Thought for tonight

So as I was standing there warming up water for the purposes of brewing tea, I was browsing the news. I felt like I was reading all the bad news in the entire world. Of course I wasn't.

--The war in Syria has turned into a persecution of Christians, in which thousands have been massacred, driven from their homes, or suffered other atrocities. In spite of big talk from our government, the innocent still suffer.

--America wants turn itself into another Sodom and Gomorrah. Of course, this is also being supported by our government.

--Catholics argue amongst themselves about the best way to handle things, and their insults towards each other sound as bad as what you would expect to hear on the streets.

As I was reading the news, posts, and comments, this quote came to mind:

"And you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places: Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows."

--Matthew 24:6-8

Also

--Mark 13:7-8

This next quote also came to mind, although the bard is not as good as the Savior for laying things on the line.

"Blood and destruction shall be so in use,

And dreadful objects so familiar,

That mothers shall but smile when they behold

Their infants quartered with the hands of war,

All pity choked with custom of fell deeds,

And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,

With Ate by his side come hot from hell,

Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice

Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war,

That this foul deed shall smell above the earth

With carrion men, groaning for burial."

--Billy of the shaking spears, Julius Ceasar, Act 3, Scene 1, lines 280-290

Inspiring Quote for November 21st, 2013

Another good one.

    “The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.” 

― Albert Einstein

Inspiring Quote for November 20th, 2013

This came in my inbox today.  It seemed to be worth reposting.

    “If you expect the world to be fair with you because you are fair with them, it is like expecting a lion not to eat you because you don't eat lion...” 

― Unknown

Here's a first

Finally!  I have produced a batch of non-chew-defying, not-made-of-cement, non-leave-this-to-melt-in-your-coffee-because-if-you-don't-you-won't-have-any-teeth-left biscotti!!!

The recipe is King Arthur Flour's Mexican Mocha American Biscotti.  Long title...

Happy Sunday, and Feast of St. Gregory the Wonder Worker, Bishop and Confessor (old calendar).

The Adventures of...

As the lion sleeps into the morning when he has nothing to do, so we find our hero asleep while the sun arches through its morning routine. He sleeps, well aware of the passage of time, comfortable in the fact that he can be ready to face the day in a brief 6 hour period.

Suddenly, his wife pops upstairs. She has made him breakfast in bed! Our hero pretends to be asleep, and then slides slowly awake, as he cries in his most surprised tone, "Why, breakfast in bed? You shouldn't have!" As blithely as the warrior is able to be, he steals the tray, eyeing the food with a dangerous eye which is about to be consumed. He sees his first victim: COFFEE, BLACK (which is where this post comes from).

The victuals are consumed with as genteel of a manner as this fighter is wont to give, and he !!! springs forth !!!, carrying the tray downstairs.

"Oh, no!"

There's a dilemma! Our hero sees that it is getting late! He must change into his alter ego to resolve the problem!

Taking the stairs two at a time, he grabs his clothes and leaps into the bathroom! Discarding his pajamas, he becomes...

NAKED MAN

Cleaner of the groddy lil' germies and Defender of the galaxy!

His weapons are in his sight: a washcloth and Old Spice!  Making quick work of his victims, he smells faboo!  Turning off the water with the nobility of a stag, he leaps out of the shower, only to find that his wife is in the bathroom!

OH NO!

His secret identity has been...

EXPOSED.

Yes, I did that.

Over a year, and I'm posting something about cookies...

So, a year goes by, and I'm posting only cookies.

• Bowl on left: monster cookies
• Bowls in the middle: peanut butter sandwich cookies (top) and filling (bottom)
• Bowls on right: chewy sugar cookies (top) and coating (bottom)

Since my family thinks that I'm not posting on my blog anymore (and who can blame them?), I feel safe to say that these cookies are going home to them for Christmas. It's late and I'm tired. I may fall asleep before these are done baking, though...

33-bead Chotki

This is finally completed. I began this as a 50-bead Chotki to find out that I didn't cut enough yarn for it. I reduced it down to 33 beads, and then lost it. I found it a couple days ago, and completed it just now.

Wish me blessings on the 300-bead. :)

Back on Facebook...

...again. Since games are on Facebook, on Google Plus, and on Chrome (which is my browser of choice), it seems like a silly thing to drop Facebook for games. I won't be accepting anyone's invitations to games, so no one give me a poor lost puppy, a round of .44 slugs, a recipe of all things delicious, or train shipments for my city. I intend to use it for networking. If this doesn't happen, it's because I'm a weak man, and games are going to do me in.

Linux Mint

So I changed from Windows Vista to Linux Mint. It's a fascinating change. Linux has become even more user friendly since I used it last, and when you tweak it, it becomes even more so. My latest installation is Cairo-Dock, which is very fluid and works rather like the Mac dock. Talk about convenient. I'm a fan. :)

Peaches

On Sunday, Christine and I went to a peach orchard and picked two pecks of peaches.  They are delicious!  I'm eating about 15 peaches a day, just to keep ahead of them going completely bad.  I didn't quite realize how much a peck is...

I was almost bored today...

...but without Facebook, I rediscovered something: BOOKS.

I picked up Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and began reading through the collection of Sherlock Holmes mysteries.  So far, so good.  I only got about 30 pages into it.  :)

It is funny how easily the concept of the hero going on cocaine trips enters into the story, as though it's something that everyone should do.  This is obviously not something intended for those who would believe that it's OK to use the stuff.

No more facebook

I'm done.  I'm off Facebook.  I'll blog instead if I want to share stuff.

I hope that my resolution stays.  I'm still on LinkedIn, but that's got a different focus.

Newest discovery!

Google Chrome's latest app: Angry Birds!!!

Funny how this also fits into the "biggest time waster" category, too...

Thoughts about driving

As I was driving in to my first site today, a thought crossed my mind after I let a guy into my lane.

"Why did I do that?"

I'm a jerk, to be honest. I don't like people pulling in front of me, especially people whom I don't know. I'll let anyone I know pull in front of me, but if I don't know the person, forget it!

Next question: "Why am I like that?"

It's one of my pet peeves! What if the person is slow? What if the person is drunk? What if I'm in a really big hurry and just can't wait 15 seconds to allow a person to merge in front of me?

"So? You're a good driver. Letting one person in front of you is not going to kill you. If anything, you'll be avoiding upsetting them. Calm down. You'll get to where you're going."

Touche.

As I continued to ponder in this way, it occurred to me that I do very often let people in front of me, but usually only one, especially in a merging situation. If more than one attempts to get in, then I get really riled up.

At this point, the voice in my head was silent. I think I was smothering it, because I didn't want to hear it say: "What's the difference between letting in one person or letting in two? Or four? You're being a gentleman. Don't kill that."

I still haven't heard it say anything.

Feeling posh

Dinner this evening: Quinoa, fennel and radish salad, Italian rice sautéed with onions, and Kombucha Botanic No7 (kombucha, hibiscus, orange peel, chamomile, fresh-pressed ginger) to drink.

Does any of this sound tasty? Truthfully, it all is. But I would never think that I'd be so close to driving a Smart Car unless it was a Smart Forfun2.

Although, speaking of Smart Cars, this one is cool, too.

Stories from Texas: AJ & Anya in WalMart

NOTE:

I began this post in July of 2009. I just noticed today that I never finished it. You may notice a change in writing styles.

BEGIN STORY:

As I was working one day, AJ and Anya came scampering up to me, their faces all lit up with the predicted enjoyment of their large rubber ball. They were going outside to bounce it, and they begged me, "Uncle Anthony, come watch how high we can bounce this!" Well, it was the middle of the afternoon, so I was working, but since I'd been telling them "No," and "Later," all day, I figured that I needed to say, "Yes," this time. I couldn't let them get discouraged or to think that I didn't want to associate with them, so I agreed.

