Bearing it

Who first beholds the light of day In Spring's
sweet flowery month of May And wears an
Emerald all her life, Shall be a loved and
happy wife. ~Unknown

Been an unusual Sunday morning; I didn't sleep well but I stayed in bed until past 10:00am. My son Jerry came by and we did a resume for him which took some time. He is a flooring installer but his knees and shoulders are going bad so he is looking to get back into manufacturing and quality control supervision.
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Carolyn and Vicky have to go out and make up the jobs they missed Friday night. JJ sleeps all day so I will be having an afternoon basically to myself. It is a lovely blue-sky day and the temps are supposed to go above freezing. I will sit in front of the tv for a bit and watch the Lady Vols beat South Carolina in basketball.
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I need a dose of a couple of weeks warm weather. I crave sunshine on my face and bare legs, but it will probably be March before such happens. I also need a bath, or rather, I need to get to the creek and get naked and frolic in the woods. One of those evenings I will probably frolic right upon a bear—or worse—a female forest ranger. The most the bear can do is eat me, but the lady ranger will laugh me to shame and take me to jail. I can see the headlines now "Ranger Saves Bare Man from Bear"; I think I'd rather be bruin's lunch.
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Mark must have pulled through!
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Have a happy Sunday.

Forecasting

June

I wonder if weather forecasters get their training from stock brokers? Our weather event turned out to be an almost non-event, at least in respect to what was predicted. Most of our snowfall was on the ground by 11:00 last evening, and we now have less than 4" (10cm) around the hood. Streets are not near as bad as they could have been and traffic is moving. We are still having flurries, but nothing to cause concern at the present. I may have to go out and try to get Chris to work in Elizabethton.
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I hope Mark over in Greensboro made it through ok; I haven't heard a peep from him this morning. I think the Carolinas got more snow than did we.
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I would post a snow pic, but I am sick of of them of making them. A crocus coming through snow is very pretty, but that is a few weeks away yet.
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The Smoking Gun's Mug Shots of the Week!
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Have a safe Saturday.
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It's a-comin'

Roan Mt. North Carolina

10:40am ... The worst of the impending storm seems to be in Arkansas at the present but has spread as far east as Nashville. Hopefully the worst of it will pass just to our south, but at that, they are still saying as much as 10" (25cm) or maybe more will bury us. Carolyn is at the store to pick up a few things she forgot yesterday, such as spare flashlight batteries. I ain't looking forward with any amount of glee to the oncoming mess ... hold me ...
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We have a couple of gallons of kerosene for the basement portable heater. That particular fuel is $5 gallon; ridiculous. We hope to keep the upstairs warm enough with the gas fireplace if necessary, and we have the gas stove in the kitchen. We should be ok.
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Alice, if y'all need a place in case of the worst, come on over or I will try to get to your house and bring you here. It has been many years since we played together in the snow.
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It could be worse I suppose; though our winter has been much harder than usual, it is nothing compared to what part of Europe is having to endure. It has been bitterly cold there for weeks with snow and ice storms one after the other, and it doesn't look like much relief in sight from the snow.
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I got all my stuff done yesterday; shot was taken and drugs bought. I drove Carolyn to Piney Flats to get the key for the building she will re-begin Monday. She said it didn't look as dirty as she feared it would be.
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1:50pm ... Drum roll please! The snow has begun! Rats!!!
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3:07pm ... Snow is still very light and scattered with a bit of occasional sleet mixed in.
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3:45pm ... Been snowing fairly hard for about 20 min. so I suppose this is the biggie. My porch is already covered but so far very little on grass or streets.
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5:42pm ... It is becoming dark and the streets are now showing patchy snow cover as it comes down much harder. Worse, the tree limbs are collecting the flakes, and that doesn't bode well for me having electrical power in the morning. If not, I will be back pickin' and grinnin' as soon as possible. Have a super weekend, and if your power goes out, it will be a good time to read or re-read The Catcher in the Rye. I shall.
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Here is a live web cam feed from my little town.
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I may write more as this day unfolds ....
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Happy Friday!

