Boobie-Thon '10 HNT

It's that time of year again for the 9th Annual Blogger Boobie-Thon! It starts up this Friday, and runs for seven days. For those who have never experienced it, it's a fundraiser to raise money for breast cancer research. Bloggers from all over the globe send in photos of their boobies (covered and uncovered) to help raise money for Breast Cancer Research. They have raised over $64,000 in the past 8 years.

As I've mentioned in previous years, my family hasn't had any history of breast cancer. Doesn't mean that it couldn't happen (we don't have a history of diabetes, either, and look what happened!). Almost everyone knows someone who's been affected by breast cancer. It's not a good thing. While millions of dollars have been raised and spent on cancer research, and there is some progress being made, there's still a long way to go. While raising a few thousand dollars may seem like a drop in a very large bucket, one must remember that the Great Flood started with a few raindrops. And if you don't believe in the Great Flood, try.....um....the last few snowflakes that fall to trigger an avalanche. Or the last straw that broke the camel's back. Whatever. You get the idea. Every little bit helps!

Over the years, many HNTers have contributed many boobie pics for Boobie-Thon. Including a few of the guys. Yeah, guys are encouraged to submit. Guys can get breast cancer too, ya know! Submissions are taken through next Thursday night, so I encourage you to send in a picture or two (a link to instructions can be found on the Boobie-Thon page). I opted to send in a picture of not just mine, but of one of my favorite sets of boobies. So be sure to look for boobs and moobs over there!

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Through the lens of my camera

I can learn to love my body.

This is the my choice of therapy.

This week's Mystery Guest has been enjoying her photo therapy for a couple of years. You can find her Flickr set when she's revealed Thursday afternoon.
this week's MG is Amber from over at Mommy Mania! Stop by and see what she's doing in the kitchen. And leave her some lovin'!

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Another fine batch of pictures submitted this week for "...the Other HNT". Be sure you stop by to check out your fellow HNTers! And don't forget to leave some comments...they'd sure appreciate it! As usual...NSFW.

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As part of my overall template upgrading, I've also worked on my separate HNT site. I'm placing all my HNTs in one spot. I'm about a third of the way through over five years. It's been really interesting to go back and actually look at some of these. In some cases, all I can think is, what was I thinking??? If you're up for some laughs, go take a look over there...

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The latest page of the OsShirt site should be up this weekend. It's the last and most recent location in Florida. Hippies and cops will be involved with this one!

Warm Days, Cool Nights, Newbies & Bewbies

What a great week of weather we're having! Not a cloud in the sky, temps in the upper 70s to mid 80s, nice cool (but not cold) nights. I do love this time of year!

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We've had a large crop of newbies joining us for HNT over the past couple of weeks. I don't normally do this, but welcome to Sunny, Gucci Mama, Dutchess, Blossom, Heather B, A Daft Scots Lass, CO_Sub, Diva, and to all the other new HNTers that have stopped by! We hope you have fun with it, and get to find some new friends out of it. If you haven't checked them out yet, you really should!

For their benefit (and as a reminder to the rest of us), I'm pasting the guidelines for HNT below. They haven't changed a letter since the day they were posted over 5 years ago. Some of them are a little outdated, but in general, it's a nice set of "rules"! Remember that the code for the HNT buttons are available there too, which will always take you back to that page.


The Beginnings
It was suggested that I include the inspiration for "Half-Nekkid Thursday". I would agree. Originally, I credited Cathy with posting pictures for Half Naked Thursdays. I wandered through her blog, and found numerous shots of kid's tushes, bare shoulders, hubby's tummy, etc. It didn't appear to be an organized thing, but a cool idea. So I ran with it. After publicly thanking her for the idea, both she and her husband Doug informed me that the true originator of the concept was The Blue Sloth. He has a HUGE amount of pics on his site--a majority of them of his kids & family. He used to take the kids to the beach and take half naked pics of them. Voila! An idea was born! Many thanks to this unknown genius! I know that he's been made aware of the phenomenon as it now exists. I hope he takes a little pride in its conception!

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The Guidelines
I offer these guidelines for "Half-Nekkid Thursday":

• In that North American, Puritanical way that most of my readers think, "Nekkid", or its variations, somehow insinuates sex, or its variations. WRONG!! The purpose of "Half-Nekkid Thursday" is not to see sex acts! It is the celebration of exposure. Of your big toe. Of your breastbone. Of your knuckles. Of your uvula. Whatever. Of course, sex acts can qualify, so if you want to post those.....
  
• "Nekkid" is not the same as nude! Again, nude qualifies, but it is not a requirement!
  
• Pictures should be taken of you or by you. Don't be going to some internet site and downloading "Half-Nekkid" pics. And don't use Uncle Bob's pictures from Spring Break '72, either. Let's try to keep this fairly "real".
  
• You don't necessarily have to be the subject of the picture. By the same token, if you're not, then the subject(s) should be known to you. No fair going to the beach and snapping pictures left and right. Yes, they might be "Half-Nekkid", but they don't follow the spirit of "Half-Nekkid Thursday".
  
• While animals can be included in a "Half-Nekkid Thursday" picture, they are not the focus, therefore cannot be the subject. If an animal is all that keeps your picture "Half-Nekkid" rather than "Full-Nekkid", that's OK.
  
• You are allowed a very limited number of cute-kids-in-the-tub type of pictures. We're interested in YOU!
  
• Use some originality with your shots. Facial shots should be limited. Artsy body landscapes, conversely, are highly encouraged. If a partner/family member is needed to take the picture, that's OK.
  
• Props can help you with creativity, and their use is encouraged, but not necessary.
  
• As we get into this, you may find that you want to post more than one picture for "Half-Nekkid Thursday". I would discourage this practice unless absolutely necessary. You should hold some pictures in reserve, in case you find yourself without a new picture down the road.
  
