Brain Dump HNT

Just some this and that...

--I'm watching "Vietnam in HD" on the History Channel. I am fascinated by it, and by my lack of knowledge and understanding of it. I grew up during the war (or whatever its official designation is). My parents didn't allow the TV on during dinner, and I was really too young to know what was going on. As I got older, it was never discussed in history classes, since it was actually current events. And the teachers really didn't understand what was going on themselves. So, while I learned all the big battles of WWII, Vietnam is a subject I'm terribly ignorant of. Whereas BTE (who's not that much older than me) went there and got wounded, I was just young enough that the fall of Saigon happened a month before I graduated high school, meaning I didn't have to worry about being sent to war. This particular series uses letters, journeys and footage taken by soldiers during battles, and narration by surviving soldiers, newsmen and families. None of the stock news reels that most of us have seen. Truth be told, I'm glad I didn't pay attention back in the day...

--Had to run to that giant corporate box store that everyone tries to avoid, but ultimately ends up going to, to pick up my meds. I saw Letitia, who's got a three foot weave, long hot pink nails, and cheap plastic gold colored earrings. And yellow spandex pants about a size or two too small. Looks remarkable like the woman that Gucci's dealing with at her insurance company!

--Anytime I go there, I come out wondering a simple "what if?" It's not the women and the snot-nosed babies that amaze me, but their spouses/boyfriends that accompany them. I'd like to think that I've always been a better catch than some of these guys...

--I don't have permission to post this pic, but I don't imagine I'll get into much trouble. This is one of my FB friends (actually, the sister of a real life friend, who won't friend me on FB, but I digress) and her daughter. Have you seen anything quite so cute?

--There's a nice lull in my life going on at the moment. That gets blown out of the water next weekend though. The first anniversary of my dad's death, the big football game (Gucci, yer goin' down!), Thanksgiving (reportedly at BIL3's sister's place--oh, joy), and then 3+ weeks of symphony silliness for the holidays. Concert at the Cathedral (always a joy), and then two Nutcrackers. Then Christmas. So the lull is quite appreciated!

--Big news coming up next week! As well as theme announcements! Be sure to check back for that stuff!

--I sort of made a snide remark on a picture that a FB friend posted this morning. She had planned on taking a picture of her back yard, but had the camera flipped on her phone and took a picture of her face. So this afternoon, the near full moon (full on Thursday) came up while the sun was setting. I went to take a picture of it, and zoom in on it, and...you guessed it. I tapped on the camera-flipping button. The worst part? I still couldn't get a decent picture of the moon. I need to spend some more time with my phone...

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Nope. No Mystery Guest this week.

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A good showing of pictures this week over at "...the Other HNT". Stop by and check them out! Your fellow HNTers appreciate the comments, too! Don't forget--it's NSFW!

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Ashly Star is still taking donations for U.S. Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots program. Below is their mission statement:

"The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted."

In 2009, Ashly decided to ask her fellow bloggers to join in and help her. And help her they have! She has a PayPal account set up to take monetary donations, which she then cashes out and goes on a toy-buying spree! And the glory of it is that it doesn't take huge amounts of dollars on your part! Any amount-- $5, $10, $ 13.79, $20 --every little bit helps, and you wouldn't believe how far a dollar will go!

If you have a question as to whether or not it's a scam...it definitely isn't! She even takes pics as she's shopping, and then a final "this is what we bought" picture. Though it's not really easy to see, the button at the top of this story is last year's loot! All money donated is spent on toys, as well as quite a few bucks of her own. There's no "administrative" costs taken by her or anything like that.

This is the third year that she's inviting the blogger world to join her. Do something good. Do it now before the stress of the holidays start to pile up. It's easy to do--just click on the button above, which will take you to her site, and click on the PayPal button at the top of her sidebar to send money. I've already done it--won't you?