Better times ahead

Obama said democratic lawmakers should not "run for the hills", all the while he has been hiding somewhere the past year and not trying to get his message to the people. He needs to realize that he may be a one term president, and he should get out and get it done. Chastising from a podium is not the way. People are suckers for what is said on tv, and just how many info commercials has he made in support of his agenda? To appeal to the people he must be the people. He could at least send the vice-president out to help inform the masses, but he too has been mostly missing from action. Jimmy Carter found out the easy way that hiding in the Rose Garden is destructive to one's political future and ultimately to the nation, resulting in Reaganomics putting us on the road to where we are today. Communicate with us, Mr. President ... communicate.
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Because of impending woeful weather, I have to go out and do my Friday stuff today. I will get my shot from the doc and a sack of various pills from the pharmacy. If it ain't drugs, it's supplements such as calcium, folic acid, and aspirin. No wonder I am not a well man ... having to force all those chemicals into my system. The drug companies own me. Well, I'm not on Viagra ... yet!
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Have a great last Thursday of January.
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Texas threatens

My Texas friends must be trying to get even with me for reasons real or imagined. A new storm is brewing deep-in-the-heart-of and is heading our way with rain, sleet, and possibly heavy snow accumulation Friday through Saturday. The last big storm of this type the Lone Star denizens bestowed upon we mere hillbillies was the Blizzard of '93, or the so called "storm of the century". It started as rain on a Friday evening in mid-March and by 4:00am, the power was off. When the snow finally ended Saturday night, we had more than 20 inches on the ground, and the temp had fallen to below 0ºF. I had to put shoes on; it was the first time all winter that most hill folk even wore a long sleeve shirt. Bring it on, Texas!
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Carolyn got the contract for the job at the old account and will begin work Feb. 01. This evening, she will end the contract on the account she lost. She should have a net gain of about $40/month if gasoline stays below $3 gal. The biggest thing I will miss about the job she lost: it was our jumping off place for trips to the mountains, Watauga lake, and Wilbur. It is also where I made most of my butterfly photos.
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It is cold, but there is a break in the clouds allowing a bit of sunshine to come through; it will most likely be the last until Sunday.
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Wednesday blessings to one and all.
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Happy Birthday, Kevin

Today is friend Kevin's birthday; he is one of you fifty-something youngsters and, most of all, an artist and a dear friend. Happy Birthday, jikido-san.
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Unless I have screwed up royally, the 2009 business taxes and reports are finally done and will be mailed today. A few days rest and then begin the work on our personal taxes. Life is grand!
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Is it Spring? Has Tammy come through? Three male robins in the back yard yesterday. I'm very happy to see them, but I dearly hope it isn't too early. We are supposed to have rotten weather for the next several days; dried fruit, apples, and raisins time. As I write this, the temp is 28F (2.2C).
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The more Obama talks, the more clueless he seems. Actually, he still has good ideas, but he just does not know how to sell them to the people and, unlike the nameless party, the democratic machine doesn't seem to want to help him here in middle-America where it counts. DC is politics as usual and it will probably sweep the nameless ones back into control of the Senate, at least. This may be the Democrats last ever chance to be a driving force in shaping the future of the US, and they seem to want to squander it. Rest in peace, Party of the Working People. I am not being racist when I say Obama's job is akin to that of Morgan Freeman's character in the movie Driving Miss Daisy. It takes time and patience to change things.

The American people—us—are the ones whom allowed the economy to fall into this mess by poor political choices, and we expected miracles from Obama. Modern miracles take time, and we of the "I want it Now" generation are too impatient. Economists and the Democratic Party are saying the "recession" has bottomed out and it has done so for the likes of Wall Street, but for we in the trenches, it is still sliding toward oblivion. Obama's long-term strategy will help, but come November, We the Putzes are are going to make sure the economy and our government will be forever controlled by big, Big Business, whether those businesses are domestic or foreign. Wake up, America!
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Our local campus radio station which brings us National Public Radio programming is going to stop broadcasting music on weekdays and concentrate instead on news programming. They used to have a mix of music genres but now only play classical stuff. Playing classical music to hillbillies isn't the best idea I've heard of anyway. They will keep their NPR affiliation at least for now.
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May each moment of your day be like a new sunrise.
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Wash day drippings