• While I can hardly control when you post pictures on your own blogs, let's try to keep "Half-Nekkid Thursday" special, and post "Half-Nekkid" pics only on Thursdays. If you feel the urge to post them more than once a week, I might recommend just emailing them out, rather than posting.
  
• Tattoos are certainly an acceptable subject, regardless of location. Scars are also acceptable, but please respect the others who visit "Half-Nekkid Thursday" on a regular basis. Spread out the scar pictures over a few weeks' time, please!
  
• Speaking of scars--If you use a picture of a scar, it must be accompanied by some sort of humorous anectdote as to how you got it. For a long, but good example, go here.
  
• Other skin conditions might not be acceptable, due to good taste. These include, but are not limited to warts, zits, lesions, ingrown hairs, boils, open sores, peeling skin, scabies, rashes, or any other assorted gross things. I'm not saying that you can't post them. Just use your best judgement, for the sake of the rest of us.
  
• When referring to "Half-Nekkid Thursday", please spell it correctly! Not Naked, not Neked, not Nakid. It's "Half-Nekkid Thursday".
  
• It's very important to not be dissing other's submissions! We're all going to have half-hearted entries from time to time. None of us is better than the other. One the other hand, it's completely acceptable to heap praise upon those that deserve it!
  
• IMPORTANT!--Remember to visit my current "HNT" post and leave a comment indicating that you've posted a picture for "Half-Nekkid Thursday". Consider my blog as the informational kiosk for "Half-Nekkid Thursday". You'll be able to see who is joining the tradition. Commenting is much easier for all concerned, rather than updating my blog each time someone posts their picture. I will try to keep the Blogroll in my sidebar updated each week.

I hope that these guidelines help all of you. Get those cameras going!

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Don't forget that the 9th Annual Blogger Boobie-Thon starts up this Friday. For those not familiar with it, be sure to click the link and read up on it. Participants have raised over $13,000 dollars over the years for breast cancer research! Photo submissions are being taken now for Friday's launch, so if you feel inclined, be sure to join in! Read the rules though...boobies only, covered or bare, and anonymous, please! Looking forward to seeing many of yours over there next week!

Happy Birthday!!

Someone is having a birthday today! Can't think of anything more that she'd want than four hot women in big hair and leather! Unless they were undressed...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY DEAR FRIEND!

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You'll notice that things are looking a bit different around here. Some people were getting security warnings based on Blogrolling's imminent demise, and frankly, after 5 1/2 years of keeping the same template, I was getting tired of the look. So I bit the bullet, and made the transition to "new" Blogger. I do it with mixed emotions. One of the things that I've enjoyed about blogging is learning how things work. I've assisted many of you with your own blogs over the years. It's not that I really knew what was going on, but I've spent an awfully long time playing in the guts of many templates. I've learned what things can be adjusted, and where to make those. I was able to come up with the click-through instructions (for Blogger) that most of you use, based on examination a couple of different ways to accomplish the task. I've altered my background for special occasions or seasons/holidays. No classes, no instruction--just hands-on experimentation.

"New" Blogger admittedly takes much of that ability and makes it easy for anyone to customize their templates. Also admittedly, I'll enjoy being able to do things quicker. But I'm going to miss playing around with the code. Oh, I still do. I've already had to do some things with this template. I'll be tweaking it over the next few weeks. You may or may not notice any changes. The only thing I see as a possible glitch is that those of you who follow me might have to re-follow me. Even though I couldn't ever display my followers in the 'old' Blogger, I've still got almost 140 of you! Early examination of my Dashboard, however, doesn't register them. So follow me again, if you'd like! Still haven't decided what to do about my blogrolls yet though...

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My football teams are making it hard to walk around bragging about. The high school team lost to the cross-town rivals Friday night (BOOO....!). And my Griz are just looking average. They almost didn't win their own homecoming game yesterday in what should have been a cakewalk. I know they've got a new head coach, but things haven't changed THAT much! Carroll College is finally looking like the team that we've hoped for. They're undefeated, but they've looked a little shaky at times. I'm hoping the rest of the season goes better for all three teams!

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Looking forward to having dinner with Rachel on Monday night. I've missed being able to communicate with her all summer. It'll be good to see her again. I just hope she's shaved her legs since coming off the mountain! :-P

The Future HNT

I would like to thank Google/Blogger for the adrenaline rush this morning for many of you. Spammers apparently used my gmail account in the wee hours of the morning (third time since Spring). Google decided to shut me down completely. This site, OHNT, all others associated with that email address. It took a simple one-word word verification to get it all back this morning, but not before I received dozens of emails (which I couldn't access) asking what was up. Of all the days to do that...

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“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
~Eleanor Roosevelt

“Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed.”
~Wayne Dyer

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”
~Alan Kay

“I look to the future because that's where I'm going to spend the rest of my life.”
~George F. Burns

"The future is always beginning now."
~Mark Strand

"The past is a source of knowledge, and the future is a source of hope. Love of the past implies faith in the future."
~Stephen Ambrose

"The future is not what it used to be."
~Malcolm Rifkind

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444
Poet
Wife
Geek
HNT
Japan
Writer
Knitter
Sinatra
Kimchi
Mother
Hockey
Smoker
Pierogies
Party Girl
Daft Punk

This week's MG is appearing for a fourth time, but won't be revealing herself. Each of these terms can be used to describe her. Longtime HNTers should be able to figure out who it is though!

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An interesting mix over at "...the Other HNT". Be sure to stop by and visit your fellow HNTers! As always--NSFW!

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The OsShirt site continues to document the wide and varied travels of the most coveted Hawaiian shirt in blogland! See who's had the pleasure of wearing it, and the wild times they've shared!

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A head's up for you, especially the newbies! The 9th Annual Blogger Boobie-Thon will be starting up at the end of next week. The site is still showing the last posts from last year, but there should be new info coming out soon. It won't be an official theme, but I hope you all support this wonderful cause by posting boobie pictures!

