Devin's Back!

Go say hello to Devin. He's been offline for a while, but now he is back.

Hurray!!!

4th of July Fireworks

Do you have any outstanding memories of the 4^th of July?

 

I have two that stand out in my mind as the most magnificent of my life.

 

1. I was stationed in Sicily.  Buttboy was 6 months old and it was my first 4^th overseas.  We sat on a small hill overlooking the baseball field.  There were about 20 of us.  Sea Bees and Naval personnel and even some Marines.  They shot the rockets off from the baseball field while playing patriotic music.  I can remember tears streaming down my face for most of the fireworks.  I have never felt more like an American.
2. Just after I got out of “A” School (for Aviation Hydraulics), I spent about two weeks with my parents in Phoenix.  We went and sat on the capitol grounds to watch the fireworks.  They were breathtaking.  And there were 10s of thousands of people.  It was very exciting.

 

I love the 4^th of July.  I love what it stands for and I love being able to show my love and support of my country.  Shoulder to shoulder with other patriotic citizens.

 

God Blessed America in many ways.  I hope he/she continues to do that for centuries to come.

 

Boring

I am just sitting around watching movies and doing laundry today.

 

I have cleaned all week, now the house is trashed AGAIN.

 

So, I have decided I can take the day off from cleaning.  They trashed it, they can clean it.

 

I made those pics below using some strange thing over at The Introverted Exhibitionist (Empress’) place.

 

Anyway, I am too lazy to find the link.  Just click on the blogroll.  She is on there.

 

Asshole’s didn’t turn out quite right.  His skin is not that dark.  And that pic almost makes him look Mexican.  He’s not.  He is very Irish.

 

Anyway, gotta go do another load of towels.

 

Have a great Saturday.

 

This is Weasel 

This is a pic of Asshole 

This is my pic. 

Planning...

I had a nice long talk with Boss yesterday.  I explained my problem to him about the guys being in the house without me.

 

He agreed, and told me that his trip would bring him back the weekend of the 16^th.  They will be going back to work on Monday, the 18^th.  The same day I am to leave on my trip.

 

I was so very happy.

 

I also explained to him how Weasel has not been paying his rent.  Now he pays him right in front of me.  He gave him money in front of me yesterday, and then made Weasel give me 2/3 of it.

 

Weasel wasn’t happy, but when I showed him how much he still owed, he was a little more compliant.

 

I cannot wait to get out of here.  I do not have a set schedule for getting to the coast.  My only definite dates are to be in Idaho on July 30 for the wedding and to be back in Minnesota by August 6 for We-Fest.

 

Other than that, we are flying by the seat of our pants.  Not sure where we are staying, or if we will just sleep in the van.  And no set miles per day.  We are going to play tourist.

 

I can hardly wait!!!!!!!!!

 

Colin Powell Sings?

Now this I would have liked to have seen.

Marlon Brando Dies at Age 80

Marlon Brando has died at age 80.

He was never one of my favorites, but he was an excellent actor. I always liked him in the Godfather series.

Blessed Be, Marlon Brando.

Explanations...

I don’t want anyone to think I am prejudiced.  I’m not.  I have nothing against people of a different race, color or creed.

 

Some of my best friends are black.  I have dated black men, white men, red men…all types.

 

But each one of them were articulate and well-educated.

 

I know I am saying this all wrong.  And last time I tried to clarify my thoughts on this matter, I had people take issue with what I was saying.

 

When I was in the Navy, there was a young man that I worked with named Bill.  He was about 20 and from a nice Baltimore family.  He was very courteous to everyone and if he had an accent of any kind (other than a Northeast one), I never heard it.  I never heard him use the word nigger.  He was a lot of fun and I enjoyed his company immensely.

 

On the other hand, there was Pittman.  He was about the same age, from Cleveland.  He could not say a nice word to anyone.  He and his buddies would hang around and molest anyone that walked by.  There was a whole group of them that hung out together.  They spoke that street slang and talked like they had crap in their mouths.  I hated working with them.

 

When I was in high school, I lived near an Indian Reservation.  People used to tell us not to date the Indians.  That they were awful.

 

Well, yes, some of them were.  All they wanted to do was drink.  And smoke weed.  And get into fights whenever possible.

 

But there were others that were kind, loving people.  The first love of my life was an Indian from that Reservation.

 

And yes, I know there are people like that from every race.  And not just men.  Women are just as bad.

