Quiet Days

I actually had a relatively wonderful day...went to the little local library and got a video and some books, then went into manhattan and had a manicure, then I went to the gym and worked out GOOD...then i went and spent two hours at a book store...a barnes and noble actually and did not raise my head ONCE to even see if there were other people in the store, let alone cute, single, straight men...I bought a road atlas and read some books on national parks in utah...then i walked to a starbucks, in the light rain that was falling and sat there two hours with my coffee and cookie and looked at the maps and wrote in my journal...wrote about my trip, my day...just general stuff....realized that I had not spoken to a single person all day other than my brother that morning, maybe hi to the trainers, and to order my coffee and to say thank you for my receipt at the book store...strange...i wonder if i still have a voice. I miss hearing someone say my name.. No one ever says my name.

Still Time for Hope

I was 10 when I was diagnosed with diabetes. The doctors darkly warned me about complications and commanded me to inject insulin, or die. They impressed upon my childish self how difficult my life would be, how I might not have children, and threw in a caution about my shortened life span. However, they said, the cure was "right around the corner," surely in the next 20 years, but ONLY if I obeyed the rules. If I took care of myself, took my shots, tested my urine and kept my 10 year-old self from candy, then, when that cure came around, THEN, I could have my REAL life back.

34 years later, I’m still waiting! And as jaded and wrinkled and arthritic as I am, I still feel 10, only instead of "I HOPE Santa came," it’s "oh my gosh, I HOPE they find the cure!"

Life with diabetes is draining; it sneaks up, taking its slow insidious time. Fortunately for me, this slow depletion of life has forged extraordinary energy and resiliency. The knowledge I've gained “auditioning” doctors, fighting with insurance companies from hell, and doing Cirque du Soleil-worthy acrobatic feats with food, insulin and exercise, allows me to live a full, REAL life.

I have diabetes. I direct, write, teach, I am an outspoken activist. I build model rockets and crochet; I ski and camp. I stay up all night and sleep all day. I’ve traveled in planes, trains, automobiles, boats, and balloons. I eat ice cream AND pizza! If this isn't a real life, then this fake one has been pretty awesome…I’m not sitting here hoping for some cure so my real life can begin, but wouldn’t it be nice?
I'd rather not test my blood. I'd rather not lie awake at night wondering what I'll do and who will take care of me when I get old. I'd rather not dwell on dialysis. I'd rather not scare off another man thanks to everything the pump "attaches" to me. I am staving off kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and amputation, and hope that if a cure does come along, I’ll be healthy enough to receive it.

It is my greatest HOPE that the children of my family and friends never know what laser surgery in the eyeball feels like. I hope they never have to do insulin math to compensate for a sick day or to eat Chinese food. I hope they are never offered a nice, juicy apple at a birthday party, while everyone else eats cake. I hope they never need to test their own blood, or keep horrid jobs just for the insurance!

I hope...I still have a tiny, shimmering chunk of HOPE inside! Life would be different without diabetes, but I know it would be nothing without the people who give my REAL life REAL meaning – the ones who inspire me to keep hoping. So I test, and read up on the latest developments, and raise money for research. And I hope…..

moving

1963 born in LA
1964-5 - moved 3 times in LA
1965 moved to TX
1967 moved back to LA
1970 moved to Canada
1972 moved to NJ
1972 moved to CO...(Littleton, from 4th grade - 7th grade)
1976 moved to Lakewood (8th grade til college)
1981 moved to CU, sorta...into a dorm
1983 moved to UCSB...moved about 5 times in the 3 years I was there
1984 moved to Denver for the summer but then back to UCSB
1985 moved to FL, as that is where my parents moved all my stuff
1986 moved to Denver for the summer, and then up to Boulder for grad school
1987 moved to ME for the summer
1988 moved to FL..moved 2 times while there
1990 moved back to CO to finish degree..moved 3 times over the course of 6 months
1991 moved back to FL..moved 3 times
1995 moved to Texas
1997 moved all my stuff into storage and went to france for 6 weeks
1997 moved to NYC (moved twice)
2002 moved to Tucson

time to go?

