I’m not generally the type to wish away a season. I think every season has something to offer. Spring, the return to warmth (and my lawn). Summer, lush green, fishing, plenty of sun. Autumn, crisp colors, a break from the heat, red wine. Winter, holidays, sitting in front of the fireplace watching some old movies. All good. Usually. This winter, however, has beaten me. Hey winter! Yo winter, I’m talking to you! Listen. I give up already! Sheesh! Nice three day weekend you gave us. My back feels like someone has placed little knives in strategic locations and I can almost actually hear my knees whimpering in pain. And, just to rub my nose in it, Mother f’ing Nature has decided to make it snow again today. After promising that she was done. What a bitch!

Ok, it’s not all bad. There’s always this to brighten one’s day. It makes me laugh every time!

By the way, one of my all time heroes, Dave Barry, has his own blog. Check it out here. Good stuff.

np - Clocks - Coldplay (thanks Pat)

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.
Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)

Clara Harris: Guilty of murder by mercedes. I think the fact that she ran over him THREE TIMES probably hurt her case. My question is, why did this case get so much attention? Not that it was trivial by any means. It’s just that murders happen all the time (sadly) all over the place, don’t they? Why the major national spotlight on this case?

John just sent me something regarding this case that I would like to share. This has to be my quote of the day - You know what they say….hit me once, shame on you….hit me twice, shame on me….hit me three times, GUILTY!

I know, I know, you are all getting impatient, waiting for me to post. Sheesh, take it easy already! Anyway, things are well. Thanks for asking. Let’s see, what’s new? Oh, we are almost completely done with the family room now. It is painted. We have our new furniture (leather, ahhhh). We got the entertainment center which is a drastic improvement over the hodge-podge of furniture that we were using! We have improved the lighting. We got the mantle (pictures to come) and now we are just waiting for the coffee and end tables. It’s turning out great and since the only people that would ever possibly read this are you guys, I can’t wait till you see it! C’mon over and join us in a cocktail. I think that the whole house is turning into a very comforting place to be. Which is really good, since we’ve spent all of our money improving the damn place! Well, not much of a post, I know, but I’m going to go drink a martini and watch TV with Pat and that sounds like a lot more fun than sitting in front of this machine! Later, cats.

Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813 - 1887)

We just had our umpteenth snowstorm of the season and, while it is pretty, it brings to mind one question. Where the heck is all this “global warming” that they’ve been promising. I, for one, am ready. This cold on top of cold is really for the birds (who may never come back, it seems)! How’s about we all get together, grab some aerosol cans and really give that ozone layer a run for it’s money, huh? I mean, let’s open that sucker up and let the sun shine, for God’s sake! Damn it! I’m cold! And crabby! And just a bit hungry. So if you all can just hold off on this cunning yet oh-so-obvious plan for a bit, I’m going to run and get me some pepper shooters.

np - Everybody I love you - Crosby, Stills and Nash

Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come.
Matt Groening (1954 - ), “Life in Hell”

Two days ago, Pat and I sent in our tax return using the handy-dandy electronic filing system provided by the esteemed IRS. We were pretty excited about doing so because we are getting a pretty healthy chunk of change back that our Uncle Sam was holding onto for us. What a guy! Anywho, we get an email back saying that our return was rejected because my birthdate did not match their records and that I needed to check with Social Security to see what was wrong. So I called them yesterday and two great things happened.

1) I was only on hold for about 5 minutes (remember folks, this is a government agency - I was expecting 2-7 hours on hold) and
2) I found out that I am actually 10 years younger than I thought I was.

Wow! Ten years! What a gift! All this time I thought I was born in 1960 and they’ve got me popping out in ‘70. Cool.

So now I get to go into (Potts)town, to the Social Security office, and get all of this straightened out. I can’t think of anything funner. Blech!

np - Lost Count - Ebba Forsberg

But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790), Letter to Jean Baptiste Le Roy (1789)

I can’t understand why the “big record companies” are making such a big deal out of downloading music for free from the internet, a la Kazaa, when there is a plethora of great music already widely available out there ripe for the picking. Check this out (needs sound).

np - We like tha Moon - SpongeMonkeys

The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, ‘Is there a meaning to music?’ My answer would be, ‘Yes.’ And ‘Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?’ My answer to that would be, ‘No.’
Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990)

So here I am at oh-dark-thirty this morning, just bouncing around the internet reading all these other blogs and just generally being nosy, when I came upon this. Remember Battleship? This is really a great free version. Uh oh. I can see an obsession creeping up here. Must remain calm.
Ok, that one didn’t grab you, eh. Alrighty then, how about this one? This is a take on another old great game - Asteroids. Man! I used to play that for hours! I probably could retire now if I hadn’t pumped so many quarters into that damn Asteroids machine. By the way, don’t you think hemorrhoids should really be called assteroids?
Ok, fine! You’re made of stone and are immune to the obsessive qualities of these gems. Well, I didn’t want to have to do this but you have really forced my hand. Here is a take on the oldest (computer) game in the book. Just try to stop playing this one! You may physically stop, but I know you. You’re still playing it in your head, aren’t you?
Anyway, have fun and don’t play these at work! Sheesh!

np - Nothing - It is way too quiet in this house this morning!

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Best quote of the weekend:
Alicia says: “I just don’t get the Baby Gap. I mean, who goes out and pays thirty dollars on a pair of two inch shoes?”Two inch shoes. It still makes me laugh.

Well, back to work. Oh, how I do love Mondays! Especially Mondays when it is two or three hundred degrees below zero! Super Bowl party went off with no disasters, which is a plus. And Pat and I won a hundred bucks or so on the game. Nice. Well, till next time…

np - Alison - Elvis Costello

All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

Well, it was a long, fun night with Beanne and Bob and certainly not without it’s stories. So, off we go to Spring Mountain Toothless Bar (or something like that) and within 8 minutes of our arrival, Pat and Beanne have got some old (maybe), drunk (definitely), horny (obviously) parolee (says he) hanging over their shoulders telling them that he is a love child and asking if they would like to make love. Such fun. Well, the girls graciously declined his tempting offer and he and his 20 or so teeth wandered off to hang with some other lucky imbibers. Again, fun. The place was pretty cool. A local towny dive bar, you know? Two minutes from the Obee residence (nice), not much food, four standard beers on tap, no high end liquors and probably the same 15 or so people in there every night. Anyway, home at 1:30 a.m. which is way past the bedtime (we’re old, remember), and up at 08:00 a.m. to see what this blog stuff is all about. So, in essence, this is a test. Ok, let’s see what this mutha does. Later.

np - Good Fortune - pj harvey

Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.
Benjamin Franklin