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.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
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.)
abandoning life selling idea. too mean, too cruel.
http://myplay.winamp.com/mp/playlist/now_playing.jsp?plid=429374&start=1
there’s what’s on my mp3 broadcast cache right now.
listen in, if you like.
Protected:
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
I’m bad.
I have 4 packages to send out.
They’ve been sitting by my front door “so I won’t forget them” since Friday night, to take to the post office last saturdayt morning.
Tonight, when I see them, I’m putting them *IN FRONT* of the door, in order to ship them off. to them that’s expecting mail, it should get to you by the weekend.
Ack. On to good stuff.
I talked to my brother last night, and hopefully we’ll be getting together this Sunday to go to the pier, listen to some music, see a few friends. Listen to a band that I’d like to do a website for. We’ll see.
My morning fog obscures all memory of last night’s dreams. I lay in bed this morning, waking slowly, thinking of being with my sweetie in a park, watching the folks go by, seeing children playing. There was horseback riding and a lot of people there, even though they were spread out quite a bit…Its times like that when I wonder what we’ll be like five years from now… a decade, even 30 years. Her with a head of silver, me with a horseshoe of grey, grown old together…maybe children of ours having children of thier own. What’ll the world look like when my age has doubled? The same, but only with more crap music and cool technology? (Sort of how I view the shift from the 80’s to now…) I like to think we’ll still have books, peace and freedom. I think we’re overdue for a global confilct… I hope we never have another, but is that a realistic hope? I’m getting too old to serve, but will my kids one day have to kill people that threaten our way of living?
I just want to grow old with the woman I love. 🙂 A reasonable request, I think.
timeline, most recent to newest.
Kendra sounds frantic and scared. Someone is trying to break into the room where she and Mike are hiding. There is a scream, a loud crash and unfamiliar voices, then someone hangs up the phone.
spoilers ahead.
Continue reading timeline, most recent to newest.
GrifterMike: Is that you, Scott?
BigLug23: yeah
GrifterMike: We blew it. They killed Deakins.
BigLug23: read about the suicide?
GrifterMike: I knew Professor Deakins pretty well. Suicide my ass.
BigLug23: why did they kill him? He wanted nothing to do with this.
GrifterMike: That photo you gave me had a packet sniffer attached to it.
BigLug23: They tracked him that way?
GrifterMike: Just listen. They traced the photo back to Deakins. Then they killed him.
BigLug23: Who’s next?
GrifterMike: This is getting completely out of hand.
GrifterMike: I don’t know what to do anymore.
BigLug23: what about shinehed?
GrifterMike: I hope Shintaro gets back soon so we can just get the hell out of here.
BigLug23: Have you heard from him?
GrifterMike: We should have been more cautious.
GrifterMike: I’m sorry.
BigLug23: Is everyone else ok?
GrifterMike: Auto Response: I am currently away from my computer.
exhort ig-ZORT, transitive verb:
To incite by words or advice; to urge strongly; hence, to advise, warn, or caution.
intransitive verb:
To make urgent appeal; to give warning or advice.
Exhort derives from Latin exhortari, “to encourage strongly,” from ex-, intensive prefix + hortari, “to incite, to encourage.”
estivate ES-tuh-vayt verb, also aestivate
To pass the summer in a dormant state.
From Latin aestivatus, past participle of aestivare, to reside during the summer.
(Like a summer version of hibernate.)
if you have icq, and are very, very bored…
I’ve created an AI bit for icq…
talk to Newton. He’s a bot. 🙂 But he’s friendly.
ICQ UIN: 125205854 (Add User, Send Message)
mind control chip
From: tporter@electronlabs.com | Block Address | Add to Address Book
To: scott_vonberg@yahoo.com
Subject: photo request
It has come to my attention that you recently requested a copy of photographic series #EL44_12_546.
Your Internet address does not appear on the permissions file for this particular item.
If, however, you can provide the Project Name along with the corresponding Project Number for this series, we will accept this information as an alternate form of verification. We do realize that our clients employ freelance and contract employees and occasionally neglect to pass along their information to us.
Please resubmit your request at our alternate page http://www.electronlabs.com/html/restrictedQs.htm with the appropriate information, and we will verify and process your request as soon as possible.
We are sorry if this causes any inconvenience, and appreciate your understanding.
Thank you for using Electron Labs.
Sincerely,
Ted Porter
Operations Manager
Electron Labs, Inc.
thesilentprtnr: Looks like you’re on the right trail, Scott.
BigLug23: thanks.
BigLug23: where’s the image?
thesilentprtnr: The fact that that photo sequence at Electron Labs is restricted from public viewing must mean something.
BigLug23: is there a way to find item 2?
thesilentprtnr: As always, be sure to check the Majestic homepage for updates often
thesilentprtnr: I’m sure we’ll chat again. Goodbye.
BigLug23: ok. see you soon
thesilentprtnr: Auto Response: Sorry, I’m currently unavailable to chat.