How to build an Ulcer in 777 easy steps

A Good Plan
Ghost-Tooth handled her B-day this year a fair bit better than she did last year.

Of course, 31 is not the milestone 30 is to most people. Well, that and she did not have the same outside stresses as she was facing a tear ago. School is going well for her, though it still causes her stress, and she has come to be more comfortable with the leaving behind of old patterns.

As comfortable as she was in her last job, the wisdom of leaving it behind and seeking a new profession is not lost on her despite the moderate amount of debt she is incurring with student loans. Once she is done with her thyme in school her salary should have doubled and she will finally get good health benefits. Not only will she be able to pay off her loans quickly she will have her choice of job markets.

The program for nursing into which she enrolled guarantees her at least two years of employment once she graduates. During that thyme she will be taking more classes so that she can get a higher degree and more pay. The beauty of her plan is that the hospital that is going to be hiring her will also pay for those other classes, and in 3-4 years after she becomes a licensed nurse, if all goes well, she will be making roughly $75.00 - $100.00 an hour.

Considering that just o'er a year ago she was at a job that payed her barely above minimum wage this is a great step forward for her. Somethymes, if you want to be happy, you just have to give up what you know and try something new.
--
Leave me to my lonely pillow.
Go, and take your silly posies;
Who has vowed to wear the willow
Looks a fool, tricked out in roses.

Current Mood: chipper

Orlando Lodger
For reasons of which I am unsure I find myself o'ercome with the desire to see David Bowie and Tilda Swinton couple, and breed beautiful androgynous children...
--
Such kisses are for roses in the prime,
For braid of lime,
For full-blown blooms,
For ardent breaths outpoured

Current Mood: optimistic

The Quick Brown Fox
The more and more that I hear about our government screaming for the blood of Fox News the less comfortable I feel.

Now, I do not watch Fox News. I couldn't care less if people who disagreed with their anti-Democrat/Socialist message chose to ignore their broadcasts, but a government sanctioned derision of the corporation worries me. The fact that the White House is putting very real pressure on politicians to pull support from that company...

If Fox News were a monopoly I would consider it the government's duty to intercede on our behalf. As Fox is just a company that has an opposing viewpoint this strikes me more as an attempt to abolish anti-establishment opinion.
--
O! start a revolution, somebody!
not to get the money
but to lose it forever.

Current Mood: sad

An Early Gift
Last night was Halloween.

Of all the B-Day gifts I received this year one stands out from the rest. When I returned home from the preliminary revelries I found a letter informing me that I have been accepted into a grad program.

It looks as though I am going back to school.

One-of-the-Jeff's has no car at present and needs to be in a neighboring town to help his sister move, so I need to wake up in about five hours to drive him to her home. Once I am done dropping him off I will begin celebrating in earnest... If I recall properly I have no real plans until Wed. That is perfect. I do not plan on sleeping until then.
--
A soul that's cured is a different matter,
For there we'd blot from memory
The soft-toned words, the searching eyes,
And stand forever oblivious,
Not so much of the sorrow itself
As of the hand that healed it.

Current Mood: anxious

But is it Kosher?
Science is a truly wonderful thing.

Sure we hear arguments along the lines of:
Do not these people think of the repercussions of their discoveries?
What give scientists the right to play with the laws of nature?
How can you morally justify a discovery based upon how it will be misused by others?

And countless other misguided rants that are often based more on ignorance and fear than on understanding of either science, or humanity.

But finally all of these arguments can be silenced!!

A discovery has been made which justifies each and every scientific endeavor throughout our brief history on this planet.

Yep, I am saying that all science has lead to this point, and the ends have totally justified the means. The Tuskegee experiments. Dr. Josef Mengele's work. The development of all chemical and biological weapons.

If you can think of any alleged "misuse" of Science I have this to throw back in your face.

Behold!
The Future:

Click here

That's right.
Totally justified!
--
The World's a bubble, and the Life of Man Less than a span,
In his conception wretched, from the womb so to the tomb;
Curst from his cradle, and brought up to years with cares and fears.
Who then to frail mortality shall trust,
But limns on water, or but writes in dust.

Current Mood: impressed

One Mug
Sure, it is far too late to undo the damage, but that is the modern trend.

In the vein of Dr. Spock, who just a few years ago came out and said that his idea of Permissive Parenting was a total cock-up, Disney's "Baby Einstein" videos have been recalled. (http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/10/26/baby-einstein-recall-issued-ineffective-videos/)

It seems that the line is totally incapable of living up to its promises, and studies show that children who up to two years of age (the target age group for these videos) who spend any thyme watching any videos with regularity are at greater risk for developing attention disorders.

What do you know? Using the television to entertain your child is back to being a bad idea.
--
Lay your sleeping head, my love,
Human on my faithless arm;
Time and fevers burn away
Individual beauty from
Thoughtful children, and the grave
Proves the child ephemeral:
But in my arms till break of day
Let the living creature lie,
Mortal, guilty, but to me
The entirely beautiful.

Current Mood: amused

Faded
Gone are the good ol' days of youth and glory.

Last night I got home around 2:00 - 2:30 am and set my alarm clock to wake me at 6:00 am, and I popped a shot of Pepto ere heading to sleep.

It seems that the resilience, and optimism, of youth have begun to escape me.
--
He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled,
That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust,
But still lies pointed as it ploughed the dust.
If we who sight along it round the world,
See nothing worthy to have been its mark,
It is because like men we look too near,
Forgetting that as fitted to the sphere,
Our missiles always make too short an arc.
They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect
The curve of earth, and striking, break their own;
They make us cringe for metal-point on stone.
But this we know, the obstacle that checked
And tripped the body, shot the spirit on
Further than target ever showed or shone.

Current Mood: awake

Woohoo!
The first season of Magnum PI has come to Hulu!

With luck more are to follow.

If you have not seen it yet, this is the thyme to see it for free.
JB, you have a cable modem now. Take advantage of Hulu.
--
Oh, little town by the river,
Little town of little hopes,
I am your son, in spite of myself

Current Mood: indescribable
Current Music: Home

The Law Forgotten...
There is a simple truth out there in the world that most of us would rather forget.

Put simply: It is OK to not like someone. We do not all have to get along.
( Nature vs. Nurture )
--
Someday it will be ours,
that wide expanse of empty sea,
and we will be gods
in its secret abyss

Current Mood: anxious

Fall, and an Early New Year
Just a few days ago the weather took a change for the better.
Fall is here.
Cold, cloudy days spotted with rain.

This is my kind of weather; my favorite thyme of year.

It also means that I have been done with school for about a year now. The job market is not as nice as I would have liked, but I also have not been trying as hard as I should have, given the circumstances.

Either way I have decided that it is thyme for a change. I have begun the hunt for my MS in psychology.

( Letters... )
--
Wash daily from nose-tip to tail-tip; drink deeply, but never too deep;
And remember the night is for hunting, and forget not the day is for sleep.

Current Mood: optimistic

"That is no Amish Mime, that is Steve!"
Some thyme ago I acquired a copy of the original Star Wars RPG core book from Straight-Edge-Steve. Since that crew and I parted ways he and I have seen rather little of each other. Most recently though I saw him walking down the street while I was driving Ghost-Tooth and myself to diner.

It seems that his sense of style has taken an interesting turn. He was sporting an mustachless-beard, black hat, a black and white shirt, and black pants. Ghost-Tooth's comment that he looked like a central pennsylvanian Marcel Marceau impersonator really caught my attention, but it was rather accurate. There was only so much chatting we could do at a red light on a Friday night, but we exchanged some pleasantries ere parting ways.

Ghost-Tooth and I had a very nice diner, but she fell ill later that night. Her stomach and back seemed intent on causing her trouble for the rest of the weekend. We had an almost uninterrupted three days to rest and relax. Normally she and I would have tried to take some sort of trip with our thyme, but her sickness was a bit of a deterrent. So, despite the illness, she and I had a most pleasant thyme together. She and I watched a bunch of bad movies, and Magnum PI. We also slept an awful lot.
--
The harp the monarch minstrel swept,
The King of men, the loved of Heaven,
Which Music hallow'd while she wept
O'er tones her heart of hearts had given,
Redoubled be her tears, its chords are riven!
It soften'd men of iron mould,
It gave them virtues not their own;
No ear so dull, no soul so cold,
That felt not, fired not to the tone,
Till David's lyre grew mightier than his throne!

Current Mood: recumbent

In Nomine Patri
There are not too many members of my extended family with whom I have stayed in touch, but my cousin Noel and I have always made pretty decent effort to do so. His mother, my aunt, has recently undergone a series of surgeries with more to come in the near future. Therefore it was not at all out of character of me to call him up earlier today and see things have been going on his side of the world.

He opened the conversation by asking if there was a particular reason for my call. I lied and said that there was not: I only called to see how he and his mother have been doing.

( Sur Prize... )
--
Pray to what earth does this sweet cold belong,
Which asks no duties and no conscience?
The moon goes up by leaps, her cheerful path
In some far summer stratum of the sky,
While stars with their cold shine bedot her way.

Current Mood: amused

Shake, Rattle, and Roll
Epileptic-Boy is back in town too.

He moved to Manhattan about three months ago to pursue a career in education. He and I went out for a drink the other night to do some catching up on what brought him back to town. It seems that he lost his job, broke up with his GF, and moved back here a mere week before El Pasty's brief visit.

While he seems reluctant to lay out all of the details I got a feel for what motivated these drastic changes. The reasons behind his move to Manhattan were based primarily on proximity of his job to where his woman lived. Once he lost the job and the GF he felt little need to stay on there. He chose to break things off with the woman when, after he lost his job, he asked her for emotional support as he was in a bad way... she declined.

The reasoning there was: If you cannot be there for me when I need you, what is the point of our relationship? They had been together for almost three years, but his logic appears sound.

While we were out I ran into Little-Metal-Red-Head too. We did not talk much, but she seemed in good spirits.
--
I should be far more dignified I know,
But much prefer to run along the street
And spread my madness everywhere I go
And be a friend to everyone I meet.
The world is full of sadness and I'm sad
More often than I like to think about.

Current Mood: exhausted

Forbidden Fruit Once Tasted
Quite a bit has been happening in my life recently.

Not enough, but still a good bit.

For instance: Two weekends ago Ghost-Tooth and I drove out to Ohio to visit the Mansfield state penitentiary. The prison has been closed since 1990, but the historical society has been giving tours of the facility for a number of years. The reason this place came to mind as a vacation spot was that Ghost-Tooth and I are both fans of the film "The Shawshank Redemption," which was filmed in that prison.

"Tango and Cash," "Air Force One," and "Harold and Walter Go to New York" also filmed a number of scenes there, but to a much lesser degree.

That was quite an enjoyable trip. The prison is quite the spooky place, e'en with a tour group.

( Far more Damning things... )
--
And I this bowl, where wanton ivy twines,
And swelling clusters bend the curling vines:
Four Figures rising from the work appear,
The various Seasons of the rolling year;
And what is that, which binds the radiant sky,
Where twelve fair signs in beauteous order lie?

Current Mood: confused

Things Learned at a Small Club in Mexico
Recently I have been watching some Remington Steele on Hulu. I enjoyed the show when it originally aired, and I am finding that it still has a fair sense of appeal. True, it is corky and campy, but it still has far better acting and writing than most of today's television.

One of the other things I have noticed about the show is The-Butterfly-of-Doom's strong likeness to the Stephanie Zimbalist of 1982. It is hard to look at Ms. Zimbalist without seeing the BOD. True, Stephanie Zimbalist is about four inches too tall, and three cup sizes to small, but their basic builds, facial structure, mannerisms, and poise are strikingly similar. They e'en have a similar way of speaking.
--
In vain, in vain,---the all-composing hour
Resistless falls: the Muse obeys the power.
She comes! she comes! the sable throne behold
Of Night primeval, and of Chaos old!
Before her, Fancy's gilded clouds decay,
And all its varying rainbows die away.

Current Mood: energetic

Much Ado About Nihil
This is the first summer I have spent state-side in a number of years. I had forgotten the pleasures a small apartment with no air conditioning has to offer.

Thankfully I have not been suffering a shortage of entertainment. Actually I think I might be too much entertained these days... Much is there that I should be doing with my thyme free, but silly me - I have Hulu.

( The Fall of the West... )
--
Just as he always brought green wood,
Which sizzled and dripped water
As I tried to cook with it;
So did the fire of his love
Burn my heart to tears.

Current Mood: contemplative

Pale Purple Zirconium
As I sit here listening to her music, I think back on the thyme I encountered, once and briefly, Ms. Stark.

E'ery thyme she comes to mind I am set to thinking about contrary nature. For she is oh-so-shy, almost e'en timid on stage.

And that is the thing: To be shy, or timid, and yet still be a performer.

To paraphrase Lisa Simpson: Is it that the gift of her voice, and gift it is to those who have been able to hear her sing, is like a fire in her belly, tearing its way out her throat and 'tween her lips? Does she feel the need to put a microphone in front of it, to transform that flame into light lest it just burn away those she loves? Is that passion so great that she MUST perform, despite her natural timidity?

That was how G.G. Allin felt. He hated his audience. He loathed them with a passion that brings back dark memories for me. But, he had to get the words out of him.
--
Drenched in my fluids you'll never know
I plant the seed of death untold
Before I die, I hope I do
Kill many more, as I've killed you

I'm infected with AIDS
I fuck everyday
I kill everything I fuck

Current Mood: contemplative

Same as it e'er Was
Hrmmmm...

It looks like we picked the day we did for a reason. After talking to the others about their schedules it seems that there are no ideal days, but the day that is the least inconvenient for everyone is the day we had already slotted to play. That might change in the future, but for now it will do.

In regards to adding Strass to the Game the discussions with the players went almost exactly as I expected them to go. Only one player voted in a way I did not expect them to vote. Strass will be unhappy with the decision, but it is the best one for now. That might change in the future, but for now it will do.

It has been a while since I have hung out with My-Professional-Friend. She and I still keep in touch, but (and I know how bad this sounds) I just have not had the money to go visit. If I had a disposable income I would spend more nights out that way - in a purely friendly way mind you. But that is also true of many of my acquaintances out that way. Too long has it been since I have had the funding to go out and have a wild thyme.

JMD's birth day is just about a week away. I do not know what we will do to celebrate, but I would like to do something.

In the meanthyme I guess the only thing left to say is: Oh Shit!! FAST Zombies!!!
--
What's this for?
Says the carpenter,
As he cuts it off.

Current Mood: creative

Who Needs Ninjas?
If I were a bad person I would have gone to both a hardware store, and an electronics store today, to pick up a few common items, then proceeded to rack up a few more felonies.

Earlier today I had an appointment with an eye doctor. A real eye doctor.

( I get there e'evntually... )
--
For the Commons convene in the Hall of the Nation. France shakes! And the heavens of France
Perplex'd vibrate round each careful countenance! Darkness of old times around them
Utters loud despair, shadowing Paris; her grey towers groan, and the Bastille trembles.

Current Mood: artistic

For the past two weeks I have not done much of import.
Much of my thyme has been spent with Ghost-Tooth.

Fallout 3 has also found its way into my attentions.
As Halo did for my buying of an Xbox, I believe that Fallout 3 will do for the 360.
Actually, the only thing that has kept that from happening already is the issue of financing such a purchase.

Being able to afford something is not reason enough to buy it.

This week will see the second session of the game I am attempting to get off the ground.

( Minor Grievances... )
Alright, enough whining for now. Back to the books.
--
When I'm all grown up, come what may,
I'll build a boat to carry me away
And the river will take it to Tigana Bay
And the sea even further from Avalle

But wherever I wander, by night or by day,
Where water runs swiftly or high trees sway,
My heart will carry me back and away
To a dream of the towers of Avalle.

Current Mood: thoughtful

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