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 |   On a daily basis... things that bump around in my head and make me go... hummm! |
My new blog:
This is not just a collections of personal musing but it is a place where I can vent. Talking about daily events on the local, state, and national scene is my way of letting off steam so I don't come home and kick the dog! We are all the Captain of our own "Ship of Fools." We go where the current of the times take us and we do what we must to be able to sleep at night. Now this Captain will speak his mind about that current and about the ocean on which we each sail....... ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** {image: ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** PLEASE MAIL ME YOUR VOTE FOR BLOGGER OF THE MONTH OF AUGUST. This is a shot of Me and Mel at our wedding. We were married in a simple ceremony on a deck overlooking Lake Livingston. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I am so proud of my new Siggy which was made by the very talented vivacious   . Thank you so very much for all the effort that went into this.** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** This was taken from the wall in the Blogville Post Office. If you see this fugitive, please do not approach, he is armed and stupid. Contact the Blogville sheriff's office at once, then take cover! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** } ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| We have, here on WDC, a particularly odous creature who signs themselves Anon Reviewer. No kidding, they actually "sign" their reviews that way; is that stupid, or what! Now, this slimy wing-nut and there is more than one, delights in picking someone out of the crowd and ripping their writing apart. Just today I have witnessed another example of their work and I have to tell you, it sickens me that they are allowed to do this without being required to sign their REAL NAMES. Let me tell you what I really think of Mr/Ms Anon Reviewer. They are cowards, they do not have the courage of their convictions or they would proudly sign their names to their handy-work,nor do they serve a useful purpose on this site. It angers me that they are allowed to do this and it points up a fundimental weakness in the site that would allow them to operate this way. After reading a few of these Anon Reviews works sent to me by others I have drawn a few conclusions about them. 1. Mr/Ms Anon Reviewer is probably an member who is embittered by their own failure as a writer thus they can only make themselves feel better by tearing down others. 2. Mr/Ms Anon Reviewer loves to read their own words. They revel in every nasty put-down they write to others because they think that by doing this, it makes them somehow better than those they attack. 3. Mr/Ms Anon Reviewer has a pathological need to compensate for their own shortcomings as a writer by attacking others. (sorry Scarlett, only three this time) Now many of you might think that my entry today was a bit harsh, well I apologize, though I am not sorry. You see, I lack both the skill and the diplomacy to mask my anger at this slime in nice phrases and understanding words. I am just a country boy telling you just how I feel. Oh, and I don't mind at all putting my name to it either. All you Anons out there, listen up: You want to trash someone's port? You want to tear someone down...come on over to mine. You see, you can't possibly hurt me with your words because I already KNOW what kind of writer I am. I do it simply because I love it. I will never be rich from my writing, hell I doubt if I will ever make ANY money at it. I do not harbor much in the way of dreams, so you really can't touch me. I would much rather you aim your cowardly, poison my way instead of some of the really talented, potientally successful people who are struggling to make good here on this site. Oh and if you arn't smart enough to find your way to my port, here, let me help you: David McClain  . Just click on the little yellow briefcase and start blasting away...you damn coward.Okay, I'm done. I just had to get that off my chest. I will try not to be so plain spoken in the future...Yeah, right! |
| Weekends are usually slow here in Blogville. Blog entries are always down, comments are down and stats tend to suffer on weekends. Personally speaking, I tend to just relax on Saturdays and spend a lot of time on the computer and in Blogville...its how I relax. Anyway, here I am, at the computer and just reading blogs and mucking about the information highway. I have been recieving quite a few votes for Blogger of the Month but there are still a ton of bloggers out there who haven't sent in their votes yet. I need some way to get the word out to everyone...LOL...this means I have to THINK: Not my strong suit! I do want to thank all of you who have been plugging the vote in your own blogs...you have done a wonderous job. Okay, now besides counting votes and reading blogs I have been waiting for the arrival of our dizzy little buddy, ccstring. What you want to bet that after my entry yesterday, he comes into blogville spouting fire and screaming all kinds of threats? He can't help it, it's what he does. Do you think he will believe me when I tell him it was all Party's idea? I thought not too. On the home front everything is going smoothly. I have just finished making my $3.00 contribution to my personal retirement fund-I bought my lottery ticket! Now all I have to do is sit back and wait for them to deliver the money....right? I do this every week and every week I am forced into my fall-back plan: Sign up for another week of indentured severitude to Wal-Mart. I am almost positive that one week, sooner or later, my plan will work and I won't have to. I tried to watch the news a couple of hours ago but I couldn't do it...way too depressing. Montana and parts of California is on fire. I told Party not to play with matches. Beriut has begun their remodeling plan for their city, its a simple plan: Piss Israel off and watch buildings in beruit get blown up! What you have just been subjected to is a blog whose writer has absolutely nothing of import to impart. Scattered, unconnected and making very little sense, this blog entry was not meant to educate, inform, or even entertain... Just free flow of thoughts in a shameless attempt to avoid another black day. Hopefully the next entry will be up to the high standards here in Blogville. |
