the intricately hand-carved ivory tusks of a formerly living majestic mammal depicting a long dead asian empress and emperor when smaller humans are loudly whispering come here come here come here (and i kid you not one of those smaller humans JUST NOW hollered come here come here as i was typing those very words)
but i digress....
i'm thinking the enormous, majestic, _living_ mammal might have been proud to sport those amazingly carved tusks, if only someone had been nice enough to ask.
go see these tusks at the Texas Tech Museum. I promise it will be worth it.
I can't even find a photo online that does these two magnificently carved tusks an iota of justice.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Spiders have a Sense of Humor.....
clever spiders have a way of dissuading persistent paparazzi like me....
they jump on your camera lens to try to scare hell out of you!
the kids got a good laugh out of it anyway :)
click there to read about it...
this is what he was doing before i so rudely disturbed him...eating lunch....damn... he might be related to Brad Pitt...
get it? that's a paparazzi joke.... :) come on!
they jump on your camera lens to try to scare hell out of you!
the kids got a good laugh out of it anyway :)
click there to read about it...
this is what he was doing before i so rudely disturbed him...eating lunch....damn... he might be related to Brad Pitt...
get it? that's a paparazzi joke.... :) come on!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
A Strange Little Dream
Last night I had this crazy dream… unlike any that I've ever had before…I read online a few weeks ago about the cicadas emerging this year and I just kind of glanced around some of the news articles… like the one that mentions that zoo animals are all excited because these cicadas taste so good and they're a beneficial addition to the animals' diets....
So anyway…. I haven't really had cicadas on my mind other than that, so the dream I had was kinda strange….well, here goes….
I was visiting my friend that lives at Ransom Canyon. His house has a back yard that starts out kind of flat and then climbs into the wall of the canyon at a steep slope…. It's not particularly landscaped intricately, but in my dream, as we're standing there in the back yard talking, a large cicada comes whirring by, all around our heads a couple of times, and lands on the ground near us, where there are three stump-like protrusions coming up from the ground, surrounded by a rocky planter. It seemed like the stumps looked like small trees or some sort of cactus that had been cut back…they were in a triangle pattern.
The cicada started going around and around in the dirt around one of the stumps. Pretty soon it had uprooted the stump at the top of the triangle. While it was doing it's little 'job', I remember feeling like the ground beneath my feet was shaking and vibrating heavily. A very odd, powerful feeling… like a jackhammer but less intense.
Suddenly, the stump rolled off the planter and fell out of sight. Then the cicada started whirring again in the center of the planter between the two remaining stumps, but this time it was digging straight down. I could still feel the ground vibrating. I looked at my friend and he started smiling and then I woke up. I felt like I could still feel the vibration in my feet and legs.
It was a very strange feeling.
That dream is puzzling me….. any ideas?
So anyway…. I haven't really had cicadas on my mind other than that, so the dream I had was kinda strange….well, here goes….
I was visiting my friend that lives at Ransom Canyon. His house has a back yard that starts out kind of flat and then climbs into the wall of the canyon at a steep slope…. It's not particularly landscaped intricately, but in my dream, as we're standing there in the back yard talking, a large cicada comes whirring by, all around our heads a couple of times, and lands on the ground near us, where there are three stump-like protrusions coming up from the ground, surrounded by a rocky planter. It seemed like the stumps looked like small trees or some sort of cactus that had been cut back…they were in a triangle pattern.
The cicada started going around and around in the dirt around one of the stumps. Pretty soon it had uprooted the stump at the top of the triangle. While it was doing it's little 'job', I remember feeling like the ground beneath my feet was shaking and vibrating heavily. A very odd, powerful feeling… like a jackhammer but less intense.
Suddenly, the stump rolled off the planter and fell out of sight. Then the cicada started whirring again in the center of the planter between the two remaining stumps, but this time it was digging straight down. I could still feel the ground vibrating. I looked at my friend and he started smiling and then I woke up. I felt like I could still feel the vibration in my feet and legs.
It was a very strange feeling.
That dream is puzzling me….. any ideas?
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Monday, June 05, 2006
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Tanner and Shaila
Here it is... a collage of a very special night for my son....Senior Prom.
Isn't he handsome? and she's very pretty. His first real girlfriend.
Time's a passiin.....it's almost Graduation Day....my my my.
Isn't he handsome? and she's very pretty. His first real girlfriend.