what the hell?

something is wrong with me. you know, when an opportunity presents itself, i mean, practically lays down and plays dead in front of ones self, imploring you to avail yourself...and you DON'T - what is wrong? wrong time wrong place wrong person? stupid brain, chicken sh*t. yeah i am just a complete loser. I am incapable of making a connection with the ones who DO want me!! oh yeah, there are tons who don't want anything to do with me and i am just fine with that, but to not even care about the ones who DO want me?? the ones I apparently have some kind of terrifying power over? what is that?? F**KED up, is what that is. I need therapy, and a drink, or both. I used to think I just need to get laid, but I know that is NOT it. I know I just sent a perfectly good, willing, fairly attractive, seemingly healthy man who didn't mind rubbing my feet, off to his car, without giving him what I know he wanted, and which I could probably do with a dose of, but, as the song goes, "I felt nothing," zero, zip, nada, couldn't even fake it. In fact, I feel better now that he is gone! I am finally the cold frigid heartless automaton I was always scared of becoming.

so NOW what?

I speak gooder

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

rich but not my type

now this is a good story...

my mom went to high school with this guy, Mr. B...they dated, blah blah blah...but she ends up marrying my dad and here I am....but Mr. B married mom's best friend from high school, so over the years, they have all stayed in touch...Mr. and Mrs. B had kids about the ages of me and my siblings and we would go over to their house when we were in their state, and they'd come see us in ours, in fact my mom helped Mrs. B set up their ski condo (and scored us a key!!!), So, Mr. and Mrs. B have a son, let's call him Farty Marty, and while he was a cute little kid, i never really gave him much thought...he came to see me once in grad school, and gave me a new key to the condo, and over the years we have emailed etc. and he attended a family wedding with me. I found out through another friend of the family that Farty Marty is MADLY in love with me, and had been for years...oh jeeeeeeezzzzz...He is an alcoholic, he does NOT take care of himself at all physically, paunchy and squishy and he smokes, and worst of all, he is a cliche "right wing reactionary xenophobic, homophobic, anti-choice, pro-gun, leave it to beaver trip back to the 50s" (to quote bruno from the west wing)....and that was all OK when we were friends, cuz i accept my friends the way they are, but I am incapable of loving someone like that!

Here is the rub, or what my mama thinks ought to be the rub...Mrs. B is richer than Midas (probably why Mr. B married her instead of my mom?!?). Farty Marty stands to inherit buckets of money....but does that help erase all that other stuff??? not a chance...my mom SO wants me to like him - "she just wants me to be happy." but I flat out told her, that if I were to EVER marry him, she would KNOW I had a boyfriend on the side, as I am attracted to Farty Marty at about "neg 16," on a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being with my heart and soul and all available corpuscles of my body. I could care LESS about his money, mores the pity.

BUT, despite his warts, I like him as a friend...he gives me fodder for my "reasons NOT to be republican and to be glad I don't live in the South anymore" file, and he is funny and has nice manners...so, should i just marry him and be done with it???

rain

It is pouring down rain right now! smells INCREDIBLE!!!! wish you were here

family black sheep - Part 1

My late great uncle F forwarded the following to a whole bunch of people....My response follows

Date: Thu, May 1, 2003
Hope you like this..FN

> ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL
> It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno
> to take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51-day operation.
> It took less time to find evidence of chemical weapons in
> Iraq than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records.
> It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and
> the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took
> Teddy Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sunk at
> Chappaquiddick.
> It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in
> Florida in the year 2000.