| I have been toiling all morning, tying up loose ends, making sure I am on target to have The Blogville News ready to go by the 24th of the month. Let me tell you, being publisher of this thing is no easy job. Do you like that title; Publisher? I like it. It means I don't actually have to WRITE anything, I just put together all the talented work by other writers who slave over their columns each month. MY KINDA JOB! The thing is, I kind of envy the guys and gals in the trenches, doing the work, putting all those informative, funny and very entertaining columns down for everyone to read. Take vivacious for instance. She is doing a gossip column for the Newsletter. I would love to do that just once. Here, let me give you an example of the kind of gossip column I would write if I ever had the opportunity....Attention ladies and gentlemen of Blogville and all the ships at sea! Word is getting around! Rumors are flying! Innuendo abounds! About what? You ask. Well the gossip of late has all been: WHERE IS CC AND WHY HAS HE BEEN ABSENT FROM BLOGVILLE? Well this diligent reporter, with his nose for news and a crow-bar to turn over every rock, has discovered THE TRUTH! Seems our good buddy, ccstringhas not been covered up by work, as he has been claiming. No, indeed, it would seem that our little fowl-loving flinger of words has actually run aFOWL of the law! I just found out, through my confidential source who shall remain anonymous, but whose initials are P.A.R.T.Y.O.F.5., that CC was in fact ARRESTED near his home in Maryland a couple of weeks ago and now is out on bail. Seems, according to my source, that CC was arrested and now faces numerous charges steaming from a wild party he attended at the home of a family of chipmunks who reside not far from his house. It was reported that, in the midst of a drunken orgy of four-legged-fur-bearing-out of control friends, CC, high on a wicked combination of Root-Beer and Ho-Ho's, wandered off and got lost. He was finally found by the local constabulary, floating down the Chesapeake Bay on his back, buck naked in a state of arousal, screaming: "RAISE DA DRAW-BRIDGE!" It took the efforts of five cops and a Coast Guard Cutter to finally bring the sugar-overdosed blogger to shore. He now faces a number of charges, not the lest of which is Consorting with an Under-aged Chipmunk. Is there more to this story? Inquiring minds want to know! SEE! Man I think vivacious has the best job of the whole Blogville News staff. She gets to dig up stuff like this, is that neat, or what! Well, okay, maybe I should just stick to being a "publisher" and leave the real reporting to my talented staff. But, you gotta wonder: Is that story true? After all, you did read it on the internet and we all know that anything you read on the Net HAS to be fact...right? right?LOL LOL LOL !  |
| Once again I would like to urge you to vote for this month's winner of Blogger of the Month which will be posted in the new edition of The Blogville News July 24th. For those of you who have many favorites and don't want to pick just one, please remember this is a monthly contest and each month you can vote for a different favorite blogger. Just email me with your vote and remind other bloggers to vote also. I have already recieved many votes and I am looking forward to getting many more. My blog today was inspired by an article from the Houston Chronicle, this morning's edition. I was sitting in the break-room this morning and checking out the back pages before work when I ran across this small article by Reuters news service out of Los Angeles: Winner named in "bad writing contest". The winner was announced today of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction contest. The contestants were asked to write the very worse opening sentance that had ever been written for a novel. The winner, the writter of the worse opening line for a novel was: Jim Gulgll of California. Here is his winning sentence: Detective Bart Lasiter was in his office and studying the light from his one small window falling on his super burrito when the door swung open to reveal a woman whose body said you've had your last burrito for a while, whose face said angels did exist, and whose eyes said she could make you dig your own grave and lick the shovel clean. LOL! So there you have the winner of the contest and I agree, that was truly the worse sentence, opening or otherwise, that I have ever read. Personally though, I really loved the runner-up sentance which was written by Stuart Vasepuru from Scotland. For his entry, Stuart played with one of the famous phrases from a Clint Eastwood movie: Dirty Harry. "I know what you're thinking, punk," hissed Wordy Harry to his new editor, "you're thinking, 'did he use six superfluous adjectives or only five?'-and to tell the truth, I forgot myself in all this excitment; but being as this is English, the most powerful language in the world, whose subtle nuances will blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question:'Do I feel loquacious?'- well do you, punk?" That was about the funniest thing I have read in awhile. I was laughing so hard the other people in the break room thought I had lost it. I quickly cut the article out....I had found my blog for the day! Hope you enjoyed this little piece of the news from down my way.....see you in the funny papers!!! |
| Okay, here's the deal... On the 24th of the month I plan on having the next edition of The Blogville News ready to read and I have one addition to the newsletter I haven't told you guys about. Well the reason I haven't told you about it is because I just came up with the idea. Here it is... Between NOW and the 24th I would like each blogger to send me an email with their choice for "Blogger of the Month". One vote per blogger, please. On the day I put the newsletter together I will tally the votes and I will name the Blogger of the Month. The winner will recieve 5,000Gps and a Merit Badge and of course will have bragging rights until the same time NEXT month. Now here is what you can do to help, beside VOTE. Please talk this up in each of your blogs because many of you have people who read your blog but never reads mine. I want to reach all the bloggers I can. The closer I get to putting out the next issue of the Newsletter, the more excited I get...this is going to be a killer issue, with all the changes made to the format and the new writers involved. There will be something for everyone in the thing and I promise you, it won't be a short issue either. So get out there and drum up the vote and let's have a big election for BLOGGER OF THE MONTH! |
