Tag Archives: amy

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10102 – Monday

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BHK and I went on a little walkabout to pick up the mail and stretch our legs – hit the boardwalk where someone put together a nifty, albeit a bootylicious snowman – snow was piled up from the plows in the back area parking lot to about 8-10 feet.

 

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Walkies were fun, though I was more than a little sore afterward. Some stretching and a heating pad is putting me right.

Chris & Mandy came over for some supper – Taco salad (real meat for them, pseudo-meat for BHK and me) It was tasty, but poor Chris was knocked out from his weekend of meteorology – and he’s likely going back to DC tomorrow for a few days at a hotel – expecting 10 to 25 inches feet more of snow tomorrow afternoon into the evening.

BHK looks like she’s going to hit the sack early, and I think I’ll join her, once I’m sure the phones are charged and the doors are locked, although, it’s very unlikely anyone’s coming in through the back door – there’s still a couple of feet of snow on the deck.

Amy got a DS, though her sister is apparently fond of making off with it- I want to set her and BHK both up with Acekard2 and a good collection of homebrew software.

1 year ago – watching batman, walkies curtailed, springtime weather. grilling for dinner
2 years ago – Jane Austen Book club, bushed, yahoo live (now gone), mogulus, veodia, pvk2, Zombie Cyborg Bugs!, WiFi attractive nuisance
3 years ago – picnic in the loft, local interests, interview meme, rpg class quiz
4 years ago – 1-year breakup, newt monkey, flavor crave poll, haiku, 3-d painted rooms, pigs in space, phone-post fog walking, guilt meme
5 years ago – jb gives me filth for my birthday, cable out, bad juju, taco ninja viagp, superman jerk, river walkabout pics, Mel and I are done.
6 years ago – Residence / Faire / ‘Zilla / Shapes , Memory Fragment, Z-squad, Money
7 years ago – playing with palm-modem, dream of hot applesauce vendor & snuggling up at a basketball game. 
8 years ago – bro hit on his bike by a cop, bibles in hotels, walkies, FMM lost use of the Net during working hours, Talk about Chupa / small hands,tiffany in playboy.
9 years ago – 100 monkeys debunked, FMM sold Tampa, fending off the end of a flu (history repeats itself, I guess!), Suzy’s crappy computerGeotarget

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10,052 – Farewell UNTIL THE SUMMER, Amy!

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bhktoad  S6305654  S6305653  S6305652  S6305651  S6305650

Dictionary Dabble, Carcassonne – New World, and Valley of the Mammoths played.

BHK Did really well – Winning all (She and I tied in Dabble) I think it was the green knit cap I got her for Christmas – Mandy said she looked like toad (a mushroom person) from Super Mario… of course, BHK had to take that and run with it (see above)

Amy is off to NY again – We’ll miss her! BHK and I are going to have lunch in Deale soon with the in-laws. tomorrow, Sean is coming over for some year-end games, too, maybe we can whomp on him and Andrew a bit then!

Random thought in my head lately – I really like grappling hooks. One of my fave gadget / tools in video games, RPGs or even just in general. Swung by hand or fired from a gun, it doesn’t matter.

1 year ago – BHK and I go to Geppi’s, Gabby Hayes, Ravens/Orioles stadium pix, leap second added
2 years ago – breakfast, xmas books to read
3 years ago – officially done with ACIM, Danny covered for b day, calvert library
4 years ago – Spanish channel shenanigans, big brain issues, ACIM paperwork, crunks,walkabout pics, palm cam picture spin (visiting Deerfield)
5 years ago – picture beliefs, cheese
6 years ago – Dang Dick, Kindly Kahuna, and Scotto Stuff. Alliteration!
7 years ago – RFL pictures, PT Barnum, Malawi vampires, Morse code
8 years ago – Treebeard and Entwife, Met Denise & Sara @ Danny’s Party, Mai Kai, eclipse
9 years ago – Calcutta Chromosome, Got shoo as a pal, Amitav Ghosh, Saw D&D movie with Danny, and Andy running the yellow Pompano comic shack
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A return to doodle posts?

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As a Side benefit of getting the DSi – I suppose I’ll try doing the occasional doodle-post  again!

As mentioned above, Amy is here, and we’re getting lots of gaming in – Jungle Speed and Small world taking up the lion’s share of our time.. though Pop-up pursuit is a lot of mindless fun, too. I’m looking forward to playing a little cir-kis and buzz word before our time is up, as well.

We also have been doinga little Super Mario World-Wii – which is fun, but hard with multi-player.

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Entry 10,030 – Too many pictures, not enough words lately. 12/18/2009

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I’ve been cheating quite a bit – I prefer to post verbal over visual content. I’ll admit that I like to see pictures of Christmas, family and the kitties as much as the next guy, but to me, a photograph with just a small caption is strangely silent, especially coming from me.