We went outside, and AJ said, "Watch how high I can bounce this!" He then slammed the ball onto the deck with as much force as a 7-year-old could muster, which amounted to about 10 feet in the air. He shouted, "WOW! I've never seen anything bounce so high!" So Anya had to get in the action, "Let me try!" AJ handed her the ball after a minor confrontation, the subject of which had to do with AJ's turn not being over yet, but within about 45 seconds, AJ had bounced it once more, thus ending his turn, so Anya showed me how high she could bounce it. She also achieved about 10 feet, and tried again, as AJ had. So I got my turn and bounced it about 15 feet, which was met with, "WOW! I've never seen anything bounce so high!"

This is a bit of a prequel to the fact that my sister's kids have stock phrases which they use quite often, and which are very exclusive and universal. So, back to the story.

I got a second bounce, and this time the ball flew off the deck. The giggles and the "wow!" chorus ensued as expected, and the ball landed in Mom's tall flowerbed, just off the deck. The problem is that some of the stalks of the floweres wre broken. One such large specimen pierced the ball and popped it, and that ended all the fun. In light of the fact that I had ruined their toy, I promised them that I would get them a new one to replace the one I broke.

Hey, it's an effort to teach them integrity. Give me a break, I'm still learning it myself!

Well, they ran through a few different solutions to fix the ball: tape, string, glue. None of them worked, so they took me up on my offer for a new ball.

That Saturday, I had to go to WalMart to pick up food and such, and AJ and Anya wanted to go, too. My usual routine is that if they are good, I'll give them a quarter to get a treat from the quarter machines up front. A small handful of M&M's goes a LONG way to appeasing a youngster's patience with boring old shopping, and the promise of it makes them really helpful in the store. If you give it to them before the trip starts, they'll only want a second treat as they leave, but if you give them the treat after the fact, they are really helpful in the store in anticipation of the thank you gift later.

Anyway, I just realized that I'm one of the few non-parents who are actually reading this. All of a sudden, it seems that I'm discovering things that everyone else already knows...

Anyway, so we went into the WalMart and began shopping. It was a short list: bread, cheese, milk, eggs, and small candy bars for energy throughout the day. Mom needs it: she deals with 5 little ones most days!

Well, at the end of it all, when we left, I paid for everything on my card. I then realized my mistake: I couldn't get quarters to give the kids! My promise went up in smoke before my eyes. I told AJ and Anya about my mistake. AJ is very forgiving; he immediately piped up with a smile and, "That's OK, Uncle Anthony." You could tell he was disappointed, but he wasn't going to let it ruin his day. Anya was much more visibly disappointed, but she followed her brother's lead in accepting my apology and forgiving the broken promise.

Well, we went outside, and as I was loading up the groceries into the car, I remembered the incident with the ball. I thus loaded the groceries in the car and took the kids back inside to replace the ball. WalMart didn't have the right size or type of ball, so I said that I would get them something else. Both kids ran all over the toy section scanning for stuff they wanted. AJ picked up a MASSIVE jar of bubble soap which came with a fantastically large wand. Anya looked and looked and finally found a large toy doll house that she fell in love with. No, that's too expensive (about $50). We kept looking, and the next thing she saw was a large stuffed dog which was also expensive, but it was a higher quality than your average stuffed animal (about $30). She was now torn between a doll house and a stuffed animal, trying to make up her mind.

This was the scene, and it's much better acted in person, but it will have to do. Sadly, I don't remember the exact words, but this is a good paraphrase.

ANYA:
(drops to her knees, almost in childlike awe of the doll house)
Oh, Uncle Anthony, it's PERFECT! I love it!

ANTHONY:
(stands behind her)
No, Anya, I can't buy you a dollhouse. Do you know what your mother would do to me if you came back with that?

ANYA:
But it's so beautiful!
(leans in closer to admire the picture of the model little girl playing with it and having a grand time)
And it's so nice!
(looks back at me, stars in her eyes)
Please?

ANTHONY:
Anya, I can't buy that for you.

ANYA:
(looks at the house again, stars and maybe a tear in her eyes)
But it's JUST what I've ALways WANted!

ANTHONY:
Anya, I still can't buy it for you. It's too big for your room!

ANYA:
(still ogling the dollhouse)
No, it's not! It can go right in my room!

ANTHONY:
(gets tired of this conversation)
Anya, I can't buy it because it's too expensive. I can't afford to buy it for you, so please choose something else.

ANYA:
(looks wistfully at the stuffed animal)
Well, I guess that this will do.

ANTHONY:
Anya, that is also too large for your room. Your mother would kill me if I got you something that big!

ANYA:
(looks at the stuffed animal, stars and maybe a tear in her eyes)
But it's JUST what I've ALways WANted!

ANTHONY:
Anya, I'm sorry, but we can't get that.

ANYA:
(looks back at the dollhouse)
Well, if I can't have the stuffed animal, can I have this dollhouse?

ANTHONY:
(rolls eyes and tries to repress a smile)
No, Anya, we can't do either the dollhouse or the stuffed animal. Please look for something different.

AJ:
(having watched the majority of this scene, he comes into the conversation to help ANYA get something awesome)
Anya, why don't you get one of these?
(points at a smaller doll, that was about $10)

ANYA:
No, I don't think so. I don't like them.

AJ:
(points at a tiny stuffed animal in a tiny purse, about $5)
What about this? This is really CUTE!

ANYA:
(looks back at the bigger stuffed animal)
No, I don't like it at all.

AJ:
(gets excited about the smal stuffed animal)
But look! It's so cool! You can carry it around with you, and you can even put things inside it!
(demonstrates by putting his finger into the purse)

ANYA:
(gets excited)
Wow! That's neato!
(looks at ANTHONY)
Can I get this?

ANTHONY:
(playing hard to please, but rejoicing internally)
Well, I don't know. Don't you think you'll lose it?

ANYA:
(defensively)
No, I promise I won't! Please, can I get it?

ANTHONY:
Welllllll, OK. As long as you promise.

ANYA:
I DO promise!

And that was that. We walked up to the register and I paid with cash. I still wanted to give the kids quarters, so when I got my change back, and I had two quarters, I gave them each one. AJ went to the gumball machine and got himself a nice juicy gumball and began blowing bubbles. Anya, thoughtful as always, paced the machines, looking for the perfect money-spending gift. Her choices were limited: demonic tattoos, gumballs, and a tiny handful of M&M's. She then saw something else: little troll dolls with jewels on them. Her eyes lit up.

ANYA:
I want THAT!

ANTHONY:
But you only have one quarter and it costs two!

ANYA:
(looks at the sparkly troll dolls again, stars and maybe a tear in her eyes)
But it's JUST what I've ALways WANted!

ANTHONY:
I'm sorry, dear, but you'll just have to wait. Maybe you can get one later when you get another quarter. If you keep the quarter you have now, you'll only need to earn one more, and then you can get one!

ANYA:
(sticking the quarter into her dress pocket)
I'll keep it here!

ANTHONY:
(notices that the pocket is very loose and the quarter would fall out of it's own weight)
Do you have anyplace else to keep the quarter?

AJ:
But Anya, you can stick it into your new purse with your puppy!

ANYA:
(sticks it into the new purse with the stuffed animal)
I'll do that! I won't lose it there!

ANTHONY:
Are you sure, Anya?

ANYA:
Yes!

And then we went home.

She came back to me the next day, saying that she had lost her quarter. I didn't give her a new one, but I did say that I was sorry to hear that, and that perhaps she should keep her money in a better place next time.

One more blog

Yeah, so I've decided something. I need to get in shape. And I need to do it now. This involves uprooting a lot of bad habits that I have allowed to settle into myself.

Why am I telling you this? Because I need YOU (yes, you, all my poor readers whom I love but never write for anymore) to keep my honest with myself! I need the encouragement to got into the gym and work my butt off. I need the motivation to tell me to put down the quick 'n' easy processed food and pick up the natural food.

Will you help me? Please? It won't be easy for me, and I've been working at it alone for a long time with no results. But, the ancient philosophers (I believe Plato stated it, and Socrates confirmed it) have stated that the best way to achieve the perfect balance within a human being is to strive for a balance of mind and body. I am trying to train my mind, but the body has gone by the wayside. No more.

Will you help me? Will you help an overweight generally strong but weak-minded and weak-willed individual achieve another of his personal goals?

If you REALLY want to get involved, ask for my phone number. I'll gladly give it to you. You can then call me for a status update.

If you would help me, I would be much more motivated to stay on track. There is no benefit to you, except perhaps maybe I can do this same thing for you.

The new progress blog will be started once I get my act together, but expect to see it soon.

God Bless!

Life has changed as we know it.

I'm married. The knot was tied on October 2, 2010, to a beatiful young lady named Christine C., whom I have written about before. I'll let you find her in this blog. Why should I have all the fun, right?

Oh, and we took a 10-day honeymoon in Savannah, GA.

Anyway, so after our wedding, we attended the wedding of John E. (aka, Jay) and Breana H. (both about whom have also written). Their wedding was in NH, on October 9, 2010. I was the goon in a tuxedo: a goonsman, as it were. The rest of the men in tuxedos were gentlemen.

After that, we went to St. Louis and sang at the wedding of Emma F. (whom I have also written about here) and Andy K. (whom I have never mentioned before now, but is such an awesome dude that I feel powerful bad saying those words). I got the honor of DJ'ing the wedding reception. This wedding occurred on October 16, 2010.

My honeymoon started on Thursday, October 21, in the evening, when Christine and I flew to GA. We landed in Altanta, visitied with her family until Saturday, drove to Savannah, and stayed there until Monday morning, November 1. We did a lot of sight-seeing, and Christine took lots of pictures. Savannah is a beautiful city, and pictures don't do it justice, but you'll get a hint of the granduer when we post them.

If we ever get around to posting them... :-D

I'm a wine snob

Darn it all. I've become a wine snob. I went to the Bistrot du Coin yesterday with some of the guys from work. I tried 3 of their 5 white wines (one was a rose), and I did not care for any of them. I was expected much better from a French bistro, especially since the French are known for their wines.

But the sad thing about all of this is that I've become a snob about it if I don't care for the wine. Seriously, that's bad. I couldn't simply enjoy a glass of wine that was not what I expected. I was expecting a better Chardonnay or Rosé, but I was so sold on what I expected that I couldn't appreciate the differences.

Again, this is BAD. Next time, no snobbishness!

A mouse in the house

So that was fun! We had a mouse in the house yesterday! I was sitting upstairs working late at night in Eric's office (I've practically confiscated it), when I saw what looked like a large piece of lint drift across the floor.

"My, that's a large piece of lint," I thought to myself.

Turning to see this wonder, I noticed that it was not your average piece of lint. It was much thicker, and looked somehow fuller.

And it was looking at me.

In a flash, I realized that this was no ordinary, household piece of lint. It was an ordinary household mouse.

Now, I like rodents. I think they're cute. So when I saw him, I had a flash of fascination with seeing a third mammal occupying space within the two-mammal abode. Then when I blinked, he bolted.

He bolted so fast that I was honestly startled. I didn't react immediately: in fact, it took me a second to realize that I was startled, and I only realized it when I felt the cool-water-dumped-on-your-head chemical that usually follows a startled/all functions on high alert/adrenaline chemical.

Does anyone else have that feeling, or am I just wierd?

Anyway, so I sat staring at the empty floor space, trying to figure out what just happened, when my mind came back to me in a rush. There was a mouse in the house, and no matter how much I liked him, he had to go.

"Eric!" I hollered.

"What?" he responded.

"........There's a mouse in the house." I hesitated to say it, because I was still fascinated by the Mus musculus.

".....What?" He then turned to his cell phone. "Hold on, baby, I'll call you back."

He came walking into the office. "What?"

"There's a mouse in the house."

He broke into a smile. "Really?"

"Yeah, he just ran under the desk." I started to trace his path with my eyes, and moved a box. Turns out, he was hiding right behind it, so he bolted again. Giggles followed as the chase was on. Eric grabbed a shoebox, and since I was the one wearing shoes, I also was the one to come close to him. He was a fast little guy; he zipped around the box and hopped over my foot as deftly as if he was born to do just this.

He probably had been born to do just this.

Eric got a shoebox. When he came back in with the box, I took my eyes off the mouse, and he darted off, except this time, I didn't see where he went. We figured that he went straight into the closet. Sure enough, that is exactly where he went. We pulled stuff out and managed to corner the little rascal, but he zipped out and around again. We cornered him again and trapped him, but couldn't get him into the box, so Eric got some gloves, and I reached over and picked him up and put him into the box.

In the shoebox, he started jumping around, and was pretty close to jumping out. We decided to move him from the shoebox to a bigger box where he couldn't hop out as easily. Eric took the picture on his iPhone and I put him outside, in the woods right behind the house.

Not 20 minutes later, another mouse came sauntering up the stairs to the living room where Eric was. There was a moment of hesitation, and then I heard, "Smitha!"

"What?"

"We've got another mouse in the house!"

This time, he ran behind the entertainment system, which is fortunately open. I grabbed the gloves and the box, and we ran around the entertainment system to the opposite corner of the living/dining room, where we trapped him. He cleverly ran underneath a small bookshelf (which Eric and I had to move twice to get him). We finally managed to snag him again, and put him in the box. We speculated that he was the same mouse, because he looked identical. Eric marked his tail with a black marker, so we'd know if he came back.

This time, I took him to the other side of the townhouse complex and let him go. I've not seen him since.

Quick prayer request for Christine

Anyone who knows my wonderful girlfriend also know that she is a workaholic to a fault. With that said, she twisted out both of her knees terribly in shovelling snow a couple days ago. They now pop with practically every move, they are swollen, and her motions are all very stiff and cause her a good deal of discomfort, if not just straight-up pain.

On this past Saturday, after the first 20+ inches of snow that fell, there was a 48-hour lull in the storm. At about 2PM, Tony, her landlord, was out shovelling snow on his tractor with a front-end loader on it. I went outside at about 4PM, which is when I noticed that the snow had stopped and that people were already digging themselves out. I borrowed Tony's snow shovel, and cleared out around Christine's car and shovelled out paths from both doors to her car. Tony's plan was to get the tractor out to the street: in so doing he would clear out the driveway. From there, he could widen it out to get the vehicles out.

At about 5:30, Christine felt guilty for doing her own work indoors while the two of us were outside working, so she grabbed the only shovel left, a spade. We shovelled the path to Tony's house and around his truck, to make room for the tractor to move the majority of the snow without hitting the truck. Christine used the snow shovel that I had while I took breathers, but overall, she ended up using a spade most of the time, so she was at a serious disadvantage. Her whole body was sore, but in particular, her knees were really bothering her. Tony suggested that she stop, because he noticed that she was limping -- I was being my usual unobservant self, so I didn't notice until much later. However, she felt guilty for stopping, because she hadn't shovelled as much or as long as we had (at least, I think that was her rationale). She also felt bad since Tony's wife Veronica wasn't there to help him (Veronica was stuck at her office, snowed in), and thus Christine had to work extra hard to make up for her not being there.

At the end of it all, she hobbled inside in serious amounts of pain in both her legs and her back. A few days later, her knees are still really bothering her, but her back is better. Her knees are actually swollen -- I think she overexerted herself and just pulled something, but she might have actually done some serious damage.

The only benefit to all this is that now I know where she is. If she moves, her position is given away by the sound of cracking knees. Thus she can never sneak up on me.

If that last paragraph sounded morbid, I apologize. I was simply trying to find the humor in this post: there's not much to work with, and I hope that Christine doesn't kill me for posting this.

Breakfast

I promise, I didn't drink the rum! It was just there! I was dead at the time!

(The link is for fun. Don't ask me how it tastes.)

Google logo today

Fourth of July, Texas style

On Saturday morning, I woke up at 6:30 and went to Mass with Mom, but I was so tired after Mass that I just had to stay up and play Starcraft. The kids came over at about noon or so and they were all cranky. Mary wanted to be the boss (again), Timmy wanted someone to hold him and Mikey wanted some attention too, since Mary and Timmy were crying. Mom put all three down for naps, so AJ and Anya were the only two up, but even they crashed after a little bit. We decided that it would be better to leave around 3PM, and since I had foolishly played away my nap time, I decided that a power nap was better than none at all, so I laid down on the couch -- just in time for AJ and Anya and Mary to all get up and show me all the fireworks that Jimmy had brought over. I got about 5 minutes of skim sleep -- it may have been 2%, but it certainly wasn't whole, and therefore not real.

So we stopped at Sonic on the way out the door and picked up a Route 44 mango soda drink for me and a couple small slushies for AJ and Anya (I'm yawning thinking about this). The drive took an hour and a half, but the kids swear it was longer. I got AJ interested in directions. I told him we were going north on 75, so if we turned left when we exited onto highway 380, then we weren't going north anymore. He was really clever and announced that we were now going west. Anya was also awake, so Mom was pointing out this and that and the kids were oohing and aahing, but the fireworks hadn't even started yet. It was only cornfields and livestock. AJ decided that he was going to live in the country when he grows up.

When we arrived at Emma's family's house, we walked down to where the party was. Sarah had just cut her foot wide open and so Mrs. F was driving her back to get stitches, so everything was pretty well normal. Emma and Mr. F were cleaning up and setting up decorations. I helped for a few minutes, and then the kids discovered the outside toys: slides and tire swings and whatnot. Excitement ensued as they pleaded with Mom, "Grandma please push us on the swings!", "Grandma, watch me slide down the slide!", and other such requests, so she did for a while. I chased Michael around, especially when he discovered the lake. He wanted to run and explore but mean old Uncle Anthony and Grandma wouldn't let him play in the water, so he figured out other methods of getting dirty: cow patties.

Soon enough, AJ and Anya had found that the tire swings weren't much fun when Grandma was watching Mikey and Mary on the slide, so they cajoled (read: begged) their uncle into pushing them. This is where Anthony is the sucker of the Smitha family. "You want me to push you? OK." So, excitedly, they chose their tire swings and I pushed them for a while. AJ wanted the regular tire swing, so he climbed in with a bit of help, and Anya wanted one of the horse tire swings, so I picked her up and put her on it. I was watching the tree branches carefully, so I pushed them slowly at first, but that soon disintegrated into "FASTER!" and "HIGHER!". Caution was thrown to the wind (as far as they were concerned) and they were soon going about 70 degrees from their starting points from the axis of the branch. They were having a blast. Then AJ saw that Anya was having a blast on her horse swing, so he wanted to get on the other one. With a bit of help, he climbed right up, but this was the weakest of the branches (or so it looked), so I couldn't push him as high.

After about 20 minutes on the swings, Mary wanted to get on the now-vacant tire swing. She was just barely big enough to sit in the tire and grab hold on top, so I pushed her gently and she was enjoying herself immensely. So at this point, I had all three of the eldest going on their respective swings, with AJ getting the short end of the stick, because he was a bit too heavy to be pushed high. I was push Anya high, then push Mary gently, then push AJ as high as I dared, and then run back to Anya, because her trajectory had diminished. I was getting quite the run around, because these swing were about 30 feet apart, so my heart rate and breathing rate were almost at treadmill levels. My sweat and smell levels were past the unpleasant stage, I'm sure.

There were more guests around, including the McD family from St. Louis (Mr. and Mrs. McD, Allison, Lindi, Micah and Will), so I managed to talk to them for a little while. AJ started playing with several of the other boys. One of them saw me running between Anya and Mary and offered to help, so he took over pushing Anya. She said, "My uncle is better than you are." Ouch. That's some thanks. So he took over pushed Mary very gently, and I pushed Anya again. Eventually, the swinging ended, but not for long. Mary wanted to ride on the horse swing when Anya got off, so I pushed her there. She felt much more safe that way, as did I. After a few minutes of this, Anya came back and wanted more horse swing time, so she and Mary rode together. It was a little cramped, so Anya got off again, and Mary just wanted to keep swinging. I'll give her credit: she knows English well enough to know that I was trying to get her to stop, so she answered all of my "Do you want to get off/Do you want to stay on" questions very adeptly.

Dinner was chicken and corn on the cob and potato salad and pasta salad and all sorts of yummy stuff. Michael got his hands on some chicken that we got for him, and devoured it just in time for me to get a plate. But when I sat down to eat, after a bite or so, he was through and took off. So I ran after him. We explored the area next to the lake and around the lake, and in the tall grass, and all that stuff, and he wasn't interested in food until dessert rolled around. Emma was nice enough to keep the dogs away from my food (maybe they licked it a little) but when I got to it, I had just enough time to grab a couple bites and then run after Michael again. He had his dessert and was wired to go again. This time, Mom took over pretty quickly, and she eventually put him on the bench between Mr. F and me. It didn't take him long to figure out a means of escape, but he did so again, only to be reigned in my Mom for more food. This time he discovered corn on the cob, and went through a couple pieces of it.

By this point, fireworks were beginning to be set off. This was just the crackers and other noisemakers, so all the kids were exploring. AJ and Anya loved beign up close. Mary thought she did until she heard one of the explosions at 10 feet away. "GRAMMA!" came the cry and she came stumbling back, tears in her eyes, arms outstretched for the protective embrace. The people around all laughed at the pitiful sight, and I giggled as well. So Mom, who had been holding Mikey, gave him to me and picked up Mary.

I should say that we also brought Timmy. He was in estrogen heaven -- all the girls held him at some point, so he was totally happy up until he wanted food. Then the fireworks scared him, so Mom took him and Mary back to the house.

I held Mikey and Emma sat down next to me, and we lead the National Anthem and "America the Beautiful". After that, she started the soprano lien to If Ye Love Me, so I asked her to start again and I joined her with the bass line. Mrs. McD liked it. After that, there was a lot of oohing and aahing at the fireworks show. Lindi came and sat down next to us as well, and we had a small conversation about how hot I was. OK, so you saw through that one -- we talked about what a bad uncle I was.

After wrapping everything up, we drove back to the house and Mom and I and the kids left around 10PM. When we got onto 380, we stopped at a Sonic -- Mom wanted a tea and I wanted something to keep me going, so I ordered a Route 44 Coke. When that stopped working, Mary started fussing. No reason, she was just tired. But it got me going, and all of a sudden, I was becoming the Anthony you don't like. I told Mom that it makes absolutely no sense to me why anyone, baby or not, wouldn't have the sense to go to sleep when exhausted. Mom then told me that it never happened with me and Elizabeth because we were never out so late to let it happen, and she always put us to bed at a decent hour. That shed rays of hopefulness upon my future, because if she could do it, so can I.

A little over half-way back, Mary was just crying for Gramma -- don't know why, but instead of fussing, she was full-blown crying. We stopped the van to give her a blanket (Liz's shawl), and that settled her down for all of about 30 seconds, just enough time to let Timmy wake up. Then he joined the chorus, so I was getting mad at her, because she woke up Timmy. But I managed to keep it more-or-less under wraps, until Mikey heard the choirs of "angels" singing and added the tenor line. So, Mom managed to give Timmy his bottle and he settled down. Hearing the boy soprano quit whining, the tenor decided that he didn't want to sing with just the alto, so he left off, and Mary decided that he solo wasn't loud enough, and voiced her disapproval that Grandma was taking care of anyone else but not her. I love that little girl, but she can be soooo trying on my patience.

When we made it home, all the kids swore up and down that they weren't tired and the 3-part dissonant harmony we heard in the car turned into a 5-part Britten opera, but not even 2 minutes after AJ, Anya, Mary and Mikey's heads hit their respective pillows did the dirge end. I had begun the process of feeding Timmy, but he didn't want his bottle, so I just held him and he threw his head around, attempting to get comfortable, and smashing up my head (and comfort) in the process. Mom then discovered that the formula in his bottle had gone bad -- which would be why he didn't care for it. So she fixed him a new bottle and he chowed with the greatest eaters of history. Then he also went to bed and all choirs were silent for 8 hours.