| God, I hate black days! Look over there at that calender...see it? Black Monday, the first time this month that my brain just shut down and refused to come up with a topic worth bringing my fingers into contact with the keyboard. Oh the shame of it! Like many of you, I got caught up in the fine debate which took place on the blog page yesterday. PlannerDan , vivacious and Mavis Moog are to be congratulated on a well thought out and very entertaining debate on the issue of Religion.So now its Tuesday and time for me to stop the black bleeding on my calender. After doing this gig for over a year, I have a new found respect for writers who do a daily column in a newspaper. Can you imagine what kind of pressure that must be to have to have something ready by press time and not just any old something, but SOMETHING really entertaining and informative. I guess that's why guys a lot smarter than me are doing it for a living and I'm here repeating: "Hi, Welcome to Wal-Mart!" OH! LOOK AT THE CHICKEN! I get no respect! These are words made famous by the American comic, Rodney Dangerfield and repeated many times during a day by your's truly. LOL! I get no respect at work! Just today I was standing at the main door, doing my job, minding my own business. I had three or four customers standing around me as I sifted through their sacks of return items and marked them. I had a couple waiting for a shopping cart. I was really busy. Suddenly, over the din of all the people coming and going and music playing on the intercom...general shopping bedlam...I hear someone call my name rather loudly: "DAVID"! I look toward the double line of check-outs and I see the ladies who man the first eight registers all put their hands to their lips and blow me a big kiss in a large, slow-motion, exaggerated motion. All the people around me saw it. All the people waiting at those registers saw it...EVERYONE WAS LAUGHING! Why did they do it? Because, in the words of their ring-leader, Betty: "Because you blush so dang easy and you turn such a bright shade of red!" This went on for about an hour. Every time a new cashier would come on, she was required to face my direction, get my attention, and blow me a damn KISS! They were all giggling and having a big time while I was flashing bright red like some damn flesh covered neon sign! The customers were loving it...so much for my stern persona of Keeper of the Door! I finally had to put my foot down when they talked our store manager into joining in on the fun....I can't believe he did that! GAWD! Okay, I have chased the chicken long enough to make this day blue. I hope to see you all here tomorrow: same time, same station! |
| Saturday nights in Livingston, Texas hasn't changed a whole lot in the past forty years or so. Today's teenagers do pretty much the same thing we did when we were that young. Early saturday nights were given over to dates, for those of us with girlfriends but fathers of that time usually insisted that we have the young ladies home by 11 p.m. at the latest. So after dropping off our dates, most of us would drive down main street to the local "hang-out". In our case this was the parking lot of a cafe, we would pull up in our cars and sit and talk about our evening. My own particular circle of buddies would always meet up with me there and we would pile into Jim Holden's car cause it was the coolest, not to mention the fastest car in town. He drove a '65 mustang, midnight blue, with four-on-the-floor. Now at the time of this particular incident I was 17 years old; young, innocent and on top of my world. It was Saturday night and I had dropped my girlfriend off at her house....NOW IT WAS TIME TO FIND MY BUDDIES! We all met up at the "hang-out", I parked my dad's old '57 chevy truck (yeah, classy date vehicle, right) and jumped into Jim's Mustang along with Jerry Duff, Donald Rosecrans and Jim. It was time to "cruise". We made the "circuit" which meant driving down main street from one end of town to the other, then up cemetary Hill, turn left and down a dirt road and over "Thrill Hill". Thrill Hill was more like a large bump in the dirt road but if you went over it at any speed over 50mph your car would become airborne for about ten feet or so...WAHOO, WHAT A THRILL! I was sitting "Shotgun" in the front seat with Jim; Donald and Jerry was in the back. We cruised the circuit a few times, passing a bottle of Old Crow burbon back and forth and grooving to the music of the Beatles, The Assocation, The Four Seasons and a host of others who wafted around us from the speakers of the radio. We talked about things only teenage boys could possibly find interesting and kept our eyes peeled for someone to race....Life was good. About one o'clock in the morning I suddenly had the overpowering urge to call it a night and head home. This was unusual for me because Sunday was typically a free day; I didn't have to work the ranch on Sunday so I could sleep in late. The other guys were gripping at me for being a "party-pooper" but I was adament...I wanted to head for home. Funny thing was, Donald began to feel the same way so we finally talked Jim into dropping us back to the lot where our trucks were parked. So we left Jim and Jerry there in the parking lot, Jerry claimed the front seat in my absence and off they roared. I climbed in my truck, waved goodbye to Donald who was just pulling out in his dad's old buick. I pulled out of the parking lot, made a right and crossed the railroad tracks and headed out of town. I hadn't gone three blocks, the window down and the warm night air caressing my face, when I heard the distant sound of a train whistle. I still remember the cold chill that ran down my spine when I heard that whistle and I continued on for a mile or so before the urge to turn around overcame me. Making a U-turn on the outskirts of town, I sped back toward the tracks at the intersection close to the cafe where we had parked. When I got there the first sight that greeted me was the train: STOPPED. Then I saw the remains of Jim's car sitting crumpled almost a hundred yards from the crossing. As I sit in my truck, stunned, the first of the rescue vehicles arrived... it was the sherrif. I got out of my truck and ran to Jim's car. He was laying on the ground, having been ejected from the driver's side. He was hurt bad but alive. Jerry was still in the car, his six-foot, five inch body was crammed in a space of about a foot wide and a foot deep. It was learned later that almost every bone in his body was broken. He lived, unbelieveably, for about ten minutes after they finally extracted him from the wreakage. This marked the very first time I was brushed by the Angel of Death and his Handmaiden, Chance. Was it chance that Don and I decided to get out of that car just a few minutes before the crash, or was it something else? Years later, Don swore it was just chance. He said he