What have I been up to lately, dear journal? Let’s see.

On Wednesday, I went to a job fair in Northern Virginia… I’m thankful that my background allows me to qualify for a good clearance ranking. DC area seems to prefer folks with an ability to do so.

Yesterday, BHK, Chris and I went to the Mexico restaurant for supper – aside from that, I went to physical therapy and rested in bed with the boys. Tonight we’re scheduled to visit the Manspergers for some baked Ziti and good conversation – Sean has been very helpful, in helping me to seek out opportunities in this region.

I’m looking forward to a snowy day tomorrow. Supposed to be 12-20 inches in my neck of the woods!

Amy is coming to visit from the 26th to the 30th! Right on!

I’m digging the new statistics page for livejournal. Makes it easier to track hits than by hiding little sensors in each post, certainly. The “my guests” feature is especially engrossing – I never know so many flyby’s happened to old entries!

I’m glad the tv show lost is in it’s final season. I don’t hate the show… but I am tired of the hype. I watched the first season or so, and then stopped, when it occurred to me that they’d keep making shows as long as advertisers would pay to keep ‘em on the air, and not because there’s a solid plot going from beginning to end. I feel the same about Heroes, sadly.  If there had been something more engaging than “what is the answer” and one I’d never get, I’d probably dig both of those shows.

Also, I think Blade should’ve been in Twilight, not Buffy.

New Years, I’m planning on doing the Polar bear plunge, unless my health isn’t into it. Current holiday loot breakdown – all of it wonderful!

  • Mom and Wilton – Oranges, Honey and assorted grove goodness from Florida.
  • Ish & company –  a tin of yummy cookies, a picture of Newt drawn by Li’l bit, two wonderful tree ornaments – one says “we <3 u infinity”, and a pair of sea stars in beach gear and a great hand-done card, complete with glitter!
  • Karen (Kev’s sis)– super friends Cartoon DVD (via Amazon… BHK and I didn’t recognize her married name, so it took me a sec to figure out who it was!)
  • Cathy and Dave – Cookies! and three wrapped gifts to put under the tree!

Just a reminder to folks on Steam or Windows live gaming – I’m user Scottobear there (and just about everywhere else, too) – If you want to friend me there, please do! I’d love to do a little left 4 dead or borderlands with a pal. My official new year’s resolution for 2010 – do the yearly countdown daily again, if possible.
 
1 year ago – Dexter season 1, gifts from Kev, and the folks in Florida, tired but getting better,
2 years ago – started my minicity – (still doing ok, though neglected), icy footing, f’ing programming, tell me meme, my snazzy new custom sneakers
3 years ago – Dinner with C&D, Big Brain, Xmas card, silly holiday lj toys
4 years ago – Xmas card, condo Xmas party, calm a llama down
5 years ago – salty seas, Christmas toy, year in review, Celebrex, anime fans, con folk
6 years ago – trade invites for play $$, dreams
7 years ago – How to attain old age, got my epidural
8 years ago – Crime & Punishment, heterodox, evil news, HP question, pooter poop, bagpipe, egoboo, giant bee
9 years ago – met Tarpo (I still have the holiday mix cd) and Isis, LJ sea Chantey, AOK-ing, Christmas BluesGeotarget
10 years ago – heat miser / snow miser song.

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9998 – 1123091530.jpg

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1123091530.jpg, originally uploaded by scottobear.

pyewacket and his portrait (given to us by amy as a wedding prezzie)

Physical Therapy today, and the rest spent absorbing the drizzle, and doing job search. BHK has had Holly on the XM radio going since midday. I have seen hints of coming meals after her trip to the grocer, and my tummy is happy.

Adam and Anna are coming over tomorrow night – more bbq chips and good eats all the way through TG!

1 year ago – holoiday lights pics, bhk’s laptop craps out, a mighty salad
really good.

2 years ago – I love traveling with BHK, train set at motorcycle shop, festival of trees (Hospice), getting my head in order

3 years ago – gobble gobble – turkey day

4 years ago – talked to bro in hospital, local music, reader quiz

5 years ago – good counters bad, beard, heroin traffic in sofla, Melissa not Alyssa, evo vs creationism beliefs in the usa, googlewhacked, crimes against children task force

6 years ago – Whatever comes to mind, kid memory, cent sign, elephants

7 years ago – Mayah’s Birthday with pics, mage knight, cosplayers, Newtpics, ACCExpo, Lemmiwinks song

8 years ago – Superpowers, assoil, holiday icon musing

9 years ago – Golden Rice, survey, myths over Miami Geotarget

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9651 – mon

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Amy’s mom passed away today after battling with lung cancer for quite some time.  I didn’t know her, but my heart goes out to Amy and her family. I need to call her tomorrow and express my condolences. We knew it was coming, but it’s still a shock.