I was outraged, to say the least, and so I responded:

Black Sheep Part 2

well, all that is true enough...BUT.....(and with all due respect and support to Uncle F and my brother in law, and the others who have served our country in the armed forces over the years)

Did we not employ the UN to go in and BREAK Iraq's legs before this thing even started, with sanctions on the economy, holding back the desperately needed humanitarian aid to the civilians and all kinds of weapons inspections? We starve the people, destroy most of their weapons, mutilate the country's internal structure and then strut around like peacocks that we did in so few days??? How could we NOT win? How could the skirmish even have lasted as long as it did??? Was not their army one of worst equipped we have ever faced? Ancient guns and tanks, plus they were probably all STARVING? heck, we even blamed their old missiles for blowing their ownselves up!!

All the whining about Iraq "using" pictures of their dead as propaganda against the "evil" Allies, showing how BAD the US has been....pfffttttttt how many times did YOU see that picture of the second jet slicing into the second tower???? It was NOT ok for them to show our soldiers as POWs, it violated our "sense of decency," not to mention the Geneva Convention, but it was perfectly FINE for CNN and all the others to broadcast footage of the prisoners, oh, excuse me, they are not POWs, they are "unlawful combatants," in Guantanamo Bay...KNEELING, with blinding GOGGLES, hands TIED behind their back? and wasn't our bombing of the Iraqi TV station slightly against the rules of the Geneva convention?? oops, we bad....

I am relieved to know that Jessica Lynch made it out ok (albeit severely wounded), but HOW is she a hero? She just took a wrong turn somewhere, and she probably wasn't even driving...she was probably sitting in back of the truck! Seems to me that the heros we ought to be making a movie about are the dozens of guys who risked their LIVES to save her!!

Shock and Awe indeed...cruise missles streaking across the skies - this "terrible beauty" of war makes me sick to my stomach!!!

The Coalition may have won the battle, but the "War" is a long way from being over. They are still looking for those truckloads of weapons of mass destruction aren't they? Or was Saddam really just a very "responsible" evil-doer ...his people and country are being decimated, yet he holds BACK with the WMD? Do you think Bush would do the same if someone did to a city in the US, what we did in Iraq

Just as a side note, where the hell is the "revenge" we were literally promised on Osama bin laden? And how come oil and gas prices are STILL so high?? The price of plastic containers and nylon clothing has not gone up as far I can tell - a 2 litre bottle of Coke is still 99 cents! The plastics industry is by far one of the largest consumer of oil products in the world!

The conquering "heroes" dribble in water and food to the starving, dying people of Iraq and then have the audacity to dangle it over their heads like carrots, in front of rabid, salivating TV cameras, eager to show how HAPPY the poor SOBs are that we are there "saving" them! As of about a year ago, we had BLOCKED over 5 billion dollars worth of humanitarian aid ... yeah we are winning some hearts and minds here, aren't we??? I have even heard reports that they are SELLING the water, and sure, while I tend to not believe what I merely "hear about," knowing this country as I do, I find it hard NOT to believe

and on TOP of all this, it is Bush's pals who are getting the big REBUILD Iraq contracts!! Halliburton, who is KNOWN to have overcharged the Pentagon in the past and has even been FINED for it?? Return the Iraqi oil to the Iraqi people...by way of HALLIBURTON??? Is Halliburton an Iraqi company - hey maybe it is CHENEY who is the closet Iraqi. This is NOT the way to help the US economy (or win an election) It is you and me and my sister and everyone else who hasn't managed to declare them selves an offshore non-profit organization who will PAY for the rebuilding!!! And how the hell can we honestly pay our tax dollars, knowing it is going to be used to pay for SCHOOLS and HOSPITALS in Iraq, when more than 1/2 the children in America have no health insurance, when our schools are in their worst condition ever?? Here let me put some LEMON on that nice tax bill paper-cut.

just curious...

now, as I go have my lunch of salty french fries, some imported Brie and Dijon mustard on crunchy French Bread, complemented by a nice Vouvray from the Loire valley, while I watch a movie starring Susan Sarandon, I ask you, is it NOT great that we are Americans and have the FREEDOM to voice our opinions like this, without fear of persecution?