only decided to go home because I was. But with me it was different, the feeling I had to get out of that car and go home was just too strong. I do believe that in this case it was devine intervention that saved me. My own angel interceded and caused me to exit the car early. Just a couple of years later I was to become well aquainted with that Angel of Death, almost on a first name basis and I saw a lot of things I could never explain, both good and bad. That night though was my first experience and like most "firsts" for teenage boys, this one stuck with me my entire life. It taught me how fragile life was and that we were not indestructable like we thought. It also taught me a healthy fear of what alchol can do to people in a car. Jim survived, though he spent a few months in the hospital. We learned that on that night he had decided to race the train to the crossing....he lost...so did Jerry....so did all of us in one way or another. To all my young readers out there please take this to heart: You are not Superman. Even though the drugs or whisky might make you feel ten feet tall and bullet proof...YOU ARN'T. Summer is here and you will be out with friends....take care of yourselves and play it safe. |
| Okay, I know, TWO ENTRIES IN ONE DAY! Please forgive me but I just had to share some pictures from our outting this morning. We took all three of our dogs: Rocky, Sherman and Molly out to the lake for a walk. Paula had never been to our lake and she loves to walk the dogs. First picture is of Paula who is being walked by Molly, our black Lab...LOL! Don't know if you can tell, but Molly weighs about as much as poor Paula and tended to "lead the way"! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** This next shot Mel took when Paula and I decided to take all three dogs down to the water's edge and let them play. I had Sherman and Rocky's leash in my hand and they dang near pulled me into the water. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** This shot, I took of Paula and Mel as they walked along the shoreline. Me and Rocky were lagging a bit behind...LOL ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Now, this last shot was perfect. Sherman was worn out after our walk and upon arriving home, he made a bee-line for my recliner to take a well deserved nap. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Well that's it for me. This evening we are heading out to catch a movie: Pirate of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, with Johnny Depp. This has been a really nice day. |
| It's early in the morning here. I got up early to hit the computer cause Paula is sleeping in. Poor baby stayed up until almost four o'clock this morning...PLAYING ON WDC!! You can imagine my surprise when I discovered she LOVES TO WRITE!! She even brought a notebook of her writing for me to look at...IS THAT SWEET OR WHAT! Well, since she didn't get here until late all we did yesterday was talk, and I read her stuff. I also set her up with a free account here at WDC. I told her that if she liked it and wanted to continue, that I would get her a paid membership...she was excited! So my grandchild is now a member...that feels funny to type. I like it. Anyway, her nic is GothAutumn and she has put one of her poems in her portfolio..please, if you have the time, drop by her port and give her a rate and review. I put it on the PlugPage last night and she got 3 measly R&Rs from that, but she was very happy with them.Okay, I am gonna sneak back in bed and watch a little TV with Mel before we have to get back up and start what I am sure will be a busy day...so far this visit has been GREAT! My girl's a writer...I still can't get over that! |
| Well here it is, just a shade over 6:30 a.m. and I am sitting at the computer trying to think of something profound, witty, and entertaining to write about. This is offically my day off, though in truth I have been off for the past two days due to blood-pressure issues. So what am I going to do today since it is an offically sanctioned day free from work? Glad you asked. Today and this whole upcoming weekend is going to mark a first for me. I think I have shared with you all before that all my grandchildren live in the state of Washington due to very poor planning by my children (seems they bowed to the pressure of wanting to eat and moved to where their jobs needed them). I have five grandchildren who I haven't seen in over two years now and it will probably be a few more years before I get to see them again. Yeah, I know; it sucks to be me sometimes. Well this brings me back to this weekend. My youngest daughter, Melissa is engaged to marry a very nice guy named Jason who has a twelve year old daughter who is an absolute delight to be around. Now she will soon be an offical member of my family and more importantly, she will be my only grandchild within spoiling distance to me. A few weeks ago, when they were all down here for a visit, I casually mentioned to her that she was welcome to come for a weekend anytime she wanted to get out of the city and into the country for a break. Well seems she has decided to take me up on my invitation. Melissa called me last week and said that Paula (that's the sweetie's name) had been bugging her since their last visit to come see "grandpa". LOL! So, Sometime this afternoon Melissa is going to drive her here to my house so that she can spend the weekend with me and Mel. I have to tell you, I am excited about her visit. This is the first time I get the opportunity to act like a "Grandpa" and do all the fun "Grandpa things I have heard others talking about. Okay, now to the problem: What do Grandpas do to show their pre-teen granddaughters a fun time? I mean, there isn't a whole lot to do in this One-Horse town. We do have a movie theatre but that's about it. She is coming from the big city where there is always a ton of activities for kids of all ages, so what do I do to show her a good time? Of course there is the whole "I'm Too Young To Be a Grandpa" problem...I mean how am I supposed to act, me being a young, hip kinda guy? Hell, I've never even had the chance to get used to someone calling me: Grandpa. (Is that snickering I hear out there? Cut it out!) I welcome any and all suggestions to help me to do a good job this weekend. Even though I am a little nervous about this visit, I am sooo looking forward to it. Oh and I promise to have a picture of the little sweetie posted in this space, maybe as soon as tomorrow. Well, that does it for me. I am going back to bed and catch a few Z's. Gotta get my strength up for this impending visit...WAHOOO! |
| Yes, its just another day in Paradise. Current events keep marching onward, history makes itself in increments of twenty-four hours and our lives continue to write their stories. New fads, new drugs, new threats all present themselves to us on an almost daily basis. We cope. What else are we to do? The news bombards us on a each day with clarion calls of danger; danger to our health, to our well being and to our national security. Maybe it's just me but I have begun to find the whole situation more humorous than anything else. This morning the headlines are full of the story of North Korea's continuing savage attack upon the South China Sea. In the past twenty-four hours they have launched seven short and medium range missiles and one long range missile into this innocent body of water. I had to smile as I sat and listened to the talking-heads dutifully talk up the potential for disaster for the United States if North Korea is allowed to work the kinks out of their missile program. "They now have long range missiles which could possibly reach the West Coast of this country!" Yeah, they do have those. Now if they could only keep the damn things from blowing up less than a minute after launch and IF they can figure out how to make the nuclear war-head and get it to sit up on top of their missile, then yeah, they might just fire one our way. After watching the news, is it any wonder Americans get all worked up and start shouting: "BOMB THE BASTARDS!" Good lord, tune out the manufactured drama of the newsrooms and let's just use diplomacy to deal with these whackos. In other news, we are told that there is now a brand new aid for smokers who are trying to quit the habit, Chantix. I love the thinking here....Get rid of your dependency on tobacco and become hooked on a new drug! Look on the bright side; I doubt if they will enact new laws prohibiting you from taking your drug in public places like cafes and stores like they did with smokers. I really hope this new drug proves successful in helping us get off the smoking habit but I doubt it. I have seen the pill and I have to tell you that it is way to small to light and hold between your lips for any length of time without suffering severe burns to the lips. Finally, not being able to stand anymore "news", I turned off the TV and checked my email. It was then that I got real news that effects me on a personal level. I have a good friend who is also a Door Greeter at my store, her name is Shirley. She has been out of work for a couple of weeks because she finally decided to have an operation to repair what she thought was a hernia. We had heard nothing from her so I decided to check up on her....yesterday I got this email which I will share with you: THANKS DAVID.. I THINK I HAD ALOT OF PEOPLE WORRIED AND I'M SORRY, TRUTH IS...I HAVE OVARIAN CANCER, STAGE-#3.....IT WAS ON BOTH OVARIS, APPENDX,UTERUS, BLADDER N MY LIVER.......REMEMBER THE PAIN I HAD IN MY BACK? THINKING IT WAS FROM MY FAL IN 99...I KEPT USING PAIN PATCHES N THERAGESIC...AND WORKED PAST FEW MOS. IN PAIN....DID NOTICE MY POOCHY BELLY BUT JUST THOUGHT I WAS GETTIN FAT...LOL!!! DOC LAUGHED WHEN I TOLD HIM THAT.. WE KNEW IT WAS A SM.CHANCE OF CANCER BUT NEVER EXPECTED THIS OUTCOME . NEEDLESS TO SAY, MY FAMILY ARE CRUSHED BY THE NEWS, I WORRY MORE ABOUT THEM..MY POOR HUBBY, BLESS HIS HEART, HE HAS VASCULAR DEMENTIA, CAUSED BY HIS STROKES.... DID SEE THE ONOCOLOGIST...SHE SAID 70% SURVIAL RATE FOR 5YRS.....HEY,THATS PRETTY GOOD. SO, WE ARE JUST TAKING ONE DAY AT A TIME, BUT IF YOU STOP N THINK ABOUT IT...THATS ALL ANY OF US DO. DOC TOLD ME ALL MY HAIR WILL COME OUT...I ASK HIM, "DOES THIS MEAN I DONT GOTTA SHAVE MY LEGS".... THANKS VERY MUCH TO YOU N MEL FOR BEING MY FRIEND, JUST TO KNOW I HAVE FOLKS TO TALK TO MAKES IT EASIER.. I MAY FEEL LIKE SNEAKING INTO STORE NEX WEEK.. HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY. P.S..THE LARGE CYST WEIGHED ALMOST 10LBS...GOODBYE POOCHY BELLY FOR ME. NOW I JUST GOTTA WORRY ABOUT BACKSIDE. ~~Luv n Stuff~ Now that's news I can use. Its news that actually means something to me. So, my friend has been given a 70% chance of five more years, well that's not bad. She can do a lot with five years and I hope, when my time is near, I too get maybe a five year notice so that I can get all my affairs in order. Shirley is a sweetheart and she has not only a good attitude toward her illness, but she has a sense of humor much like my own which is why I care about her so very much. So there you have it; a piece of news you will never see on CNN or Fox News or any network but a bit of news that means more to me than all the North Korea's, Iraqs and Afghanistans rolled into one. Just another day in Paradise, time and history moves along......We all learn to live with our own, personal "News". |
| Well here I am, sitting in front of the computer at 6:10 a.m.--now that's just not right. I got up to see my sweetie off to work; today is her first day back after an extended time off for the Fourth. The brat had a total of five days off for the holiday. I was supposed to go to work today at 11:00 p.m. but I had to call in this morning. Nothing really serious, I am just having blood-pressure spikes which leave me feeling like stomped poo so I opted to spend the day resting today. After calling the store and informing them I will not make an appearance I decided to do my blog and get that out of the way. Now that I am sitting here, I really don't have anything earthshaking to write about so this will be a scatter-shot entry. You all will be happy to know that I have talked someone into being the guest editor for this months edition of "The Blogville News". This edition is really going to be a good one, I got partyof5dj to agree to be guest editor. Also, starting in this edition, we will have vivacious writing a gossip column.....I want this to be a permenant deal with her doing the column each month. There wil be other new features but I can't really tell you about them yet because I haven't lined up writers for them...yet.Okay, that concludes the Newsletter news, so what else can I write about? Oh, I know....I SUCK! I mean by that, that I suck at contests. June was "contest month" for me. I actually entered three contests in the month of June. So far my showing as been less than noteworthy...LOL! That's okay though because in two of these contests the participants were mostly bloggers and I believe that the best writers on WDC are also bloggers so the compitition was really stiff. I don't mind losing to these talented folks at all. The third contest has yet to be judged but I don't hold out much hope for it either. It was a poetry contest! I know, I know, I AM NOT A POET! But, I just couldn't help myself, the contest was for MEMORIAL DAY! The judge wanted poems about war. Well I just happened to have one of those I wrote some years ago that was my ONE serious attempt at poetry so I figured: What the hell. Well as I said, this contest was for Memorial Day....then the judge decided to let the contest stay open all month...now it is the 5th of July and still no word on the winners. This thing might still be unfinished by Christmas at this rate. There is another reason I don't hold out much hope for any success with this contest. I didn't find out until about a week after I entered, that the Judge is FOURTEEN YEARS OLD!! Now any readers out there who are 14 or younger, please don't be upset but I don't have a lot of confidence in someone of such tender years being able to judge a contest when the subject is war. Especially if the youngester is an American. WHAT THE HELL DO THEY KNOW ABOUT WAR? How can anyone that young ever hope to understand the emotions....fear, hate, hopelessness that all come into play when describing the most vulgar of man's endeavours...to kill his fellow man. Yes, I said war is vulgar but it is also necessary at times, therefor anyone who has to engage in war is forever marked with a scar that is visible only upon their soul. I ask you, how can an American teenager understand the depth of feelings one experiences as they pass through the meat-grinder of war? Anyway, that is my June contest activity. Now I have given some thought as to why I SUCK at writing contests and I have figured out that it is my method that is probably at fault. You see if I enter one of my short stories, I usually do alright but if I write a new piece just for the contest...well that's where I have a problem. I will sit down at the computer and pound out an entry. I usually take about twenty minutes to type whatever comes to my mind at that moment, then I hit send and enter the thing. I rarely even proof read it. I know, that is a stupid way to do it, but that's me. I like to just let the words flow out of my head and onto the screen....kinda like this blog...sometimes it hits the mark, but most of the time it misses the target by about a mile and a half! Okay, the words just stopped flowing so now I will take my sorry, sick, arse back to bed and try to get to feeling well enough to go to work tomorrow. You folks have a wonderful day....I will be reading all your blogs today, so be nice! |
| As I creep nearer and nearer to my 500th entry I have reached another milestone with my blog. Sometime last night I topped the 22,000 mark with views. To all of you who come here each day, you have my eternal gratitude for reading my daily scriblings. Now, as for the meat of this blog... Well heck, I don't really have any of my own words that even come close to something Mel found for me on the internet today. She was actually giggling when she pulled up the page with this thing on it. Now to preface what you are about to read, you have to know that Mel is a "Plus-sized" lady and she was the one who brought this to my attention. She not only thought it was funny but it was also true. As for myself, well as someone who stands and witnesses a daily parade of females every day in whatever form of dress they decide to grace us with...I have to say, I agree with it myself...and I did think it was funny too. I hope you enjoy it. ************** From The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA Opinions Section Published: Jul 1, 2006 Letter: Big women should put on some clothes! "I’m a fat woman. I don’t know the current politically correct term for that." "Maybe it’s plus size or big and beautiful. Whatever you call it, I’m heavy duty. This gives me some authority on what I have to say: Fat women, put some clothes on!" "The current trend of low-rise jeans and skin-tight T-shirts is not, and was never, meant for us plus-size girls. Quite frankly, I don’t think it’s all that attractive on the skinny ones, either, but that’s just me." "The real tragedy, however, is being forced to watch a heavy woman cram herself into Britney Spears’ clothes. So I’ve come up with a few tips for those poor women who aren’t sure if this is meant for them. If the tiara fits, wear it." "1. If your thighs reside in a separate ZIP code, don’t wear Daisy Dukes." "2. If your stomach arrives before you do, make sure that your shirt actually touches your pants." "3. If you have to move your boobs to buckle your belt, don’t buy your clothes in the toddler section." "4. If the area between the top of your pants and your exposed thong provides shade, we don’t want to see it." "5. If people think you are shoplifting an inner tube, don’t wear a halter top." "I’m not saying that all big women ought to wear mumus, but I am saying to look in the mirror before you leave the house." "If anything hangs out, hangs over, flops, jiggles, wiggles or is turning blue, please cover it up. Please!" Suzanne Todd director of social services agency Amite Did you notice that Scarlett 's List of Five was dutifully observed by the writer. Scarlett is taking over the world with her "List of Five". |
| I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to the winners of windac's latest contest; The Over the Hill Playhouse and Fun Factory. chalaedra won first place, Nada won second place and Nyoni won third place. Well done ladies, you are each champions as far as I'm concerned. After reading the latest issue of B.A.N.G. today...by the way, well done Nada, it was a real winner...I got to thinking about growing older. Yeah, for you first time readers, I am older than dirt. In fact, when God said: "Let there be light". That voice in the background that said: "Well, it's about dang time" was me. I am fifty-seven years old but some days, like today, I feel more like seventy-seven, but that's another story for another time. The thing is that now as I look back on my life, I don't think I had three good brain cells until I reached the age of forty. I was definately young and stupid. It amazes me how I managed to reach this age as dumb as I was. As a result of this, I find that as I age I have a smaller and smaller tolerance for young people who think they have all the answers...just like I was. How the hell did my daddy keep from killing me and burying the body, I will never know. The man had a lot more patience than I will ever have. Yeah, I was a young smart-ass once upon a time, thankfully I lived long enough to get over it. Now I am just an old crumdugeon....I like that better. When you get old like me you can get away with a lot of stuff you couldn't when you were younger. I love being able to expound on subjects I know very little about and have people accept what I say as "words of wisdom". HA! Wisdom, hell, I can just get by with spreading BS cause the youngsters think no one could have lived as long as I have without actually knowing...SOMETHING. Little do they know. Yeah....its good being old sometimes. Like with the wimmen. Heck I can get away with stuff now that would have got me shot when I was younger. Younger ladies love me. They think I'm "cute". HA again. I'll take "cute" any day. I have ladies who are my regular customers who come in and give me hugs and stuff and my younger co-workers just can't understand it. "How do you get so much attention? They all ask me. I just smile and say: "Well bud, there may be snow on the roof but there's fire in the furnace". Little do they know, that these ladies know I am totally harmless. I'm like a pet hampster they can pat on the head and not worry about getting bit. Besides, most of them know that MRS. HAMPSTER would rip me a new blow-hole if I ever tried anything. That's okay....its good to be old sometimes. |
| Okay, I just ran in from work...HONEY, I'M HOME! I did stop long enough to fix myself a tall glass of ice-water with a twist of lemon and now I'm ready to blog! Ready yourself, today's entry is going to be decidely scattered since no ONE subject has really stuck in my little pin head today. First up on the block for discussion: Anonymous ratings. All right stop rolling your eyes and sighing...I gotta vent here. I just got one today on a story that is going to be included in my short story collection. The Unknown Rater gave the story a 2. Now I really, really, really don't have a problem with someone slapping one of my children with a low rating. All I would ask is that you do it coupled with a review. Tell me what is wrong with the story so that I might correct it. Maybe it was just not the kind of story you like...tell me that. WDC is here to HELP writers make their stories better; how can we do that if you just slap a number on it and not tell us what is wrong with the writing. How can we ever make it better? Look people, I will not get mad and yell if you give me a review that points out weaknesses in my stories. I might not agree with your acessments, especially if you have trouble with the storyline, but I will never get mad at you for simply pointing out what you think is wrong with it. Please have the courage of your convictions and sign your name to the thing....AND TELL ME WHAT IS WRONG. Okay, enough grumping about idiots who can't sign their name...on to more stuff that's flying about my cranium. I want to make some more changes in the Blogville News for the month of July. I want you to tell me what you think of these bright ideas that I've had. 1. I want Nada to do a SUNDAY FUNNIES section...after all, what is a paper with our funnies.2. I would love to have our own Scarlett to do a list of five for each issue.3. I would also like to see a short travel piece written by zwisis. So many of the Blogville citizens are into the vacation mode now, I think it would be great to have a short piece on some different part of the world. 4. I know I let CC rest this last month, but next month I want to bring back the Mr. Know-it-all corner and have him share his somewhat twisted logic with all of us as he answers questions from readers. 5. I am also going to bring back the "Blogger of the Month" section and I want to add a section for plugging contests on WDC. I guess we can call it "The contest Corner". So there are the changes...oh look, a list of five also! Give me some feedback, let me know what you think? Now, I will leave you with one final little thing that just occurred to me. As I was writing the above ideas, the TV was droning on behind me. Some kind of "amazing videos" show was playing and they showed this knucklehead who was swimming with a huge whale and taking pictures of it. He swam right up to the giant mammal and shoved his camera in the whale's face. The whale just gently turned and swam the other direction. The idiot with the camera just stayed where he was, parallel with the beast and kept shooting video. As the whales tail passed the swimmer's head, the whale gave his tail a quick lateral flip, striking the camera man in the head and knocking him silly! Now I ask you, why is man, the supposedly superior thinking animal, the only one who insists on putting himself into situations where he is fairly low on the food chain? I mean this is like a chicken taking a vacation and traveling to a fox den for a week end of fun! Only Man is stupid enough to do this. Okay..I'm done...let me know what you think about the changes in the Newsletter. |
| Woop de do, we are now in the middle of a big holiday weekend! Well its a holiday for SOME people...just not for me. I got my regular two days off, of which today is the last one but the fourth of July will find me at my assigned station in the Wal-Mart salt mine. I'm okay with that, really I am. I mean, who wants to partake in outdoor activity around here in July, for God's sake. I would just as soon spend my Fourth indoors, in air-conditioning. You would have thought that our forefathers, being such wise and far-thinking men, would have foreseen the addition of Texas (once known as the equator of Hell) to the union and they would have decided to declare independance in Feburary or March. We don't sell a lot of charcoal for cook-outs here in Texas on the Fourth. Most people just lay the meat on the grill in the direct sunlight and it cooks faster than if they had actually built a fire under it. Here we have a choice on the Fourth. We can either lay on the beach and burn to the consistency of the aforementioned charcoal, or we can jump in the water and BOIL! Can you tell I have issues with the Texas summers? WELL I DO! I have had it with hot weather. Just one year I would like to actually experience four seasons instead of "Light Summer", "Moderate Summer", "Heavy Summer" and "Bring the Fire-Extinguisher, Grandma Caught Fire!" You have no idea how much I envy partyof5dj and gypsy4evermore who call Montana home. They acutally get to experience cold air without having a fan blowing on their tail-section. That goes for all the rest of you who live north of the American Blast Furnace too...you are all lucky... damnit.I promise you one thing; If I survive another summer here I vow to pack up my fire-retardant underware and look for somewhere else to call HOME. So, in conclusion, I would just like to wish all of you who DON'T live on the surface of the sun a happy Fourth of July. I hope you have a wonderful time with family and friends. Think of me while you enjoy your holiday, I will be here in Texas dressed in one of those astronaut suits with my pockets full of ice. |
| I just wanted to come in here and let everyone know that the latest issue of The Blogville News has just been posted. Anyone interested, here is the link: "Invalid Entry"  . I hope you enjoy this issue and if so, please drop me a line and let me know. Also, if you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to email me. I love hearing from all of you. |
| This will be a short entry this morning. I am about to head out the door for work and am pressed for time. I am off work tomorrow and Saturday and I plan on working on the new issue of The Blogville News (not weekly anymore). I want to give a public "thank you" to schipperkefor featuring my story "The Sign" in her Mystery Newsletter this week. That was quite a surprise and an honor...thank you lady! I would also like to recommend pencilsoverpens 's latest blog entry. She has taken a page out of zwisis's book and is reporting on very bad things that are happening in her homeland. It is a well written entry and an eye-opener for those of us who nothing about the situation.Okay, that's it for me. I have got to get a move on and get ready for work...have a great day everyone and I will be reading all your blogs when I get home tonight. |
| I watched a very interesting program on Public TV last night. It was titled: Zimbabwe, Shadows and Lies. Well, needless to say, when I saw that title I sat up and took notice. Here was an in-depth report on all the things I have heard about from our own zwisisand I was very happy to see that SOMEONE from the West was finally interested enough on what was going on there to bring the plight of the country to light. The program was an hour long and at the end of that hour I was once again reminded of the old saying: You can't believe everything you see. Oh don't get me wrong, the program did an adaquate job of pointing out what a despot that Robert Mugabe had become. The narrator diligently reported all of Mugabe's programs to steal the land from his people and give that land to his croonies. He told of how Zimbabwe, once the "bread-basket" of Africa was now a ruin of starving people with most of its land laying fallow. As I watched ths show I found myself nodding in agreement at all these things which Forever had already reported to all of us here in Blogville. Before I knew it, though the program ended.... just like that, and I was stunned. Why? Because in the whole hour of that program there was never one mention of any white citizens who had suffered at the hands of Mugabe and his henchmen. There was no mention of Roy Bennet or anyone like him. In fact there was not a white face shown in the entire documentary. If I had not known any better I would have believed, after watching this show that there were no white people even living in the country. Now I'm not saying that because there ARE white people suffering then the plight of the country is worse than shown. I am saying that even though the documentary showed a PART of the problem, they ignored an entire portion of the country's population...why? Was it because of their color? Does being white mean you do not deserve being mentioned amoung the victims of a despot? No. I think that the makers of this documentary had an agenda and that showing white farmers who were suffering would, in their mind, delute their message. It was as if the makers of the film were saying: "If you are white, you deserve what you get". This show pointed up the danger, to me, of believing everything you see on TV. We can not base our beliefs soley on what we watch there. We have to remember that the people who put on these programs do so with their own prejudices and agendas in place. I would like to thank zwisis publically for going to such effort to make us here in Blogville aware of another side of the sad story in Zimbabwe. I also want to urge everyone, when you see a report like this on TV, make an effort to find out the rest of the story...there is always more. |
| Damn kids anyway! They don't appreciate anything you try to do for them. I mean really... all of you with kids know what I'm talking about. The dang rug rats just take and take and take and you rarely ever even get a thank you. You go out and buy them the latest gizmo, you know, the ones they just CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT and a week later you find it discarded on the living room floor. INGRATES! Well it happened to me again today. I thought I was free of this particular form of abuse by kids, but nooooo, they are still doing it to me. Today, when I got off from work, instead of heading out the door and home I actually stayed long enough to SHOP. Do you think I shopped for me...oh hell no, it was for the ingrate kids waiting for me at home. For weeks Mel has been bugging me, saying the kids need a pool during this hot weather. Each of the kids have begged me with those big eyes and lolling tongues to get them a pool. Finally I could stand it no longer. Today I bought the biggest pool I could buy and still transport tied down in the trunk of my car! Well I got home and unloaded the pool and hauled it into the back yard. All three spoiled rotten, self-centered, fur-children sat around and watched with barely concealed glee as I filled up the pool. As soon as it was ready all three of the ingrated piled into the water, splashing me vigorously in the process, and played....FOR ABOUT FIVE MINUTES! Then all three; Molly, Sherman and Rocky, beat a retreat to the back door and begin whining to be let inside to their air-conditioned haven, leaving me standing there holding the water hose and looking stupid. Well I lost it. "Oh no you don't", I yelled at them. "I bought this thing, I hauled it home and I filled it up, now get your hairy butts over here and get wet!" They merely stood there and stared at me as if I had finally lost my mind. "Okay", I yelled at them again. "If that's the way you want to play it, then by God, I'M GONNA USE THE POOL!" So I proceeded to jump in the pool, fully clothed and sit there in water. About that time my neighbor drove by on his way home. I saw him look over at me, sitting in the doggie pool and the three dogs sitting there looking at me. I saw him grab his cell phone and start talking.... I expect a visit from the sheriff any time now wanting to know if everything is alright and if he needs to take me the proper medical facility so that I might seek help. DANG KIDS! The Fur Kids are as bad as the real ones! |
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Congrats on 500 entries, and we are all looking forward to the sequel.