When the Smoke Clears

Okay, not the most interesting of posts, especially for an end of the year thing, but I just checked out my little “Live Search” feature up in the top right corner.
That thing is so cool. Sure, I can’t blogroll like the MuNu-s do, but I can kick some butt in the lookup department. If [...]

My mother says staying at my place is like living in a tree house. The land off the back slopes sharply down to the stream with old oaks and maples standing guard, the nearby pines almost 80 feet tall.
Many of the animals have grown used to me, including a hawk who has taken up [...]

or even better a prayer for my Lady Boudicca today, though I know many of you found me through her. Today is surgery day and her cares were far more demanding than my minor little tiny surgery problem from a few weeks ago.
Her husband says she is fine. Still, it doesn’t hurt to cast [...]

The taste of fish actually makes me gag. It’s unfortunate. Growing up with family that lived along Florida’s Intracoastal waterway meant we had access to fresh seafood in abundance. Imagine my surprise when, a few years ago, a friend of mine guilt-tripped me into trying some forms of low-intensity sushi. I started working my way [...]

While dad’s off talking about bubbles and end-of-the-world holiday fare, I’m here working and thinking on other things. Up in the loft today, overseeing my “domain,” the 3 pm nap-sprites showed up and drug me down to the floor. My body almost always wants to sleep right around 3, and if I am in the [...]

It was a special day with friends. 2LT Rifle showed up with his fiancée, and I had the honor of chauffeuring them about town. It was a chance to make their wedding plans.
The church passed inspection. It’s a very new church and even has that fresh smell about it, no sense of a long-standing [...]

She left in the same flurry with which she arrived. Early this morning I could hear her moving about, stuff being tossed, heavy things that were only softened from their impact on the floor above by the bottoms of her bags. I took that as a sign.
Mom already had her hair done and an [...]

So mom is still here, enjoying herself. I did all the cooking so she could sit and savor the day:
* a turkey breast… pounded flat, then rolled with a fresh 10-grain bread/fresh sage/wild rice stuffing, with an outer ring of apple-wood-smoked bacon. All the tender turkey goodness, juicy through and through, no messy cleanup and [...]

Movies are a great outlet for me. I’m the geek who studies how shots are constructed, why certain dialog works and other doesn’t, etc. I actually listen to director commentaries.
However, I’m getting tired of the completely unoriginal “making of” bonus features on DVDs. To save you 20 minutes, here’s a quick summary of almost* [...]

Mom is in the cabin. Of course, I had to meet her in town first at the Antique Mall, then run over to Walmart to get some Diet Coke and a few other things and stand in the hellish lines (where we ran into and had to talk with the 1SG AND the LTC and [...]

Mom is coming.
She called with the announcement last night. It’s not an anxiety riddling prospect like it is for so many, I truly enjoy my mother’s company. However, there is some pressure. See, mom is an amazing person, though she has rarely been that motherly. She and I became close after I hit adulthood. [...]

Today I was able to sleep in. The gym was closed, there was no reason to go into work, and I have a “follow-up” appointment. One would hope that would mean adequate sleep, right?
Instead, sometimes I have such active dreams I feel more tired than when I went to bed. It’s my mind that [...]

1. Wearing your regular shoes in the gym because you left your athletic shoes at home doesn’t make you look dedicated and motivated, dork. (me)
2. Karma doesn’t provide immediate returns. Quite often there is an initial “rebound” effect going on. Caring for someone and trying to do things discreetly usually blows up and out of [...]

Alright, for all you celeb wannabees and professional alcohol consumers, I want to recommend you leave this site and go to view the video podcast “Tiki Bar TV.” This is how you make people laugh.

Lala is a serious hottie, too.
Each episode (sporadically produced when they feel like it) features a complex cocktail, many of [...]

I was an obnoxious kid. There’s no two ways about it. I started reading at three and writing before I started kindergarten. It lent me a sense of intellectual snobbery. Most teachers had nothing they could do with me at their class level so I was usually allowed to sit to the side and study [...]