Love, your liberal niece, SSP

He responded by calling me Stupid and UnAmerican in front of the entire family stirring up an amazing flame war (against me). I finally replied:

Black Sheep Part 3 bahhhhh

I Am neither Stupid or UnAmerican

I am sure some of you will just delete this post without reading it, dismissing anything I have to say as "garbage," and then there are those who will read it, with minds so tightly clenched that you will never begin to UNDERSTAND anything I have to say. There are even some who will read this with an open mind, who understand my position and agree with me, but who choose not to set themselves up for public slander and abuse....I can't say I blame them. Que sera sera.

There is nothing like a neat little war, with such clearly defined "good" and "evil" sides, to bring out all sorts of opinions on what is and is NOT American, isn't there? I guess Bush's campaign promise to be "a uniter, not a divider" was just to get the vote (which he DIDN'T). In case you forgot, there is this minor thing called the FIRST AMENDMENT, which gives me the FREEDOM and the RIGHT to express, hold and defend my opinion. Uncle F called me UN American in the post he sent to me privately and called my opinions Anti-American, stupid, garbage and hogwash in the ones he sent to everyone else. If I am un-American for thinking something different from what you think, then you are just as un-American for persecuting me for believing them! At the recent interfaith summit in Chicago, religious leaders from around the world said:

"As we have since 9/11 and the beginning of the war on terrorism: we call for greater understanding; we seek to dispel ignorance; we ask that this be a time of humility not arrogance; and, we hope that all can be mindful of what we have lost." Reuters AlertNet - Muslim, Christian, Jewish Leaders Release Joint Peace Guidelines

And it is the brutish ARROGANCE contained in Uncle F's first post to which I responded! Have you already forgotten what we LOST when those people joined hands and stepped out of the windows of the burning towers?
After getting BT's forward of the emails sent behind my back on Monday night, I felt it was no longer possible to ignore the intolerant, myopic attitudes of those I call family, but I hesitated to speak out again, worried that some of you would think you HAD to "choose sides," and that trying to budge the cement in your minds and hearts was a task not worth my time. But then, I received Uncle F's post Tuesday morning in which he calls BT's speaking up "courageous," and MINE "Anti-American garbage"...enough is enough, dear family. Many of you (you know who you are) have thought of me as a lost cause for years, I am sure, so what will one more log on the fires of hell matter? I have loved you ALL despite your beliefs, (and in fact RESPECT you for your ability to hold onto your faith in these days and times), and I have only hoped you would love me in spite of mine, but perhaps I am more forgiving than those of greater "moral" fiber.

Uncle F wrote:
> those who unconscionably attack the foundations which
> have built and sustained America for over 200 years.

If the policies and tactics being employed by this government, the wanton killing of innocent women and children, the rampant revocation of civil liberties in this country, the arrogant draping of an American Flag over a statue of a fallen leader (no matter HOW sneaky and EVIL he and his regime were), and the ongoing media bloodbath, are the "foundations" that have sustained this country, then this county is in a BUCKET of trouble!! As an American, it is my RIGHT and RESPONSIBILITY to disagree with the "unconscionable" acts I see going on in the name of my country, and I can only hope to evoke change! As American writer, Edward Abbey wrote, "a patriot must be ready to defend his country against his government."

The email that has you all so upset was in response to that cocky ugly American attitude which described how our (Bush-led) forces were sooooo wonderful that this war took less time than it took Reno to "smoke" out the Branch Davidians or the vote recount in Bush-ida, I mean Florida. What unmitigated HUBRIS this country must have to dictate to the rest of the world how to think and what is allowed to be believed!! Doesn't god say something about pride going before a fall...(or was that Shakespeare...sometimes I get them confused).

My response was NOT a personal attack on anyone such as your emails have been on me; nor did my response call anyone, or their beliefs, STUPID, UNAMERICAN or any other inflammatory, chicken-shit name. By the way, I did NOT STEAL your email addresses, as Uncle F accused. I simply hit "reply all." (As a reminder, I am the one who originally collected most of them together and created a family web site, and so have access to all your addresses anyway).

Thank you, BT, for copying me on RN's email, and the one Uncle F sent out in which he called me, and my views, STUPID. Thank you, RN, FN and BT, for removing my father and sister from those emails, I assume, in an effort to spare them, but I have added them back in, just to make sure everyone has the proper chance to "judge" me (though I seem to remember that the bible has something to say about judging others? Aren't you supposed to leave that up to the big guy? Despite what you wrote, BT, there is NOTHING in my post that does NOT support the men and women FIGHTING this war, (though some of the smug, "let's blow these rag-head sand niggers to kingdom come" attitudes are appalling), nor does it denounce what Uncle F or my brother in law or any other soldier DID for our country. The troops in Iraq may not have the option, but as a mere citizen, I DO have the RIGHT to question, and the RIGHT to wonder why, and even the RIGHT to doubt the reasoning behind the war in the first place! I believe Bush has bad advisers, despite their incredible amount of education and experience, and that they are motivated more by economic engines, religious zeal and personal profit, rather than by what is right and good and true and BEST for the American people.

Believe it or not, my STUPID views are shared by MILLIONS of native born and bred, voter registration card-carrying, educated, outspoken Americans of various races and religions and sexual preferences, who did NOT cause violence or damage during the anti war marches and gatherings, where they were "permitted" to happen. Aunt C and I were in San Francisco on the day of the peace march you refer to, (Sunday Feb 16), and we saw, first hand, how rudely the police were treating the demonstrators and how they were pushing people off curbs, marching around like Nazis, swinging their little billy clubs, in full riot gear...truly frightening, and visions of Orwell's 1984 sprang to mind more than once that day.

I know you all think I am such a blot on the good name of this family, constantly in the hedonistic pursuit of pleasure, living in sin, gallivanting around the world, wantonly eating French food, hanging out with queers and socialists and democrats, not doing my duty and bearing children, not believing in the same religious, or moral, principles that many of the rest of you do. Nevertheless, I have always believed that you loved me, and would continue to love me, as unconditionally as I have always loved you, despite the small-minded, intolerant attitudes about those who are different from you that some of you possess. I have endured the gay/muslim/racial/etc. slurs and insults, (all made, I am SURE, in good "fun," of course), and made supreme efforts not to be offensive to your religious beliefs, out of respect and love. I have most certainly never libeled anyone, or their beliefs as STUPID or GARBAGE!

I have chosen to live my life with TOLERANCE and DIVERSITY, despite my genetic makeup. Despite having watched the towers fall down out my BEDROOM WINDOW, I still believe that a better way to fight terrorism is NOT to go spread it around the world, but to face it here in our own country where our governments, churches, schools and media are literally terrorizing us into submission - telling us what to think, how to think and WHY we have these thoughts in the first place! Perhaps there are those of you among us who have not experienced the freedom of an original, unpopular, derisive thought....pity...they can be vastly liberating!

Perhaps if our leaders could figure out the answers to WHY those in other countries hate us so much, then perhaps we could FIX what is wrong here before we start telling the rest of the world how it ought to live! - I mean look at our farcical foreign policy just to start... we have no problem supporting and helping Afghanistan, including the Taliban, as long as they were fighting the Russians, but as soon as the Russians left, we tossed off Afghanistan, in the words of a friend, like a used condom! Go ahead, curse France all you want, it is NOT an original thought. People have hated the French for years for their snotty, anti-American attitudes which are perpetuated by the arrogant, rude American tourist, but the bottom line is that they are a free country and we are NOT the boss of them, and they are entitled to their opinions of our actions. Sure, we saved their ass twice, sure they provide arms to our enemies, but to expect, demand, require, loyalty? Puh- leeeeeeze.

