Whoops!

It appears I've been slackin off on my bloggin, yo! Hahaha... Well, last month the housing inspector stopped by and gave me two weeks to remove the clutter from my apt. So I was busy doing that. And this month I've been busy with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, for those who don't know). Yes... I'm writing a novel. It's nothing but a bunch of crap. But by the end of this month I hope to have 50,000 words of crap. Of course I also have my dad's birthday and Thanksgiving coming up. So all of my blogs will no doubt suffer through out the month of November. The of course we get December -- my most dreaded time of the year. Ughh. I'll try to keep up on my blogging, but I'll probably be doing a lot of bitching as it gets closer and closer to Christmas. But then after Christmas... well... that's when the fun begins! As much as I hate Christmas, I love New Years. And I love that week between the two days, as I begin to relax from the hustle and bustle of the Holiday season and start reflecting on the past year and focusing on the New Year to come -- what it will bring, and what I would like to accomplish before the next years end.

Of course every New Years Eve, I also take some time to show respect for Lt. Col. McAllister -- the Army officer who on December 31st, 1986 was stabbed by an enlisted man just outside the P/X at the Presidio of San Francisco as he waited in line at the hot dog stand... and as my friends and I sat at a nearby table. And this year will mark the 20 year anniversary of that event. Hard to believe. But since that day, every year on New Years Eve, no matter what I've been doing, my thoughts have been with the McAllister family.
But anyway... I need to stop writing in here and start writing some more of my trash novel. Until I post again... whenever that may be.

Our future, with Dick & Jen (Metro Times Detroit)

Our future, with Dick & Jen

by Jack Lessenberry
10/11/2006


"Michigan is, by common consent, in terrible shape, thanks mainly to the domestic auto industry. What nobody likes to talk much about is that it will soon get worse, as the previously announced massive auto layoffs kick in over the next two years.

Last week Gov. Jennifer Granholm went toe-to-toe with Republican trillionaire Dick DeVos in the first of three televised debates. (There was another debate scheduled for last night, which, thanks to the Tigers' playoff game, was likely seen only by two paraplegics who dropped the remotes in Benton Harbor and Ubly.)

I expected very little out of the first debate, but watched it anyway, since I have no friends. What I imagined is that they would be like two skinny sumo wrestlers, cautiously pushing each other in a narrow ring.

In fact, it started even worse than that. The only issue that really matters in this state is the economy, and what we can do to avoid looking like a cross between Haiti and the poorer parts of West Virginia in a few years.

But instead, moderator Tim Skubick, who can come across as sort of an attack ferret, chose to begin by asking if they lied in their commercials. That led to several minutes in which each seemed to be auditioning for a remake of Mean Girls. ('You lie, I don't! You said I didn't meet with Honda! I have pictures of me meeting with Honda!' etc., etc.) Many viewers must have longed for the maturity of Lindsay Lohan. Eventually, however, the candidoids moved on to other topics, and gradually something became pretty clear, which was that Dick DeVos has no business running for governor of Michigan.

Within minutes, he demonstrated conclusively that he a) is a narrow partisan ideologue, b) has no grasp of how state government works, c) is a dangerous religious extremist and d) can't think on his feet."

Click here for full article from the Metro Times

What Do You See?

Look at this picture, then read the explanation which follows it.


Unless you're a young child, you probably saw a couple in an intimate pose. However, studies suggest that young children will not see the couple, because they have no prior experience to associate it with. What they will see is the nine dolphins in the picture. You may not even have noticed that there are nine dolphins in the picture, but look more closely... they're there.

Quit Smoking AGAIN...

...perhaps this will be the last time I'll need to.
I smoked for 20 years, which is more than half of my life, and I'm really ready to quit and put my health first.
So far, I've been without a smoke for 10 days, and while I occasionally feel I want to smoke, a combination of nicorette and cinnamon sticks helps satisfy those urges. The nicorette obviously provides me with the nicotine my body has become so addicted to, while the cinnamon sticks make a nice roughly cigarette sized substitute to hold on to and suck on, etc.
I'm not planning on following the recommended treatment plan for nicorette this time, as last time it just left me addicted to the gum, and I then had to use the patch to get off the gum. At that time, those were the main nicorette placement therapies available. Now I could see myself going through a cycle of addiction to various nicotine products... the gum... the patch... commit lozenges... that little puffy inhaler thing that's available by prescription only... back to the gum, etc. But I'm not gonna let that happen. I'm already working on weening myself off nicorette by substituting regular gum for it when I can. I will probably always need something to hold in my hands and/or stick in my mouth, tho. And I don't mind that... as long as it's not cancer causing.