 

It drives me nuts when I see guys of any color walking around with their pants around their ankles.  Do they think that is sexy?  It’s not…it’s stupid.  Or when I hear anyone talking in that stupid ghetto slang.  We all took English in school.  Why didn’t you pay attention?

 

I have probably pissed a few people off with this post, but I can’t help it.  This is the way I feel.  I just want to scream at all those people to GROW UP!

 

Telling It Like It Is...

Bill Cosby is again telling it like it is.

"Cosby : elaborated Thursday on his previous comments in a talk interrupted several times by applause. He castigated some blacks, saying that they cannot simply blame whites for problems such as teen pregnancy and high school dropout rates."

Lady Liberty Fireworks

Click on Lady Liberty Fireworks

It Didn't Last Long...

The guys arrived today.

 

Oh well, things have been a little better. Bet then, Weasel is up at a friend’s house.

 

We’ll see how things go for the next few days.

 

Did receive good news.  Boss says they will not be at the house while we are gone.  Hurray!

 

Can I Clone This Guy?

: "men should want to be better just to be around you. They should strive to be worthy."

Reprieve

I got a call at 10:00 last night from Asshole.

 

They don’t know when they are coming home.  They just landed another job.

 

I am glad they all aren’t coming back.

 

But I do miss him.  Oh well.

 

Good news is I am feeling better.  A little more like my old self.  I am reading blogs again.

 

Just not commenting much.

 

Deal with it, people.

 

Dream

I had the weirdest dream last night.

 

It didn’t last very long (probably because Buttboy’s alarm went off at 6:45am)

 

I dreamed that we were at some house watching airplanes and stuff with a telescope.  Buttboy says to me, “There is a Faith (Hill) and Tim (McGraw) van out there.  The cops are all over it.”

 

I looked through the telescope and there was a white van down in a ditch with empty boxes all around it.  The boxes had the packaging laying around them.  You know, the popcorn and peanuts and newspaper.

 

Anyway, I asked Buttboy if he had seen it before the cops got there.  He said it had been there all morning.  Someone had apparently stolen the van full of CDs and DVD players and moved all the stuff to new packaging.

 

Then I woke up.  Isn’t that weird?

 

The Political Compass

The Political Compass

I am right between Ghandi and Nelson Mandela.

A little to the left and leaning towards Libertarian.

Hornets

Rob over at Gut Rumbles talks about how he got rid of a hornet's nest on the side of his house.

I remember when I was about 10, we had a huge wasp or hornet nest on the side of our house right above the dining room window.

My dad called some guy who showed up late at night. He said that was when the wasps were sleeping.

He knocked the nest down into a huge garbage bag using a big stick.

He then held that bag in front of the headlights on his pickup. We could see the wasps buzzing around inside that bag. I have never seen anything like that in my life.

I would guess that I will never see anything like it again.

Army Recalling Soldiers to War

This is the first step towards a Draft, isn't it?

Answer Me This...

Do you crack your knuckles?

I do. Not a lot, but often enough. And I am sure everyone has heard the story that cracking your knuckles will cause arthritis.

Well, I have found an online article that states that cracking your knuckles does not cause arthritis!

Hurray! (One less thing to worry about!)

Stuff

Do you ever have one of those weeks where nothing seems exciting?

 

I just can’t seem to get myself motivated to do anything.  I did clean the living room and bathroom.  And I have been playing that stupid Pirate game.

 

But I just can’t motivate myself to read blogs or even care about other people right now.

 

Is that wrong?

 

I feel almost vegetative.  I guess I am just a little stressed.  Bills that we can’t pay; people coming over I don’t want to see.  And now I have to worry about what is going on in my house while I am gone on my trip.

 

It seems Asshole’s boss has decided to go to Texas for 2 weeks.  If it is the 2 weeks before I leave, everything is cool.  If it is the 2 weeks I am going to be gone, it will not be good.

 

That will mean that Asshole and Weasel are in my house alone with no incoming funds.  Which means I will spend the whole trip wondering what they are pawning to support their beer and cigarette habits.

 

What?  You don’t think they will pawn my things?  You are dead wrong.  They will pawn anything they are not using.  My movies, my Xbox, my Gamecube, my VCR, my TV, my DVD player.  You name it – they’ll pawn it.