Real Life ::: Blog Life

Something happened during last week's symphony rehearsals. Not anything earth-shattering, but it was certainly eye-opening to me. The conductor, who tends to be 'intense' during rehearsals, wasn't particularly happy with the second violins at one point, and had them repeat a small section over and over. They weren't getting it, and he and they were both getting frustrated. Finally, the principal player snapped at him. Which made him see red, but he held back and didn't retaliate. For those unfamiliar with the rehearsal process, the conductor (any conductor) is a dictator. There is no popular vote, no opinions that should be expressed, no consensus by committee. Any problems/suggestions/opinions can be discussed, but privately, and certainly NOT during a rehearsal. The proverbial dead horse was beaten, so we moved on, and dealt with it later. But it was certainly an uncomfortable moment.

I ran into another woman who played in that section on Monday. She expressed her frustration with that situation, and what can we do about his bullying, and yadda, yadda, yadda... I smiled and nodded. I've been on the receiving end of his persistence as well, so I know what it's like.

But what I wanted to say was that I didn't agree with her frustration. We've known what he's like for 8 years now, and we're all big boys and girls. We should be able to make the adjustments he's asking for, regardless of if we think they're correct or not. Again...going back to the dictatorship. This woman later emailed me, and was sort of prodding me to agree with her. I avoided replying to her. I just didn't want to get in the middle of it.

So what was the eye-opening part? I (and literally every one of us) do the same thing here in blogland.

• How many obviously bad decisions/choices do we read that we don't say anything about (yet gossip about behind the person's back)?
• How many extra-marital affairs (real or cyber) are blogged about that we know will end badly in one way or another (yet encourage and give high-fives for)?
• How many family woes do we read of (yet don't offer constructive help, rather 'help' by relating similar stories)?
• How hypocritical do we find others in their writings about friends and/or enemies (yet smile and nod at them)?
• How many times do we shake our heads at someone's writing (yet seek out someone to chat with who shares your own opinions)?

The fact is--we don't want to rock the boat. We don't want to lose someone's friendship. We don't want to verbalize our own opinions, for fear of being chastised or ridiculed for disagreeing. We want everything to be smooth sailing. Peachy. Rosy. And when someone does rock the boat, we see the reaction, and don't want to be on the receiving end of someone else's fury. For the most part, most of us don't have the balls to challenge. To disagree. To speak our mind. We have become a wide community of sheep. Rather than be the one to be the dark cloud, we pull sunshine out of our asses, smile and nod, and then express our sorrow or disappointment when things go south.

I'm guilty of it. You're guilty of it. It happens in real life. It happens here.

Joy, Upset, Dorkiness and Sadness

We performed Beethoven's Ninth last night. It was an interesting evening, to be sure... First, you must understand two things:

1. There's a long segment in this symphony where the basses don't have a thing to do. Not a single note for page after page.
2. There's a bar right across the street from the concert venue, rather popular by local musicians.

It had been decided that during the performance, after the bass players had played their parts in the opening of the Ninth, they were to quietly lay down their instruments and leave the stage rather than sit on their stools looking and feeling dumb for twenty minutes.

Well, once they got backstage, someone suggested that they trot across the street and quaff a few brews. After they had downed the first couple rounds, one said, "Shouldn't we be getting back? It'd be awfully embarrassing if we were late."

Another, presumably the one who suggested this excursion in the first place, replied, "Oh, I anticipated we could use a little more time, so I tied a string around the last pages of the conductor's score. When he gets down to there, he's going to have to slow the tempo way down while he waves the baton with one hand and fumbles with the string with the other."

They had another round and finally returned to the Civic Center, a little tipsy by now. However, as they came back on stage, one look at their conductor's face told them they were in serious trouble. The conductor was furious! And why not? After all... It was the bottom of the Ninth, the score was tied, and the basses were loaded.
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Ah, an oldie, but a goodie! Anyone who knows the Ninth knows that the basses work their asses off in it! Anyway, the concert went off without a hitch, and was a great way to open the season!

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Look at my teams over there in the sidebar. Yep. My beloved Griz are killing me! They lost their second game in a row on Saturday (someone might have been following the game on their Droid during the long stretches that the trombones didn't have to play...). They haven't done that in quite a number of years. They're not out of the playoff hunt, by any means, but every game from now on is a "must win" game. On another note, it was the conference opener for both teams, and the home opener for Eastern Washington. Know how Boise State has the blue football field? This game was the first on EWU's new red field. To look at it is mind-altering. To watch it on TV is eye-popping. To watch it on TV for more than 10 minutes is vomit-inducing. Click on the link to see a Flickr set of the installation.

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Sunday was "Talk Like a Pirate" Day. So I dutifully changed my language on my FB to "Pirate". It wasn't until almost midnight that I realized that it only appeared in "Pirate" on my page to me. No one else could see it. While I got a warm feeling for being able participate in some way, I feel like a dork that no one else got to read what I was reading!

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This is Midget. Rachel's dog. (for the newbies...Rachel was one of the original 6 HNTers) Rachel has been working at a remote mountaintop lodge in Glacier Park this summer, leaving Midget with her parents here in Helena. It was tough to leave her for the summer, but had to be done. Rachel just finished her summer in Glacier and was coming back to pick up Midget. Sadly, before she got here, Midget got away, ran into the street, and was run over by someone. Whom some witnesses say purposely swerved to hit her. You know, life really sucks sometimes.

Rant

I've been blogging longer than most of you. Many of you don't even remember that there used to be an "old" Blogger. This site is based on "old" Blogger. Which is why there's no way to show my followers in the sidebar.

Anyhoo...In the old days, one picked up this javascript and that javascript to help manage your blog in better ways. One of those things I added was from Bloggrolling.com. They would manage your favorite links, and organize them in a variety of ways that you could tell them to. And you could add a link with the click of a button, and it would be automatically added to your blogroll. Based on the criteria that you defined for it. In my case, that would simply be alphabetical.