Time's a passiin.....it's almost Graduation Day....my my my.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Friday, April 28, 2006
Monday, January 02, 2006
The Birdman
Man with a secret helps city say bye-bye to birdies
By Colleen MastonyTribune staff reporterPublished December 26, 2005
DECATUR, Ill. -- Every fall, the starlings descended on Decatur like a plague. Screeching and flapping, thousands of birds seized control of the park and dive-bombed residents, who fought back by lobbing firecrackers and blasting them with a propane cannon.Nothing worked until town officials called in James Soules. As owner of the Decatur-based Bird Repellent Co., the quiet man said he could beat the birds, but there was a catch: He refused to tell anyone how he would do it. He demanded complete secrecy, warning officials not to spy on him.Soules might have seemed like a swindler, but over the next few weeks something astounding happened. The starlings began to fly away. "I was amazed," said Dan Mendenall, a city official in Decatur. "It was almost like he wished them away."The last of those birds flew out of Decatur in the 1990s, and in the years since, the 83-year-old Soules has driven off others using tactics that are a closely guarded secret. A modern-day pied piper, he has become a legend around Decatur, where people call him the "birdman," "shaman" or even the "crow whisperer."In bifocals and a cardigan, the grandfatherly-looking Soules has chased birds from Bloomington, Springfield, Joliet and dozens of other cities over a 50-year career."He doesn't get rid of half or a third. They're all gone," said Paul Osborne, the mayor of Decatur. "I don't know what he does. He doesn't poison them. He doesn't use spray. You never see bird carcasses. They just fly away, and they don't come back."Over the years, Soules has made a steady living battling blackbirds, starlings, crows, pigeons and sparrows. These birds can be a big problem for cities and towns across the Midwest. Starlings and crows in particular can descend en masse in the autumn, mucking up parks and leaving sticky messes on sidewalks. A typical roost can draw a few hundred to 15,000 birds, and on rare occasions hundreds of thousands, so many the sky nearly turns black.In recent years, crows in particular have been moving to urban areas. And moving them out can be difficult. The U.S. Department of Agriculture sometimes attacks urban roosts by shooting pyrotechnics into trees. Other tactics range from banging on garbage cans, spraying smelly chemicals or blaring taped raptor calls to zapping birds with lasers. But such approaches bring mixed results."As with most wildlife," said Brad Robbins, a wildlife biologist at the USDA, "there is no one magic wand." When told of Soules' secret, Robbins was stumped. "I really don't know what he is doing," Robbins said.Soules isn't talking, saying only that he does not shoot, poison or trap the birds. Likewise, he says he does not use lights, sounds or smells."We often thought he just talked to them," said Gary Goddard, 62, city manager of Galesburg, Ill., only half-joking. "Like Doctor Doolittle."Indeed, Soules' story seems made for Hollywood, a tale of a regular guy who stumbles upon a secret that gives him a seemingly superhuman power."We had someone who tried to watch him," said Phillip Wilhelm, Decatur's municipal services manager. "Never was able to catch him doing anything."In Galesburg, where Soules had a contract two years ago, people occasionally saw him in the park, working long after midnight. As he moved from tree to tree, the birds seemed to lift up. "I'm not exactly sure what he does," said Goddard, the city manager. "But whatever it is, it is very effective."The story begins with Soules' father, Jimmie, who founded the family business in the 1930s. The elder Soules had become a local hero in the 1940s, when he used owl decoys to scare the starlings from Decatur. Life magazine featured him and his fake owls in a three-page spread in 1947. In one news account, Soules and his then business partner were described as "America's foremost two-member team of bird shoo-ers."But the starlings eventually realized the owls were fakes, and soon Soules Sr. was back at the drawing board. By the 1950s, his son had joined him. The younger Soules tried to attack the problem by "thinking like a bird." He studied their habits, and often rappelled down buildings to look for nests.Today, Soules is deliberately vague about his breakthrough, saying only that he used `trial-and-error' before he hit upon a foolproof method in the early 1950s.Soules and his father soon were selling their secret process, carrying mysterious black boxes to towns in Illinois and across the Midwest. They refused to reveal their technique, but guaranteed their work and accepted payment only after the job was done. Their company stationery announced: "We have never failed."They crisscrossed the region, chasing crows from courthouses and pushing pigeons out of parks. Everywhere they worked, they collected written recommendations:An "unprecedented su"Every promise made has been fulfilled," wrote a company executive from a factory in Buffalo, N.Y."Tax money well spent," wrote an official from Sangamon County, Ill.In Decatur, Soules and his father kept the birds out of the downtown for a few thousand dollars a year. But in the 1980s, the city let the contract lapse.But by the early 1990s, the starlings were back. Birds were roosting in the downtown. Birds were pecking people on their heads. Worst of all, birds were leaving a sloppy, smelly mess.City officials organized volunteers to bang pots and pans along the streets. Maintenance workers set off a propane cannon so loud it shattered windows and triggered the alarm at the downtown bank.Still, the birds refused to budge.In desperation, local forester