Sunday Shots #13

The Not Lame Canadian Closing Ceremony Edition...

The Gold Medal for Cleaning a Bowl of Brownie Batter...

So Timmy, what do you think of Benjy's new hat?

A Miller Girl Production, with a visit by "Flay Stanley"

Look at me!!!

Wow, these closing ceremonies are... lame!

Andy and Danny

Hi!

Look who guessed the number of jelly beans the closest.

No, Benjy is not playing the part of the Duhawk.

Thanks for visiting, and have a great day!

And The Lamest Closing Ceremony Goes To...

One of the few good things about modern times: If you die horribly on television, you will not have died in vain. You will have entertained us. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

No quote could have been more true for describing how Canada has just gone out. Oh.My.Goodness. Canadian Closing Ceremonies. FAIL.

Don't Cry For Me, Canada!

If there's anything unsettling to the stomach, it's watching actors on television talk about their personal lives. ~ Marlon Brando

I have a question for you all. Do you still watch Saturday Night Live? If so, may I ask, why?

There isn't really anything funny about it, in my opinion, but that doesn't mean anything to the powers that be up at 30 Rock. Oh well.

*****

Tomorrow is the end of the 2010 Winter Olympics, and all I can say is, finally!

It's not that I haven't enjoyed the Olympics. No, in fact, I have enjoyed several Olympic moments from great (Shaun White ), to tragic (Joannie Rochette ), to down right embarrassing (Sven Kramer - actually it was his coach who is now in the witness protection program).

The Olympics were just that, the Olympics.

I'm glad that they are over tomorrow because it means we can get back to some NHL action. More specifically, some more Chicago Blackhawks action.

Like this.


Or this,



And this,



I could go for some of this as well,
So yeah, I'm glad the Olympics are over tomorrow, but not until one more game...




USA! USA! USA!

A Walk In The Park

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. ~ Soren Kierkegaard

How cool would it be to wander around the country with no worries, no worries at all?

I think that it would be cool, but then I realized that it might not be as good as I imagine it would be. Why? So glad you asked.

• Sore feet
• Smelly feet
• Smelly, pretty much, everything
• Wild animals
• Tame animals with an attitude
• Wild animals that trick you into thinking that they are tame, only to rip your leg off at a moments notice
• Wild animals driving motor vehicles that think it would be fun to knock someone, minding their own business, walking around the country on their buttocks
• Eating bugs
• Eating wild animals, especially those that have an attitude
• No showers, see number two and three above
• No warm bed to sleep in
• No cold bed to sleep in
• No Plurk
• No Facebook
• No blog (no way!)

I could go on, but I see that your lids are drooping, so I will leave you with some words of wisdom (not mine, of course) ...

One of the most obvious facts about grownups to a child is that they have forgotten what it is like to be a child. ~ Randall Jarell

There Is No Sense Like Nonsense

Devotees of grammatical studies have not been distinguished for any very remarkable felicities of expression. ~ Amos Bronson Alcott

Throwing the spaghetti against a refrigerator doesn't really do anything, but it sure is fun to do, especially when one turns to two, turns to ten, turns to a hundred.

Clean up can be a bitch though.

Jumping up and down and cheering your team to victory gives us a great feeling of euphoria, but it only lasts a few moments and then it is gone. Gone like the wind, and it's something that you cannot catch up to.

So what is the point, really?

You strive to do your best, then are told that your best isn't good enough, so you try harder and realize that there really is no point to your job in the first place so you might as well sit back and smell the coffee as it brews in the room.

Except you don't like coffee.

Spending your hard earned money on a vehicle that you love, one that you treat nearly as well as you treat your children, but let's be honest here as we all know people that love their cars more than your children, which is probably one of the saddest things in the world, and don't you dare think that your children don't notice.

Children notice everything.

Finding the home of your dreams and making it just right, with all of the things that you enjoy, including hard wood flooring, marble counter tops, plush carpeting, to name just a few, your yard is immaculate and you care for each piece of grass as if you brought them into the world, which you have, since you bought the seed, planted the seed, fertilized the seed, and watered the seed and watched as it sprung up from the ground all full of life.

Then you get the neighbors from hell.

All of these things happen to people every day and no one seems to notice, or care, because it isn't them.

Or is it?

Is there really any point in diving off the deep end, other than testing yourself and your belief in being able to come out of it unhurt and alive, or are you really on a death wish and hope that the water is actually concrete and that you will splatter your blood and guts for several yards, because you think it would be an interesting way to go and figure that you will finally get your name in lights and on the news reports.

Only to have a tragedy that is more important than yours bump you from the front pages.

There is no rhyme nor reason as to why things happen the way that they do, or as to why we do what it is that we do them. There is no rhythm to the world that, as it rotates around the sun, makes any kind of logical sense to us nor our ancestors who would, quite frankly, find us to be an amusing form of life.

Imagine, if you will, what your great grandparents would think of you. Or even their great grandparents, and your mind will be boggled to say the least. Now imagine having them as your best friends or neighbors - in their time - can you imagine it. Are you there? Then you know that none of this is...

real.