Some of you mentioned that you had received warnings when trying to get to my site on Thursday. I noticed on my own that my blogrolls had disappeared. Checking their support site, I'm informed that Blogrolling has pretty much been on auto-pilot for the past 6 months or more. And that none of the programmers who set it up are associated with Blogrolling anymore. Their suggestion? Delete the Blogrolling code. That's it. No suggestions on how to transfer the info or save it. Just a slam, bam, thank you ma'am. And that it's all going to be shut down in the near future.

So what does this mean? A loss of the history of HNT, for one thing. There's well over 300 links over there. Many of them are former HNTers, but at least there's a link to some of the old-timers. The blogroll has actually been cut down from over 900 which were there a year ago. I hated doing that. I actually check many of those links from time to time. And am often rewarded by a post from someone who forgot they even had a blog. It's nice to reconnect at those times. But now, I'm going to lose those. I also have that second blogroll of non-HNTers. Ones that many of you have never heard of. At least with HNTers, I can use YOUR blogrolls to visit. These, are soon to be lost to me.

So it seems I have one of two options. Get into my account, and manually copy/paste every link I've got, and save them somewhere until I figure out what to do. Or I can suck it up, switch to the "new" Blogger, and start adding my favorites. By hand. And doing that everytime I see someone new. Because my blogroll isn't so much a 'favorites' thing, as it is a roster. Is everyone on it? Of course not. Not because I don't like someone, but because I just never got around to adding them.

This little rant has gone on too long, so I'll extract it and make a separate post for it. First my Haloscan left, and now Blogrolling. I suppose change is inevitable, but it would be nice if someone reliable could take up the slack...

Fancy Schmancy HNT

The new symphony season kicks off this weekend. Technically, the summer concert is the first concert of the new season, but this is the one with the big "society" glitz (for as glitzy as Montana gets). It's an odd mix at the concerts. Old and young. And lots of very overdressed people. This is Montana, people. Don't look down your snobby noses at the ones who show up in jeans and a t-shirt!

When did classical music get to be so stuffy? Back in the day, listening to your local orchestra was equivalent to listening to the band in your neighborhood bar. Attending an opera was no more different than going to the movies today. And there certainly was no dress code attached to either the audience or musicians. Black tuxes and formals for musicians?? So unnecessary! Even less so for the audience!

The ridiculousness is made even worse in this town. Inevitably, there's women who way overdress for the occasion. And while their husbands might not be in tuxes, they dress better than they do for business meeting! Why? To be uncomfortable in a hot auditorium, sitting for a couple of hours listening to music? No, it's so that they can be seen. And boy, do they make sure they're seen! Heavy mingling in the lobby. Standing at their seats (particularly the expensive ones), so that all can see that they support the symphony and they're right there.

I suppose I shouldn't complain. There's nothing worse than playing to a small audience. And their enthusiasm during fund-raising is what keeps me off the streets. But personally, I much prefer the audience for the summer concert. Everyone wears what the weather will allow. Far less pretentiousness. All the common folk sitting on the grass. Sorta like it was back in the day...

But I digress. We're playing Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Sometimes referred to as the Choral Symphony. Arguably the finest piece of music ever written. First time a choir was used in a symphony--all very daring. And they sing the "Ode to Joy". A tune that is almost universally recognized. Beethoven was deaf when he wrote it. One can only imagine what he was hearing in his head as his fingers wrote the composition. At some point, he must have forgotten that he didn't write much for the trombones. With the exception of a brief 60 seconds in the second movement, the trombones have to sit, unfidgeting, and appearing to be interested, for at least 50 minutes before getting to play. And when they do, it's just the men of the choir, the string basses and the bones. What could he have possibly been hearing at this point??

Obviously I have to work on my unfidgetingness. That would include no cell phone pics. This is from Saturday's rehearsal. Remember I mentioned that there were two rehearsals? This is from the first one. We didn't play until halfway through the second. Do I look bored from this shot? I was. The good part though...the trombones got a standing ovation from the woodwind section for coming in at the right time!

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Years ago she would she would entertain us with her stories, tug at our hearts with her trials, but always bring a smile to our faces with her HNTs. To her, it was all about the art of the photography and never anything more: the curve of her hip, the details in the lace, the "Orion's Belt" line of freckles on her chest. She hid behind a cloak of anonymity, skittish kitty that she was, and then one day disappeared without a trace. I've always kept in touch with her and as the years have passed, our friendship has grown. I'm her Rascal. She won't be revealing herself but to those long time HNT'ers who pay close attention to certain clues, you'll know who she is. Know that she is doing well these days and still stops by every now and then to say hello.

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As usual, a wide and varied collection of pictures over at "...the Other HNT". Be sure to stop by and check out your fellow HNTers! Remember...NSFW!

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A new chapter in the OsShirt saga is up over at its site. It's the kick-off to the summer fun!

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Still open to suggestions for where to go with my ticket voucher. It's got to be used in the continental U.S. (sorry Moose), and wherever Delta flies (which is just about anywhere, I think). There's a location that is currently at the top of the list, but I could possibly be talked into someplace else. Looking at the end of January/early February, in case there's something going on that I simply shouldn't miss!

Stuff, once again...

• Saturday was a long day. Up early to load the equipment truck, unload it, set up for symphony rehearsal, rehearse, lunch, rehearse, tear down rehearsal, load equipment truck, unload it, show up late for family BBQ (which turned out not to really be a bbq, but it was nice to see everyone in the family!).
• Home in time to watch my Griz lose their first regular season game in years. That sucked.
• Sunday was spent watching NFL. It's going to be an interesting season!
• Remember my story about the Delta ticket voucher? Many of you insisted that I write to Delta about it. Couldn't hurt, could it? So I did. Still haven't heard back from them. However... I ran into a friend about a week ago who happens to be...a Delta ticket agent! I stopped by to see her this morning, and guess who now is in possession of a $400 ticket voucher?!? I've got some ideas, but will entertain suggestions!
• Mom's sister was in town this weekend, and used Mom's computer to show her grandkid's pictures from their Facebook pages. Guess who's now looking at getting her own FB page...
• Stayed up late Sat. night and watched a couple of 9/11 specials on the History Channel. Still brings a tear to my eye.
• Then as I was about to hit the sack, I ran across Comedy Central, and they were running an uncensored Richard Pryor concert. Later in his career. Post-self-immolation. And one I hadn't seen before. I had forgotten how wonderful he was as a comedian. Needless to say, I didn't get to bed terribly early.
• Monday Night Football. Double-header. Does it get any better??

