep your eyes/ears open!

Saturday, February 11, 2006

A.W.O.L. Until Sunday

I've got things to do this morning, then we head out of town for a gig. Which means I'll get home at some obscene hour, and then I'll sleep all Sunday morning. Next time I'll be back is sometime Sunday afternoon. See you all then!

BTW--with Valentine's Day coming up, if any of you would like to get me anything, I'm sure you know what I might like (yes, I'm a pig)!

Personality Mapping

I stole this completely from Siren's website:

My Johari Window.

It's a personality-mapping tool. I put in my description of myself, then you pick the traits you think describe me best. And then it maps self-perception and the perceptions of those who know me to see the crossover. Interesting idea. Begs the question of whether perception is reality, and if so, who's perception is reality. A better description is here. Try it!

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Sorta Gross HNT

So I was somewhat uninspired to come up with a decent HNT this week. Then I thought back to the original guidelines, and realized that I hadn't taken a picture of my uvula yet. So I set up the camera, the tripod, etc., in order to get the perfect shot of my uvula. Well, I guess I need to work more with the macro function of the new camera, because not much came out very well. Mostly out of focus, and mostly pretty sad. And then, I came to the last picture that I'd taken. Relatively in focus, and not terribly disgusting. Then I really examined it.

My father was a dentist prior to his retirement. From all accounts that I've heard, he was pretty good. Humorous, painless, and generally a great guy all around. I never got to experience that side of him in the chair. I got the guy who swore like a sailor at his patient, he experimented with different brands of Novocaine on me, and if it weren't for the fact that I was receiving free dental care, I would never have gone back. Anyway, as I examined the condition of my teeth, all I could think of was how disappointed he'd be with what I had just photographed. They were a little more yellow than I had anticipated, and there's a reason why one should brush one's teeth before going to bed. I hadn't yet. What to do? What to do?

When in doubt, use Photoshop or some other fine photo manipulation tool! So I offer my mouth, my teeth (including the gold one on back bottom left!), my lips and a really ugly tongue. Let us hope to God that I get inspired by next week!!





This week's Mystery Guest is a long-time HNTer who many of you might recognize. This is not the first time we've seen her pose in a variation of this pose! She didn't mention any particular "kiss my ass" sentiments when she sent it in, but wouldn't you just love to??

As usual, I won't reveal her identity until she does so first. If you DO think you know who it is, go over to her site and say hi! And leave a little money for her!

EDIT:--She's officially "exposed" herself. This is the lovely Velma! Now go to her site and spread the love!




Be sure to check out these early posters: DaMasta, Imelda, Moose, Warcrygirl and ????.
Anyone interested in being the Mystery Guest is invited to send in a picture to me (email address is in my profile).
As usual--be sure to sign in on the Frappr map over there in the sidebar!
Don't forget to turn off your Word Verification for the day!

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

PeeMan Returns!

And he brings a message to one and all! Since some of you asked--THERE WILL BE NO SPECIFIC VALENTINE'S DAY THEME FOR HNT! That doesn't mean that if you get sexy lingerie from your honey (or someone else) you shouldn't post that. I'm just saying that you don't have to knock yourselves out trying to match a theme. Let's face it--there's only two real camps when it comes to Valentine's Day. You either really love it, or you really hate it. Let's be sensitive to each other and not flaunt our views at each other. Except for PeeMan....
While I have a few people still in the Mystery Guest folder, there are quite a few of you who have openly mentioned that they'd like to be the MG, yet haven't sent me anything. Don't forget to send me something!
Don't forget! You can place votes for Summer (see above) once a day per computer. If any of you have access to numerous computers, such as teachers of a computer lab, this is a great opportunity to get some good use out of them! I'm just sayin'....

BE MY ANTI-VALENTINE


For those of you who are not into the warm fuzziness that is known as Valentine's Day, there's a wonderful site with such heartfelt sentiments as the one above that you can send to your favorite person as an e-card. Go to this site to send one now!

Monday, February 06, 2006

Rachel's fingers and my nuts

Well, I'm not going to dwell on how the Seahawks were screwed or that the Steelers were handed the championship. That would just be sour grapes. INSTEAD, I'll tell you about the afternoon! Yes, I'm THAT clueless about what to post...

