Ugh… wakefulness came slowly to me this morning. Nitrogen? Blood Sugar? Low Batteries? Who can say? A nice morning today… cool, a little wind, some soft rain falling down again…the wind chimes are gonging rather rapidly outside, and my windows are still open. As a result, it’s sort of damp in here, but it’s pleasant. I went on my walk, but didn’t take a book or my palm, due to the precipitation. I’m just about through the Bucky Fuller book, and I’m convinced that this guy is one of the niftiest minds of our century that I’ve had the pleasure to read… he’s a very positive person, and offers some viable suggestions of how human dynamics and groups of people can work together. I highly recommend reviewing ‘the game of life’…it shows a lot of ideas on how working together is much more beneficial than working apart.

My sweetie has been reading a great deal about China, the time of Mao, especially. It’s been bringing my feelings about the situation over there to the forefront. (I have a love/hate relationship with a great deal of Asian culture.) I admire the people, but despise the Chinese government, from Imperial to Communist. Confucianism (heck, or Communism) is an interesting concept for ants or a group on paper, but where human rights are concerned (or in the case of Communism, human failings like greed or corruption), that sort of society simply cannot work.

Something I used to be paranoid about as a young teen was that Russia or Red China was really a paradise…the United States propaganda machine was feeding us with stories of bread lines, secret police and labor camps in order to make us more complacent in the (then…about 1982?) time of high unemployment and general upset with Ron Reagan. I’ve long since changed my tune, especially after spending time with my relatives from Germany. I’ve seen the Berlin wall, and talked to folks that lived on the East side before the wall came down. (It still amazes me how many folks today don’t know how significant that is… can it really be 15 years already?)

Well, that sort of rambled… I intended to burp this out as a pre-shower quickie.

Professor Set To Control Wife By Cyborg Implant
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SURGEONS are preparing to create the first husband and wife cyborgs: they intend to implant computer chips in a British professor and his wife to see if they can communicate sensation and movement by thought alone. “If I move my left index finger by sending signals to move the muscles, those signals will also be transmitted to Irena’s nervous system.”
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/05/06/stinwenws01006.html

Extra Tasty Burgers Recalled
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Approximately 235 tons of ground beef are being recalled because the meat may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria, its manufacturer said.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/05/06/meat.recall/index.html

Frenchy Art
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For all you hentai fans out there, Claire Denis steps up to the plate to show that the French can still make art evil.[The film’s director] said that the film was inspired by a childhood dream in which her mother tucked her in and devoured her with kisses “because my skin has a milky aroma and because she can feel herself suddenly becoming an ogress once more”.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-125794,00.html

The Naked Man Attack
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A naked someone walked into a Cenex store early Sunday morning with a paper bag over his head, screamed for about five to 10 seconds, and then left…

“It was gross,” he said.

http://www.ndonline.com/tribwebpage/news/may2001/52200185157.html

Mad Ostrich Disease?
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Ostriches are thought to be dying of mad cow disease in Germany.The birds have developed BSE type symptoms after being fed animal bonemeal, which is blamed for causing the disease in cows.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_284800.html?menu=news.latestheadlines

Old Lady Acts So Cute, She Almost Seems Human
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Mary Clark is sitting at a table in the commons area of the San Juan Living Center, chuckling contentedly as she reaches into a grease-stained wrapper and reveals the key to living to be 106 – french fries. Mary Rose Clark nibbles on a french fry, her favorite food. Her son, Jack, drives 45 minutes from Ouray to visit his 106-year-old mother and bring her fries at the San Juan Living Center in Montrose.
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E29867,00.html

I got my walkies in today, but only a soft-core attempt at my writing…too much work to do, too little time to focus. Virtually no time to read LJ I’m taking my book with me tomorrow on the walk, see if I can’t kill two birds with one stone.

It’s growing late, Chinese food on the way, and the window are open, allowing a lovely, humid but balmy breeze to blow through, bringing a light and cooling rain along for the ride.

I’ve not heard from my dear heart since this morning… I’d wager she’s partaking of a deep Nyquil-induced slumber, and I’ll join her in dreamland, shortly. You know, I love that girl more than I can say… there’s a writing idea in and of itself… express the undying desire and happiness I have, thanks to her being in my life. Yum. Lodged in my heart, I’m cradling the thought of her now, cherishing it. She is a wonderful woman.

G’nite, LJ!

I’m going to impact my hallux into the boss’s gluteus maximus, real soon now.

Well, my sweetie’s sick… send her anti-ick vibes, please ! 🙂

Also, congrats, Mateo & Family re: the new baby!! 🙂 Welcome, Josie!