Nesting

Looks like our springlike weather is slipping away. Saturday and Sunday were near short-sleeve shirt weather, although yesterday was wet and windy. THEY are calling for WEATHER tonight; freakin' snow through tomorrow.
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I'm back to the grind of doing the last of the business taxes and reports for 2009. Carolyn got a phone call from one of her accounts she lost January last. They are wanting to know how much she will charge to clean offices three nights per week. Although they are looking for sales/production to pick up later this year, this move to get Carolyn back seems to be one of desperation. They are a housing construction related company. Should she get the work, it will just offset the pain of losing the other two buildings which I mentioned a few days ago. She was forced to sell one of her vans last week, so at least we can make one more mortgage payment. Life continues for all living things on a day-to-day basis.
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Lots of football idiots are calling for Brett Favre's head after last night's loss to the Saints. It is obvious he made a couple of bad decisions in their final possession, but without his abilities, the Vikings would probably never have gotten into the playoffs, much less the NFC championship game.
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I watched a captioned Chinese movie on tv Saturday. It was very, very terrible. It was a historical version of one of our slasher style movies; lots of blood. The plot was excellent, characters, and actors were excellent, but it had some wicked flashbacks all depicting the same thing in an entirely different way; very confusing. Let me say it this way, the movie was so sucky that I couldn't stop watching. Jet Li was in it.
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A little more on cameras: If you go with the new lightweights and you are creative in nature, make sure you get a model with easy to use manual controls. Canon has this down pretty well with their p&s S3, except manual focusing can be a pain. My Pentax dslr has an awkward manual mode, but that is not unusual for an entry-level model. In manual, I have to push a button while turning a thumb wheel to change apertures. I mostly used full manual on my Canon S3, but because of design stupidity, I seldom use it on the Pentax. Whichever type of lens-changeable camera you get, you will probably be very surprised at how fast it auto-focuses compared to your p&s.
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Happy wash day (or worsh day as we countrified folk called it).
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Sunday brunch

One of our large regional banks is being investigated for possibly circumventing FHA/HUD guidelines. Seems as if First Tennessee Bank—along with 14 other mortgage lenders—are being looked into for making very shaky loans even after the mortgage collapse began in 2007. Many of the loans were defaulted and the bank took assistance and insurance money from the Federal Government.
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I took Carolyn to do some work yesterday and I wanted to do some shooting. By the time she finished the job, I felt so bad we came back home. How bad did I feel? We passed a convenience store that had a T-Rex dinosaur skeletal head in the box of a small pickup truck. The person driving the truck was pumping gas. I've never seen a T-Rex or any other dinosaur. It was huge. I know it wasn't real, but was probably made from a cast of an authentic fossil. Its presence dwarfing the small truck would have been a very good photo op. When I pass up an opportunity like that, I am feeling really bad. I felt really bad, and now I feel worse for at least not trying. The head was probably destined for the Gray Fossil Site museum as they are having a special display. My camera wasn't even turned on yesterday.
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If you are planning to purchase a new digital SLR camera, give the new micro four thirds units a look. Several manufacturers already have them for sale, and I am sure the likes of Canon and Nikon are soon going to have models for us. They are a cross between point & shoot size/convenience and dslr lens interchangeability. The camera bodies are much smaller and lighter than slr's because they do not have the mirror mechanism. They also have a much larger sensor than do p&s units, and the Samsung model has the same size sensor as do regular dslr's. The second generation from some companies will be coming out later this year and should be even faster focusing. When Nikon and Canon get into the race, prices will probably fall, too. Right now they are as expensive as dslr's. After using the Canon S3 IS p&s for a couple of years, and the Pentax K200D slr for a couple of years, I would definitely go with a smaller, lighter camera with changeable lenses, and the lenses are much smaller in physical size and weight, too.
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Have a scrumptious Sunday.
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Robin

My friend whom hails from Haiti lost his entire remaining family to the quake.
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Hark! As I left for work last evening, I heard a robin calling from the trees across the street; very unusual for late January, but very much appreciated. If it was one of Tammy's that she sent along, I very much appreciate it. It gives me hope.
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I was telling Maggie that if I can finish one more story—one which I began in Sept. 2007—my writing days will be done. I will continue to attempt to do this blog as regularly as possible, but my mind has become so erratic that it will be very difficult to concentrate on a work of any length. The RA along with mild but persistent dyslexia and lingering effects from the mini-stroke are causing much confusion these days. Getting older isn't helping either. Last evening I ran a red light*, and it was the third in the past two months. I cannot type a sentence without several mistakes, and it takes forever to correct them. I should have knocked the story out in a couple of hours Thursday; it took six hours. The heck of that is it was already written up until the point of the murder. It is a very short story, actually, and takes me less than 10 minutes to read it all the while looking for mistakes and ways to improve it. It should not have taken so long to write it. There are some external pressures afoot, but I've handled such before. Frightening, it all is.
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Have a beautiful and bountiful Saturday!
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The Smoking Gun's Mug Shots of the Week!
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*It is the traffic light closest to the city police station!