I think that's the first time that Mom has gotten a full night's sleep in some time when all 5 kids are here.

Home in TX: Day 3 of the 28.5 day stay.

So I'm at home in TX for several days -- OK, a full month. Anyway life is really busy. Here's a excerpt from an e-mail that I typed up describing the kids here. Maybe it'll be funny in a few years.

You may think I'm counting down the days. In a sense, yes. But in a sense, no. This is a good experience for me. Spending a month dealing with 5 kids all under 8 and all related to me is a good experience. It's not the most fun I've ever had, but it looks like it will become a lot more fun.

If I had to predict what these kids will be when they are grown up, here's what I'd say:

AJ will be some form of show off. Whether that means an actor, entertainer, lawyer, salesman, or some form of public speaker, I'm still trying to figure it out. He's very melodramatic and tells all sorts of stories with greeeeeeat big loooooooooooooooooooooong vowels and opennnnnnnnnnnnn connnnnnnnnnnsonents to reeeeeeeeally enhaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnce the story, all the while being JUST so exCITed (using the wrong inflection at times) AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnd being soooooooooo so so so soooooooooooooooo eager to tell you EVerythinggggggggggggg. Oh, and he's glad to be the oldest, too. He's in charge.

Anya will be the real leader. She's strong and determined, and she knows what she wants. AJ has asserted his authority so much that she's becoming a little bit of a follower, but she knows her place in the chain of command. She's not as dramatic as AJ (but she can be), but she can also be every bit as stubborn. She is a fantastic reader (better than AJ, I think), and she could very easily be the genius in the family. She will be the intellectual who will probably invent new methods of learning, all the while maintaining a business as an artist on the side.

Mary is little Miss Independence, now that she's got her braces on and she can walk flat-footed. She tried to run but it's more of a plod, but it's OK, because she's cute as anything. When she falls down (which she does often enough), she will cry and scream and demand attention (very much unlike Michael), and when you pick her up again, she usually runs off again. She is very protective of her things and if she thinks that someone shouldn't be playing with something, she'll take it away from them and hide it, much to their dismay. But she also expects no retaliation, so when they take away her toys, the hurricane of tears and the mother of all fits breaks loose upon the world. If you've heard random screams in VA, that's Mary. She's cute and she knows it and she's a flirt and she's spoiled rotten (or really tries to be, and thus only pulls of "brat" pretty well, and I don't mean the ind you throw on the grill that's made of piggy). She'll grow up to be a heartbreaker, and possibly a model as well.

Michael will be the powerhouse. He'll go for the sports. He bulls through everything and everyone -- unintentionally for now, because he's just so happy to see them that he runs right at them. He's also quite the chunk, so when he runs at you, he could probably knock you over. He's at least a solid 25 pounds and he's faster (and heavier) than Mary -- I think he's as heavy as Kenny, and would give him a run for his money for strength. Jimmy, Liz's husband and these kids' father, plays really rough with him, and Mikey loves every second of it and comes back for more. He loves being outside. He's a Daddy's boy bar-none. He's also a flirt, bar-none. He makes eyes at all the girls, and not just the pretty girls: all of them. They, in turn, eat it up, and flirt right back with him. Then when he sees that his charms have taken hold of them, he giggles and runs away, thus instituting a game of tag. Mom (and Liz and AJ) all refer to him as the Energizer Bunny on steriods (or the Energize Bunny times 10 or some form of extreme Energizer Bunny), and it's true. He just keeps going and going and going...

Timothy is the stoic one of the group. Granted, he's only 2 months old. But when I mean stoic, I really do mean stoic. He just looks at you with this face (well, there is no stoic google face expression, so this will have to do ), except he is trying to look down his nose at you. Again, though, he's only 2 months old, so he's still working on the whole neck-muscle/head-control thing, so it could be due to the fact that his head just kinda flops backwards, like Anthony Scrivener's did when he was a baby. He has a rather large double chin and looks like the kind of face you'd expect to see in the role of, "This court is now in session: Honorable Timothy Freiberg presiding". Well, he's stoic until he feels neglected. Then he has this mournful, "I'm so alone, and no one loves me..." kind of pitiful, pathetic cry. He usually breaks this out just to keep poor Mom (my Mom, his Grandmother) up until all hours of the night patting his bottom and holding him and telling him it's all right, etc.

Any questions class?

Laura Baron

Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescat in pace. Amen.

No more Todd...

It turns out that one of my dogs passed away. Mom is on vacation so my brother-in-law was taking care of the dogs and cats. When he went outside to see the dogs, Todd (the beagle in a tuxedo) was lying on the ground and didn't get up. I don't really know the story, but he was at least 14 years old, so it was inevitable. I feel like a Requiem, but it would be useless. He was a (pretty) good dog. Unfortunately, this means that Loki will be alone, but she's probably too old to really accept a new companion.

Not that it really matters, but I hope he died peacefully.

Get Smart TV Series

I'm on season 4. Agent 86's jokes are getting really old. Agent 99 is getting really annoying. The Chief is about the only one not annoying. This might be a TV series that I just can't finish.

But I refuse to succumb. I will finish -- I just might be taking a loooong break...

I H8 PaulE

He didn't think the new Star Trek movie was all that great.  I think he needs new glasses.  Until he changes his opinion, I don't think I can ever talk to him again.

Of all the things to happen...

Yeah, so yesterday was fun -- in a most sarcastic way. I've been going jogging during the day recently. It's a great way to get some fresh air in the middle of the day, and I feel pretty good when I'm done. Also, when I get back to the computer to keep working, I'm refreshed and work doesn't seem nearly as tedious, because I've come back after thinking, so I've got some new ideas.

Anyway, so the day before yesterday, I jogged my 2.1mi circuit and made it about 1/3 of the way without stopping, then I slowed down from a jog 3-4 more times. Not bad, but I need to do better. On the way back, I checked Christine's and my cars: the Meadows has a bad habit of ticketing cars for not having a permit -- even when in unmarked visitor spots. I can understand ticketing them if they don't move, but these cars moved quite a bit. They were clean. I went back inside and went back to work.

Yesterday, I went to jog again and I noticed that Christine's car was gone. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that it had been towed. !!!! Normally, there's a 48-hour waiting period -- not this time. Sometime in the 24hr window, they had ticketed and towed her car, which is not their normal procedure. So that had to be rescued. My car had a ticket with a 48hr warning on it. I'm not sure what's up with why hers would have been towed...

Anyway, so I also joined AAA a couple weeks ago, when all this trouble started with my car. I got my papers in the mail yesterday, and called a locksmith out to unlock my car. (When all this trouble started with my car, it was towed, and the tow truck company or the driver lost my keys. I had a spare ignition key, but not a key to unlock my car. Nissan didn't have my car on file, so I had to work with a locksmith.) He came by in about an hour, and made quick work of unlocking my car and making a new key -- $150 later, I can now lock my car again.

So after this, he left, and I moved my car to the street. I went back inside my house -- or tried to. I had locked myself out of my house. Ironic, to say the least, that the locksmith had unlocked my car, but I had now locked myself out of my house. I searched for the spare key, but it was gone. I tried a couple things, but I was about fed up with my luck for the day.

I drove my newly-unlocked car out to Eric's workplace, just up the road. He drove back with me to our place. On the way back, my car died. I was hoping that wouldn't happen, but it did. So I was following Eric, and then I had to swerve out of the flow of traffic and park on a neighborhood street for about 45 minutes for my car to start again. By this point, I was actually mad. I was so steamed that I fell asleep -- which was better than staying awake at that point. I was already tired, so I just shut down for a few minutes. I'm not sure how long I was out total, but I drifted in and out of sleep for an hour or so, each time, trying my luck with the car. It wasn't more than an hour, at least I hope not. My patience for these games was wearing thin, and I still had to get back to my house. Jonathan said that he would drive me out to pick up Christine's car, and it's rude to keep people waiting (it's also hypocritical of me to say that, being the guy who is perpetually late).