But then, this IS America, the country where we blame our schools and those fags and Jews in Hollywood for our illiterate, drug dependent children, where we whine about gas prices as we drive our 4 wheel drive SUVs through the crowded, polluted downtown streets of our nation, where we think we can deny a woman the right to her own body and where a president who loses the popular vote can still be elected to president. God MUST really love America!!
Just what is so un-American and STUPID about being opposed to war and the ugly subversive tactics we used to win this one? What is un-American and STUPID about being disturbed by what we are seeing happen over in Iraq, about what is happening HERE, where the very idea of Free Speech is being challenged? What is HOGWASH about questioning the RHETORIC of our politicians? Is it un-American to have an unpopular view? Clinton and his advisors sent bombs after Osama bin Laden when he was credibly linked to the embassy and Cole bombings, and this act was SO unpopular that Clinton was accused of trying to divert the attention of the nation off his personal scandal…what is it they say about hind sight???

You have defamed my character because of my OPINION! In some states, I believe this would be called a class 1 misdemeanor - I am sure cousin TN can correct me on that one, though I am sure the Patriot Act probably protects you in this case. You KNOW I am not stupid, and one can have anti-American opinions and still be a patriotic American, or has McCarthy been resurrected from the dead? I suppose now you can more easily BLACKLIST me from the family reunion for having what you deem as unpatriotic, un-American views. At least then you won't have to worry that I might show up with my Black, Muslim, bisexual boyfriend.

Aldous Huxley wrote of our "almost infinite appetite for distraction," and it is apparent that this attention deficit disorder is a nationwide sickness. For most people, this all began on a sunny September day, almost 2 years ago, less than 4 miles from where I was living. I had just gotten home from voting in the local primary, when our world was shattered. We were drawn together that day, there was new HOPE for this country, for our future, and even for our flailing president...then slowly, as the economy floundered, as we poured billions into senseless security bills and devices (security was NEVER breached on September 11th), turning neighbor against neighbor with rabid Patriot Acts, as we were unable to locate Osama bin Laden despite our vast resources, indeed as our beliefs in what IS American dripped away, our leaders decided that what was REALLY "necessary" was a war. We bring down the Taliban easily enough...and having tasted blood, turn to the next enemy...how soon before we turn to Syria and Korea? And I am sure France is in the sights as well.

My "views" on this war, and on this presidency, may be ANTI American, but they are not UN American, as you have all labeled me. Indeed, the very fact that I am capable of forming views and opinions that are different are a testament to my Americanism. Being labeled STUPID and un-American does not change my CONVICTION, supported by the very un-American tactics employed by our leaders, that this war was, and IS, WRONG

Most importantly, I am deeply hurt that Uncle F wrote me personally and said my tirade was un-American, but that he loved me too much to be offended by my post, and then he turns around and calls me STUPID to the rest of my family! My "tirade," at least, were my own thoughts and words, and not something someone ELSE wrote to be spread around the internet. It was not even personal, though apparently RN and BT have decided it was a personal attack on Uncle F. I could even hear the sarcastic "tone" in both RN and BT's email when they called me "beloved." All I can say is that you did not "read" my post, and you are being close-minded and intolerant, as expected. Of course, I assume most of you haven't even read this far, so what does it matter?

I think my very open acceptance and tolerance of your Christian beliefs and loving you all, unconditionally, despite the fact that you think I (and all my gay, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and atheist friends) will burn in hell for not believing in the "right" god, ought to have been considered before you start slamming me and damning my opinions all around the family. I don't call your belief that the Bible is NEVER wrong stupid, but I DO think any god that would give us such words as:

I Samuel 15:2,3: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

Isaiah 13:15-16: Everyone that is found shall be thrust through; ...Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

Psalms 137:9: Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

is a god who has been MISINTERPRETED by man to man's own benefit. This god, and the men who preach such, should be brought up for war crime charges!!

William O. Beeman wrote the following for the Pacific News Service just after the attacks, and I think it needs to be remembered, especially by those who think my views are STUPID and un-American..