Easing into the weekend

O', Summer! How I miss ye!
Photo: 2007
Camera: Canon S3 IS

I worked all day yesterday on the new story, finishing the 1st draft at 4:45pm. It has been a year (Jan. 28, '09) in the making, but the hardest part is now done. I think I have everything tied together; now it is a matter of sanding and varnishing the woodwork. The ending still needs work, I believe, but I was very tired when I got that far. It isn't a great story, but it is better than some I have read of that type. I think I did fairly well with the flashback; they are always difficult, especially in a short story. This one wasn't too bad as the basis of the story lies within the protagonist's "memory photographs". A lot of writers depend on flashbacks, but unless they are experts, they usually leave me confused as to what happened and when did it happen. If needed, one flashback per story is generally plenty. If you have to use more in a short story, you need to rethink your thinking. By the way, the character of Leesa is loosely based on a real person whom I knew a long time ago. The story is not character driven for sure, but is based on events and places; I may later expand it with character development. The story itself is entirely fictional and contains @1911 words. I was more weary when I finally pushed my chair back from the desk yesterday afternoon than I get on a full day's photo shoot. However, I wasn't as excited about finishing the story as I have become in the past. It really won't bother me much if the story is not accepted by readers; I suppose I am a bit like Mrs. Jim Bob Duggar; happy to have made another delivery.
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My son just mentioned that with the economy, people will soon start robbing banks. I also have a story titled The First Bank Affair written about such an occurrence. It is fiction based on a real bank robbery and ensuing chase and gunfire. It is put down in a more laid back manner than is Leesa, and can be found on the writing blog. I am planning to include it in any collection of stories I may decide to publish.
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I just cannot make my stuff as long as does Stephen King. I would love to emulate Ernest Hemingway, though, with a dose of Mark Twain.
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Today is still wet and dreary but tomorrow is supposed to be partly sunny and in the mid-50's (12C). I hope to do some shooting around the city of Kingsport and maybe on in to Virginia. Today is also back to taxes for me.
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Have a great shot day!

Jim Bob

Carolyn was watching some kind of wedding dress show one night last week and they had a woman and a man who were going to renew their wedding vows. The couple looked to be in their 40's, and I didn't think much of it until the play-by-play announcer said they had 18 kids, and sure enough, all 18 were at the dress shop with their parents for filming of the episode. To each his own, I thought. Then they told the happy couple's names, and the blushing bride's moniker was Michelle. The grinning groom was named Jim Bob Duggar and that dofus looking fellow did nothing but grin from the time he was first seen until the show was over. I mentioned to Carolyn that I hoped the man was from Tennessee, because I could think of no other place that would turn out a perpetually grinning Jim Bob with 18 kids and whom was about to remarry the same woman he had been wed to for a long, long time. Now I understand they even have their own tv show called 18 Kids and Counting, and all the kid's names begin with the letter "J". They are not from Tennessee, but from next door in Arkansas which is another well known hillbilly state and that makes me wonder if Jim Bob and Michelle are first cousins? The best part is that they are extremely religious; it all fits so well. I love reality shows!

Update!!! They now have 19 kids! Attaboy, Jim Bob!!! The tv show is called 19 Kids and Counting and Jim Bob and Michelle are being paid to screw! Prostitution by any other name smells the same.

Hell yes I'm jealous!
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Here is the first rough draft of a scene which may or may not be used as a "reason" or motive for murder in my short story that is yet to be titled. It will be somewhat expanded or maybe even eliminated completely as I am not used to making love or commiting murder.

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Louis eased the door open just enough to peer inside. What he saw was his well lighted bedroom with his beautiful wife laying naked on the bed linen and a man just as naked was on his knees between her legs. Louis didn't recognize him, but the man and Leesa both had their eyes closed as they took care of each others wants. Tiny beads of body sweat shimmered in the light from the open-curtained window and Louis could see the man's erect penis poised to penetrate his wife. The stranger had his hands cupped under her breasts and seemed to be playing Leesa's nipples as if he were a concert pianist; softly and precisely. Her fingers grasped the mattress edges as a knee slowly ground into her pelvis; Leesa's back was arching with each move of his thigh and her white teeth were glistening between luscious red lips. For a moment she reached and stroked the head of his swollen member before returning to clutching the bed.

Louis quietly closed the door and shakily exited the apartment, leaving his still wet umbrella on the stand beside the entry.