22 Words - Muse Edition

I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself. ~ Marlene Dietrich

(I have not let Roger out of his box yet, so you will have to deal with me.)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(i love my life)

Brownies Are Great, Just Not With A Corona

Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you--if you don't play, you can't win. ~ Robert Heinlein

Okay, fair warning, there are no brownies in this post.

There may be a Corona, or two, though.

Talk today on Plurk was a wide range of topics, as it is always, so you should try it out. I'll even be your friend on there if you would like. I may have mentioned a time or two that I prefer the Plurk social networking site, compared to the Twitter site. It lends itself to containing conversations better and you don't need any additional apps for it, like I found I needed with Twitter.

Anyway, I started with a simple statement about dangling modifiers involving elliptical clauses (yes I did, and don't ask any questions, because I have no answers), which quite naturally evolved into a talk about genetics.

Makes sense, no?

The beauty of it is that it doesn't really have to, because it's just conversation, really.

Kind of like my blog here, except that the conversations are all in my head.

(not always!)

Ignore that voice in the parentheticals, please.

(why do they always have to ignore me? Are you ashamed of me?)

No.

(then why? I mean, I thought we were tight, yo!)

Yo? Were the heck did that come from?

(not sure. Did you like it?)

Not really. I mean what does it even mean, do you know?

(no, but all the cool kids say it.)

They do not.

(uh-huh!)

Mute!

(dude, you can't mute me! I will talk to the other side and have them mute you)

Yeah right. They don't liste...

(you were saying?)

...

(HA! Excuse Roger, he's gonna be out for a while. HA HA HA!)

!!!

(sounds mad , doesn't he?)

#! %! *!

(sorry kids, you shouldn't have to witness that kind of thing. maybe we should just call it a night, after all he does have several other projects that he is getting behind on.)

!!!!!!!!

(and he might need some time to cool off. farewell and good night gentle readers of the crazy man - had to add that last part,lest someone thinks I'm copying a really famous author. don't want any bad mojo, and all. you know, yo?)

...

(bye bye now)

.

What to do When Sleeping

It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard a pet hypothesis every day before breakfast. It keeps him young. ~ Konrad Lorenz

So thinking that I had scheduled three posts for the weekend, meaning that I would not have to post anything here today, I thought that I would relax and maybe one of the six reviews I have for books read this year. These are good to have around in the "draft bin" in case I have a slow day, like today, and have nothing to write about.

That being said, this might just be it. My eyes are a droopin' and my fingers continually do this. kaa;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;s

Or something like that.

Interesting that Ka would make an appearance on this little bit of randomness. At least for someone that is in the middle of reading Stephen King's Opus, The Dark Tower. If you haven't read it yet - go and read it, all seven novels. Well worth your time and effort. However, if you want to listen to them on audiotape/MP3/CD/whatever other way you can listen to it, be aware that the narrator changes between book 4 and book 5.

You have been warned.

And now I sleep.

Sunday Shots #12

Smiling, Baking and Driving, oh my! Edition

Welcome!

The first rule of driving, is learning how to text while driving without your seatbelt on.

Right?

Maggie's Cake (made with her friend Aspen) It's a camping theme, see the campfire and the sleeping bags?

Katie and her cake.

Jessie and hers.

We're baking!

Okay, technically we're making chocolate frosting.

Need some vanilla?

Once again Blogger has messed with my best intentions, and order.

Awesome.

Leaving for Iowa in six hours, and I have no desire to stay up any longer. At least the posting options thingamajig works well.

For Your Entertainment

Hi, we're not home at the moment, we are visiting our oldest at college. We are having such a great time, but I cannot forget you, my internet friends. So, I am leaving you these to peruse while we are having a great time having a pajama party, or maybe we're swimming, heck we might even be sleeping right now. I don't know, because I cannot see into the future - trust me, if I could, I would be a way wealthier man than my dollaraire status states, or something like that - I really do hate these machines... Anyway, please enjoy the selections below. Bye bye!!

Just had to include some soccer.

The New Geography?

Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles. ~ George Jean Nathan

With the Olympics here I love noting how people don't always represent the country of their home, for instance...

Reed, 15, is an ice dancer from Warren, N.J., but she is competing in the Olympics for the Republic of Georgia. In a move that is not unusual for a sport in which compatible partners are hard to find, she and the Georgian ice dancer Otar Japaridze paired up last May. Four months later, they unexpectedly qualified for these Games. By November she had a Georgian passport. Now she is a dual citizen.

The Reed family celebrated. Suddenly, they had three Olympians, not just two, at the dinner table, but none were skating for the United States. Allison’s older siblings, Cathy, 22, and Chris, 20, were headed to Vancouver as ice dancers, too — for Japan. The ice dancing competition began with the compulsory dance Friday.

“I know it sounds a little crazy and confusing but we’re so happy to be at the Olympics together, no matter what country we’re representing,” Cathy Reed said of the three-Olympian family. “To be honest with you, this whole experience has been a little crazy.”

How exactly does that work? The Japanese dancers, are understandable in a way because their mother is from Japan. However, young Allison (and her siblings) are from Warren, NJ and as far as I could see, do not have any ties to Georgia.