Thanks, Mom! HNT

August was a killer month for me. No question about that. Writing music for two different bands with different styles, during every free moment that I had (which, unfortunately means doing most of it late at night--that's when the creativity hits). Taking a 4-day trip to NY (which was really a saving grace, even though it put me a little behind). Rehearsals, gigs, a class reunion. Staff meetings for the symphony. And this summer's free concert. I know...wah, wah, wah...

As mentioned in my prior post, this past weekend's gig resulted in my getting to bed at 5 AM. I was SO looking forward to sleeping until noon, at least. Mom had other ideas and called me at 9. This is an incredibly good reenactment of that particular moment, including the really bright sunlight...

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Sorry, I've got no Mystery Guest for this week. And technically, no one lined up for the near future. If you're interested in being the MG, email me, OK? Even if you've been the MG before!

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Got some returning HNTers over at "...the Other HNT" this week. Good to see some of them back! (or front, as the case may be...) Of course, it's NSFW!

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Be sure to stop off over at the OsShirt site. New adventure over there that you probably want to see! And it's the one that sort of kicks off the really fun summer that it had!

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Is a bird in the hand really worth two in the bush?

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"Dirty Harry" marathon all week on AMC! Woohoo!

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Have I missed anything?

It's September! How did that happen???

I suppose I should get back on track here...

First off--have you guys noticed the new "Stats" tab on your Blogger dashboard? I think it just magically appeared sometime today/tonight. Go obsess now...

Got word that the OsShirt has made it to its next destination. It's now officially a trans-continental traveler! Look for signs of it soon! In the meantime, stop by the OsShirt site. The latest adventure from this past winter is posted there. You won't want to miss this one!

Big drama these past 10 days or so in blogland. I been quite content to sit far out of the way on this one. Sure, I've got plenty of opinions, but I've behaved! At least publicly...

Labor Day weekend was a bit of a waste for me, but beneficial! We played our wedding gig on Saturday night. Sort of a long drive to get there. A lot of waiting around. GREAT food! Free beer. Fantastic looking wedding party. Not much of a crowd for dancing though. Things started out pretty slowly on the dance floor, which, as performers, affects us as well. But by the end of the night, the dancers were out, and we were on top of our game. Went out to dinner with the newlyweds on Monday night, and they were ecstatic with us. Thank God! Now the looming question...do we have a future, or was that our last gig?

Drove back home afterwards, meaning I got to bed around 5AM. Then my mother, bless her, calls me at 9AM. Numerous naps were taken over the next two days, as well as a full 8 hours of sleep Sunday night. Haven't had that in forever! I think the month finally caught up with me. August is done! When did it start getting dark so early??

Symphony concert in less than two weeks, and I have ZERO stress about it! Yet....

Being on the road meant that I missed out on listening to/watching my football teams in action. You can see how they fared over there in my sidebar. Looks like it's going to be another good season!

Was so busy over the past week that I messed up and don't have a Mystery Guest for HNT this week. Unless someone wants to jump in and grab the spot (email me!).

One-Armed Wallpaper Hanger HNT

Busy like there's no tomorrow these days. Working on HNT from work, so it's short and sweet here. Of course, work is busy today, too. Relief comes after the weekend. But for now--part of the many reasons I enjoy playing with the soul band...

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"How wrong it is for a woman to expect the man to build the world she wants, rather than to create it herself." ~Anais Nin
Some call her sexy, some call her Sadie. The rest of us call her Sexie Sadie!

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Lots o' boobies and stuff over at "...the Other HNT". NSFW, as usual! Edit: OHNT won't go up until midnight, MDT. Too damned busy.

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Enjoy your Labor/Labour Day weekend (those of you who celebrate one or the other...). Don't drink and drive!

Checking in again...

Yes, I'm still around.

• Gig on Friday went very well. A good crowd, but not quite as big as we had hoped for, but still packed the place. A couple of unanticipated 'happenings' in the performance that never even cropped up during rehearsals. Being the consummate professional musicians as we are....we faked it. But landed on our feet every time!
• Spent the weekend writing for the other band, with our wedding gig coming up on Saturday. It's nice to get out of a 'soul' mentality, and back to rock and country. Still, it's been non-stop writing, and many of you have noticed my absense. Nice to be missed!
• Cold and rainy here all weekend, which was a great motivation to stay inside and work on it. Interesting how the hottest and coldest days of the summer have happened during the span of less than a week!
• Football starts this weekend. I'm woefully unprepared to face that, though I don't think it'll take much more than one weekend to get back into the swing of things. I'll again put the table in my sidebar on how my three favorite teams fared each week. For those who don't remember, all three of them advanced to the championship game of their respective levels, and all three were beaten. Hoping for better this season!
• Nothing else new or exciting to share. Hope your lives are a tad more fulfilling than mine at the moment!

Burning the Midnight Oil HNT

I've written a lot over the past couple of weeks about how busy August has been. I'm just not sure how I underestimated exactly how busy it would be. I am SO burned out on writing music... I never thought I'd ever say that. Maybe it's the combination of that and the rehearsals we're having to have. I don't mean to say that they're bad--I love working with these guys. I've worked with almost all of them in the past. But it's not the old band. The band over there in the sidebar (towards the bottom). We put in over 11 years together, and after that amount of time, we instinctively knew what each other would do, how we would play, and how we'd communicate with each other while we were playing. Knowing what a simple eyebrow lift or specific jumble of words meant. Things that only come from spending so much time together.