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Either this or a similar scene of infidelity will be used and I have another one written which is not as explicit but I like this one best.

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Have a great Thursday, you'uns!

Mid-week muttering

Rain today, but still above normal temps. Supposed to be pretty Saturday and maybe I can get out for some shooting.
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Politics—as usual—suck.
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I wish the Knoxville media would get off Lane Kiffin. An asshole he is, but they keep trying to find more shit on him. He is gone and the media should move along.
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Mark mentioned the excellent women's basketball team that the University of Connecticut is sporting. They are most likely the best ever in women's play, and definitely have the best coach. But I am partial to the Tennessee ladies basketball team, and to their coach. They are doing pretty good with five 1st and 2nd year players starting, and by the time they become seniors they should be very good. Like or dislike coach Pat Summit, she has done more for women's basketball at all levels than anyone else has or will. Thanks to Pat and Geno and all the rest for bringing us superb entertainment and taking college basketball to a higher level.
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Back to work for me ... have a super Wednesday.
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Washboard blues

Another beautiful day outside. I hope I can find time to enjoy it; these taxes are aggravating hell out of me as nothing is going right this year. This evening I will again drive Carolyn to clean the banks.
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The pre-wringer-washer days: We did not have electricity in my grandma's house until the late 1940's; 1949, I think. Before then, all the clothes were washed in the big metal tubs, but a washboard was used instead of a machine. A fire was built under the big brass kettle and cistern water heated. The dirtiest clothes like my grass-stained britches and my uncles denim pants were put into a tub of very hot water with plenty of lye soap added. They were stirred with a a pole which acted like today's agitators and then stubborn stains were removed by scrubbing with a hunk of soap on the washboard. Regular clothes usually were not put to the washboard unless they were being contrary. It was all very hard work and took most of the day to complete. I was very young then and some of my memories have become a bit obscure and my notes are not complete for the period. Life in the country was never easy for adults, and my mom walked a mile to the bus line and rode to Johnson City where she walked another half mile to work at night in a textile mill so I would have decent clothes and an occasional new toy. Even with that, she was still helping with the wash day chores.
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I am running out of recent photos and the one above may have been on this blog before today. If so, love it twice as much 'cause it was summertime.
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Happy Tuesday!
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Shadows of memories

To turn a blind eye to injustice is an even greater injustice inflicted upon the wronged.
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Today is another beautiful day with the promise of spring as its soul. About one-half hour after I wrote how lovely yesterday seemed, it began to pour the rain. Today will be different!
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This tough winter just became gloomier; the girls across the street have all moved out of the house. Two of them were college graduate students and the other two worked in local offices. The home owner has put the place up for sale but I don't look for it to come off the market very quickly; the housing situation is still getting worse.
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Flickr has become even slower; it seems it is taking a very long time for a comment to appear after it is clicked to be posted. I would not say much if it was a free service, but I and and hundreds of thousands of others are paying to use it. My Gmail is also slow, but I do not pay for it.
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When I was a kid, Monday was wash day; the old ringer-washer and galvanized wash tubs would be pulled out, water was drawn from the outside cistern and heated in big pots on the wood-burning cook stove. Homemade and hand-flaked lye soap was used as a detergent.

Clothes washing was a family affair with my grandmother quietly in charge and my mom and aunt doing most of the transferring of clothing from the "dirty" box to the floor where they were sorted and then to the washer and from there to the rinse and finally to the outdoor clothesline. My uncles helped by carrying water to and from the machine and keeping the fire going; it was all hot, inside work in summer and winter. My job was to keep from under foot, but I was usually nagging to be allowed to put wet clothes through the ringer. I never did get to do so and I still have all my fingers. When I was around eight years old they wanted me to help out, but by that time I really did not want to; the woods were constantly calling me to come to them and daydream and that was and has forever since been my life. If it was raining on Monday, just enough clothes to get us by for a couple of days were washed and hung to dry on the enclosed back porch.

All of our wash tubs were round and of the galvanized type. The large No. 3 tubs were also used for our bathing needs, and for me that meant Saturdays. All sizes of the tubs that we had went to the blackberry patches with us in summer and we did not leave until they were filled. One of the big tubs held more than 15 gallons; we were serious berry pickers.
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I've probably previously written in this blog about washday, and I'm sure what I wrote then was somewhat different than what I penned today, but that is ok. The older memories become, the more they seem to change. I feel blessed that I still have what I do ... that is unless I am making it all up. You decide.
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Have a great wash day!
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Sex, work, and weather

Thursday last

Overnight the warmish rains have vanquished all but the most stubborn of our snow. It is good to see grass again, albeit it is not so green ... yet. The daylight is noticeably longer in the evenings as we are gaining about a minute and a half each day. As I look toward the west from my office window, I see blue skies mixing with the lightening clouds, and the late a.m. light is that of spring. On a morning soon, I shall fill my lungs with sweet warm air along the edges of the Watauga as the joyous sounds of another renewal fill my heart with ecstasy.
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Carolyn received some bad news on Friday; for economic reasons one of her accounts has decided to do their own cleaning beginning Feb. 1. She has been with them for more than five years and services two of their facilities; one of them being in Elizabethton where I must take her today. She did not make much profit from them, but any loss on top of what she has already suffered over the past two years is impossible to absorb.
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I did a little writing on a story I began about this time last year; a tale I've had a lot of trouble finishing. I've decided to insert a scene that is a bit erotic, but it will probably be the most important piece of of the plot puzzle. It seems odd that I should be writing of a sex scene as I will work mostly from long ago memories. I'll have a triple dose of ginko biloba and maybe even a slug of Rocky Balboa before my fingers play her nipples like piano keys. I'm becoming excited. I wonder why the ginko tree is also known as the Maidenhair Tree?
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Have a wonderful Sunday!
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The Smoking Gun's Mug Shots of the Week!

Spring fever?

The Tennessee football organization has a new coach. Hooray?
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I am not feeling my best today, so like the old woman's dance, this post will be short—and hopefully—sweet. Have a wonderful weekend.
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Raising cain about corn

President Obama has pledged $100 million to Haiti in immediate aid, which is a very good thing. However, from 2001 through 2007, the United States gave Israel more than $19.5 billion in military aid alone. Source: Associated Press and Wikipedia.
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In his blog a couple of days ago, Mark touched on something quite scary for all of us. It is genetically modified foods, and altered corn from chemical giant Monsanto Corporation was making headlines. Seems the widely used corn may be causing liver damage to rats, and if a rat's system cannot tolerate it, we mere humans may be in for big trouble. It is not only corn which is modified, it is also soybeans, canola, and other food grains. Monsanto should take a large portion of the blame if they are guilty of negligence, but our government must also take much of the onus. Lax rules for long-term testing such unknown variables like forced genetics are part of government strategy to allow big business to oversee itself and our safety. Just about everything we eat has some form of corn product associated with it. Why aren't people screaming for investigation? For one thing the Haitian earthquake caused a lot of other important news to be buried on page three. Monsanto can thank God for good timing on punishing those wicked people. For another thing, we are ignorant and/or stupid; not only in the US, but worldwide where Monsanto's products have been accepted as safe.

In a related story, Monsanto is suing a Canadian farmer for using their genetic products without a license from the company. Seems like wind and water from a neighboring farm—which is licensed by Monsanto—carried contaminating pollen onto his crops. Now the huge corporation wants him to pay their Technology Fee for use of their product. The cost of the litigation itself may put the grower out of business.

Some enlightening reading and videos.
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Today is shot day and errands must be taken care of, so I will be M.I.A. for awhile.
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Have a great Friday.

Pat Robertson again farts through his mouth

I was wondering what caused such a massive earthquake in Haiti. Pat Robertson told his millions of dedicated and sophisticated tv show viewers that the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere got what it deserved from God because God does not like them. If his god is guilty of such a pitiful disaster—killing, maiming, and leaving uncounted thousands of souls—including children—homeless, hungry, and destitute—then his god is absolutely Satanic. Of course those people are mostly black and speak French, so everyone knows those two things automatically make them devil worshipers. No wonder I stay pissed at organized religion. Shame on you Pat Robertson and your wealthy Christian Broadcasting Network. Amen.
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Nations around the world are pledging hundreds of millions of dollars to help Haiti. If they had been helping with that nation's infrastructure building all along, the devastation would probably not be near as bad. Oh; I forgot! They really are black people and speak French, and they have no oil reserves.
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Anyone besides Maggie and I getting spam comments on their blog? I hope Google will soon take a cue from Wordpress and realize they can put a spam filter in place. My Wordpress blog filters out the spam but I can take a look at it and decide if I want to allow the comments.
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Speaking of the Brasstacks blog, did anyone whom read the Ascending story notice that the protagonist may also be a ghost throughout the story. "On the fifth night after Julia's funeral, I realized I wasn't the sole-being now occupying our house." It is possible Joe Alex died that night and the remainder of the tale is related by his surviving spirit. There is at least one other thing that hints he could be a ghost: When he sees the the girl close up he askingly accuses her, "You're a ghost". She replies, "If you wish. We are what we are, Joe Alex". I like subtle plot twists and turns.