The room is small …a studio apartment with one room, save for a miniscule bathroom, and an even more tiny closet. Real and simulated wood covers the walls, paneling that went out of style in the mid 1970’s sometime… tan window shades. Brown industrial short carpet on the floor, only the portals to elsewhere are colored differently; brushed metal aluminum leading to the outside and the ones painted white boxing off the earlier mentioned indoor spaces. Earthy colors abound, light brown and gold formica on the floor of the bathroom, a deep chocolate mini fridge and a mid-tone dresser. Even the tiny microwave oven has a wood-grain print on it…It is obvious that a man, possibly a student lives there, as none of the colors quite match and have made the place take on a feeling of a dormitory.

continued later –

We can’t use EMBED for anything in posts anymore?

Is there another way aside from embed to simple put a flash animation in *my* journal??

I guess from now on it’ll just be a link, that folks will have to click on to get to. 🙁 I’m disappointed in the html cleaner.

What’s next to go?

*kicks a can, and goes to take a shower & a walk.

Delight is going to the potty, having the cat on the towel-shelf purr at your arrival and then giving you a swabby-paw scalp massage as you’re seated.

“If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.”
— Guiseppi di Lampedusa

In one page, say everything important there is to say about the world. (If you had only one page to fill with everything vital, urgent and necessary that you know/feel/suspect, what would that page be? Of the world as you have experienced it, what is absolutely crucial to report?)

Write a story containing no living things.

Do a false expert piece, in which your narrator holds forth, incorrectly but with authority, on a subject of which you have little information.

Write a story with no use of metaphor, simile, or comparison. Attach no value or interpretation to any of your statements. Determine if there is a way to create meaning without naming it.

Describe a photograph (a frozen instant of time) and attempt to give it movement and tension. Don’t mention that it is a photograph, simply treat the photo as if it’s the fictional world you’re developing. Most importantly, don’t allow things to advance in time. Keep to a single moment.

Write 15 first sentences for potentially great stories.

Write a first person story from the perspective of someone entirely opposite from you. The idea here is to get out of yourself and empathise with a character foreign to you.

Write a story in a genre that you know nothing about, or that you don’t much like (mystery, romance, sci-fi, etc.)

Inhabit the perspective of someone that you despise, and try to write a convincing fiction.

Write a short story that covers a great deal of time (many years in the life of one person, or hundreds of years in the life of a town, etc.).

Tell one story from several different points of view. Every perspective of the same event has its own dramatic and narrative possibilities. Make a fiction that explores these possibilities.

http://www.theonion.com/onion3716/denominator_plummets.html

ok… that’s so brilliantly on target, it’s nearly true.

If you yelled continuously for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you will have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

trivia from emode.

found here – http://www.emode.com/career/

Scotto, you’re an Architect
For you, the world is like one giant puzzle, just waiting to be solved. In your undying quest for the truth, you’re best at finding solutions to complex problems. Lucky for all of us, though, you love to share your brilliant thoughts. Your keen analytical skills and understanding of others makes you a vital player in the think tank. You thrive on the collaborative problem-solving process, could trouble shoot for NASA, and won’t rest until the questions are answered. The world could use a few more like you.

Who’s like you:
Sigmund Freud

Likely careers:
Psychologist, lawyer, market researcher, military strategist, PR strategist

Your motivation rating: 5-7

You’re Balanced. You know how to juggle your personal and professional life, without getting too caught in the middle. You’re not married to you job, and your family and friends probably appreciate that fact. You put your best effort into succeeding at work without letting it take over your life.

Your leadership style rating: 1-4

You’re a Traditionalist. You take baby steps toward new ideas and prefer to follow the tried and true methods. You have a skeptical mind and know better than rushing into untested waters. Changes should be implemented slowly and carefully. Put in a position of leadership, you’re likely to take a cautious and democratic approach and make sure that everyone is satisfied.

Your conflict style rating: 8-10I disagree, but only to a point.

You’re an Aggressor. You’re the charging bull of the office arena, ready to make a fight out of any issue. You tend to say what’s on your mind, no matter what the circumstance. Although people tend to respect your forceful opinions, confrontation is not always the best path to problem solving. A little diplomacy goes a long way in office politics.

I’ve never really given Newt a middle name. The closest I’ve ever come is to give him a middle initial… J. (True cartoon tradition…as in Bullwinkle J Moose, Bartholomew J Simpson, etc.)

So it comes down to this… I’m looking to see what a popular middle name for ol’ Newtie might be. (Before, as sweetalyssm says, the other cats ask, and he doesn’t know what to say…we don’t want Newt laughed at!)

Well, my thought of going out with my brother today are dashed upon the rocks of the ft lauderdale airshow… so many people, so much traffic… by the time we could get together, it would be time to leave.

So, instead, I’m going to go see The Caveman’s Valentine.

And, if it’s not the thing, then I’ll hit Mummy 2, electric boogaloo.