Rachel and I went to a pizza/beer joint to watch the Game. There wasn't much of a crowd, so we were able to grab a table right in front of the table. One of the furniture stores in town donated a recliner that was set up in front. There were drawings for prizes and a chance to sit in the chair for a quarter. I was the proud winner of the 3rd quarter recline! Along with that came free beer for the quarter (like I needed it at that point), free pizza and appetizers. Then at the end of the game, the 4 people who got to recline were finalists in the drawing to take the chair home. No, I didn't win the chair, but I did win free pizza, a decent pair of binoculars (something not right about that...), one of those canvas fold-em-up beach chairs, a nice picture calendar (which I immediately sold to a young lady at the end of the bar for $5!), and a heavy-duty flashlight that I won earlier (shut up--I can use it!). I walked out without the free pitcher that we drank really bad beer out of (Bud Light--puke! But great commercials!). But perhaps the most exciting part was this:

0205061924

That's Rachel's fingers, and my nuts. I've never seen a 4-nut peanut. I think it was supposed to bring good luck or something. In spite of the Seahawks loss, I did get lucky!

Friday, February 03, 2006

Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!

WARNING!!! Long, nasty rant to follow! Run away now!


For months, I've read bloggers who post about the strife that they're having in their lives. Husbands against wives, friends against friends, HNTers against haters, bloggers against bloggers. I've always sat back in my smugness, knowing that I was above that sort of thing, and quietly watched the misery of others. Some of the stories touched me, but for many, it's been good, clean, fun entertainment. Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I generally let things slide right by. It takes quite a bit to get me riled, and even then, I generally dislike the drama and conflict. It's just not worth the hassle. Until today.

Don't get excited, you're not going to get the details. I'm still above falling into the same sewer that they came crawling out of. But the basics--a particular person (hereto referred as PP) has, over the past couple of weeks, managed to spread some incredibly vile garbage about me. And has been able to convince some people that I considered friends that I am the anti-Christ. Petty bickering, gossip and rumors abound. Assumptions have been made and actions questioned. This is no longer one person vs. me, but a group of people vs. a false image of me. Like I said, I've just been made aware of how bad it's gotten. I had no idea! I knew that the original person had issues, but I never imagined that their words and actions could be so venomous! We weren't ever friends, really, but certainly never even rivals to the point where this shit had to happen....

So what has happened today? I've been told by a true friend how deep this has been and how long it's been going on. I've been told by a true friend that they were somewhat "recruited". I've been told by a true friend that certain individuals for whom I've had a great deal of respect, are no longer deserving of that respect. I've decided that I have to cut some people out of my life. Not an easy thing to do, since some of them really have been friends. Unfortunately, we're going to cross paths, so I'll be as polite as I need to be. But it's not going to go beyond that.

I seem to remember only one other time that I've opened up like this on my blog, but I'm to lazy to check. I've had to choose my words carefully here. But as I've said on so many other's blogs, this is my blog, and I'll damned well say what I want. So here it goes:
  • To PP mentioned above--your charm and wit have served you well. You've convinced a group of somewhat gullible and spineless people to believe everything you say, and to hang on your every word. Someday, you're true motives are going to come out. You've slipped once or twice. But you've got that Reagan-like Teflon suit on right now.I hope that when they "see the light" about you, that you'll be able to face the ones that you love. FUCK YOU.
  • To the group of somewhat gullible and spineless people mentioned above--all it would have taken is an email or phone call to check up on things. You would have then found out the truth. I feel sorry that your lives are so unfulfilled that you would belive the crap that PP has been feeding you. FUCK YOU.
  • To the one person that could have nipped this in the bud early on--as a friend, I would have hoped you would have directly confronted me about things. Instead, you chose to listen to PP's crap, and you got sucked in. I'm not particularly fond of you right now, but my nature tells me that I'll end up forgiving you, but for right now, FUCK YOU.
  • To those of you who sat back and said nothing and did nothing, but allowed it to get to this point, FUCK YOU.
  • And to those of you reading this, and wanting to comment along the lines of "grow a set of balls" or "quit your whining"--FUCK YOU.
  • And I urge you not to assume you know what's going on. You either do or don't. There's really no middle ground.

DISCLAIMERS: (In a new color, too, because writing the words above have actually improved my attitude!)
  • Rachel, Moose and J.A.G--you're off the hook. You're not involved in the least. In fact, none of you would know anything about this. But I won't talk about it with you, so don't ask me. Sorry!
  • There may be some of you confused and scared. If you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about here, then don't fret--you're either: A). not involved and you got to see a side of me that usually doesn't come out, or B). involved, but too fucking stupid to know just what's happened here.
  • Inevitably, some of you are going to comment to this. I don't want the typical "we're here for you" comments. I know that. Believe me, I do! But I don't want to hear that right now. I sort of like this feeling. If you want to apologize, or have more to tell me (including the "fuck off"s), please email me, rather than comment. Whatever you're going to do--agree, disagree, question, whatever-- I just don't want the hand-holding right now! By the end of the weekend, I will have probably deleted this post anyway.
  • I've made no distinction here between real life or blogger life. Maybe it's both. If it's blogger life, I hope some of you squirm. If it's real life, none of you will squirm, other than seeing what I can be like a times...

