today, in flash…

I learned how to create symbols, edit layers, and that my ability to draw is kakadoodoo. but, at least I’m getting the technical side down. I’m also wondering where my sweetie has gotten herself off to… I’d been hoping for a date night, where we can just talk, and hang out…I’m guessing that she got home after work, and was inexorably drawn to the ol’ sack. It’s a tempting offer, I admit.

If I don’t see her by 11:30, I’ll go catch the midnight showing of planet of the apes, and then catch up with her in dreamland. At least I’m getting my shockwave lessons in. *sigh* I’m going to take a nice shower. I’ll be back in a few.

Today’s evil news. very evil.

Head of Teacher’s Union Into Kiddie Porn
=================================
The president of the Broward Teachers Union was arrested on computer kiddie porn charges Thursday morning after arriving for a rendezvous with a 14-year-old girl, deputies said. Anthony J. Gentile was booked at the Broward County Jail on charges of sexual performance by a child; computer pornography; and transmission of harmful material to a minor. He later posted bond of $11,000 and was freed from custody.
more news here…

word of the day – Cockaigne

Cockaigne kah-KAYN, noun:
An imaginary land of ease and luxury.

Cockaigne comes from Middle English cokaygne, from Middle French (pais de) cocaigne “(land of) plenty,” ultimately adapted or derived from a word meaning “cake.”

References to Cockaigne are prominent in medieval European lore. George Ellis, in his Specimens of Early English Poets (1790), printed an old French poem called “The Land of Cockaign” (13th century) where “the houses were made of barley sugar and cakes, the streets were paved with pastry, and the shops supplied goods for nothing.” “The Big Rock Candy Mountain” of American hobo folklore expresses the same idea and was featured recently in the soundtrack to the movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

A wave of mixed feelings. I feel good about having seen my sweetie tonight, and today…but aside from that…

Trouble putting it into words… my temper has been flaring up… making me jumpy, agitated…

tomorrow’s date night with the sweetie pie, hopefully that’ll go well…Ideally I’ll calm down tomorrow night.

Here’s my first attempt at a AIM Icon (more of an excuse to fiddle with flash than anything else.)
http://www.scottobear.com/lj/podbuddy.gif
Still in the works… not as smooth or clean as it could be, but it’s a start. My skills with are have always been sort of weak. maybe change the transfer speeds.

I feel some trepidation for some reason. I’m going to go to bed. Perhaps I just need some rest. I think I’m just cranky and overtired.

Got to sleep, grumpybutt!

“Tomorrow’s friday” she said slowly and softly, letting the words dangle from her lips like a drop of chocolate escaping from an ice cream cone.

I long to taste both… her words fill my ears with a delight, care and warmth that spreads rapidly to my mind and heart…and her lips… her lips. *enthralled sigh*

My first night (in progress.)

scotto as a baby pod

The night wasn’t unseasonably warm or cold… it was like any other of the last dozen evenings lately. It was clear outside, with a soft spread of cloud cover high in the sky. The observant might note the lack of insect noises against a backdrop of a suburban skyline. A distant thunder and flicker of light in the clouds seemed to hint at a coming rain, but the scent of ozone was lacking… making the coming damp off in a further future. Out of nowhere, a cracking report like a gunshot, or a car backfiring rang out, so loud that the windows rattled… All the neighborhood dogs began barking, and with a sizzling hiss a bright organic oval, glowing cherry red fell to earth, streaking trail of light and smoke behind it before it landed in a field of tall, wet grass. There it sat, slowly cooling, steaming the surrounding ground and plants… the pod’s coloring fading to an orange, then yellow, and slowly stopping at a deep forest green, to blend with the surrounding flora. All was quiet as the night drew on… a soft rain fell, bringing with it a peace and comfort, allowing things to return to a semblance of normalcy.

note to self – write about moving out over thanksgiving, reasons, situation. living with Laura & the twins.

I feel slightly nauseated. mental tracks for a story got too cruel, too mean sprited for me. It needs major reworking, and some poetic justice.

revision – 3:10pm. No, let’s not. focus on cool stuff. 🙂

words of the day – senescence & thegosis

senescence sih-NEH-sun(t)s, noun:
The state of being old; the process of growing old; aging.

Senescence is from Latin senescere, “to grow old,” from senex, “old.” It is related to senile. The adjective form is senescent.

thegosis THE-go-sis noun

Grinding of teeth as a means of sharpening them.

From Greek thegos, to sharpen.

(Bruxism is the word for night-time grinding of teeth.)

news, evil, and not so much.

— HOME ALONE?

The United States appears to be going it alone on more issues these days. Many in Congress were surprised when the world went ahead and adopted the Kyoto Accord in Bonn while the U.S. looked on. According to Senator Joe Lieberman: “Bonn surprised people. The feeling was that, if the United States took its football and left the field, the game couldn’t go forward. But the rest of the nations of the world found their own football, and they completed the game. They left the United States on the sidelines.”
{OK, so are we talking about American football or what the rest of the world calls football?}
http://latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-072501dioxide.story

+

A refusal to support a worldwide plan to enforce a ban on germ warfare is the latest issue in which the U.S. has split with many other nations.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/604811.asp

— THE DEVI MADE HER DO IT

The incredible life of India’s “Bandit Queen”, which saw her evolve from outlaw to politician {the opposite of the general U.S. evolution} comes to a violent end as she is shot down by masked gunmen.
http://cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/07/25/india.devi/

— A MOUNTAIN DUE

In the last twenty years, young children in the U.S. have seen the amount of homework required of them triple. {It’s unclear whether that stat includes a penmanship exercise still sitting
in my desk drawer}.
http://cnn.com/2001/fyi/teachers.ednews/07/25/homework.increase.ap/

— ANY PREDICTIONS?

Missouri has filed lawsuits against the psychic Miss Cleo (if you have ever watched television, you know her) charging her with consumer fraud. According to the state’s attorney general: “Miss Cleo should have seen this coming. It doesn’t take a crystal ball to realize that ripping off consumers isn’t without consequences.”
http://boston/dailynews/206/nation/Missouri_s_attorney_general_ac:.shtml

and…

On his way to Beijing, Colin Powell expresses optimism about the release of the U.S. scholars convicted of spying in China.
http://latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-072501scholars.story

Teen birth rate falls to a record low in the U.S.
http://cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/parenting/07/25/teen.births.ap/

Condit will talk to FBI.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/07/24/missing.intern/

Patients’ bill of rights heads back to the waiting room.
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49450-2001Jul25.html

Nato gets parties to re-establish cease-fire in Macedonia.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010725/wl/balkans_macedonia_dc_183.html

Will AOL’s $100 million investment in Amazon lead to an eventual merger?
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010724/aponline202130_000.htm

Opec cuts oil output. Consumers shouldn’t see much difference.
http://nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-World-Oil-OPEC.html

Researchers believe they have solved the mystery of what killed the Iceman more than 5,300 years ago.
{So far, no warrants have been issued in the case.}
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010725/sc/iceman_mystery.html

The bedbugs, more often than ever, are biting.
http://travel.boston.com/world/072501_fl_bedbugs.html