Now, I should add that my cell phone has gone missing since last Thursday. I can't call people or receive calls. So I couldn't receive Eric's call when he noticed that I was no longer following him from the office, nor could I receive Jonathan's call when he called to make sure I was home. Alternately, I couldn't call AAA to send a tow truck to get my car back home.

I finally made it back home and I was so frustrated with the whole affair that I signed off work (I was late for my scheduled departure anyway) but I couldn't just put in half a day's work. I would have to come back later. I had a voice lesson with Julia at 6PM (which I called and cancelled for today: I wasn't in the mood to sing, and she understood), I had to go rescue Christine's car before they start charging me a bunch of daily holding fees, and I had to get to Tim's place to rehearse for the Collegium Cantorum concert in June.

So I made it to Battlefield Towing, and paid another $150 to get Christine's car away from them. Talk about an expensive day. If I were a dishonest man, I'm sure I could have gotten the car for nothing, but I don't think that dishonestly.

On a side note, I've discovered one of the least-liked services rendered by one man to another: the enforced towing of another man's car by one man at the other man's expense. It's a racket. I didn't ask for a tow truck. The place I live at decided to set me up with some extra bills this month. So nice and thoughtful of them. Good thing I have those piles of money just waiting to be spent.

So I signed back into work at about 11PM, and I'm still working -- I'm just taking a break to rant. I need to get this off my chest.

Obama's speech

So I was listening to the radio yesterday, and I heard a speech given by our current president, Barack Obama. It was his speech on what to expect for the next 100 days in office. While I appreciate a good joke, his speech was absolutely full of jokes, most of which were as predictable as they come. The quality of his speech (as an action, not as a thing) was amazing. He is very charismatic, and when he's just talking and telling jokes, he's fun to hear. It's no wonder that people like him. He's articulate (when he's on the cue cards), he is able to make fun of himself and those working for him without being offensive, and he generally puts a positive spin on everything. People like positivity and charisma, and he's definitely got it. (Click the title of this post or click here for a transcript of the speech.)

That's all I'll say, because as far as everything else goes, I don't think he's remotely qualified to be our president, and his telling jokes won't change that. Neither he nor his team know what they are doing, and their agenda is killing the United States of America. Of course, it's also just as likely that they know exactly what they are doing, and they continue to do it anyway because they finally have power and are trying to "prove" that their "system" can work better than anything else the world has ever seen.

My day so far, with car troubles

I had my written final today. The oral/aural half was on Tuesday. On the way back home from the test, my car stopped running again as I was about to exit onto I-66 from 50. After I let the car sit for about 30 minutes, I drove home without incident.

Bacon Vodka

I just put this alcoholic delight into the freezer. It should be ready for tasting either this evening or tomorrow. Anyone interested in joining me for a sampling?

Recent life

So my Nissan is in the shop again. On Thursday, as I was driving on highway 50, and traffic around me was doing between 60-70mph, my engine just turned off. The car kept moving, and I only noticed it when I applied the gas pedal and got no response. I shifted the car into neutral, and turned the key, but it didn't start. I put my hazards on and attempted to coast into a parking lot. No worries, really, as I was still doing about 50, and I was nearing my destination. I slowed and entered the parking lot, and attempted to start my car again. It fired up, fortunately. I was doing about 10mph, so had I needed to accelerate again, I would have been in trouble.

I drove it the rest of the evening without incident.

Friday morning, bright and early, I drive to the office. I have some errands to run in Tyson's Corner, so I got there at about 7AM, so that I could have my work done in plenty of time to run my errands. Noon rolls around, and I take off to run my errands and then get back home, as I'm supposed to ride with Michael C out to Front Royal to sing at the Tridentine Latin Mass for the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. After running the errands, I'm leaving the parking lot to get onto highway 7, and my car doesn't move when I apply the gas. It's not running. I turn the key, hoping it will start up. Nothing. Of course, there's a line of cars behind me...

After signaling the 5 cars behind me that they need to go around, I push my car out of the way, and make some phone calls. No one really knows exactly what it is, but the primary question is, "Do you have gas?" Of course, I have gas. I have half a tank. I just filled it up the day before...

So, I look around, and as luck would have it, there's a service center in the same parking lot. It's a Mr. Tire/Goodyear, so I'm not sure if they do diagnostics. I leave the hazard lights on and walk over. As it turns out, they do diagnostics, so they help me push my car from one end of the parking lot to their building, and we put it in the shop.

After a couple hours, they can't find anything wrong with the vehicle. Their first inclination is that it's water in the gas tank, so I should fill it up the rest of the way and hope that's enough to dilute the gas/water ratio. So I take it back and fill it up. I get onto 495 and as I'm exiting 495 to get onto 66 (see location), the car dies again. So I call a tow truck, and they tow the car back to the shop. Again, they can't find anything wrong, except that the tow truck driver didn't give them the keys, so they are good as lost, because I don't have them anymore.

That evening, Michael and I sang at St. John's for the Mass as planned. After Mass, we went to dinner with Fr. C, who said Mass, and then out to Christendom. I had a small role in the latest Mirandum Pictures film, and Michael had a dance to attend. We left about midnight.

Saturday rolls around, and Michael and I head over to Tyson's Corner to talk to the mechanics. No keys have shown up, so Michael drives me to the Nissan dealership and we find that we can get new keys made for $8. I just need a copy of my insurance card. I had a spare key for the ignition, so I brought it to them and asked them to not lock the car. They began working on it, and the car performed just fine for them. They took it for a 45-minute drive and it never had any problems. They said that they would keep it through Sunday and drive it around, trying to get it to stall.

On the way back home, I asked Michael to drop me off at St. Andrew's so I can catch confession. He reminded me that I'd have to walk home, but that didn't bug me too much. He drops me at home first so I could drop off my laptop and pick up the umbrella (and a pipe -- it's a long walk), as it was overcast. After confession, I fired up the pipe and walked back home (about 4.5 miles), which took me about 1.5 hours, walking at good pace. I stopped a couple times for pipe maintenance, and once to check my voice mail on my cell phone, but aside from that, I made pretty good time, overall. I'm sure I was quite the sight: my corncob pipe in my left hand, my long walking umbrella in my right, but pointed up and resting on my shoulder as though it was a rifle. I was walking at a decent clip, so I'm sure people were thinking that I was either a former army boy or just a wierdo looking for attention. Of course, the latter was true...

So I made it back home and then went to the gym where I killed my arms. They are still a little sore, but it's a good kind of sore...

Anyway, so on Sunday, after Mass, Michael and I went to Paul E's Easter Season Party. After a while, I went outside to smoke a pipe, and Michael came with me. Earlier in the day, I had filled the Zippo lighter with fuel, and closed it, but it had been slightly overfilled, so a little bit spilled out onto my hand, so when I tested the lighter, the lighter lit up, and my hand also torched. It didn't hurt at all -- I just felt the warmth of fire and then shook my hand off, and it extinguished itself. Last time I had overfilled the lighter, the entire lighter (outside as well) had gone up in flames and I had dropped the lighter pretty quickly. I didn't fill it that full this time, so the lighter behaved normally -- well, aside from lighting my hand on fire...

So at Paul's place, I wanted to do that trick again. So Michael (who took the picture), Bridget, Jonathan and Draper were watching as I poured a little lighter fluid onto my hand, and attempted to light it on fire. I waited a little too long, because the fluid had all evaporated, and there was nothing left. So I doused my hand a little heavier and spread it around, and this time it caught. I waved my hand around for a quick second, and then shook off the fire. Except that I didn't shake off the fire -- it kept burning, and the harder I shook my hand, the more it burned, because I was feeding it oxygen, so it burned hotter. After a second shake of the hand, I realized that it wasn't going out as easy as it had before, so I ended up having to essentially wipe it off on my pants. Fortunately, they were made of heavy flame-resistant material.