Randy Callison called Soules. But perhaps feeling jilted, Soules refused to take the job. He told them he didn't have the time, and it didn't pay enough. Two more city officials had to call before Soules finally agreed to a contract that paid $36,000 over four years.Within a week, city officials say, the birds had flown away.Having learned its lesson, Decatur has renewed Soules' services ever since, signing the most recent contract in October.Soules says it can take one to three weeks to move an urban roost. The first step includes surveillance. "You have to know why the birds are there," he said. The second step includes removal, a process that takes about two to three hours of work per night and which Soules steadfastly declines to discuss. After the birds are gone, Soules says he patrols every other week.He hasn't seen any of the birds in Decatur since October. But he remains vigilant. On a recent night, Soules piloted his Chevy truck through the darkened streets, shining his industrial flashlight into trees, peeking into parking lots and suspiciously eyeing the sidewalks.Bundled in a black jacket and cap, he tottered through Central Park. "This would be solid with birds in here," he said.His father died in 1987, and Soules now runs the business with occasional help from his oldest son. He began cutting back on his jobs about three years ago and now only covers Decatur and Bloomington.His memory isn't as good as it once was, and he lately suffered dizzy spells. On a recent night, he fell while looking for birds."I am too old," said Soules. He has three children, but none are interested in taking over the business.Over the years, a few people have made inquiries about buying him out. But Soules won't sell his secret to just anyone. It would have to be someone willing to work hard. "Someone who would take it over and expand it," he said.In Decatur, public officials hope the secret lives on. "Otherwise we might have birds all over the place," said Osborne, the mayor.Speculation about the birdman's secret has abounded for years. One joke was that Soules hired someone to dress in an owl suit, climb the tallest tree, flap his wings and hoot.A member of Soules' church once asked if he trained a pigeon to lead the birds out of town.Most, it seems, are willing to live with the mystery."I guess there are some things in life where you may never hear an explanation," said Steve Swanson, Decatur's director of engineering and infrastructure. "It's like the guy who hides his secret for Coca-Cola. He just won't share it."Soules laughs when he hears the wild guesses and strange theories."You're not even close," he said on a recent day, his eyes lively, his voice ringing with glee. "You haven't even got one-tenth of the secret."When asked about the black "mystery" boxes, Soules didn't miss a beat."The boxes?" he said, offhandedly. "Oh that was a gimmick. I haven't seen those boxes in years."----------cmastony@tribune.comccess," wrote leaders from St. Louis.
By Colleen MastonyTribune staff reporterPublished December 26, 2005
DECATUR, Ill. -- Every fall, the starlings descended on Decatur like a plague. Screeching and flapping, thousands of birds seized control of the park and dive-bombed residents, who fought back by lobbing firecrackers and blasting them with a propane cannon.Nothing worked until town officials called in James Soules. As owner of the Decatur-based Bird Repellent Co., the quiet man said he could beat the birds, but there was a catch: He refused to tell anyone how he would do it. He demanded complete secrecy, warning officials not to spy on him.Soules might have seemed like a swindler, but over the next few weeks something astounding happened. The starlings began to fly away. "I was amazed," said Dan Mendenall, a city official in Decatur. "It was almost like he wished them away."The last of those birds flew out of Decatur in the 1990s, and in the years since, the 83-year-old Soules has driven off others using tactics that are a closely guarded secret. A modern-day pied piper, he has become a legend around Decatur, where people call him the "birdman," "shaman" or even the "crow whisperer."In bifocals and a cardigan, the grandfatherly-looking Soules has chased birds from Bloomington, Springfield, Joliet and dozens of other cities over a 50-year career."He doesn't get rid of half or a third. They're all gone," said Paul Osborne, the mayor of Decatur. "I don't know what he does. He doesn't poison them. He doesn't use spray. You never see bird carcasses. They just fly away, and they don't come back."Over the years, Soules has made a steady living battling blackbirds, starlings, crows, pigeons and sparrows. These birds can be a big problem for cities and towns across the Midwest. Starlings and crows in particular can descend en masse in the autumn, mucking up parks and leaving sticky messes on sidewalks. A typical roost can draw a few hundred to 15,000 birds, and on rare occasions hundreds of thousands, so many the sky nearly turns black.In recent years, crows in particular have been moving to urban areas. And moving them out can be difficult. The U.S. Department of Agriculture sometimes attacks urban roosts by shooting pyrotechnics into trees. Other tactics range from banging on garbage cans, spraying smelly chemicals or blaring taped raptor calls to zapping birds with lasers. But such approaches bring mixed results."As with most wildlife," said Brad Robbins, a wildlife biologist at the USDA, "there is no one magic wand." When told of Soules' secret, Robbins was stumped. "I really don't know what he is doing," Robbins said.Soules isn't talking, saying only that he does not shoot, poison or trap the birds. Likewise, he says he does not use lights, sounds or smells."We often thought he just talked to them," said Gary Goddard, 62, city manager of