But this band is different. I find that we have to work harder to make things work smoothly. It shouldn't have to be this hard. It's not that we don't have the players/singers. It's that we don't have that same unspoken communication with each other. It's coming slowly, but it's frustrating at times.

When I signed on to play in this band, I assumed I'd have to write some horn arrangements. I didn't anticipate necessarily needing to make them so concise that silent communication wouldn't be necessary. Whereas the trumpet player and I played together for so long, the sax player (who normally is the only horn player in any group he's been in) just isn't used to having to sound like a section player. He's getting there, and I think he's working harder than he thought he'd have to, but it's a learning process. But by God...give him a solo, and he's great!

So my past few weeks have been spent in front of my computer putting music together. Then over the weekend, my software went wonky on me. Short story, as you might have read earlier this week, is that I had to resort to writing by hand. Eek! Need to get someone in here to rub my hands after a session of that! Fortunately, I have a six-year old version of the software on my laptop (which means re-learning all sorts of things about the program). But I can't really do all this while sitting in my recliner, so I've moved to the space in front of the desktop computer, pushing it back and out of the way. I've even moved my mouse over to the laptop, just to make things easier. Perhaps the desktop will see how it's supposed to be done. This is the view it has, watching me work with the older, more mature version. Hopefully it learns something!

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"...For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils."

"Daffodils" ~ William Wordsworth

This pensive flower will be revealed late Thursday afternoon. Be sure to come back to see who it is!
This week's MG is Dafs, from over at Night Moves! She's fairly new to HNT, but eager! She generally posts hers on Thursday nights, so don't be alarmed if you don't see a new HNT. Feel free to go back a few posts!

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Lots of people over at "...the Other HNT" this week! Definitely NSFW, if you care about that sort of thing...

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Perhaps the desktop is plotting its revenge on me. I emptied the trash on the laptop's desk the other day. I'm not sure how I did it, but I suddenly gained over 6GB of room on my hard drive! And then I found out why. I emptied my entire iTunes library! The good news--I still had my iPod synched with it, so I didn't panic. Though I didn't have the absurdly large amount of Christmas music on it. I'm not so concerned about that. I did an iPod-to-iTunes sync last night. (side note--it's not a cut and dried process! always read up on how to do it, or you'll lose everything!). So now I've got my music, but I don't think they're in the right place on my drive. It all plays, but something's still not right. And I don't have the time to fool with it now. I totally blame the desktop...

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And for something totally different...you may have seen this on the news. For those who remember, it's sort of like an old Spike Jones bit!

Well, frick!

My music writing software crapped out on me last night. And now, the install DVD gets to a certain point, and then does nothing. So now I'm forced to write it the old-fashioned way--by hand. Just like how your handwriting deteriorates from typing everything anymore, my music writing is barely legible. I suppose this is a good thing for me--to get that back to a decent appearance. But it's slowed things down considerably, and there's SO much more to do... And now I have to run to a rehearsal (first of three this weekend).

September can't get here soon enough...

Busy August HNT

Well, I should have expected it. I run off for four days of brain-clearing fun, and I come back to "do this, finish that, don't forget those..." I've been going non-stop since coming back from the pool party. Writing music, rehearsing music, changing the music I wrote the first time around, rehearsing some more, etc... Oh, and squeeze in a high school reunion, a couple of concerts by friends (which I ended up missing), and meeting blogger friends passing through town. Somewhere in there, I've also had a doctor's appointment, a couple of symphony staff meetings, meals and sleep. Oh, yeah. I have to work up HNT and OHNT (good thing I can do that from work!). Oh, oh, oh... work!

I seem to have lost my routine this month. My regular chatting buds have noticed it. My family has noticed it. Is it weird that I'm now looking forward to September, and the beginning of symphony season?? It'll be so less stressful than it is right now!

Since my mind is fried for current HNT ideas, I take you back ten days ago to the pool party, when life was mellow and relaxing. And no one cared that I was wearing my really tacky trunks! Hopefully I'll get back to that feeling soon!

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Another human being sharing my blood,

My baby boy you were made out of love,



After many months resulting in tears,

We are soon to have one that ends in cheers!,



As the light shines on my curve,

Happy HNT it’s time to perve!



This week's Mystery Guest will be revealed late Thursday afternoon. Be sure to check back!
Not too hard to figure out who our mom-to-be is, if you've been surfing around HNTs at all. It's Jas, over at Evocative Abyss. Be sure to stop by her site to see another great belly picture!

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Still getting a good selection of pictures for "...the Other HNT"! Be sure to stop by and check out your fellow HNTers! As always, it's NSFW!

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I've got to get going on the OsShirt site as soon as things slow down some. It's had some really great adventures this summer! You'll want to see evidence of that!

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I'm getting the occasional question asked on my formspring thing over there in the sidebar, so I'm going to keep it up for awhile... Go ahead and ask me anything you'd like over there. Anonymously, even!

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Made mention of a doctor's appointment earlier. The good news...I'm healthy as a horse. A diabetic horse on meds, but healthy! Blood pressure is finally to a "good" level. Cholesterol is excellent. My A1c level is excellent. My kidneys, which at one point actually shut down, seem to have recovered nicely without any problems, though I'll have to keep monitoring them at my check-ups. Everything is so good that the only thing he can tell me to do now is lose weight and exercise. Ugh... It's one of those things I know I need to do, and in my own little way, I'm doing it, but I need to get serious about it.

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Those who might remember back to last summer...when I lost the shutter button to my good camera...I've finally gotten a replacement part! After numerous attempts to get the thing repaired at a real camera shop (all out of town---nothing local), I just decided to order the part and have a go at it myself. I have really missed using it. It's just a point & shoot, but a higher end point & shoot. I'm also considering pulling out my 35mm camera and taking some pictures with that. If I can find someplace that actually still sells film...