For the first 2 seconds or so, it didn't hurt. For the last 3 seconds or so, it did. But my hand is fine, with only some minor blistering and a lesson learned. Wanna know that lesson? Next time I do that trick, have a bucket of water handy. Alternately, use less oil and spread it around instead of keeping it focused in the palm of my hand (so that it burns quickly and is done). Better yet, use rubbing alcohol, which burns cooler (blue) and doesn't stick to your hand like oil.

So now it's Monday, and the guys at the shop still can't find out what's wrong with the car, because it's not acting up for them. I piked it up and it runs fine.

I've spent nearly $1000 since last Monday. Last Monday, I dropped about $700 into a total fluid flush. Friday, I spent $120 on a system diagnostic and today, I spent another $120 on an hour of miscellaneous labor (dropping the tank so they could test the gas). So much for paying off that credit card this month...

D&D Character

There's been a lot of D&D discussion here. I decided to see what was what...

I Am A: Lawful Good Human Ranger (4th Level)


Ability Scores:

Strength-19

Dexterity-19

Constitution-13

Intelligence-14

Wisdom-12

Charisma-15


Alignment:
Lawful Good A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion. However, lawful good can be a dangerous alignment because it restricts freedom and criminalizes self-interest.


Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.


Class:
Rangers are skilled stalkers and hunters who make their home in the woods. Their martial skill is nearly the equal of the fighter, but they lack the latter's dedication to the craft of fighting. Instead, the ranger focuses his skills and training on a specific enemy a type of creature he bears a vengeful grudge against and hunts above all others. Rangers often accept the role of protector, aiding those who live in or travel through the woods. His skills allow him to move quietly and stick to the shadows, especially in natural settings, and he also has special knowledge of certain types of creatures. Finally, an experienced ranger has such a tie to nature that he can actually draw on natural power to cast divine spells, much as a druid does, and like a druid he is often accompanied by animal companions. A ranger's Wisdom score should be high, as this determines the maximum spell level that he can cast.


Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Have you ever...

...Q-tipped the inside of your ears and felt it at the back of your throat? That tickles! I could have sworn that it had gone through everything and was poking into my larynx...

Why can't I think of anything to say?

I even sat down to just write for a while and get the creative juices flowing. I've got nothing for you. Sorry...

"Running all the way around the winery"

So I was telling Christine that I had kept pretty busy today and this came out. After about 5 tries, I actually got it.

Well, we laughed at it.

Music Theory 111

Dr. N was giving us musical references to help us remember intervals. He played selections from West Side Story, Star Wars, and really popular classical pieces that I can't remember off the top of my head. One of the pieces that he played was Mary Had A Little Lamb. And I started grinning. He asked us if anyone knew what it was, and I piped right up, "That's Mary Had A Little Lamb! I sing it to myself every day!" And I looked around, wondering what the reaction would be, and just as I had hoped, people were just staring, not really sure if I was serious. So I brought on the blush and said, "I shouldn't have said that, huh? Yeah, shutting up." So, I shrunk into my seat as best as I could, and the whole place, even Dr. N, laughed. It was quite fun.

I love being a ham.

Eye Heart...

...Windows 7 Ultimate Beta. Eye heart it so much more than Windows Vista Ultimate.

Apples

No, seriously, this post is about apples. I went to the store today to get food, and this is what I saw. I saw the McIntosh apple for $1.29/lb and the Honey Crisp for $2.99/lb. Naturally, my curiosity got the best of me.

So this first picture is a picture of two apples, a McIntosh on the right of the picture (the redder of the two), and a Honey Crisp on the left. To me, they both look good. I like apples -- red, green, yellow, I like them all. So why is it that the redder of the two is less than half the price of the other?

Seriously, I'm all about buying the expensive stuff if it really does taste better. I've moved from whole milk to "organic" whole milk (which we all know isn't the real stuff, but it's as close to it as you can get these days without owning a cow, goat, or sheep). It's about $1-$1.50 more per gallon, but it tastes a lot better. I even made the mistake of buying "organic" skim milk (can it even be organic when it's skim?) and it's sooooooooooo much better than regular skim milk, but I wouldn't buy it again, because it's skim and skim is blasphemy.

Back to the apples: Perhaps if I cut into it, there'll be something awesome, like honeycomb inside the Honey Crisp! But I did, and there's no honeycomb. It's a friggin' apple. I will say that the Honey Crisp felt a little firmer than the McIntosh, so that's bonus points for the Honey Crisp. I love a crisp apple. But that's not nearly enough bonus points to warrant +$1.70/lb.

All sliced up, the Honey Crisp looks better. It's all purdy 'n' stuff. But who cares about looks when you're going to put it in your mouth, chew it up, swallow it, and let the inner workings of your digestive system work on it? Was that a little too much? It probably was. Anyway. So I added an naval orange and a banana to the mix and this is breakfast.

Upon eating the McIntosh, it's what I would expect a red apple to be. It's softer than a green apple (one of my favorites) but sweeter -- still tart, but not over the top. Quite good. I ate a slice of the Honey Crisp. It was not as sweet as the McIntosh, but it was still good. On the crispness level, it was up there with the green apples, but it wasn't as sweet as the McIntosh, definitely tart. In a sense, there was actually less taste in it than in the McIntosh, but it was good.

So, in a game of comparing apples to apples, your tastes will be different than mine. But in my opinion, McIntosh wins in the price category and the edibility category. It's not as good looking as the Honey Crisp apple, so if you're making a dish that's designed to be a feast for the eyes as well, then the Honey Crisp is the better of the two. But this bachelor thinks that the less expensive apple is just dandy.

Bush Farewell Speech

Mr. Bush, I salute you. I can only hope that our new president isn't as bad as I believe him to be.

Dr. Pepper Pot Luck

Hah! It's delicious! I really like it!!! :)

Dr. Pepper Pot Roast

So, after yesterday's post, I absolutely had to try it. But I switched from Pepsi to Dr. Pepper. It smells great. I'll let you know how it tastes in about an hour...

So, I got a slow cooker for Christmas (thank you, Ken and Alaina!) and a book of recipes (thank you, Alex and Ashley!), and I'm flipping through the book today, thinking, "Now, what should I cook for dinner?  Or possibly lunch tomorrow?"

Get this...

Pepsi Pot Roast

Mrs. D-- M------

Fairbank, IA

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Makes 12 servings
(Ideal for slow-cooker size: 5- or 6-quart)

3-lb pot roast
2 10³/₄-oz. cans of fat-free, low-sodium cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
2 16-oz. bottles diet cola

1. Place meat in slow cooker.
2. In large bowl mix together mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix, and cola. Pour over roast in cooker.
3. Cover. Cook on high for 6 hours

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Per Serving: 170 calories (60 calories from fat), 7g total fat (2g saturated, 0.5g trans), 70mg cholesterol, 430mg sodium, 4g total carbohydrate (0g fiber, 0g sugar), 23g protein, 0%DV vitamin A, 0%DV vitamin C, 2%DV calcium, 15%DV iron.

Appetizing?

Actually now that I've typed it all up, I'm all hungry...

Breakfast

So, after the gym this morning, I was pretty hungry. I had four eggs, then I also wanted pancakes. So I made some. The box said to use 2 cups of the mix and 1.5 cups of water for 9-10 pancakes. They lied. It only makes two.

I mean, seriously. I might need a refund...

I did learn two things, though:

1. Use a tad more water next time.
   
2. Butter up the pan.

Aside from that, I'd call this a success! Speaking of pancakes, Woot.com is having a Woot-Off today. Some fun deals, some not so good...

The Ultimate Stress Relief

Saint (Padre) Pio of Pietrelcina

"Pray, hope, and don’t worry! Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer. Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God’s heart. You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips but with your heart. In fact, on certain occasions, you should speak to Him only with your heart."

Pray for us and for the whole world!

Check out my more-serious blog

On Crazy About Truth, I am beginning a series of challenges to Catholics. Take a gander...