Galesburg, Ill., only half-joking. "Like Doctor Doolittle."Indeed, Soules' story seems made for Hollywood, a tale of a regular guy who stumbles upon a secret that gives him a seemingly superhuman power."We had someone who tried to watch him," said Phillip Wilhelm, Decatur's municipal services manager. "Never was able to catch him doing anything."In Galesburg, where Soules had a contract two years ago, people occasionally saw him in the park, working long after midnight. As he moved from tree to tree, the birds seemed to lift up. "I'm not exactly sure what he does," said Goddard, the city manager. "But whatever it is, it is very effective."The story begins with Soules' father, Jimmie, who founded the family business in the 1930s. The elder Soules had become a local hero in the 1940s, when he used owl decoys to scare the starlings from Decatur. Life magazine featured him and his fake owls in a three-page spread in 1947. In one news account, Soules and his then business partner were described as "America's foremost two-member team of bird shoo-ers."But the starlings eventually realized the owls were fakes, and soon Soules Sr. was back at the drawing board. By the 1950s, his son had joined him. The younger Soules tried to attack the problem by "thinking like a bird." He studied their habits, and often rappelled down buildings to look for nests.Today, Soules is deliberately vague about his breakthrough, saying only that he used `trial-and-error' before he hit upon a foolproof method in the early 1950s.Soules and his father soon were selling their secret process, carrying mysterious black boxes to towns in Illinois and across the Midwest. They refused to reveal their technique, but guaranteed their work and accepted payment only after the job was done. Their company stationery announced: "We have never failed."They crisscrossed the region, chasing crows from courthouses and pushing pigeons out of parks. Everywhere they worked, they collected written recommendations:An "unprecedented su"Every promise made has been fulfilled," wrote a company executive from a factory in Buffalo, N.Y."Tax money well spent," wrote an official from Sangamon County, Ill.In Decatur, Soules and his father kept the birds out of the downtown for a few thousand dollars a year. But in the 1980s, the city let the contract lapse.But by the early 1990s, the starlings were back. Birds were roosting in the downtown. Birds were pecking people on their heads. Worst of all, birds were leaving a sloppy, smelly mess.City officials organized volunteers to bang pots and pans along the streets. Maintenance workers set off a propane cannon so loud it shattered windows and triggered the alarm at the downtown bank.Still, the birds refused to budge.In desperation, local forester Randy Callison called Soules. But perhaps feeling jilted, Soules refused to take the job. He told them he didn't have the time, and it didn't pay enough. Two more city officials had to call before Soules finally agreed to a contract that paid $36,000 over four years.Within a week, city officials say, the birds had flown away.Having learned its lesson, Decatur has renewed Soules' services ever since, signing the most recent contract in October.Soules says it can take one to three weeks to move an urban roost. The first step includes surveillance. "You have to know why the birds are there," he said. The second step includes removal, a process that takes about two to three hours of work per night and which Soules steadfastly declines to discuss. After the birds are gone, Soules says he patrols every other week.He hasn't seen any of the birds in Decatur since October. But he remains vigilant. On a recent night, Soules piloted his Chevy truck through the darkened streets, shining his industrial flashlight into trees, peeking into parking lots and suspiciously eyeing the sidewalks.Bundled in a black jacket and cap, he tottered through Central Park. "This would be solid with birds in here," he said.His father died in 1987, and Soules now runs the business with occasional help from his oldest son. He began cutting back on his jobs about three years ago and now only covers Decatur and Bloomington.His memory isn't as good as it once was, and he lately suffered dizzy spells. On a recent night, he fell while looking for birds."I am too old," said Soules. He has three children, but none are interested in taking over the business.Over the years, a few people have made inquiries about buying him out. But Soules won't sell his secret to just anyone. It would have to be someone willing to work hard. "Someone who would take it over and expand it," he said.In Decatur, public officials hope the secret lives on. "Otherwise we might have birds all over the place," said Osborne, the mayor.Speculation about the birdman's secret has abounded for years. One joke was that Soules hired someone to dress in an owl suit, climb the tallest tree, flap his wings and hoot.A member of Soules' church once asked if he trained a pigeon to lead the birds out of town.Most, it seems, are willing to live with the mystery."I guess there are some things in life where you may never hear an explanation," said Steve Swanson, Decatur's director of engineering and infrastructure. "It's like the guy who hides his secret for Coca-Cola. He just won't share it."Soules laughs when he hears the wild guesses and strange theories."You're not even close," he said on a recent day, his eyes lively, his voice ringing with glee. "You haven't even got one-tenth of the secret."When asked about the black "mystery" boxes, Soules didn't miss a beat."The boxes?" he said, offhandedly. "Oh that was a gimmick. I haven't seen those boxes in years."----------cmastony@tribune.comccess," wrote leaders from St. Louis.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Happy New Year to YOU!
Well, here we are.... on the brink of a brand new year - 2006. Seems incredible, doesn't it?
2005 hasn't been a particularly exciting year for me. Nothing in my own life was especially remarkable, earth-shattering, devastating or anything like that. I think it was the kind of year that just passes by and becomes a mile marker in the long stream of life. Which is exactly the kind of year I don't mind having.
That's not to say that 2005 was un-remarkable. Not at all!! There were indeed some earthly happenings that caused havoc and devastation, death and despair to so many! The tsunami of late December 2004 and the Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005 were two such bringers of destruction. We saw the globe pull together, though, and help out those that were in desparate need. Thankfully, my own family has been safe and sound.
2005 has not seen the end of war and strife in the Middle East. It is hoped that 2006 will bring about a different story and our troops can come home and the war-torn contries can get busy rebuilding their people's homes and lives. That would be a good thing for us all to work towards. Ending war. Yeah. War is not good for children and other living things!
A really good thing about 2005, for me, is that I discovered flickr photo sharing. It almost feels like I've found a second family! I've made friends with people all over the world and have never met them face to face. And I've been around the internet for at least twelve years. There's just something about the people there on flickr , the artists and the visionarys, the professionals and the snapshooters, the proud moms and dads, the photoshoppers and the upload-em-as-they-are folks....they are all so very special, and I so enjoy seeing what the day brings in uploads. These are some of my favorites, collected so far. Go here to check them out : My Favorites and here to see my own photos : My Sets .
Tell a Story in 5 Frames, Visual Story-Telling, is my favorite group there. I've very much enjoyed being a member of this group. There have been some wonderful stories posted with great photos, and some pretty lively discussions.
The stories have ranged from tragedy, see fezhead's A Separate Peace, to chuckle funny, Isado's Saturday in the Park, to reflective as in Drkmg's Hard at Work. From the exotic, beckerpecker's Death of a Beautiful Afternoon, and the amazing, beckerpecker's Multiple Personalities and SkiMom's Swimming with Bear to the stark reality of human frailty, wilkiecoco's Gravedigger... and J.Star's Love and Redemption, there have been stories posted here that touch nearly every facet of the human condition and the world in which we live. There are many great storytellers here, so take a few minutes to check out the group. You might discover a story you want to tell. O, yes, scary stories are there as well! Take a look at this one : xylonets' If You Go Out to the Barn Tonight.... If you do go out there, be verwy verwy careful!
Some other streams you might like to check out are :
Protection Island - British Columbia and Canada - BEAUTIFUL!
Wildlifeuplift - Pacific Northwest- Raccoon & Forest photos-AMAZING!
Bellys, Mothers, Babies - Visit and take a look at this set. MOVING!
These are but a few of the incredible sets and photostreams that are there for the viewing on flickr . Go check it out. I'm totally, and unashamedly, addicted and enthralled!
Well, that's about it. What a post, huh?
Have yourself an awesome 2006! I expect mine will be rather eventful. Stop back by and visit....read about the growing pangs I know I'll go through as my son graduates high school and enters college. Hmmm... I think it will be interesting!
See ya 'round!
Randi
2005 hasn't been a particularly exciting year for me. Nothing in my own life was especially remarkable, earth-shattering, devastating or anything like that. I think it was the kind of year that just passes by and becomes a mile marker in the long stream of life. Which is exactly the kind of year I don't mind having.
That's not to say that 2005 was un-remarkable. Not at all!! There were indeed some earthly happenings that caused havoc and devastation, death and despair to so many! The tsunami of late December 2004 and the Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005 were two such bringers of destruction. We saw the globe pull together, though, and help out those that were in desparate need. Thankfully, my own family has been safe and sound.
2005 has not seen the end of war and strife in the Middle East. It is hoped that 2006 will bring about a different story and our troops can come home and the war-torn contries can get busy rebuilding their people's homes and lives. That would be a good thing for us all to work towards. Ending war. Yeah. War is not good for children and other living things!
A really good thing about 2005, for me, is that I discovered flickr photo sharing. It almost feels like I've found a second family! I've made friends with people all over the world and have never met them face to face. And I've been around the internet for at least twelve years. There's just something about the people there on flickr , the artists and the visionarys, the professionals and the snapshooters, the proud moms and dads, the photoshoppers and the upload-em-as-they-are folks....they are all so very special, and I so enjoy seeing what the day brings in uploads. These are some of my favorites, collected so far. Go here to check them out : My Favorites and here to see my own photos : My Sets .
Tell a Story in 5 Frames, Visual Story-Telling, is my favorite group there. I've very much enjoyed being a member of this group. There have been some wonderful stories posted with great photos, and some pretty lively discussions.
The stories have ranged from tragedy, see fezhead's A Separate Peace, to chuckle funny, Isado's Saturday in the Park, to reflective as in Drkmg's Hard at Work. From the exotic, beckerpecker's Death of a Beautiful Afternoon, and the amazing, beckerpecker's Multiple Personalities and SkiMom's Swimming with Bear to the stark reality of human frailty, wilkiecoco's Gravedigger... and J.Star's Love and Redemption, there have been stories posted here that touch nearly every facet of the human condition and the world in which we live. There are many great storytellers here, so take a few minutes to check out the group. You might discover a story you want to tell. O, yes, scary stories are there as well! Take a look at this one : xylonets' If You Go Out to the Barn Tonight.... If you do go out there, be verwy verwy careful!
Some other streams you might like to check out are :
Protection Island - British Columbia and Canada - BEAUTIFUL!
Wildlifeuplift - Pacific Northwest- Raccoon & Forest photos-AMAZING!
Bellys, Mothers, Babies - Visit and take a look at this set. MOVING!
These are but a few of the incredible sets and photostreams that are there for the viewing on flickr . Go check it out. I'm totally, and unashamedly, addicted and enthralled!
Well, that's about it. What a post, huh?
Have yourself an awesome 2006! I expect mine will be rather eventful. Stop back by and visit....read about the growing pangs I know I'll go through as my son graduates high school and enters college. Hmmm... I think it will be interesting!
See ya 'round!
Randi
Monday, November 28, 2005
Saturday, November 12, 2005
decisions....decisions.....
I created this with flickr toys....check it out.... it's a pretty cool place.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Pit Pull Terriers - an awesome breed
As the owner of an American Pit Bull Terrier, I’m very concerned about the effort to ban this breed. I am absolutely against Breed Specific Legislation. There has to be an answer to this problem.
I came across this article and wanted to share it. There are two deeply felt sides this issue and this article has a little of each side.
A Pit Bull Primer, San Francisco
I have always planned to visit Denver.... sadly, now I never will. I refuse to spend any of MY money in a city (DENVER) that has outlawed and sentenced to death the American Pit Bull Terrier, beloved pets beloging to AMERICAN CITIZENS, and is encouraging neighbors to turn in their neighbors to law enforcement because a pit bull is part of the household.
It is horrific that people have lost their children to the attack of a pit bull or to any dog, or other animal. But those particular animals and their owners should be held wholly responsible, not the entire breed, and in some cases the PARENTS of the children themselves should be held responsible in most part, for failing to teach their children the proper way to approach/handle any dog.
PARENTS - Teach your kids how to behave around dogs!
DOG OWNERS - Be RESPONSIBLE pet owners. Treat your animals well.
Breed Specific Legislators - Come talk to the APBT owners that are responsible. Meet our dogs. Who knows? You might just fall in love with them.
Miracles do happen!
I came across this article and wanted to share it. There are two deeply felt sides this issue and this article has a little of each side.
A Pit Bull Primer, San Francisco
I have always planned to visit Denver.... sadly, now I never will. I refuse to spend any of MY money in a city (DENVER) that has outlawed and sentenced to death the American Pit Bull Terrier, beloved pets beloging to AMERICAN CITIZENS, and is encouraging neighbors to turn in their neighbors to law enforcement because a pit bull is part of the household.
It is horrific that people have lost their children to the attack of a pit bull or to any dog, or other animal. But those particular animals and their owners should be held wholly responsible, not the entire breed, and in some cases the PARENTS of the children themselves should be held responsible in most part, for failing to teach their children the proper way to approach/handle any dog.
PARENTS - Teach your kids how to behave around dogs!
DOG OWNERS - Be RESPONSIBLE pet owners. Treat your animals well.
Breed Specific Legislators - Come talk to the APBT owners that are responsible. Meet our dogs. Who knows? You might just fall in love with them.
Miracles do happen!
Monday, October 03, 2005
A Weird Little Observation...
Man...I can't believe it's already October. The air is kind of crispy in the mornings...fall is on it's way. We're getting just a little preview.
I have a weird little observation. It's been going on for, well I guess several years now. There's a little donut place a few blocks from our house. Just a little mom and pop place. The boys and I used to walk down there every couple of weeks or so. Tyler would always get a couple of maple bars and Tanner always bought donut holes. So would mom. (that's me :)
Anyway, they're pretty good donuts and even better donut holes. Today felt like a donut hole kind of day. So I decided to stop and get a dozen for the drive to work. I know I know ... I should be _walking_ to work and _NOT_ be buying goodies. But o well. It's been a while. So back to the observation...
There's this girl who's been working there for several years. Part of the family I believe. She always works the drive-thru. And if I'm by myself, I always use the drive-thru. Over the years, I've noticed that when she hands out the tiny bag of goodies, she takes great care not to touch my hand. When she takes my money, she grabs it by the corner of the bill and kind of, but not really, snatches it out of my hand. When she gives me my change, she holds the coins by the absolute least amount possible to keep from losing it, and drops it into my outstretched hand. I believe she has a hand phobia! I have never seen her wear and gloves or any hand covering in all the time we've been buying donuts there. So it's not just she wants to keep her hands clean.
It's almost become a contest to MAKE her touch my hand. Okay, now I know she works in a food place. I know she prepares food. and I know she probably has a hundred or more customers every morning. Some of them probably have yucky, filthy hands. Hands are just not the cleanest things in the world. But COME ON!! Money is the DIRTIEST thing on the planet! If you're going to be weird about touching people's hands, shouldn't you be the same kind of weird about handling money??
I think I'm going to send her a box of nitrile gloves. Just because.
Weird observation over.
I have a weird little observation. It's been going on for, well I guess several years now. There's a little donut place a few blocks from our house. Just a little mom and pop place. The boys and I used to walk down there every couple of weeks or so. Tyler would always get a couple of maple bars and Tanner always bought donut holes. So would mom. (that's me :)
Anyway, they're pretty good donuts and even better donut holes. Today felt like a donut hole kind of day. So I decided to stop and get a dozen for the drive to work. I know I know ... I should be _walking_ to work and _NOT_ be buying goodies. But o well. It's been a while. So back to the observation...
There's this girl who's been working there for several years. Part of the family I believe. She always works the drive-thru. And if I'm by myself, I always use the drive-thru. Over the years, I've noticed that when she hands out the tiny bag of goodies, she takes great care not to touch my hand. When she takes my money, she grabs it by the corner of the bill and kind of, but not really, snatches it out of my hand. When she gives me my change, she holds the coins by the absolute least amount possible to keep from losing it, and drops it into my outstretched hand. I believe she has a hand phobia! I have never seen her wear and gloves or any hand covering in all the time we've been buying donuts there. So it's not just she wants to keep her hands clean.
It's almost become a contest to MAKE her touch my hand. Okay, now I know she works in a food place. I know she prepares food. and I know she probably has a hundred or more customers every morning. Some of them probably have yucky, filthy hands. Hands are just not the cleanest things in the world. But COME ON!! Money is the DIRTIEST thing on the planet! If you're going to be weird about touching people's hands, shouldn't you be the same kind of weird about handling money??
I think I'm going to send her a box of nitrile gloves. Just because.
Weird observation over.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Today Has been ONE of THOSE Days……
Today Has been ONE of THOSE Days……
You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? One of those days when your whole being is just irritated, raw, and your throbbing nerves are just waiting to scream at anything and anyone who crosses your path, for no particular reason and any reason. And your feet hurt because you felt as though you just had to wear the business heels because you work in a ‘business’ environment, even though you just usually wear flats, because for some reason you just woke up and said well I believe I’ll wear the heels today, I’ll look all professional. How ignorant is that? Pretty damned ignorant. Especially when you have to walk a half mile from your parking space to your building because some jackass of a planner never foresaw the need for adequate parking areas more than 20 years ago. And to put a fun spin on it all, being in West Texas, sometimes the wind blows, bringing sand and dust and dirt along with it to get in your eyes and under your contacts causing it to feel like there are meteor craters in your eye sockets that are scratching your corneas beyond repair. AND THEN you have to listen to people griping and bitching all day with voices that sound like cats that have been thrown across the room at a blackboard and each of their curved, sharp little claws are s l o w l y s c r e a c h I n g down the length of the blackboard and into your spine and you just want to crawl into a magic hole and disappear down into nothingness, a blessed absence of sound devoid of all and everything. And you just have to endure. Get through the day. And as you’re walking back out to your car in the murderously cute little heels that look so professional on your aching, tired feet, cursing yourself on the negligence of not bringing your tennis shoes for the trek to the car, you spy the guy. The guy that you see walking to class every day. The guy that has shriveled legs and has to walk swinging his hips around to place his tiny feet in front of him step by agonizingly slow step. The guy that has to use two metal crutches attached to his arms and his waist every day of his life. The one that tries so desperately to communicate with anyone who will listen and who endlessly smiles as you pass him on the path into the building. That guy. Out walking to his car in the same blowing dust and sand through which I am walking. And he has a smile on his face and a cheerful hello for me.