—
Found Object – Newton and I surfing the web about 6 years ago. I think it was the African Peanut Soup recipe.

BHK and I had a lovely taco salad for supper… huge enough for tomorrow’s leftovers, methinks.

1 year ago – me as gene wilder pic, lowe’s, honemoon, MAN OF IRON… 1504, cherry blossom picture tips, $5, eats

2 years ago – got the Calvert County gig, more shamrock shake, Louise & in-laws, monkey cap, Raines, The Riches, The Microscopic trout and the Machiavellian Fisherman

3 years ago – grampa poll results, RS taught to burn and forgets, folks go to brazil, ultrasound critters, Marvel Florida, gg winding up for an exit,

4 years ago – Freedom force, Thumbkin, Josie Conell, moot back (he’s been gone awhile again), regional wifi scan, netflix queue, account locations,making fiends, Lumbee updates, pinecone

5 years ago – Danny Solo, Devilfinder, Paper toys, elephants-Yeah!, pages back up, COH

6 years ago – lovey, storms

7 years ago – palm-doodle dreams, guest map, location poll, Bert’s Love Song, decent left, menstrual hut memo page

8 years ago – evil news, got a permanent accountGeotarget

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9568 – Friday.

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Only 360ish days until 2010. I wonder what people will do for crazy new years glasses for 2011? no more double zero years for eye holes until 2020!

Danny’s Birthday Today… and one month until I turn 40. Kat’s Birthday is speeding up in about a week or so, too, and Duncan-Dad Shaun’s B’day is the end of this month.

Lets see – today – Early Morning – Amy heads home – the dog bite on her arm is too infected, and she’s worried about properly treating it. I think it’ll be ok, but I can understand having concerns.

I get an emergency visit to the dentist – turns out my earache was the result of my crown – too high, and my jaw was adjusting to make it fit properly while I slept. TMJ turned into an ear infection. warm compresses and antibiotics should fix it soon. (I hope!)

After the dentist, I hit the doc’s – got some ear drops to relieve the head pain, and looked into some treatment for some of the other issues I’ve been having. Got some new meds for that, and a consult to see some specialists in the area. We’ll see how it goes, I’m hopeful. I should’ve just done my allergy shots today… but I guess that doesn’t matter, since I’m to every other week now.

Jaw is painful, but not terrible. I guess that’s one way to prevent overindulgence during the holidays!

Unique hits to my journal, by country – 30,998 total in the last 6 months – slightly down.

Running total of visits to scottobear.livejournal.com since 12 Jun 2006: 460,758

Current Country Totals
From 15 Jun 2008 to 1 Jan 2009

US – United States 21,313
CA – Canada 1,731
GB – United Kingdom 1,499
DE – Germany 502
AU – Australia 460
MX – Mexico 299
FR – France 263
IN – India 251
SE – Sweden 198
NL – Netherlands 190
ES – Spain 175
SA – Saudi Arabia 167
BR – Brazil 155
IT – Italy 153
IE – Ireland 135
PH – Philippines 134
RU – Russian Federation 117
SG – Singapore 115
PL – Poland 97
BE – Belgium 90
ID – Indonesia 89
TR – Turkey 87
JP – Japan 85
NO – Norway 80
TH – Thailand 78
MY – Malaysia 78
FI – Finland 77
NZ – New Zealand 75
AR – Argentina 72
GR – Greece 68
PT – Portugal 68
ZA – South Africa 67
HU – Hungary 66
IL – Israel 66
RO – Romania 66
DK – Denmark 62
CH – Switzerland 58
KR – Korea, Republic of 58
CL – Chile 54
PE – Peru 48
AT – Austria 47
CZ – Czech Republic 45
HK – Hong Kong 42
AE – United Arab Emirates 39
EG – Egypt 38
UA – Ukraine 37
PK – Pakistan 35
RS – Serbia 34
PR – Puerto Rico 33
CO – Colombia 33
HR – Croatia 28
VN – Vietnam 26
TW – Taiwan 25
BG – Bulgaria 22
CN – China 21
LT – Lithuania 21
LV – Latvia 21
VE – Venezuela 20
IR – Iran, Islamic Republic of 18
EE – Estonia 16
SK – Slovakia 16
KW – Kuwait 15
JM – Jamaica 15
SI – Slovenia 14
QA – Qatar 13
DO – Dominican Republic 12
EC – Ecuador 11
IS – Iceland 11
MT – Malta 10
EU – Europe 10
JO – Jordan 10
CY – Cyprus 8
TT – Trinidad and Tobago 7
DZ – Algeria 7
SV – El Salvador 7
CR – Costa Rica 7
LK – Sri Lanka 6
PS – Palestinian Territory 6
PA – Panama 6
HN – Honduras 6
BD – Bangladesh 5
MK – Macedonia 5
SD – Sudan 5
BA – Bosnia and Herzegovina 5
GE – Georgia 4
AL – Albania 4
LB – Lebanon 4
AP – Asia/Pacific Region 4
OM – Oman 4
GU – Guam 4
KE – Kenya 4
BH – Bahrain 4
AN – Netherlands Antilles 4
MA – Morocco 4
CI – Cote D’Ivoire 3
SY – Syrian Arab Republic 3
GH – Ghana 3
MV – Maldives 3
PY – Paraguay 3
MU – Mauritius 3
BY – Belarus 3
GT – Guatemala 3
NG – Nigeria 3
BS – Bahamas 3
LU – Luxembourg 2
MN – Mongolia 2
TC – Turks and Caicos Islands 2
BO – Bolivia 2
UY – Uruguay 2
AW – Aruba 2
KY – Cayman Islands 2
ME – Montenegro 2
MM – Myanmar 2
YE – Yemen 2
ZM – Zambia 1
CU – Cuba 1
CD – Congo, The Democratic Republic of the 1
LY – Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 1
PF – French Polynesia 1
TN – Tunisia 1
NA – Namibia 1
DM – Dominica 1
FJ – Fiji 1
GQ – Equatorial Guinea 1
AZ – Azerbaijan 1
MD – Moldova, Republic of 1
NP – Nepal 1
NI – Nicaragua 1
VG – Virgin Islands, British 1
TG – Togo 1
SR – Suriname 1
SN – Senegal 1
BN – Brunei Darussalam 1
KN – Saint Kitts and Nevis 1
BZ – Belize 1
BB – Barbados 1

1 year ago – Danny bday, Kat, Pam, age thoughts about myself, growing more beard for winter, beast sock monkey, webcomics, meme, polar bear swim

2 years ago – polar bear swim review, polar bears in general

3 years ago – prisoner commentary on my lack of things to say, linkies to cams, mugshots, thumbs up, tiny & affordable computers, ultimate showdown, windows security hole psa

4 years ago – Mel’s Gram moves in, Dan doesn’t meet her, on call, A&E, smallware, a resolution I fairly succeeded at, curry on the brain

5 years ago – dropload, shoot around corners, I first hear about how capital punishment is a far more expensive system than one whose maximum penalty is life in prison, Urban Exploration Florida

6 years ago – bro/taxi trouble, conquer the world, smoking gun mug shots

7 years ago – Random Name Generator, gunplay dream, family channel, Scotto’s head,2001 review, Japanese space shuttle, Afghan sports, pee color

8 years ago – words within words, I disagree with Georgia O’Keeffe, LJ bumpyGeotarget

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9567 – And with a new day… a new year begins.

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Hap-Pye New(t) Year!

Something I post at the top of every new year, and I appreciate the words more with every additional trip around the sun.

Love is
is not rude,
it is not self seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices in truth.
It always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.

-1 Corinthians 13:5&6

453 entries in 2008. (417 in ‘07,618 in ’06, 975 in ’05, 716 in ’04)

At this rate, I’ll break 10,000 entries by this time next year… of course, some entries are beefier than others.. I’ve been cheating a bit with the picture posts – still haven’t done a breakdown of my holiday loot yet!

But for now, a recap of recent history –

BHK took Amy to Urgent care last night, as her dog bite was getting more infected – worried about swelling and red marks. While they were at the doc’s, Shaun and I played Easter Island (I won!), and watched Bones on TV with my in-laws. The girls got back about 45 minutes later, and Amy’s wound was freshly cleaned and re-wrapped with gauze.

After the ball dropped, the in-laws headed off, and the rest of us played witch trial into the wee hours. (BHK took that one, but Amy wasn’t far behind. I really thought I would win! d’oh!)

Amy, Shaun W, BHK, the in-laws and I rose at about 10am, (after staying up until 3ish) and headed off to Gina’s Cantina for a nibble on some tasty brunch. No sign of Tyson or Gina, but the food was tasty and abundant, as usual.

BHK napped a bit and then did some work while Amy & I play Lego star wars / Mario Land 8 on the wii for about 4 hours. I feel pretty guilty about that – I wish we had another controller, or could have played something amongst the three of us.

Amy grew concerned about her issue – BHK went out to get some fresh bandages for her, and if she doesn’t feel significantly better by tomorrow morning, she’ll probably head home.

My earache also started kicking up – could not eat dinner tonight as it hurt to chew. Going to the doc tomorrow, so my appointment timing is good.

1 year ago – HNY, Hairspray, New pyecam laptop

2  years ago – HNY, newt and pye pics, 618 entries, sucky movies

3 years ago – HNY, modis, counts, PD movies, new day in sofla

4 years ago – Transformer guy, paleoclimatology, Tony Danza Has a TV show, Sri Lanka refuses aid because they are military, element, music, monkey entry links, unpopular baby names, pet names, Scotty’s Stores sinking, B-to-the-E, 1-2-3-go vs 1-2-go-on-3 poll

5 years ago – ninja turtles, FFXI w/Sammy & D, film finding, Newt age progression, missing kid

6 years ago – law of 5s, ageless project, wishes that didn’t come true, edbook’s llamas, sofla ice age, rain, slow day, Danny stubborn, finished Barnum / started agony & ecstasy, Newt pic

7 years ago – TZ marathon, people requesting money for reading their journal, country specific euros, 2nd instance of 1 Corinthians 13:5&6 and Happy Newt Year!

8 years ago – Resolutions, some dead news links, good links to marbles, bejeweled,alchemy, etc, 1st instance of 1 Corinthians 13:5&6, reflections on old games, Norman bates, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and a new writing styleGeotarget

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9432 – Saturday

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Got my serum at last/ at last, and EKG was done. I’ll know more after my doc reviews it.

Yellow Trike at Starbucks, man with bumblebee helmet – Man not shown. Nice Guy – goofy fan of his new ride… made a comment about lack of cup holders.

We went to Starbucks – BHK found a $15 gift card, so we figured we’d go – BHK’s pumpkin spice coffee was pretty nasty – I remember why we don’t go to that starbucks (or really any these days.) My lemonade/ passion fruit tea was jim-dandy.

 .0913081046.jpg.0913081047.jpg.

Went to the BIG book sale, but I didn’t get anything, and BHK only got maybe 5 rather than our usual take of a big ikea bag’s worth. I think it got fairly picked over before we got there… earlier next time, perhaps.

Selby Sub Shop with in-laws, I had egg salad which was yummy. prior to that, I played spore for a bit while BHK dug on her new books, and Larry cut down the dead bits of our garden with the edge trimmer.

Amy’s taking a pass on vacationing here this week – sick mom at home and she want’s to stick by her there. Hopefully her mom feels better soon. We’ll likely see her in October-December sometime.

Best part of the night was coming home and having a "no power night" – lights low, relaxing to 40s music on the couch, reading a book while curled up with BHK.

Google Maps map annotated with all the places Marco Polo visited during his travels to China and back. Larger map here. (via short schrift)

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79.

Saturday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 68. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

1 year ago – figuring out my volume and time spent on lj, shopped for presents, DuClaw, Deal Bluegrass show planned

2 years ago – goodies, 008 is landon, kill windows nag, mr t – be somebody, rfjason – wtf prank, kitty combo

3 years ago – Red Thread, Postcard, walking weather, work, 2nd life, battersea

4 years ago – visit meme, case against voodoo, freeflow thought, Mexico Wal-mart Protest

5 years ago – Newt-vet, shoutcast, tiny cities, Why I dislike leiberman, Frankie mooches again, Turkish Hairballs

6 years ago – Lots of robots, World Affairs, palm art

7 years ago – Shocked awake, Nostia, folks scamming relief, weather, programming, lovely chat

8 years ago – Pompano Weather, Warghetz, Suzy News, Censorship, Loved Geotarget

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9424 – Saturday

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Minor walkies in the heavy rain – got too wet and my back wasn’t into the march, so we headed home a bit early. Found a nice grove to walk down. – Stayed in due to rain most of the day.

Larry and Chris came over – they had cabin fever – brought pizza  – I was pretty kaput, but doing ok.

Got a few phone calls –  my mom worried about Ike / spoke with Amy about coming down next weekend.

Still no Serum ready from allergist – that’s twice now. too much of this, and my dosage is going to get all out of whack.

1 year ago – lobotomy planters, bhk is my lower case n, little hoff doll, got my office furniture, zombie fluxx, orange isn’t many a person’s fave, Why so serious, scotto?, seeqpod / traffic

2 years ago – Illuminati perfection, venture brothers, aerial photos Miami, voting, heifer.org charity, America’s Most (And Least) Efficient Charities, Affie Jones, stand on your own head for a change

3 years ago – stream of thought, arcade games, newt, tolerance, comics, Danny elfman, tv, newtcam pic, rome, gaming, sheep don’t you know the road, fema issues, bob denver RIP

4 years ago – hurricane home movie, happy to be home, pentagon crash snopes

5 years ago – annoying LL, death, IRC pix, gender genie, toys, sunset, rainy day

6 years ago – Crash Bonsai, sticky song poll

7 years ago – Hammer-Wheel, Beijing, Stephen Foster, Mystery men Hiring, soap hair

8 years ago – Suzy goes to the Clink Geotarget

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8928 – Thursday

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Fresh Peppers from the Garden!
DSCN5890

Last night’s tasty dinner of baked pasta in tomato sauce with cheese and last of our zucchini, baked and parmed just the way I like it. Absolutely delicious. Farewell, dear zucchini… I have new appreciation for you that I didn’t before they were grown at home. I look forward to the autumn crop, now.

After I went to bed last night, Amy and BHK played more than a few games of Aquarius and Carcassone – Hunters & Gatherers. From my understanding, Amy won the bulk of them, but BHK wasn’t totally skunked. Nifty – There’s an online play version of C:H&G at Yucata and a solo self-play of Aquarius on the Aquarius link prior. If anyone wants in on a turn-based game or two, look for me there, or at superdupergames for icehouse -type stuff. I’m username scottobear in both, and try to log in once a night for a move or three. BHK and AMy also turned me on to Tribal Wars , which also looks pretty cool. I’d like to start a community or something to track all the different stuff!

Tonight – Witch Trial was a good time and we played more Aquarius, but we did’nt get a chance to play Chrononauts (All I wanted was a souvenir T-rex named Emily – or a Stegosaurus of any name.)

Ape Lad posted a picture in response to the death kitty: His lolcats cartoons are pretty dang cute variations on an otherwise dead meme.

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #113

Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

“He doesn’t make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die,” said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

“Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one,” said Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.

The 2-year-old feline was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and other illnesses.

After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He’d sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.

Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously and is generally aloof. “This is not a cat that’s friendly to people,” he said.

Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work there, said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill.

She was convinced of Oscar’s talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn’t eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish tinge, signs that often mean death is near.

Oscar wouldn’t stay inside the room though, so Teno thought his streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor’s prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient’s final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.

Doctors say most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white cat are so ill they probably don’t know he’s there, so patients aren’t aware he’s a harbinger of death. Most families are grateful for the advanced warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.

No one’s certain if Oscar’s behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him. Nicholas Dodman, who directs an animal behavioral clinic at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and has read Dosa’s article, said the only way to know is to carefully document how Oscar divides his time between the living and dying.

If Oscar really is a furry grim reaper, it’s also possible his behavior could be driven by self-centered pleasures like a heated blanket placed on a dying person, Dodman said.

Nursing home staffers aren’t concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance at saying goodbye to the dying.

Oscar recently received a wall plaque publicly commending his “compassionate hospice care.”


1 year ago – snakes on a plane burnout, newtcam flipside, still waitin’, talking with bhk, old book scans, hal jordan (green lantern) head injuries, 5x$2, gig upgrade, hoff – king of the Internet

2 years ago – M&M bday, there will come soft rains, yahoo widgets, maybe a visit from the lisas, mp bday in 18

3 years ago – Newt hates Mondays, Beaucoupkev nominates me for prez, Solar Filament, Bradbury, Math atlas, P.I.s, Obvious Movie title

4 years ago -Bambi hunt a hoax, online games, lj diversity, comic book/cartoon thoughts, including the doom song.

5 years ago – some missing pictures, wondering about my eyes, watching TV, evil news, some palm pics, Newt pics

6 years ago – senescence, thegosis, arrival as a pod, loving thoughts

7 years ago – Buds for lunch (I’ll miss that rare treat), dealing ok with winding down Geotarget

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8927 – Wednesday

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Gummi Chicken feet. They’re tasty and disturbing.

I neglected to mention the taste sensation that BHK and I enjoyed throughout last night’s movie. (Amy chose to stick with M&Ms.)

gummychikenfeet2
Gummi Chicken feet.

Pretty dang good, actually. right thickness and texture for a good gummy candy – fruit flavored. Grotesque to look at, but still nifty. (ours weren’t in this cool packaging, but rather just a big plastic bag, which is all the more cool, as far as I’m concerned.

Who thought that it was a good idea?

Who hired a sculptor to carve chicken foot molds for candy?

I wish that I’d counted them before eating – I wonder now if there were an even number to account for 2-per chicken, or if one of the Gummi-creatures was a pegleg.

via evandorkin –

A plan to sell classic novellas in retro cigarette packs via cigarette vending machines after a U.K smoking ban in enclosed public places goes into effect. At least I think they’re going to (try to?) sell these in actual vending machines. Whatever the case, they’re called Tankbooks, and are being produced by Tank, a think tank, creative agency and publishing outfit. Dunno if this is a P.R. stunt, an art project, an honest effort to sell books in an interesting manner, or all of the above. Nifty-looking packages, whatever the case.

