Superbowl Day

OK, I’m not much for following football. I may watch a game or two throughout the season but I’m not into it. I’m about as into football as I am golf and I’d rather watch paint dry than watch golf. That said, I love the Superbowl. I watch the Superbowl for the commercials. I admit it. I love the commercials. Today I thought the cheetah racing the car wad hilarious. It’s only halftime now so I haven’t seen all of them yet obviously. I also liked the car commercial with the vampires. I love commercials with a twist and these were really good.

Update 2/6/2012: OK, all the ads have been played and you can review ever one at But here are my favotites:

Cheetah: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEq74TCDGtc

It’s Reinvented: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXmWvDgq3_w

Vampire Party: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw9ZeXB2uKs

Man’s Best Friend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3bqbJduK2w

The Dog Strikes Back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY9GdLw2kG0

 

Zeus and Zelda had a good run today. She was down for about an hour or two and he’s one tuckered dog right now. When those two get together they just go all out and there’s no stopping them. Then when they go to their respective homes they simply crash. Wonderful to watch.

Hope your Sunday has been a good one. I’m going back to the game. Here are today’s pictures:

 

My Head Hurts

No, really it does. I have a headache that started about 9 this morning. I finally took a couple of aspirin and it’s backing off but itr was getting bad. Wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make this post today. This will be a short one because I want to go hit the couch and make sure the aspirin have a chance to do their job.

The dogs have been bored today. Been spitting rain off and on all day. Zeus goes to the door about once an hour, checks to see if it’s still raining and if it is he flops down as though he’s disgusted. If it’s not he darts through the door and plays outside, jumping on the door to be let in if it starts raining again. He has me well trained.

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Hope your Saturday was better than mine. Here are today’s pictures:

 

A Day for the Birds

Today I didn’t do a great deal. I mostly watched the birds out the window of my computer room. I watched a few recorded news programs and I read some news stories. I avoid most of the news programs on TV because they’re just so slanted. They make me angry. I’d rather avoid that, so I do. As an example of how uncomprehendingly stupid I believe some of our elected officials are. I live in Tennessee so I have to point out what my own state officials are saying today. There’s one, Stacey Campfield, who is apparently going for the Nobel prize for blindingly incomprehensible ignorance. Why do I say this? Because in this day and age, in the 21st century, after decades of HIV research and scientific knowledge, and progress, in the fight against AIDS he makes the following statement on a national radio show concerning the origin of AIDS:

“It was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men.”

Just WOW. OK, I have met some really nice people here in Tennessee. Some of them do not have much of an education. Life can be hard and I do not hold that against them. Some do not have access to national newspapers and aren’t familiar with the internet. They know what they were taught by their daddies and I just nod because there’s nothing I’m ever going to be able to do to change decades of fallacious belief. However Stacey Campfield is a state Senator and elected by the people of Tennessee. He is supposed to be educated and knowledgeable. He is supposed to be up to date on facts in order to make the best decisions as concerns the good people of Tennessee. Instead he spews this bile and expects, just because he said it, for others to believe it. Any moron with a lick of sense can Google the facts and in 60 seconds find the truth. Wikipedia does a good job of covering the history and facts behind AIDS.

I find this comment by a state Senator disturbing. I find this ignorant. I find this incomprehensible and I find it portrays Tennessee in a very negative light. It’s why I do not watch the news and seldom read a newspaper. I do follow news online because I can pick and choose what I wish to read. I only came across this ignorant and backward comment because it had something to do with Tennessee and I thought I could learn a little more about this state I have come to love because of its abundant beauty. Instead this elected representative, MY elected representative, has no problem making an idiot of himself and, by extension, my state.

Maybe I’ll start avoiding news altogether.

Hope your Friday was better than mine. Here are today’s pictures:

Diamonds, Rubies and Sapphires in the Trees

Quinn has always told me I need to look more than I do. I need to learn to see. I’ve posted here, several times, about actually seeing, seeing the beauty that’s all around us, even at unexpected times. This morning I am very glad I was looking.

As most of you know I am an early riser. I get up long before most people do. I’ll make myself a cup of coffee and get on the net for a little while before it gets too crowded with others. That means I’m up long before the sun is. I don’t turn on any light, instead I use the light of the computer monitor to light the keyboard for me. This morning after checking mail and feeding the dogs I decided to take a shower. The sun was just coming up. When I climbed out of the shower, there they were. The trees were covered with precious diamonds, rubies and sapphires. I took the pictures below to show you what I was seeing. The pictures do not do them justice.