 

See, neither one of them have anything of their own.  95% of what is in this house is mine.  I bought and paid for it all.  And now I have to worry about them.

 

And I shouldn’t have to.  That’s what makes this suck so bad.  I should be able to leave my house and not worry about my stuff still being here when I get back.

 

So when they get here this afternoon, I will find out when Boss is leaving.  If it is the 2 weeks I am going to be gone, then I will have to have a long talk with Mr. Asshole and Mr. Weasel.

 

Bah Humbug

Sorry I haven’t been posting for a few days.  I’ve been stuck on that stupid game.  And I am having to clean the entire house.

 

Why do I need to clean the entire house?

 

Because Asshole, Weasel and their buddies were here for 4 days and totally trashed it.  Then they went back to work and left me with the mess.

 

We don’t have a single clean towel.  Every dish in the house is dirty.  The bathtub looks like someone poured a gallon of motor oil in it and let it soak.

 

It is just gross.

 

So, instead of doing it all at once (which would be overwhelming), I have been trying to do it a little at a time.

 

I do have good news.  I lost 2 more pounds this week.  I have lost a total of 17 now.  Only 23 more to go.  I’m not going to make it by my deadline, but I will try.

 

Anyway, hope all is well in your world.

 

Famous People

Wow. The town I live in is actually famous for something.

Amazing.

The Highwayman

This is one of my all-time favorite poems. Just thought I would share it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By Alfred Noyes
Part One
I
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding-
Riding-riding-
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.

II
He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;
They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh!
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.

III
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

IV
And dark in the old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Tim the ostler listened; his face was white and peaked;
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,
But he loved the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's red-lipped daughter,
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say-

V
'One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize to-night,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."

VI
He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
(Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the West.

Part Two
I
He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;
And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
When the road was a gipsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A red-coat troop came marching-
Marching-marching-
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.

II
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!
There was death at every window;
And hell at one dark window;
For Bess could see, through the casement, the road that he would ride.

III
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
They bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her.
She heard the dead man say-
Look for me by moonlight;
Watch for me by moonlight;
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!

IV
She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till here fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like
years,
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!

V
The tip of one finger touched it; she strove no more for the rest!
Up, she stood up to attention, with the barrel beneath her breast,
She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again;
For the road lay bare in the moonlight;
Blank and bare in the moonlight;
And the blood of her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love's refrain.

VI
Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs
ringing clear;
Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did
not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding,
Riding, riding!
The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up strait and still!

VII
Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night
!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him-with her death.

VIII
He turned; he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!
Not till the dawn he heard it, his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.

IX
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with a bunch of lace at his throat.

* * * * * *

X
And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding-
Riding-riding-
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.

XI
Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard,
And he taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred;
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

Stuck on Pirate Mode

This is the reason I have not been posting today. I have played this for 14 hours straight today.

National HIV Testing Day

Today is National HIV Testing Day.

I don't care who you are - everyone needs tested at least once.

Because of my crazy background, I get tested yearly. My doctor never adds it to his list to check until I ask him about it. And I ask him about it every year.


HIV is about the only disease that truly scares the hell out of me. If I am positive, I won't to know as soon as possible.

So, if you haven't been tested lately - go do it!!!!

Huh???

If you are going to commit a murder, do not walk into a Wal-Mart wearing clothes covered with blood. And then purchase garbage bags, bandages and clean clothes with a blood smeared $100 bill.

Even though most Wal-Mart workers are asleep at 4am, someone may notice you!

Baby Stabbed

He was deported, came back into the US and stabbed the infant son of his girlfriend?

Several questions come to mind. First one is: How did he get back in the US?

Second: How in the hell did he get a girlfriend?

Third: Did he think he was not going to get deported again?

Well, in answer to the third question, he was right. Now he is going to go to prison for kidnapping and assault.

What a numbnut!!!!!!

Bush Caught In The Bushes

Apparently there is now proof that George W. changes clothes at least once in a while.

I feel sorry for him and the cameraman.

ESPN The Name

This is just wrong on so many levels.

Why on Earth would you name your child ESPN? I could maybe see Espen. But ESPN? In all caps???

I have a unique name. There are others that have the same name, but there aren't many of us.

The same can be said for my mom and sisters.

But at least they are names and not television stations. Eeewwww!!!

Happy Birthday!!

Go tell Shelli Happy Birthday!

She needs all the support she can get. She is discovering the joys of having a teenager in the house.