WHDNTD

Do not try this at home...

Where you live linked to life expectancy - Yahoo! News

Where you live linked to life expectancy - Yahoo! News:
"Where you live, combined with race and income, plays a huge role in the nation's health disparities, differences so stark that a report issued Monday contends it's as if there are eight separate Americas instead of one.

Asian-American women living in Bergen County, N.J., lead the nation in longevity, typically reaching their 91st birthdays. Worst off are American Indian men in swaths of South Dakota, who die around age 58 — three decades sooner.

Millions of the worst-off Americans have life expectancies typical of developing countries, concluded Dr. Christopher Murray of the Harvard School of Public Health."

Interesting article...

Anna Nicole's Son Dies, Daughter Is Born | Anna Nicole Smith : People.com

Anna Nicole's Son Dies, Daughter Is Born | Anna Nicole Smith : People.com: "Anna Nicole's Son Dies, Daughter Is Born

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2006 08:00AM EST

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2006 04:20PM EST UPDATED

By Stephen M. Silverman

Anna Nicole and Daniel Smith Photo by: Lisa Rose / jpiAnna Nicole's Son Dies, Daughter Is Born | Anna Nicole Smith
Daniel Smith, the 20-year-old son of Anna Nicole Smith, died suddenly in the Bahamas on Sunday, three days after the former Playboy Playmate gave birth to a girl, according to a statement from Smith's attorney.

Reginald Ferguson, assistant commissioner of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, tells PEOPLE Daniel was visiting his mother at Doctors Hospital when he was found in her room at about 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning.

'He was found in a condition of non-responsiveness,' Ferguson says. 'I am not certain who made the alarm, and doctors were called in but he was pronounced dead.'

Ferguson says police officers were called to the scene, but there was no evidence of foul play: 'There were no signs of violence to the body and there has been no sign of any unusual activities in the room that he was in.'

An autopsy was being performed Monday afternoon and police were awaiting its results before determining a cause of death. Despite some newspaper reports, 'We have no information about a heart attack at this time,' Ferguson tells PEOPLE.

Daniel Smith, who often appeared on his mother's E! reality program The Anna Nicole Show, was in the Caribbean nation where his mother, 38, gave birth to a girl on Thursday, her lawyer, Howard K. Stern, said in a statement.

A statement posted on Smith's official Web site, annanicole.com, reads, 'On Sept. 7 Anna Nicole gave birth to a healthy 6 lb., 9 oz. baby girl. Her son Daniel was in the Bahamas with her to share in the joy of his baby sister when he passed away suddenly on the morning of Sept. 10.

"We have yet to learn the cause of death but do not believe that drugs or alcohol were a factor. Anna Nicole is absolutely devastated by the loss of her son. He was her pride and joy and an amazing human being. Please do not make any press inquiries at this time so that Anna Nicole can grieve in peace."

Daniel's father, Smith's ex-husband Billy Smith, tells TV's Extra of the death of his son, "It's so sad. I hated that it happened. He was so young. I'm sort of in shock right now." According to Extra, Billy Smith had not seen his son since Daniel was two years old and last spoke to his ex-wife in 1996.

Smith, who earlier this year won a U.S. Supreme Court decision to claim her stake in the will of her late husband, billionaire J. Marshall Howard, has not publicly named the father of her second child.

This is just one of those things that make you go... hmmm... too bizarre... and too sad. To bring forth into this world a new life, and then just three days later, to lose your 20 yr old son at your bedside. That's wrong on so many levels. As if it's not bad enough that Anna Nicole lost her son at such a young age, for her to have to grieve that loss at such a time when she should be free to celebrate the birth of her new baby girl, is so unfair. One could harshly state that in place of her son, Anna Nicole has now gained a daughter, as if that should some how be a comfort to her. As if it was somehow in God's will. But in all fairness, no one life can ever be replaced -- only lost.