I think that decks of cards would be cool, too. Standard Decks of 52, or even some Fluxx flavors, maybe? Possibly a Barfly version of Munchkin ? Speaking of which, BHK won at Munchkin Bites tonight.

For future reference, as I think it’s pretty generally known right now:

LiveJournal was unavailable between approximately 2pm and 9:30pm PDT on Tuesday, July 24, 2007. Apparently, they weren’t the only ones with a power outage issue. Sites that are affected include CNET, Craigstlist, Technorati, Yelp and all Six Apart properties, TypePad, LiveJournal and Vox. I didn’t even notice, as I was at work and at the movies – I wonder how many people too the opportunity to breathe a little fresh air and feel sunlight on their skin?

See what happens when you don’t have geographically split clusters? I wonder how hard it would be to back up all of those guys… there’s got to be a monster amount of data there.

I find myself looking forward to being snowed in at home, with BHK, the kitties and me all playing card or board games in the living room. I think that maybe we can call a “virtual snow day” at the house sometime where we can just do that very thing, without waiting for a total power outage.

Netflix must think we’re insane. “We’ve received Apocalypto – and have sent out your copy of My Super Sweet 16: The Movie“

Adam’s off to his missionary work in Guatamala -A quick summary of his itinerary:

6:30 PM tonight – he arrives at the Hope of Life Mission Center.
Tomorrow– Sr. Center, plant flowers and trees, painting
Friday– mostly off-site construction
Saturday– visit orphans
Sunday– Boat Trip
Monday– More construction, painting, etc.
Tuesday- Food Distribution/Evangelism
Wednesday– more painting, hand out meals
Thursday- arrive home

For work, I’m doing a distillation of a few hundred pages of documentation into bite size bullet-point chunks for next week… Tricky, but not impossible.

Farewell, Weekly World News. I’m glad you lasted for as long as you could. I hope that the website will at least continue for a bit.

1 year ago – break in dream, barometric pressure?, ogden nash, wtc movie, I’m a lucky, lucky boy, no danny, cost of being poor, hide the navstrip, food delivery, paintbot, times are changing

2 years ago – secret agent dream, teachers, dan reads wee free men, humor-type, vnc2swf, magic, don ho shock the monkey mp3, v for vendetta trailer, blood cholesterol, travel journal gig, net times journalist trouble, survey, scary villain picture

3 years ago – candy, incense, my mental room, cannibals, ka-boom, CoH

4 years ago – viking on newtcam, hulk adds my graphic to his journal, starmark, poop, Chinese food, mage knight

5 years ago – ISS, bear-lynching, beauty, Conroy books

6 years ago – bro’s breakup, cej, exhort, more majestic, mailing tardiness, news, Dr. Ernest Freaky Bootygrabber, Radio, time for life poll

7 years ago – Friends assessment, Spiritual Beliefs Geotarget

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8926 – Tuesday

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Tricycle’s Daily Dharma:

The Theory of Karma

The theory of karma should not be confused with so-called “moral justice” or “reward and punishment.” The idea of moral justice, or reward and punishment, arises out of the conception of a supreme being, a God, who sits in judgment, who is a law-giver and who decides what is right and wrong. The term “justice” is ambiguous and dangerous, and in its name more harm than good is done to humanity. The theory of karma is the theory of cause and effect, of action and reaction; it is a natural law, which has nothing to do with the idea of justice or reward and punishment. Every volitional action produces its effects or results. If a good action produces good effects and a bad action bad effects, it is not justice, or reward, or punishment meted out by anybody or any power sitting in judgment on your action, but this is in virtue of its own nature, its own law. This is not difficult to understand. But what is difficult is that, according to karma theory, the effects of a volitional action may continue to manifest themselves even in a life after death.

–Walpola Rahula

If you click this link you can read all about Jon Lovitz’s recent beating of the tar out of Andy Dick. (Karma? Nah.)

Tonight, BHK and Amy picked me up after almost being squashed like bugs with hair in ponytails by the Father-in-law’s poorly planned car-moving scheme. Fortunately, they were neither compressed under tons of steel and rubber, nor were they kneecapped by a renegade trailer careening off into the next world. I think that if the MiL finds out, poor FiL is going to get quite an earful.

We journeyed off to the Giant-man store (no relation to Hank Pym ) and I got a 2 pair of Deer Stags, one in brown and one in black. That should take care of wardrobe for a bit. They seem pretty comfortable – I hope they last a bit longer than my usual wear and tear.