The only part of the story that is on Brasstacks now is an excerpt, but the entirety is still on Lord Bubbha.
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Have a nice ... Thursday already?!

Welcome to the Future

My profile banner

My Wabi-Sabi community banner

My Mysteries & Monsters community banner

Click on photos to better see details.

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This is some of my personal stuff from the new photo site. Maggie has a lot more on her blog. With luck, the Megashot will be up and ready for the public sometime this month. Folks can make their banners as elaborate or as simple as they want. The site help section is coming together beautifully and it hand-holds us while we do whatever we need done.

The profile page is a centralized place for each person to have access to all their photos, communities, and galleries. Communities are similar to to Flickr® groups and galleries are akin to Flickr® sets. But all of them are much better, much more customizable, and easy to work with. Each member of Megashot will have their own store to sell photos, art, or aunt Gert's false teeth if they want to.

The Explore page is a dandy for people who like to have their photos anonymously rated and they can rate others work without having anyone know who it is doing the rating. From there they pick photo of the day, week, and month in several categories. Megashot is mainly a photo sharing site, but can easily be used as a social networking haven. Photos have comment boxes and it is simple to "network" with other members. We also have an internal email program for administrators and members to stay in contact with each other. We can add Youtube videos to our photos and there is a slide show, too.

I don't know my way around the site as I have not spent as much time there as I need to. But I can tell you this, it is going to be the best site for photo sharing on the web. So much and so many fun things to do.
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googled

Google says it is ending its evil romance with the totalitarian government of China because of what is believed to be Communist spying via the search and advertising giant. That's what they get for having sexual intercourse without protection. The government of the US and other nations should learn from this; when you $ell your $oul to the devil, you WILL lose everything.
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The Right Reverend Sarah Palin is now a "guest commentator" for one of America's television news organizations. If you guessed Fox News, you win a free vacation to the planet K-PAX via the next cross-town bus heading that way. Sister Palin's response to the honor "They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan." Her Facebook ratings soared on news of the appointment to Fox's "Fair and Balanced" network.
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I think Lane Kiffin found out that competing in Southeastern Conference football is tougher than coaching the Oakland Raiders in pro football. The only way he will be missed at Tennessee is it will likely screw up the recruiting for another year. Mike Hamilton, The Volunteer Athletic Director, should be fired. The University of Tennessee's once proud men's athletic program is at best mediocre and many sports are in decline under his administration.
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The temp today is supposed to be in the 30'sF and tomorrow is to be near 50F. Breaking out the shorts and getting a haircut.
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Happy Wednesday!
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Perils of taxes and tree rats

White-throated sparrow

I managed to get more tax reports done yesterday but the going is slow. I try to pay attention to detail on the darn things and figure down to tenths of cents then round off if needed. It takes quite a bit of time as I am very elderly and have to check, check, and recheck everything. Today will be an S.U.I. report and if I am not too disgusted, 940 for the entire year of 2009. Form 940 is federal unemployment and S.U.I. is state unemployment. I still have to do W-2's and a W-3 and all are due to be distributed before the end of the month. The W-3 goes directly to the SSA along with master copies of W-2's. The SSA is Social Security Administration. After all that, I will take a weekend off and try to think of a thousand reasons why I should not go to jail if I do not file income taxes for last year. It is an annual futility ritual and I will end up filing the taxes anyway.
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The suet feeders are emptying fast, but as of right now it is mostly starlings who are taking advantage of the fat delicacy. There are a few woodpeckers, but the smaller ones are bossed by the blackbirds. However the real boss is a mockingbird who tries to keep everyone else away, even if he isn't feeding. The red-bellied woodpecker don't take too much of his crap, though.
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Back when the weather was warmer, my son hollered for me to come look. A gray squirrel on the ground had attacked a blue jay and was devouring it alive. The poor jay was screaming like only a jay can and it seemed to last forever. Finally the bird died, the squirrel ate a bit more, and the world was again at peace except for every other jay bird in the neighborhood screaming bloody murder. They even dive bombed the tree rat while he was doing his thing, but it did no good. I have heard of this aggressiveness on the part of gray squirrels, but it is the first time I have seen it, although I once saw one take baby birds from a nest.
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Our friend Mark had a cold welcoming to Carolina, but he is safe and getting settled into new digs. With the freezing temps in Florida where he just left, he is as well off in Greensboro. He is originally from up north, but this lingering cold has to be somewhat of a shock to him because he has lived in central Florida for many years and didn't have many (any) winter clothes. Mike and Tammy furnished him with gloves and a jacket before he left.
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Happy Tuesday!
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Monday