Personally it seems to be a little unpatriotic and maybe, um, selfish? Or maybe I am thinking of the word childish instead. You know, it went down like this ...

"Y'all aren't good enough to be on the American ice dancing team"

(extra side... why is ice dancing an Olympic sport anyway?)

"Oh yeah, we'll show you"

"Really? And how do you propose to do that?"

"Well, our mom is from Japan, so we'll skate for them!"

"Godspeed young Reeds, and good luck."

So that's how Allison's older brother and sister became Olympians for Japan. As for Allison, I imagine it went like this...

"I can skate, yea I can, I know I can, like can you watch me?"

"Do you have a partner?"

"Um, no. Like do I need one?"

"Well since there isn't a category for a single ice dancer, yes you do need a partner."

"Can't you like, pair me up with someone?"

"Nope, they are all taken."

"Even like, that cute one over their?"

"Yep."

Later that day, a young 14 year old girl was seen crying at the ice rink, when...

"Hello, are you okay?"

"No."

"Well, what seems to be the problem?"

"They won't let me skate without a partner."

"Well, I can skate, shall we be partners?"

"Sure, where are you from?"

"Georgia"

"Oh, like Atlanta?"

"No, like the Georgian Republic, formerly of the Soviet Union."

"The Sovi.. a what?"

"Never-mind. Anyway, I'm sure we can make you a citizen and we'll go to the Olympics. What do you think?"

"Like that is really cool, by the way my name is Allison."

"I'm Otar."

Yeah, I'm sure that's how it went, right?

The Olympics definitely seem to make some strange bedfellows, and some interesting geography questions.

Flashlight

\Digging in to some old haunts for an idea tonight. My favorite website for a quick creative break, or something like that.

I really have no idea, as the words are just appearing before my eyes.

I'm talking about one word of course.

Today's word, which I managed to squeak in, right before my timer went off (by the way, it's a loud bell, of sorts, that resonates for a little while, so turn up the volume on your speakers!), was flashlight.

Here are my results...

I went to school and I had my trusty backpack with me, it had all the essential items required for a day at school, including a snack and a drink. Of course, the one thing that I had to have was my flashlight, because you never know when you might need one.

Okay, now it's your turn. By the way, I hate it when Blogger does this to me - screws up my fonts and margins, etc. It makes me look and feel pretty idiotic.

Oh well.

Don't forget to try out one word and test yourself. It's fun, and only takes a minute.

Read, It Will Make You Better

The only really good place to buy lumber is at a store where the lumber has already been cut and attached together in the form of furniture, finished, and put inside boxes. ~ Dave Barry

I wonder why all writer's tell you that you should read a lot to help you write? I'm thinking it's because they want you to get completely distracted while reading their work, or even someone else's that you don't have the time to write.

What do you think?

I mean I have been reading Stephen King's The Dark Tower (currently in book 4, Wizard and Glass) and have absolutely no inclination to write anything, until I finish the story. That means I have three and a half more books to read, and they keep getting longer.

I'm sure there is an ulterior motive to it, I just know.

Excuse me while I head back to Roland and the gang. I'm sure I will be really motivated by then. If not, I'm going to head over to Maine (actually I'm headed there this summer) and knock on Mr. King's door.

I wonder if he'll answer.

Inspiration Lost

I have no idea why and I do not know how, just that everything I write seems to smell like a wet cow.

* Yep, it's weird, see ya tomorrow.

Slip Sliding Away

When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it. ~ Bernard Bailey

The Olympics are here, and boy are they exciting.

At least the skiing and snowboarding events have been.

Pairs figure skating has been, well in a word, meh.

As in, oh my goodness, I cannot believe how many falls there have been. Must be something with that Canadian ice, eh? I mean even the Canadians were falling all over themselves. Actually it has been one of the worst displays of ice skating that I have ever seen in an Olympic competition.

Okay, back to the more manly sports like speed skating and downhill, oh and that awesome to watch sport snowboard cross, or whatever they call it. Nothing like having the thrill of racing against three other snowboarders over a course that has many jumps, bumps and spins in it. Really, it is a lot of fun to watch.

Tomorrow though, the real fun begins, and I think you all know what it is I speak of, don't you? I mean there has been some intense training and team selections this year were some of the hardest in the sports history.

I'm talking about curling, also known as shuffleboard on ice.

Oh yeah, I think hockey starts tomorrow as well.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Sunday Shots #11

Knitting, Kitty, Kids, and Wackiness Edition

Jenni's new obsession, socks!

Although, they might be a bit small for me.

Not that I would wear something so colorful anyway, mind you.

I present his Royal Highness, Kirby!

Yom, om, om, om, waffles!

Maggie, after receiving her merit badge and service stars

Timmy finding something amusing.

Chef Maggie, making dinner.

Wacky Bowling!

Jessie and friends.

Me doing some wacky bowling, with my foot.

(definitely a strike!)

{not really}

More wackiness!

(much better this time)

{at least three pins}

[no, really!]

Jessie and her self-designed shirt! She designed mine as well but for some reason we don't have a really good picture of it. Check out the witty phrase ... "I can't believe it's not Gutter"

Hope your Sunday was a fun-filled day!