After that, BHK, Amy and I all went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – linked, in case you haven’t heard of it, dear journal. Taken on its own, I liked it. Of course, when I read the book, I thought it was in dire need of editing, and parsing it down to a movie script seems to have done a good job of trimming the fat. My biggest complaint is that it seems that the thespian playing Hermione has forgotten most of her acting lessons.

Off to Johnny Rockets for burger and fries – I like that they’ll do any of the stuff they have in a boca burger. It’s seldom that I can get a double cheeseburger with the works when I’m out. Bonus – Movie stubs got us 20% off the bill. Bigger bonus – Amy paid the bill!

Yesterday, we unpacked a few things from the Salem house, including BHK’s old yearbook from 4th grade, and a lot of her drawings circa 5-yrs old, 10 yr old and points in between. I’m glad we got to keep ’em.

It rarely fails to surprise how much music can energize me. Thanks again for the summer mix, Matt!

1 year ago – movies, writing, housebound, heifer.org, king kong song, monday meeting, planetary mass comparisons, I doubt fate/design, lego jesus, oh don piano!

2 years ago – visited with constance1010 and tarpo, book meme, fanfic folks angry with original Harry Potter Author, zefrank’s sing-along, AIM email, bananaman

3 years ago – zombies, urine, veggies, pagerank test

4 years ago – celeb divorce, there-sales, batman movie, witch game, hulk’s diary

5 years ago – palm doodle-strip, lost hosted photos, crank yankers 80% sucks. Fortean times, F-ing Mongorians!

6 years ago – important people, ne plus ultra, anile, evil news, more majestic, now defunct Newton ICQ-bot

7 years ago – junky food, prepped April for launch, budgeting, hung out with bro, me no like stinky Geotarget

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8925 – monday –

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I meant to mention yesterday that Cyn’s house is lovely… I especially like the location. Highest spot in the town, I suspect, and very private. Her art is there throughout, but it doesn’t clutter – all of it is placed in a nice way. I also got a chance to meet her daughter, who is as friendly and charming as her mom.

Fooling with nationstates again – this time it’s Salmagundia. (Newtonia has faded from the map)

Mr. Tawky Tawny just killed a guy with a stick! (he also sleeps in the nude.)

Mm.. I’d forgotten that I have a broadcast plugin on my winamp that shows my most recently listened to tracks. You can tell that BHK has influenced my listening habits a bit. (Plus, there’s stuff on there that I’ve grabbed for her use, too.)

I’m glad to see the Devil has got his due. – But I think that I prefer Famous Poems Rewritten as Limericks

The Raven

There once was a girl named Lenore
And a bird and a bust and a door
And a guy with depression
And a whole lot of questions
And the bird always says “Nevermore.”

Amy arrived! i was surprised to hear that she was in Baltimore by 8:30a – She must’ve left New York at about 5-5:30. We had a lovely dinner at Friendly’s, helped the in-laws move boxes from the u-haul truck, and got in a game of super munchkin before bed. BHK pulled out a win at the very last minute, when it looked like I had it all wrapped up. Nicely played, hon!

One of the weirder aspects of Edgewater, MD. There’s a store called ATW hardware that always has an unusual manikin tableau on the roof. This time, a Hunter Thompson-esque Zombie torments a pirate with an angry rat. It was hard to get shots at that range at twilight, but I think they look ok at full size.

DSCN5868 DSCN5867 DSCN5866 DSCN5865 DSCN5864 DSCN5869

Other ones have been rows of legs sticking straight up from the roof, a man and son fishing, and a chorus line.

oh! I do – from my first week of honeymoon! hard to see, but the leg-up one… can click for bigger. Taken when I was one day into being married. (It’ll be nine months tomorrow)

DSCN1302

1 year ago – this will be our year (it still makes me cry every time I hear it), ring wearing, flemish ( The TRUTH About “Belgium” – The New World Order’s Belgian Conspiracy) , cat’s got knees / I like your pants, rust monster, underground city, lake okeechobee, ninja turtles /zoom, good sleeps,

2 years ago – GrayP, Allergy results, Candice gives me her number, google hybrid, love song / mind control

3 years ago – I Robot, The Flo, LiveJournal Gallery, 1000 white cards revisited

4 years ago – Evil Fish, Bro, Brace, bazillion questions meme, crow tools, Elton Ock, LJ pings for you

5 years ago – Janet Reno, 1000 blank white cards, lost links, Dumpster Diving,singing kitty, palm sketches, snickitty-snackitty man, managing activism

6 years ago – melted heart, epizootic, hair bears, playing majestic

7 years ago – bedtime thoughts Geotarget