For any of you who have never gone off the deep end like this, it's quite cathartic! Now it's time to drink....

Black Thursday, Red Friday

This is the Red Friday part. I received this in an email Thursday. It sort of hits home with the recent problems with my dad. If you can do this, you should!

February is

American Heart Month

Please wear Red tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 3) in honor of
your mother, daughter, sister, or co-worker.

Show them you care about their heart health.

Go Red for Women

I'm sure that many of you noticed some sad changes as you went surfing through HNTs yesterday. While we constantly have people coming and going each week, I don't think we've seen as many "high profile" ones drop out at once. These are ladies who have been involved with HNT from the early days.

The first one that warned me by email was Summer. She went out the same way she came in--using her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles blanket! Then I hit Kalani's site. She also gave us a picture, but announced that she was through. Kalani has been such an incredible participant, and a great friend to many of us. This one was a surprise. Then tonight I find that Tish announced her farewell. I had an inkling of this one, but it still was a shock to see in print. These ladies all have their own reasons for bowing out. Each of them made HNT special in their own particular ways. None of them have plans to quit blogging, so be sure you stop by and visit them!

Also missing HNT this week: Melanie, who has completely pulled her site. Mel is another long-time HNTer who will be sorely missed. I read somewhere that a guy is trying to raise a grass-roots effort to try to get her back. I don't know if that'll work. Muse tore down her site, but is sort of back up, but without the bells and whistles. Not sure which direction she's going to go. And we missed Binsk this week, but she said she'd be back next week.

I'm not quite sure why today seemed to be the day, but while HNT was as wonderful as always, there seemed to be a black cloud hanging around, too. My personal best wishes to each of them. Sometimes you just have to let them go....

A suggestion for everyone--there's alot of people who comment "late" that they're up. This is particularly true with newbies. I recommend that sometime you start at the bottom of my comments and work your way up. There's alot of very interesting people down on that end!!

As promised, I'm not going to reveal the Mystery Guest, though I can tell you that she is very happy for the comments! And she got just as many good ones on her own site for this week too! If you're interested in becoming a Mystery Guest, just send me a submission (or two, or three...) to my gmail address (find it in my profile). Eventually, everyone who submits will get their chance!

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Formal HNT

It dawned on me that I hadn't posted any pictures of me and Michelle in quite awhile, especially with me in a tux (go to the bottom of this post to find out who Michelle is). I rarely ever wear a coat & tie. I was fortunate enough to teach in school systems where that wasn't expected. I've never had a job since then where I've had to do the whole coat & tie thing. I hate wearing a coat & tie.

But I love wearing a tuxedo. You just can't look bad when you wear a tux. Girls love a guy in a tux. Girls look good in a tux! On an occassion or two, I've even gotten to wear the full tails and diamond studs. A real tux. Not the monkey suits that guys end up having to wear for their wedding, but a functional tux. This picture is from May, 2004, after our last concert of the season.

I figured that since we had a concert this past Saturday, I should get another picture of Michelle and I before I left for the concert hall. I never did figure out why people were pointing and laughing at me. I didn't think the hair was THAT short!


Who am I?

I am your sister, your mother in days gone by, your best friend, the girl next door. I am a faithful, loyal companion. I am the “nice girl”, the sweet one….I am a woman, yet still a little girl inside.

You see, this is only my skin – it is not who I am, it is only what covers me…and protects the inside from the outside. This photograph is the expression of the other side of me....inside every lamb is a lion....


It's a real treat to host this week's Mystery Guest. I will not reveal who she is, nor will I confirm or deny any guesses. If you think you might know, email her to find out if you're right! In the meantime, be gracious with the positive comments--she's more than a little bit nervous!
Just a heads up here--while I usually can get to all of you by the weekend, I've got alot of things I have to get done in the next couple of days. I won't get to a whole lot of you tonight--don't take it personally. I will get to everyone eventually (like I always do!) A request, however. There's alot of new people joining in that we don't know about! If you know of someone, please have them comment here! I know many of you are seeing these people, and many of you do tell them that. But there's alot of them who don't know!
Please turn off your word verification for the day!
Be sure to sign in on the Frappr map over there in the sidebar!
You might have noticed a new HNT button that was made by Jonathan over at The Bastard Son down below. If you're interested in using it on your own site, click the button, and it will take you to the HNT guidelines site and you can pick up the code for your very own!
Be sure to come back and check out the following early posters: Rachel, Everything Nice, Pieces, Fidget and Aughra.
Also come back and check out the late commenters on the list too!