Good Weekend

But very busy.

• Friday night was my high school 35-year reunion. Sort of an informal affair, and not sure what sort of showing we'd get. Out of a class of around 320, I'd guesstimate that there were over a hundred that came. Not bad for old farts. Thank God there were name tags. I think that we all underwent some sort of physical change when we hit 50. The good news...no one looked 60! There were a handful of people who were attending their first reunion (and kicking themselves for not coming to the others). There were a few bored spouses (why would you drag your spouse to one of these things?). There were a few widows/widowers, which was sad. While I was one of the die-hards that stuck around until getting kicked out at 1:00 AM, the crowd was noticeably smaller by 11:00. I guess those were the classmates that didn't take a nap earlier...
• Most interesting meeting of the night was with the girlfriend of one of my classmates. He is a guy that I really had nothing to do with back in the day. But he really followed my band starting about 5-6 years ago when we were playing a lot in town, so that changed. Anyhoo...he came up to me by the bar with his very attractive, and obviously much younger girlfriend. And said, "My girlfriend needs to tell you something..." Generally, not words one wants to hear. She simply said, "You were always my favorite band director." OK. I haven't taught HS band in over 20 years. And this girl didn't look like this back in the day, or I would have remembered! She did tell me her first name, and I took it from there. I definitely remembered her and her classmates--I just didn't recognize her. It was a nice blast from the past!
• I mentioned I was to have a date of my own for the reunion, but travel plans changed, so I went stag. But she DID pass through town early Saturday morning, and we got together for about an hour or two. It was former HNTer, and current adult movie star Tara Tainton! We talked about her road trip, peeing in the snow, fetishes, boob jobs, health food, car problems, the pool party (that she had planned on coming to), and all sorts of other things. Of course, since I still had the OsShirt for the weekend, the obligatory picture (and flash) were taken! The one thing I forgot about her is how petite she really is! Then she went on her merry way to points north and west.
• The rest of the weekend was spent in front of the computer writing arrangements for the soul band. Once I get in a zone, I can't stop writing, and I was definitely in it on Saturday. Other than a Sunday morning rehearsal, I was back at it the next day, too. I don't have any other distractions in the coming week, so I should get things finished up pretty quickly.

So how was your weekend?

Expectations...

I had an interesting chat last night with someone I hadn't chatted with for awhile. And most of it came off as whining. Though I think she felt I was in desperate need of sleep too (and I wouldn't argue with that). But I got to thinking about what exactly it was that I was whining about. And it all came down to expectations. My expectations. And how they just haven't been matching reality. Mind you, sometimes not meeting expectations turns out pretty good. It's not always a bad thing, but just a different thing. But often times it is simply disappointing. Examples:

• I suppose this last weekend would be a prime example. I expected a much better turnout for the pool party. I talked it up pretty good and expected to write long posts about it and you'd all be sorry you didn't make it. But there were 5 or 6 people that I expected to see there that didn't show. Not including BTE's friends who didn't show. Granted, a couple of them certainly had no control over circumstances. I had a great time, and I'm glad I went, but my expectations were different.
• I hinted that there could be some exciting news I could relay. My flight was overbooked at LaGuardia, so I volunteered to give my seat away for a $400 ticket voucher and a seat on the next flight to Minneapolis. Well, things got weird as the plane was already late leaving, and the two of us who volunteered ended up getting on the flight, but not in the seats we had expected. But we were rushed to leave our mailing address with the ticket agent, saying "I'll mail them to you." Yesterday, I got a $100 ticket voucher from Delta. Wonderful, but not what I expected (let the trip requests begin!).
• Prior trips have also not met my expectations. My trip to Nashville in January was fun, but I expected more people to come out, particularly the locals (there seems to be an awful lot of lip service involved with expectations). And the concert we went to wasn't what I expected. And other things did or didn't happen based on my expectations. The Dallas trip in 2007, while incredibly fun, didn't meet expectations either.
  
• And since I'm listing expectations--for years I used to expect that HNTers were rather civil, and somewhat "above" the general perving commenters. That expectation was shot down long ago. I expected that lines and boundaries would be understood and respected. Nope.
• I have had certain expectations of friends, both online and off, and have constantly been disappointed in their questionable decisions and off-beat direction. Sure, I have no say in their lives, but if crashing/burning is an expectation, then many of them have met those...
• I'm certainly not meeting some of my own expectations either. I've got music I have to write for two different bands by the end of the month (realistically, by the end of next week), and others waiting for me to get it all done. I expected to have most all of it done by now, but I haven't met that. I expected my life to be in a totally different place than it is right now, but that's not going to be met. Not that it's a bad thing, but just different than I expected.

This isn't to say that none of my expectations have been met. Meeting Minority Report on Monday went beyond my expectations. The summer concert in July went beyond expectations. Buying a car was easier than my expectations. There's plenty of others.

I could aim lower with my expectations, or I can either quit having expectations that constantly disappoint me. Or I could continue to keep them high, and revel in the expectations that have been met or exceeded.

I expect I might be able to do that...

You should see this...

OK, I'm not sure how to embed a movie from Facebook, but click here, and go check it out. If you don't cry within the first 90 seconds, you're a cold heartless bastard! (actually, if you don't cry within the first 30 seconds...)

And apparently, you have to be logged into Facebook.

The Best Laid Plans HNT

The problem with traveling anywhere from Montana is that it's not going to be a cheap nor easy endeavor. I was able to get a decently priced ticket (by MT standards), but it meant that I had to drive 3 1/2 hours to get to my flight. So I was up bright and early and before the sunrise!


I had a long layover in Minneapolis, where I was able to have a good lunch with a former girlfriend! It's probably been close to 15 years since we've seen each other, so it we had a lot to talk about. She didn't know about my diabetes or my dad or my BIL, so she got the abbreviated versions. Like a total dorkfish, I had my camera in with my carry-on stuff, which all got locked into a storage locker on the secure side of the gate, so I missed out on the photo op. Suffice it to say we both looked great!