Last night there was a nice fog. This morning it was burning off but it left behind its spectacular artwork just waiting for someone to see it. The sun used the brief time that artwork was going to last to touch it with its own art. Together they created what the camera can barely, and only crudely, recreate. The very bright spots you see in the pictures were brilliantly glowing dewdrops. You may need to expand the pictures to appreciate the number and beauty of the individual droplets. I’m very glad I was looking this morning. It’s times like this I’m glad Quinn is around. This is what he’s been wanting me to see.

Hope your Thursday was as filled with Beauty as mine. Here are today’s pictures:

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A New Hole

I didn’t realize dobermans were diggers. I knew Alaskan Malamutes were. I used to raise them. Quila, on of my favorite Malamutes used to have her puppies outdoors. After having her first litter inside she wanted nothing more to do with being indoors. One time she dug a den, and I mean a literal den, under this enormous willow tree I had in my backyard. She dug it straight down for almost 2 feet then straight back for another four feet. When she went into that den you had no idea she was in the yard at all. The puppies, when they were old enough to scramble around used to dive into the safety of their den like prairie dogs. They could be scampering out in the yard playing rough and tumble with each other and if I started to playfully stalk them they’d run and dive into the opening of their den. It wouldn;t be 20 seconds later you’d see little heads peeking out to determine if the coast was clear.

Seems though dobermans are also diggers. Zeus dug yet another hole in the yard today. This matches the other dozen he has scattered about. When it warms up I am going to have to get out the rake, and some grass seed and repair the damage. I sincerely hope this is a puppy thing and not something I’m going to have to deal with regularly. We’ll see.

Hope you had a great Wednesday. Here are today’s pictures:

 

Warm Weather and Fruit Smoothies

OK, I’ll admit it. I don’t get enough fruit in my diet. I’m just not one to chow down on apples, cherries and the like. However I have discovered the delights of smoothies! When I was much younger, and not people phobic, I used to go to the Colonie Mall outside of Albany on a regular basis. They had some nice shops there and a good movie theater. They had one other thing though that I always made a beeline for; an Orange Julius Stand. Now, I don’t know if any of you have ever had an Orange Julius. They are absolutely delicious! I used to get a large and nursed it until it was gone, trying to make it last as long as possible.

Now I have a blender and rediscovered the wonders of smoothies. Today I have had strawberry/pineapple, strawberry/banana/blueberry. Loved each one. I don’t put sugar in mine and instead go with the natural sugars in the fruits themselves. Now I’m thinking these would be just perfect with a shot of Captain Morgan’s rum in them. Might just have to find out this weekend. *laughs* I’m looking forward to summer already!

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Hope you had a great Tuesday. Here are today’s pictures:

Photo Journal Today

Over the past few days I’ve written about the mild weather here in Tennessee and how I’m seeing everything around me spring to life. My sister reads my blog and sent me an e-mail to take a look at a plant, I have no idea what kind, blooming outside her kitchen window. So, camera in hand, I headed to her house to snap a picture. We then got looking around her place and found a ton of other plants, from pussy willows to crocus and daffodils also coming to life. I then looked at some of the trees nearby to get some pictures of the buds on them.

Here it is, late January and the plants are really coming to life. I haven’t lived long in tennessee but I have to believe this is unusual, even for here.

Hope you had a great Monday. Here are today’s pictures:

 

Grass

No, not that kind. I haven’t smoked that kind, or any other kind actually, in almost 30 years. No, the grass I’m referring to is the kind growing in my lawn. THAT grass. The kind you have to mow. The kind you have to trim. The kind that looks somehow unkempt if it gets too long. Yup, that grass.

The damn stuff is growing! No, not very fast but it’s growing. Last year I mowed my lawn for the last time in the season late in the year. It looked neat and clean and the frosts and freezes we had over the course of the fall and winter smack it into hibernation. Now, it’s starting to wake up. On Tuesday we’re supposed to have temperatures near 65 and then rain after that. I expect that will wake the grass even more. Unfortunately the grass isn’t waking up uniformly. I’m seeing patches here and there stretching. It’s like watching a mangy dog walk past. Some of the fur is matted, some of it sticking out at weird angles. That’s my lawn right now. I have patches of grass sticking out at weird angles!