"Above all, Americans need to remember that the rest of the world has an absolute right to self-determination that is as defensible as our own. A despicable act of terror such as that committed in New York and Washington is a measure of the revulsion that others feel at US actions that seemingly limit those rights. If we perpetuate a cycle of hate and revenge, this conflict will escalate into a war that our great-grandchildren will be fighting."

If this is the case, I am glad I don't have any children...and I pray, in my own way, for BT's newborn son, as well as the children of my sister who will have to LIVE with what we have wrought.


5 years later...I still feel the same....Wrong war, wrong time wrong reason...wrong wrong. The Right is Wrong!

A knee slapper

The Taco Bell Chihuahua, a Doberman and a Bulldog are in a bar having a drink when a good-looking female Collie comes up to them and says, "Whoever can use "liver and cheese" in an interesting sentence can have a date with me." So the Doberman says, "I love liver and cheese." The Collie says, "BORING" The Bulldog says, " I hate liver and cheese." She says, "Oh, how uncreative." Finally, with his Mexican accent, the Chihuahua says, "Liver alone.....cheese mine." And he walks out with the Collie. yo quiero taco bell!! drop the chalupa :)

why house?

Why indeed...."why house" Sam said over and over as we were driving to Orlando...pointing out the window.....what are you looking at Sam, I ask...and follow his finger...oh "white cow" yes, Sam.... why house....mooooooo. he was 2 or so back then...he can talk better now :-)

I always beep going through a tunnel and moo at cows (when i am alone in the car....or have a nephew or niece who will enjoy it)

Burping

I am very proud of my burps - they prove the very great diaphragmatic control I have! When I teach acting classes to kids, i always teach them how to burp as it really does take serious muscle action to force one...not just the apres-meal kind. thanks to mom who disapproved but never discouraged our annual Thanksgiving burping contests....

An Ode to Math

I guess it's true without cessation
I'm going to live ‘til graduation.
and soon I'll change my location,
and learn my life's true vocation.
Perhaps in the field of irrigation
or maybe, due to some transformation,
I'll get into fumigation.
Or I'll study atheism,
And look at life with optimism.
Maybe I'll do a little vandalism.
But I can blame all my paganism
on the cannibalism
involved in Americanism,
and the antidisestablishmentarianism
of having students
learn
math

something really old for my nephew

I'm in a class of mathematics,
with a bunch of apathetics.
Nothing much is understood.
We would, ya know, if we could.
Who cares about the lines and dots...
All they are, are little spots
The angles to be bisected,
the rays to be connected.
Points on a line, hey, that's jut fine.
Four lines on a plane, geometry's a pain.
An isoceles triangle, in my mind, is all a-tangle.
Why do lines go on forever?
I will understand this, never.
Lots of homework and a tough exam
Make me say, oh gosh...darn.
I truly like geometry,
but often wish I was an absentee.
It helps to have a teacher who's great.
It makes the class so hard to hate.
And now I'm finished with this rhyme.
I hope you like it, I'm out of time.

School's finished, summer's here,
Homework's done, freedom's near!

May 1981 - Mrs. Erickson's Geometry class

Hurry - click "next blog" before your eyes burn from your head!! No?? Still here? OK...you have been warned!

Dear Lord, they let me have a blog....they just gave it to me without doing any checking up on me, gave no consideration for what I might say if allowed (although I think I agreed not to be too vulgar or cruel. Am I allowed to be a dissident or a rebel? I think YES). I know every blog I have ever read says something like that - and usually the person is trying to be cute and original...but this time, there is no need to try to be cute, or original. It truly is not only a scary comment on how empty and void the world must be, and how bad even reality TV has become, if there is a room, and a potential audience, for me to have a blog, but also a testament to how high my ability to procrastinate the more important things has grown. At least the TV isn't on, and I am not out wasting gas somewhere, right?

There is no purpose to this blog, and at the outset, there is no point or direction or general theme. I was given the nick name Smarty Pants on a bullletin board group with which I participate and the people there kinda like my rants....so why not, right?

Good night...and good luck