I rented a car to get from LaGuardia to a hotel somewhere near BTExpress' place (by the way--he's reverted back to his old blog!). The driving wasn't bad at all, and I didn't get lost once! Of course, the GPS in my phone helped that (though I've found that it's not always infallible!). On Saturday, I headed to his place for the festivities. One thing that the GPS or Google Maps don't help with is when the streets are blocked off for SummerFest... I stopped and walked around for a bit. Lots of really short shorts. Lots of funny accents. Lots of friendly people. And what a great area! BTE's place is only about 500 feet from the shore, so there's always a nice breeze coming in.

Main Street

As for the party itself...it wasn't the wild free-for-all that BTE had hoped for. In fact, it was more of a friends-over-for-swimming sort of gathering. Sickness, unfortunate travel circumstances and friends that backed out at the last minute. Certainly nothing they had control over. So it turned out to be quite a small affair. As a surprise, Shizzle had contacted me late in the week and decided to come out. I think BTE might have had a minor heart attack when she came around the corner! Of course, it's always fun to meet up with her! And she brought Tornado with her!

Poor Tornado was bored most of the time...

Later in the afternoon, Hubman and ASM stopped by, just in time for dinner! More talking, more pool time, and photo shoots with the other guest to the party---the OsShirt! More pictures were taken, and then the two of them hurried out of there to find themselves a motel to reacquaint themselves with each other! At that point, the no-suits rule went into effect, and skinny-dipping until midnight ensued! And Lori (BTE's girlfriend) made sure that the underwater camera didn't just lay around idle...

Summer, Me, ASM, Hubman, BTE, Lori
Please note that I DID out-tacky BTE!

On Sunday, I went back, but for beer and conversation...no swimming. It was laid back and quite relaxing. Just what I needed! Headed back to the hotel to get packed and to bed early, as that damned eastern time zone kicked my butt, and I had to head back towards the city in the morning for a brunch date!

I was headed to Flushing, NY and once again, had no problems getting where I needed to go. However, I was surprised at what I found! In checking Google Maps, I thought I was going to be driving into a quaint downtown area. Ummm...no. A bustling, urban area, to say the least. Loud, a bit stinky, and no one knows how to interpret traffic lights (drivers and pedestrians alike). A very Asian area...predominantly Chinese or Korean. Not sure which. Regardless, this boy from Montana was definitely not in Kansas anymore! I found out numerous things here. New Yorkers like to honk their horns. Often. And generally at other drivers who are blocking traffic 20 cars ahead of them. What's up with that? And one should not open the door for a woman and allow her to walk in ahead of you without expecting a puzzled look from said woman. And when you bump into someone, it is not necessary to apologize, nor look them in the eye nor say anything! I was early to pick up my brunch guest from the train, so I did some walking/bumping/honking of my own.

I loved that there was a walk-up window for McDonald's!
You don't find that in MT!

Of course, if you've been to her site already, you know that I met up with Minority Report! Utterly charming and cute--I just wish I didn't have to get my car back to the rental place so soon! We ate, then found a nearby park and talked some more, fed a squirrel, chased geese, and got her picture taken with the OsShirt (it did make the rounds this weekend!). Due to where her train station was located, and our cutting it close on the time, I unceremoniously dumped her off while getting honked at and called names by Asian drivers. Next time, I promise to do better! ;-)


Minority Report & Me
She's not ugly--she's just careful of posting her face!

Google Maps once again came to the rescue, letting me avoid the really high-traffic areas, and allowing me to drive through the old neighborhoods to get back to the LaGuardia area. In this case, under the Long Island R.R.

The rest of the trip home was uneventful (though there might be some exciting news to report in the next couple of days!). I had another long-ish layover in Minneapolis, most of which I spent in the observation deck overlooking the Delta terminal. Quiet, cool, and a place to charge my phone. After a few texts, the sun was going down, and it was time to head home. I got an upgrade to first class (not sure why, but possibly related to the exciting news mentioned above), and thoroughly enjoyed that! I still had a 3 1/2 hour drive home once I landed, but it was still worth it!

Delta's terminal.
My plane is usually way down at the other end...

So, in a nutshell, that was my weekend. Met people, swam nekkid, drank beer, ate food, honked, apologized, and didn't give a single thought to anything back home. I'd do it again in an instant!

I hope people have been clicking...

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Some might recognize her.
Most will not.
Some could remember her from her old blog.
Most will not.
Some might think they've seen her over at OHNT.
Most will not.

This week's Mystery Guest will be revealed Thursday afternoon.

Anyone who has been over to OHNT should recognize this lovely lady as the one who submitted the "Chilly" series, then the "Encore" series (thanks due to your comments). She's Leela Lamore, and though she doesn't blog in these circles anymore, she still takes the time to to surf your sites! No word on if she's working on a new series yet...

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The middle of August is playing havoc with participation over at "...the Other HNT", as it does every year. Still, higher numbers than in years past, and always high quality! Stop by and check out your fellow HNTers! NSFW, but leave a comment anyway!

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Having been offline as I have, I'm a little late to the game with this next thing... My last HNT mentioned the former HNTer who lost two children in a house fire. Dana has taken the bull by the horns and has made a few posts regarding her. Most of you have already mentioned it, and many have included the buttons. In the interest of time, I'll just direct you to Dana's site to read about the details. Go. Give.

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My HS class is having their 35-year reunion on Friday night. Just a one night, no-host, informal thing. And I have an unexpected date!!! No details yet, but I'll share pictures! She's a former HNTer, former MG, former OsShirt model, and used to send a picture or two in for OHNT! And she's in that list in the sidebar (need to update that, too). Can't wait to see the looks from some of the wives when they see her! I'm just hoping she behaves...