Jumper

This was the movie I chose as a followup to get me back into my normal spirits. This was fun, but certainly not a great movie. It was well made and well produced, but the story is just kind of silly. There is no real character redemption, and there's also no explanation of the ability. You are just supposed to believe that a guy who happens to be a Jumper just discovers it at a certain point through the right mood / mindset / intention / etc. It was fun -- but suspend your disbelief and don't expect answers. There is a special feature on the disc ("Making an Actor Jump") in which they admit to purposely not explaining everything, and treating the movie as though it was the second in a series, and the first had already explained everything.

In my opinion? Whatever! Bring on the assumptions! That's the beauty of imagination! If your imagination doesn't have room in its corners for superheroes (if not entire worlds dedicated to the fantastic), then it needs work.

I Am Legend

This was a very good movie, as far a movies go. I will say that I'm not into what is essentially a zombie flick, or most apocalyptic movies, so I didn't end with this movie. I had to put in another one to kill the creepy scared-of-the-dark feeling that causes adrenaline rushes as I walk around corners, whether I know what's on the other side or not, all the while preparing to do battle with the devil himself.

The Bachelor Sandwich

I've been making these sandwiches for lunch that are simply awesome. And you use bachelor ingredients, and bachelor-priced ingredients.

You'll need bread, lunch meat, and cheese.

Oh, and bacon. Of course, bacon. :)

The ingredients that I use are all the inexpensive brands that I find at the store that I think would be interesting. I use the Giant-brand Honey Wheat Bread (24 ounce/20 slice loaf), Buddig Deli Cuts lunch meat (16 oz package), Giant Cheese (16 oz block, for variety -- otherwise, if you go for the larger, more economical block, you'll be stuck to variations of Cheddar), and Oscar Mayer bacon (16 oz package).

A couple notes -- I usually end up using 6 slices of lunch meat, 3 slices of cheese (just wide enough to go across the bread), and 2 slices of bacon per sandwich.

So the first thing to do is cook the bacon. I usually have at least 2 (if not 4) of these sandwiches, and use 2 slices of bacon per sandwich, so I'll cook 4-8 slices of bacon (handy, for a 16oz, 1oz/slice pack). Then, put the bacon on the bottom of the sandwich, 3 slices of lunch meat, your cheese, another 3 slices of lunch meat, and the final slice of bread. Put it in the oven to melt the cheese -- I use 200 degrees for 10 minutes. You're done.

There is one extra step for bacon lovers. :) Do not read the next paragraph if you are one of the people who count calories and fat like piggies on your children's toes. Don't say I didn't warn you.

If you want the extra flavor, and don't mind the extra fat, while the bacon grease is hot, toss the bread into the pan where the bacon was. Fry one side of the bread in the bacon grease for anywhere from 5-30 seconds, depending on your taste and how toasty you like your bread. The fried side of the bread slices face the inside of the sandwich. But for the fat-conscious among us, this will introduce a lot of fat into your system, so don't do this if it goes against your conscience, or alternately, if you are already "treated-out" for the day. People trying to put on weight of any kind might be interested in this little delicious tidbit. People trying to lose weight should probably avoid this step. People who are just trying to maintain weight might be interested, assuming that they are of the "treats are OK" mentality...

In case you're wondering, I paired oven-roasted turkey with muenster cheese, and I'm now doing sugar-cured ham with mild cheddar. Both combinations worked quite well with the bacon.

Failure

To all of you who said that I shouldn't get a motorcycle because motorcycles are dangerous, rejoice: I still can't get one.

I signed up to take a riding class. It was Monday, August 25, 2008 through today: three days. I signed up for the class at the Northern Virginia Community College Alexandria campus. I bought a helmet and riding gloves, the only two things that I didn't already have to participate in the class. I did my time and got up early every day (between 4 and 5AM) on the class days and went to bed early (usually around 8PM) to get plenty of sleep. I had my days off completely, so nothing would distract me from my goal of attaining a license.

There was a class on Monday which talked about the joys and the dangers of riding a bike, proper safety, where accidents are likely to occur and how to avoid them, etc. After this, on Tuesday morning, bright and early, there was a written test. I aced it: 100%. Great start.

After the test, they sat us on some bikes (smaller than I'd get) and got us accustomed to them -- how they felt, how they ran, how the gadgets worked, how to inspect them and start them up. Then they showed us how to ride them. While I was nervous at first, it was a lot like riding a bicycle, except that I had to deal with an engine, a clutch, transmission, etc. I learned all the motions pretty quickly, although some of the actions took a lot of repetition.

I asked the instructors how I was doing today -- they told me that I'm doing all right. I was hoping for a better answer, but I've not been doing perfectly. There's a lot of stuff that I have to pay attention to: in a car, it's second nature -- on a bike, I had to think about it.

Anyway, today was the evaluation. Keep in mind that I'd ridden everything in the evaluation before. I'd not made a mistake so bad as to warrant more than, "Do it again." My bike had only fallen once because I misjudged what gear I was in, and I was moving too quickly, but it fell on grass, and no one really noticed except one instructor. Yesterday and today, I was zigging and zagging, turning, swerving, weaving, U-turns, shifting, accelerating in curves, stopping, stopping in curves, etc. all without any major incident. At 95% of the time, the bike was completely under my control, and I was getting significantly better, especially considering that I have never driven a motorcycle before.

Right, so the evaluation. Points will be deducted for mistakes (like putting your foot down, or incorrect braking). You fail automatically if you do one of two things: 1) blatantly disobey the instructors' orders, or 2) drop/fall off the bike. No retries. I knew that I wouldn't disobey the instructors' orders, and I certainly didn't plan on dropping the bike, much less falling off it.

Now we had all just run the U-Turn and swerve exercise. I had made a couple mistakes the first couple of times, but I was really concentrating on doing a good job and doing everything exactly as the instructor told us. By the end of the practice run, both instructors were waving me on, and had no comments or instructions for me. I was good to go.

Out of a class of twelve, there were eight of us left. The first took too long in a break and was dismissed; the second couldn't control his bike and opted to leave (I guess -- I didn't hear it); the third was a no-show this morning; and the fourth was dismissed after falling off her bike one-too-many times. Needless to say, the pressure was on for no one else to fail out.

The very first evaluation comes along, and, naturally, I'm nervous. I want to do it perfectly. I just practiced this same exercise several times. I knew shift my bike into second gear, and how fast I need to be going to perform the U-Turns. I knew how fast I needed to go to execute the swerve well, and how to stop properly without skidding. And then it was my turn.

2 U-turns, and then accelerate to the swerve and brake.

1 U-turn: no problem. Things looked just great. I slowed down, looked into the second U-turn, pushed and accelerated.

The bike slipped out from underneath me quicker than basically anything I've ever experienced. It slipped out so quickly that it threw me and I just had to roll with it. I was completely unhurt. But I'd also completely failed.

Afterwards, I went over to my fellow classmates, most of whom also seemed to be very surprised by this turn of events. The few that I talked to all agreed that there had to have been some mechanical failure on the bike or something on the track. Gary, a long-time rider, told me that it looked like the front tire pressure was low, and when I went into the turn, my rim hit the ground: it's entirely possible, I don't know. They all agreed, though, that I would pass the test easily, and that I should borrow a friend's bike and go to the DMV to get licensed. While I'm fine with that, it is not going to help me at all: I doubt that I can get approved through the VA DMV when my license is from TX.

I'm still in shock (to say the very least) at what happened. I don't know. I ran the exercise several times -- I'd never slipped or experienced any indication of the sort. It was as though I had hit an oil patch or some sand: my traction just went up in smoke. It was too fast for me to react to and catch myself. Had I caught myself, there would have been points deducted, but I would have passed with a few points deducted, but there wasn't time to think. One second, I'm looking through the U-Turn and am accelerating, and the next, I've lost everything. I've lost my money, I've lost any chance of getting a motorcycle license before the summer is over, and, most importantly, I've lost my confidence. According to my version of my life's script, I'm supposed to have a motorcycle license now. I'm not supposed to have a bike yet -- I may not ever get a bike according to my version of life's script; that's still being written. But now I've lost it all. And in losing my self-confidence, I've also lost my self-respect. And that is going to take me a while to get back.