Whoa. Now hang on a minute. Talk about a dizzying crash into the reality of life. I had to sit in my car a while and ponder all of this. What in the world do I have to feel so bad about? Not one damn thing. I had to remind myself of something today. Something that I normally do quite often, but haven’t done lately. And that is to stop a moment and give thanks. Thanks for having my healthy two legs. For my ability to speak and communicate and have my needs known. Thanks for my mind and my eyes and for the gift of sight and hearing and thinking. Thanks for waking up each day, safe and warm in my own bed. For friendship and family. Thanks for so many many things. The list could go on for pages.
I am thankful that I am. So think about it, next time you have One of THOSE Days.
What should you be thankful for?
That’s the kind of day _I_ had. And it’s turned out much better than expected.
Have a great day tomorrow.
You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? One of those days when your whole being is just irritated, raw, and your throbbing nerves are just waiting to scream at anything and anyone who crosses your path, for no particular reason and any reason. And your feet hurt because you felt as though you just had to wear the business heels because you work in a ‘business’ environment, even though you just usually wear flats, because for some reason you just woke up and said well I believe I’ll wear the heels today, I’ll look all professional. How ignorant is that? Pretty damned ignorant. Especially when you have to walk a half mile from your parking space to your building because some jackass of a planner never foresaw the need for adequate parking areas more than 20 years ago. And to put a fun spin on it all, being in West Texas, sometimes the wind blows, bringing sand and dust and dirt along with it to get in your eyes and under your contacts causing it to feel like there are meteor craters in your eye sockets that are scratching your corneas beyond repair. AND THEN you have to listen to people griping and bitching all day with voices that sound like cats that have been thrown across the room at a blackboard and each of their curved, sharp little claws are s l o w l y s c r e a c h I n g down the length of the blackboard and into your spine and you just want to crawl into a magic hole and disappear down into nothingness, a blessed absence of sound devoid of all and everything. And you just have to endure. Get through the day. And as you’re walking back out to your car in the murderously cute little heels that look so professional on your aching, tired feet, cursing yourself on the negligence of not bringing your tennis shoes for the trek to the car, you spy the guy. The guy that you see walking to class every day. The guy that has shriveled legs and has to walk swinging his hips around to place his tiny feet in front of him step by agonizingly slow step. The guy that has to use two metal crutches attached to his arms and his waist every day of his life. The one that tries so desperately to communicate with anyone who will listen and who endlessly smiles as you pass him on the path into the building. That guy. Out walking to his car in the same blowing dust and sand through which I am walking. And he has a smile on his face and a cheerful hello for me.
Whoa. Now hang on a minute. Talk about a dizzying crash into the reality of life. I had to sit in my car a while and ponder all of this. What in the world do I have to feel so bad about? Not one damn thing. I had to remind myself of something today. Something that I normally do quite often, but haven’t done lately. And that is to stop a moment and give thanks. Thanks for having my healthy two legs. For my ability to speak and communicate and have my needs known. Thanks for my mind and my eyes and for the gift of sight and hearing and thinking. Thanks for waking up each day, safe and warm in my own bed. For friendship and family. Thanks for so many many things. The list could go on for pages.
I am thankful that I am. So think about it, next time you have One of THOSE Days.
What should you be thankful for?
That’s the kind of day _I_ had. And it’s turned out much better than expected.
Have a great day tomorrow.
Friday, September 23, 2005
Great ride!
This is a darn cool picture taken by Kelsana.
Santa Cruz, California is home to some very talented surfers and awesome waves.
For the record, I wish I still lived in Santa Cruz. I would be out on the beach taking pictures every day.
Thanks for sharing Kelsana!
Santa Cruz, California is home to some very talented surfers and awesome waves.
For the record, I wish I still lived in Santa Cruz. I would be out on the beach taking pictures every day.
Thanks for sharing Kelsana!
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Faces of Tanner
I bet this kid could be a model. He has great eyes and a beautiful smile.
What do you say America?
What do you say America?
Monday, September 19, 2005
Light Shining Through Stained Glass
"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."
Elizabeth Kübler-Ross
Elizabeth Kübler-Ross