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly
I.D. by Tammy (Thanks)

It is Monday and I am just finding out that N. California had a scary earthquake Saturday. Being out of the "loop" has some negative points I suppose. About all I've done on the net this weekend is download tax forms, keep an eye on the weather, and read blogs.
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We finally had some sunshine yesterday afternoon and a bit more this morning, but now it is cloudy with more snow threatening; it is still very cold. Spring will be a humdinger this year; any warmer weather will be good weather. This past spring I saw the first robin in my yard on Feb. 16, but I had been seeing them around for about a week previously. I will begin my annual robin watch three weeks from today on Feb. 1. I need to get some raisins and dried citrus pieces to feed them while they await worms to migrate near the ground surface. Other critters also eat the fruit (dadgum jaybirds for one) so all I can do is put the food out and hope the robins get some of it. Robins also eat berries from the nandina during harsh spring weather.
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The lady Vols won easily and the men beat the top ranked team in the country. I am tiring of Spongebob Squarepants reruns; I wish they would show some old Rocko's Modern Life cartoons. Actually my favorite cartoons were made between 1935 and 1955; the ones they showed in movie theaters during those days. They had super animation and very little plot to worry about, and a lot of the earlier ones were in black and white.
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Have a great Monday.

Idle thoughts

Still it snows, albeit lightly and gently. It is at most only an inch or so deep (25mm), but along with the eternal sub-freezing temps, it is quite miserable. Yesterday I took time away from the net to drive Carolyn to Elizabethton and to Fall Branch, and I then worked on quarterly and year-end taxes. Last night I watched The Dallas Cowboys again beat the Philadelphia Eagles in a professional football game, and that was pretty well my day. I derive a bit of amusement when the Eagles get beat because a friend has a crush on the coach of that team. I haven't had time for Flickr or the new photo site, but I do hope I can get back into things within a few days. I did not make one photo yesterday, but we did stop at my old-time favorite bar for lunch where I paid Sonny $5 for our annual Tennessee-Alabama football bet which is becoming a habit for me to lose. He and I did some reminiscing; we used to be pretty close friends back in the early 80's and mutually attended many parties, ballgames, etc. His dad owned the bar and sold us beer kegs at cost, so he was very popular. He had a very pretty girlfriend for several years and they had two children together but they never married and eventually had an amicable breakup. He is now married to another pretty woman whom is a local pharmacist, and they both ride Harley's. Sweet.
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When I finish writing this, I will read some other blogs—politics, economy, gardening, writing, photography—then settle in for a couple of hours and watch the Lady Vols play Mississippi State. Tennessee and Mississippi: two of the nicest sounding state names and both are Native American in origin and both named for rivers.
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The above photo was made in the summer of 2008 atop Roan Mountain. The little bird was sharing our picnic lunch and is a dark-eyed junco. In winter they show up in the valleys at feeders, especially directly after it snows and they are obviously called snow-birds. There are many of them at my house, but I cannot get a better pic than this. I may have posted it before, but it is always a lovely bird.
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Happy Sunday!

Sub-cold

Northern Cardinal

Song Sparrow

Black-capped Chickadee

It is still snowing and very cold, and even Miami, Florida may get frost tonight. The weather will be devastating on agriculture, but it will be worse on some of the wildlife especially in the mid and northern parts of the state. These poor critters are not equipped for or used to coping with such temps, and Daytona is set for a hard freeze again tonight. This winter will be remembered by a lot of southerners.
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I will be taking Carolyn to Fall Branch and Elizabethton to work this afternoon and hopefully I can find something to shoot at; cameras need exercise, too. The sky seems to have enough light so that I can use the slow zoom lens instead of the fixed 50mm. I love the fifty, but it requires a lot of moving around to get a shot framed correctly. When I purchased it I was not using a walking cane, but now that I am and it presents a challenge finding a good spot from which to make decent shots.
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The Smoking Gun's Mug Shots of the Week!