I’m not looking forward to mowing it soon. However, now that I think about it maybe I am. I have my shooting ear protectors that block out almost 100% of any external sound. I put in my earbuds, cover them with the shooting headgear and get on my lawn mower. I can rock out and mow lawn all day long. I also go over story lines in my head while I’m mowing and listening to tunes so my time isn’t wasted. Hell yeah! Bring on the warm weather! Bring on the warm rain! Gow your ass off grass, I’m ready for you!

Hope your Sunday was a good one. Here are today’s pictures:

 

Some Very Good Friends

OK, anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows I’m a bit different. I REALLY don’t like people. There are only a very few people I trust and all of them would make a bare majority of the number of fingers on one hand. I would have no problem killing someone who I perceived as a threat to me or my dogs. Back in Florida I almost did so and a guys’ common sense when seeing my loaded Beretta pointed at his chest from 5 feet away prevented me from doing so. So it’s not an idle statement.

Anyone reading for any length of time also knows I am writing. It’s calming, peaceful and I can do it while watching my yard and the animals in it. It’s just soothing and I suspect good for me. I have a few books of stories on Amazon based on my rather peculiar perception of the world. Today I decided to offer one of those collections and a single short story to readers completely free. They’ll remain free for the next 5 days. I mentioned it on Facebook. Well, a good friend I knew at my last job reposted it to his followers, taking me completely by surprise. That was very thoughtful and greatly appreciated. However, the next thing that happened absolutely blindsided me.

There a site I frequent called FurAffinity. It for people, I suspect some like me, who feel a bond with animals. I don’t mention FurAffinity much because there is an underside to the population there I find distasteful. I’ll leave it at that. However there are some truly great people there. Many of the excellent anthro writers I am familiar with also stalk the pages of FurAffinity. Today one of them posted on their site, similar to Facebook pages, about my free story offer on Amazon. Now this surprised me for two reasons. First, I had not told anyone on FurAffinity that I was doing this. Two, while I know the person who made the post, we’ve exchanged emails from time to time, the fact she’d take the time to post something about another writer really surprised me. Most people would just have not taken the time to make a post. She’s another writer and apparently, like me, she knows that writing is not a zero sum game. Just because I’m selling stories does not mean she will sell less and visa versa.

So I wondered how she had found out I was offering free stuff on Amazon. Turns out there is a site that is updated frequently (in my case less than 24 hours after the stories went free) for free stuff it finds on the web! I had no idea. The website is http://www.freestufftimes.com and lo and behold there is my story “Changes” listed amongst 103 other free stories. She has seen it there, recognized my name and posted something to her followers about it! Damn. While I still don’t trust people it’s very nice to know that there are indeed good people out there.

Hope your Friday was as good as mine. Here’s today’s pictures:

 

Bored Dogs

Remember when you were a kid, on vacation, maybe spring break, maybe summer vacation and it rained all day? When I was a kid, well we won’t discuss that in detail but it was well before video games. We were bored to death! We could watch TV but if it was a weekday there certainly weren’t any cartoons on, there certainly weren’t any science fiction movies on, hell, there probably weren’t any movies on at all. When I was a kid our TV got three channels. UHF was something mysterious and we’d try to see if there was something playing on those but mostly they were so snowy you couldn’t watch it so you went to looking to see what was on the usual three.

Well, today was a day like that; for my dogs. It rained all day. The dogs were bored. Zeus would run in to the room I was in, nose my elbow and run to the door wanting to go out. When I’d open the door and he’s see the pouring rain he’d look at me with those big sad brown eyes seeming to say, “Look, you can use that stove thing and always have good tasting food around, can’t you turn off the rain?” It’s terrible to have to disappoint a dog. I’d close the door and he’d go back to his bed in the livingroom. He’d flop onto the floor heavily, let out a loud sigh and look at me like I was not stopping the rain just to torment him.

Max, my Rottie, understands and just sighed deeply every time Zeus did this, seemingly every 30 minutes. Towards the end of the day the rain did let up and Zeus asked to go out. When I opened the door he looked at me saying, “Finally! You finally figured it out!” and took off like a shot. He stayed out for a couple of hours and then asked to be let back in when it started raining heavily again.

Hope your day was better than Zeus’s. Here are today’s pictures: