Tag Archives: bhk

9194 – friday

Dinner with Cathy & Dave tonight… say goodbye to any saved points when I have a slice of birthday cake. (sans army men). We played a bit of apples ot apples afterward, with Larry winning the first round, I won the second.


Added image to “The Good Life” for photo Friday – me and Newt Snoozing. (#127 )


50 things I’ve done meme continues with item 34. I…

34.’helped to plan, plant and harvest a family garden for the first time last spring. I really thought a 10 x 12 foot patch wouldn’t produce more than a little vanity salad food, but we got a huge crop, especially of peppers, zucchini and cucumbers. My faves were the potatoes and zucchini.. oven baked goodness. BHK turned my lifelong disdain for zucchini into love with her baked veggies in soy flour, and covered in tomato sauce. Yum. Potatoes, I’ve always had a fondness for.


I guess I’m coming late to this info, but per springheel jack – “RIP Basic (ad-free) Accounts. Your current ‘basic’ accounts are supposedly grandfathered (until they decide otherwise), but no new ones can be created. Communities too.”


The 8th Icehouse Game Design Competition is underway, and any previously unpublished game that uses Looney Labs’ Icehouse pyramids can be submitted. The deadline for entry is June 20th. Whether or not you enter, you can participate in the judging process. Details at the link above.


Current day’s eats:

Breakfast –

two breakfast granola bars

snack –

unsweetened applesauce / pretzel sticks
diet coke

lunch –

veggie pocket pie
veggies and rice

dinner –

3 slices of medium cheese and veggie pizza
Birthday cake and ice cream!


1 year ago – kitty feeding, the host, no cable modem yet.

2 years ago – sleepy, newt playing and chitty chatting, palm doodle, wifi hotsync, safety ape, sex offenders, mulligrubs

3 years ago – hello tomorrow, Robots movie, found art pictures, alligator sounds/swamp witch, silly putty, pi day, IR webcam hack, free fonts, tallyhall, ashes scattered, polar bears, open records, memory meme

4 years ago – subpages broken, Shazam!, Dead Like Me, CS sucks as a tech, vamp game

5 years ago – walkabout pics, lovieness, got unreal server hopping

6 years ago – mush, Roman tub, dreams of owning a pet grooming store, insurance woes, and palm doodles

7 years ago – Happy b’day kundalinidreams (no longer ljing), Dkmfkmkglklkgbkvbkbv,looking for a job as demagogue…(I’ll still take it, if anyone’s wanting), happy unbirthday to me, uck!, edit this page (now dead),sop, a timeline of Scotto history,veggie lo mein, muppet trivia, and Rolf singing you and I and GeorgeGeotarget

9193 – Thursday.

50 things I’ve done meme continues with item 33. I…

33. I did not punch a doctor in the face yesterday, despite his smarmy, holier than thou attitude, poor consult practice, shit-eating grin and “you could beat me up just by sitting on me” comment. If I were a less in control sort of guy, I’d have ripped his spine out via his neck, reversed it, and shoved it back into him rectally.

Adrenaline-removed details below.

Dr. D really took quite a lot of wind from my sails yesterday regarding my back. I’m more than a little disappointed and dismayed, but I am happy that a fix is available, contrary to my prior concerns that I have no options.

The short form – I have gained back much of my former lost weight – I’m at 364 lbs. Pulse 82, BP 148 / 88 (far higher than my usual 120/80)

BMI is 42, according to my height vs weight, which is in the very [edit: morbidly] obese category – I obviously need to get back on the stick, health-wise. (some shortcomings of this reference)

His bedside manner was lacking in the extreme – said that I was in a lot of trouble, that my spine has some severe damage that needs to be repaired and the rub is I have too much mass to properly operate on me… he can’t get down past all of the tissue, (both fat and muscle) to take care of it.

I won’t go into his overly condescending talk about weight loss, but the bottom line is that he feels that he can’t work on me now… but he’d prefer that I come back to him in a year after I’ve lost about 100 lbs – then he thinks that he can repair the damage to my spine and fix the nerve short-circuit in my leg. Meanwhile, I’m going to have to suck it up, and just deal with the pain and numbness issues a bit longer… I don’t mind getting on a healthy diet and workout regimen.. it’s just a shame that his idea of finding a good one is “pick up a magazine” – rather than guiding me to a trainer and / or dietitian as I’d asked.

So, part of my journal is going to be recording and tracking my weight / workouts again – I’m going to resume my points-based WW program on the palmtop, and we’ll see if I can get myself into fighting trim at a reasonable and healthy rate.

I will continue to see that doctor until I find a better one – but meanwhile I’m just happy that there is a chance for repair in the future. I’m disappointed that I still haven’t gotten a cortisone shot, but there is a chance of one next visit to my general prac.

After much stress at the Doc’s, we swung by the local Games Workshop store (right across the street). It was odd to see a store devoted to just mini wargaming, specifically warhammer fantasy, warhamer 40k and lord of the rings miniatures. Apparently the Glen Burnie site is the USA headquarters for the Games Workshop with dozens tables of goodies set up for play. I was surprised to see the one in Annapolis hopping with people – mid-afternoon on a Wednesday… I’d figure everyone that would want to get in on it would be at work or school. I was impressed by the quality of the paint jobs on the armies… a lot of labor of love going on there. BHK and I both really dug the red and yellow lizard men.

We picked up a very late lunch at Lemongrass Too – it was excellent as usual. More tofu with peanut/curry vibe and spicy-sweet green beans.

We were going to check out Be Kind, Rewind – but it was too late. The only showings at the Bowtie were at 3:30 (missed it) and 9:30 (not on a school night!) – So, while we were in the plaza, BHK shoe shopped – she really liked the keen ones… Timberline, venturea, and malibu styles. note to self for future presents!

On our way out of Annapolis we did discovered the ATW man got gussied up for St. Patty’s Day (pictures to follow)… and he also has a myspace page ! Lots of pictures that I didn’t have of his past exploits – we went inside ATW and got a floor mat… the reciept mentions where to locate him on the web. I’ve added him as a friend, but he hasn’t reciprocated yet.

Dinner was boiled eggs, salad, and leftover veggie taco “meat”. good stuff, solid for the end of the day.


As for today – went to work, worked, got on the bus, headed home, wrote a long entry on the ol’ PDA.

BHK made some amazingly tasty split pea soup, with chick peas, carrots and cabbage. Lovely for St. Patty’s.

Point budget is 35, using the weight watchers points system. I still can’t abide weigh-ins and meetings, but the plan has worked for me in the past. Monitoring using the wwcalc program on the palm.

I’ll export the results here in the future.

I can bank a few points for the weekend, where I’m pretty sure I’ll go over when we dine out.

Misc health info –

10 minute brisk walk to the bus, light level. not worth any points, really.
10 cups water – just healthy.

Researched utility of using company gym during lunch – distinct possibility. 3 bikes, a treadmill and some free weights that might do the trick.
Bring gym clothes, allot 20 min for lunch, 20 for workout, 20 for changing/shower.


1 year ago – wrongly accused have to pay back rent for jail time

2 years ago – sunday walkies, path and pics

3 years ago – calle ocho, aroo, writing, chronic, tulips, mummified head of Mata Hari,Idahos mugshots, Girl Scout cookies remind me of Katt and Wendy, Monkeyhot or not, fonts, cool tools, Yu-Gi-Oh! suicide

4 years ago – CoH, Batroc, Bro, uncles, crazy yarn, comic styles, DP reboot (dang Byrne), dance cyclopedia, people as mexican food (metaphor)

5 years ago – Nordis = el sucko, LAN setup, Bellsouth, Lovely gifits from Dani, palm update

6 years ago – Applelard’s BDAY!, the moon, cadbury craving, dead website linkies,bilhicks, hairball poll, skijump, silly supers, network names

7 years ago – sweet dreams, evil news, why blowing up buddha isn’t so badGeotarget

9191 – tuesday

Watched the last two episodes of Alien in America while BHK snoozed on my arm last night – pretty good.

BHK got some nerds jelly beans (sold as “giant chewy nerds”) when we went to Aardvark last weekend.

The Orange were my Fave, Green were hers. (as is our usual) The crunch really added something – I liked them a lot more than standard jellybean fare, even though I like jelly belly soda-pop flavors quite a bit, too.


On the C7 bus this morning, we passed another bus (R3) with the front banner flashing “call 911 – emergency, call police” on the front. I alerted my driver, and she said that it’s a common accident – the other guy likely pressed the alarm button by accident and doesn’t know better. I suggested that she call the station just to be sure, and she stated that it wouldn’t be needed… someone else is bound to do it.

That puzzled me… what if the guy were in actual trouble? I got off the bus and contacted to police to let them know… they haven’t called me back. I wonder if they’re even following up on it?

I figure it’s better be safe than sorry… If I see a sign that says “HELP!!”, I’m going to act on it – especially if it’s as simple as dialing 3 numbers on my phone.


Fancast – free streaming TV, full episodes (or just a clip )


BHK came up to the office and joined me for a secret lunchtime nosh in the parking lot… nom nom nom. I love seeing her, and a visit in the middle of the day was wonderful.


Pesky that I’m a little behind on my “book bingo” – I keep reading authors whose name end in B, W, or S! Bradbury, Wilder and Stewart aren’t helping!


50 things I’ve done (or, the meme that would not die… ) meme continues with item 31. I…

31.’have been hit in the face with a pool cue… got me in the jaw. It was pretty unexpected – I wasn’t doing much of anything, except putting my face where a guy was swinging on someone else. This was when I was 24.

32.’shot 3 day old dunkin’ donut munchkins from a wrist rocket slingshot at people, and connected at 20 yards. It stings! That’s a powdered sugar version of paintball. Plus, if you’re hungry, you can eat your ammo. (Preferably soaked in milk first to soften them up.) This was when I was 15.


1 year ago – D&G off to NY, emergency prep meeting, potato candy, missed 300 with lj folks, birdwatching, everything test

2 years ago – quizzes, secret ritual skeletons, crapulous, neverwinter nights

3 years ago – Open house follow up, pacific northwest tree octopus, lj badge, credit card scam, lois lane’s mustache

4 years ago – walk piccies (sudsy fount), CS bombed as a tech, zombies, condos, legal poop, broken website

5 years ago – Newt in a tub, wandering walk photos

6 years ago – I’m Newt’s bfast table, at the doc, parrots & cuban food, Asimov died of AIDS, Dave’s birthday on the 14th, spiders, squids,Stichomancy, and a little zen, death to smoochy, gypsies

7 years ago – good day, accomplished much, new phone, akimbo, Super Newt, fun words, random plotsGeotarget

9190 – monday

Forgot to note the Transformer we saw at Mexico last night-

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Full size shows the Autobot logo, and stenciled “interceptor”

Somebody remind me to take the camera proper when I go out!


BHK made some awesome veggie pocket-pies and a sort of paella with rice, veg broth, broccoli, green pepper, peas and a smidge of garlic and onion powder… brand new, and tasted great!


50 things I’ve done (or, the meme that would not die… ) meme continues with item 30. I…

30.’ had surgery for my back a couple of times now – the first was over a decade ago when I was working for the library – the next was in October 2003 to deal with scar tissue built up from the first, and deal with other issues. Depending on what happens on wednesday, I may be getting another operation…. I’d like to hope that a simple shot of muscle relaxer will do, but I’m feeling that this is a serious issue, unfortunately.


1 year ago – bhk takes a pic of Newt and I snoozin’

2 years ago – bday via eryx, monkeys and kitties, compusa fails me, quizzes, morrisey vs van halen

3 years ago – apheresis skip, cocktail party, banana man snippet, netflix queue,Ultima 4 Virtue Quiz, system tweaking, ethiopian skellie, dr. who shipping, health and family review, Broward slots, SCI

4 years ago – food, gator bus ride, Voting, business cards, spammed again, MONKEY POPS!

5 years ago – prepared to pee in a cup for TAG, after Nordis tried to toss mysalad… Painted minis in the haunted tunnel… Rockford Scientist

6 years ago – bro came by apt, multi-journal quiz, fear vs love, Fire and Ice, Pliny the Younger

7 years ago – brad Mentions adding a photo server and chat to live journal…. speed hasn’t been a real priority on that dev. Meat-eating robots, top atrocities… and the return of a heroGeotarget

9189 – sun

Turned the clocks and we stayed in bed pretty late. We finally got up and at ’em at about noon.. er, 1pm.

I neglected to mention our trip to the B.I.G. book sale after shots yesterday… one giant blue ikea bag’s worth of books for $30. BHK got a ton of cookbooks, Edith Wharton, and some Ursula LeGuin – about 17 or so – I got a time-life book for Larry (with the “look and feel” of real hand-tooled leather!) on railroading, and picked myself up a few things, too (about 15 books) – Including Gene Wilder’s Autobiography, John Stewart’s Naked Pictures of Famous People (already read… it’s no Cruel Shoes. Additionally, I snagged a bunch of random stuff – Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett ,(fun to see the Baltimore side of classic pulp fiction) a ton of other pulps and misc sci fi/ fantasy. Biggest weakness of being such a book magpie is our lack of shelving (see left side of image in newtcam ). BHK will be grabbing some more shelves for us later this week, I think.

I think we made out AOK there! – Thanks to BHK for reminding me of probably the best part of yesterday!

Anyhow, as far as sunday goes – We rose late, grabbed a sammich or two for the road – BHK, the love cube and I all rolled comfortably to points south. First stop was Aarvarks.. sadly, my schedule was off, and none of my books had arrived yet. I hope my Jonah Hex Showcase is there next time! They still have a ton of treehouse and fluxx… and I realised we *still* are late about sending off eryx’s loot. at this rate, it’ll be easter before he gets a christmas treat!

Instead of normal fare, we got the new Tank Girl Compilation and Gloom Cookie – Tank girl is looking pretty good these days.. she’s weathered the movie well. I’ll probably pick one up to give to ol’ danny for next time.

Post Aardvark, we swung by McD’s for a shamrock shake. It’s a tradition! The taste was good, though the mint was subtle… the shake itself was a fine neon green.

From last year – still the same – I wonder if we’ll see my rainy-day chicken stalker this year? I sort of hope so.

Shamrock shake!

Nicely dosed on dairy, mint and dye – it was time to sally forth to the wal-mart. Obtained much-needed undershirts, and not so needed, but still cool dinosaur and robot easter eggs… pictures to follow. Surprisingly, BHK didn’t want the girly-girl eggs. Also snagged into the wild for larry.. the kids parents live nearby, interesting to see someone you know represented in movie form.

Closed the day with a trip to Mexico to visit with Tina M and Matt O… Tina was a little quiet, but we all chitty chatted about misc stuff – mostly food and travel.


1 year ago – David and Gill visit, movies and feed.

2 years ago – New brain arrives, peel, crack sellin’, swing on a star

3 years ago – banana man, dindin with mom, hollow men, voted, did a good deed, renewed domain until 3/11/2008

4 years ago – cool snail mail, Best commentary on “the Passion”, star trek on ice, Spalding Gray found, lj spam, SOP

5 years ago – Laundry w/bro, flaming justice, birds with arms, hulk dance

6 years ago – Who are you quiz, seven wonders, breakfast for dinner, Bfast poll

7 years ago – declaration of love, celeb pet names, payday, tmbg, yeti-scottoGeotarget

9188 – sat

Up and at ’em – Sat visit to the allergist, and then we drove on to Richie’s to meet the in-laws for some wandering.

Arranged to get my referral for the back doc on Wednesday – I have to call back monday morning to make sure it’s all in order.

Finished our puzzle.. I’d say 8 hours total form start to finish. we had 1000 pieces all right, but one of parts was missing, and one was doubled!

d’oh! ah well.. it was fun assembling it, anyhow.

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richie’s grill – bar side is open until 2am, now… midnight not late enough! When BHK and I arrived at 12:30, it was dead – no lunch crowd besides us. By the time the in-laws made it (about 1), a few more people had wandered in, but for a saturday, I’m sure the waitresses were hungry for tips.

 

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Oysters… we did a sneak peak at the Chesapeake bay foundation.

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More Oysters! For building an artificial reef and bringing some health back to the bay.

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Freaky Beetlejuice house.. oddball sculptures and columns in the wrong locations… full size shows more, but needs a full photo shoot.

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weird fence – full view doesn’t do it justice – I’m going back with a real camera next time.


1 year ago – wanted to see 300. (That’ll teach me.), elf defense for undies thief

2 years ago – jojo, fib answers, garfield minus voice balloons, coral springs walkabout,

3 years ago – Millennium Spheres, new dr who, dice quiz, Earth2/We3, Jack benny, Donner party, Karma?, bittorrent

4 years ago – motorcycle Chernobyl tour, led mug, jk to revise hp, dan tech slips, bluto song, haiku

5 years ago – palm pics travel, WWII thoughts, site down

6 years ago – Newtosill, Daffy duck, Morning here, dreams, poem tag, bubblegum alley, cute animals

7 years ago – The bed, Cool old comic books, disclaimer, OJGeotarget

9185 – Thursday –

Last night, we decided to try out a place that just opened up – Bilvil. It wasn’t what I was expecting – the subname is "A Beachfront Cafe".. I somehow expected more coffee and casual fare.

Oddball hours, closed on Tuesday… from the outside, the place looks clean, fresh and new! I look forward to taking the wife there tonight… when it’s open!

We returned the following night, Wednesday.

The setting was nice, if a little noisy…. estimate that the place was about 1/2 to 2/3 full at 25 people sitting.

There’s a limited menu right now – they opened right at the top of March 2008. Two weeks in, and the dust is pretty well settled, though.

The roasted beet salad with feta cheese and walnuts was tasty (My wife’s favorite part of the meal!), as was the citrus salad, made with oranges, grapefruit, watercress, broccoli, cauliflower and mustard dressing.

The main course for my wife was the pork loin and beans/greens combo… maybe a bit over-savory. my Crab cake was really fantastic, however – it was a good size and the fried potatoes and broccoli went well with it.

The dessert left a little bit to be desired. choice of three when we went – carrot cake, crustless cheesecake and chocolate mousse.

we both went for the carrot cake – no raisins… but maybe no flour, either. It has a nice taste, and was dense… with an a rubbery / fleshy texture.

There was nice wine list, and a fair selection of beer.

Our cost was about $80 for the two of us, there’s a way to combine three items (in our case, salad, main course, and dessert) for a set cost of about $32 each, before drinks.

I think that they’ll be a place worth hitting regularly, if the price comes down a bit, and the menu expands some… for now, it’s off to a nice start, and I look forward to seeing it grow.


Sometimes, I see a flicker in my vision in front of me – where I’m walking, and I wonder if it’s a future image of myself passing that spot. I wonder if I’d feel the same way if I saw the flicker behind me… would I think that light reflecting off my jacket was just slow to catch up?


I’m really getting into playing loco roco in the mornings… levels are short enough to do on the bus… and I think my newest unlock (the black one with the little tooth buds, lower right ) has some awesome music and reminds me a bit of pyewacket. I do my journal writing on the ride home, generally, unless I really want to polish off a round. Themini-games aren’t bad, but the meat is the primary puzzles. However, now I’m near a net-hotspot, and the PSP has streaming radio these days, a journaling I shall go. (see also)


Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta are now claiming to have identified and located the speech center of the chimpanzee brain. Lead by Jared Taglialatela, the team used a PET scan to image activity in the brains of three chimps after doing two tasks. In one, the chimps asked for food by making grunts and other noises. In another they passed rocks out of their cages in exchange for food. The former activity lit up a specific area of the chimp’s brains that the latter did not.

So what does this all mean? Simply put, it means that as soon as some scientist decides to experiment with aiming a gamma ray cannon at that hemisphere of a chimpanzee’s brain, we’re only a few thousand years away — max — of Charlton Heston screaming "It was Earth all along!" in front of the ruined fragments of Statue of Liberty. Great. Thanks again, science.

What Separates You From Chimps [Live Science]


50 things I’ve done meme continues tomorrow with 27.

Instead, a quickie – answer in 3 words –

1. Where is your cell phone?

on my belt

2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend?:
is my wife

Continue reading 9185 – Thursday –

9184 – Wednesday

BHK’s taco salad din din last night was awesome, in taste, health, and the ability to produce flatus. Veggie meat, two kinds of beans, and certain garilicy veggies are just asking for a bit of methane production. The yummy factor was the biggest win, however.

Tonight, we’re headed to Bilvil the Beachfront Cafe for supper – review to follow tomorrow!


Looks like Clinton is still in the race after Texas and Ohio. Ah well, at least this will give Chris and I something to debate about some more on the road to work. I get sort of stuck with Obama, mostly because he’s the other contender for the Dems.


Happy 75th Birthday, Doc Savage !


50 things I’ve done meme continues – 21-26 I ran out of time! Will continue until I hit 50 if I can as the week progresses. – I …

21.’was part of a team that coded a geopositioning system to help find missing kids. Basically, find a point on a map, call everyone within a certain distance on the map with a pre-recorded message alerting folks to be on the lookout. In addition to finding missing people, it has been used cross-country for evacuations, fire alerts, boil water, and other trouble items. Sadly, the same type of software has been put to more commercial use by telemarketing campaigns including politicians and localized ads. Biggest issue – the calls tend to originate from a VOIP or difficult to track location, so you have trouble contacting them to be put on the do not call list… unless the message you get includes a contact number. I guess any tool can be an offensive weapon in the wrong hands. I use hammers to build things, not to cave in skulls… I promise!

22.’made the final leap to become a lacto-ovo vegetarian in 1990. Last hot dog was on 7/4/90… tried being vegan for a year, and didn’t like it. Sorry Milk, Eggs and Cheese… you get eaten. I sometimes lapse on things that have more than 4 legs, or less than 2. (Conch, Clam, Crab, etc.) Despite my diet, I still am of considerable size, both height and circumference. I am taller than I am around by a reasonable facor… I’m not a sphere.

23.’have been homeless for approximately a month, living on the beach in South Florida. It’s not fun, it’s not like camping, and I don’t care to repeat it ever again. I can’t imagine it in winter up north. If I ever meet that kid (last link in my entry here ) that said it’s just a question of attitude, I just might be prompted to introduce him to what that sort of fear, depression and hopelessness feels like.

24.’saw my brother sink from happy, healthy and smiling guy to a conniving, manipulative, strung-out and sick junkie.

25.’submitted myself for product testing when money issues were especially tight. Toothpaste was worth $20, use for a month and get paid after a tooth check. I got in on a big study – It was a pretty sweet deal at the time. Given an asprin, put in a sensory dep tank a few times a day, have blood drawn each time you come out. I got $1700 for it, a month’s worth of food and board, and electricity to play on my Atari ST during the downtime. The downside was that I was confined to the grounds for a month and very few of my friends at the time came by to visit. I could call out and say hello, but seldom did anyone call me…. which caused me to review my friendship with those people quite a bit at the time. I shared a room with another study member, but he left a day into the testing because his son passed away. I still feel bad for my first mental response – “I get my own room! Right on!” The biggest problem wit hHazelton was that it was frequently confused with hazelden, a drug rehab center.

26.’told a ghost story to my brother about a monster in the basement that was so convinicng, neither of us ever went down there again without an adult escort. I was about 7, my bro was half that. I was glad when we moved out of that house. Sadly, the story isn’t really that scary to an adult… or that original. I suspect I saw that Dr. Who with the crawling pentacle hand – “ELDRAD MUST LIVE!” Side note, I had a little-kid (non-sexual) crush on Sarah Jane Smith for quite a span. I wanted her as a babysitter more than my actual one.

so, only 24 more to go? ack!


The company that made “Airborne,” — a supposed remedy for colds — have settled a lawsuit brought by customers who were upset to learn that the “clinical trials” that proved that it worked were faked.


1 year ago – interviewed at calvert, flew kites

2 year ago – animated newtcam archive, bhk chat, bat-folk, Friday 5, tmbg

3 years ago – scottobear.com renew, trip to deerfield, free fonts, chat crash w/bhk,gp puts me on to spidey bible, what? WhaT?, H2GT2G, Chimp attack, giantsteps

4 years ago – blogspam treatment, work, serial adder, 7-eared kitty, clown sweater, Ephemera, visited bro

5 years ago – book meme, palm doodles, picture issues

6 years ago – mopey, bro helping out, Dick Hymen – Master of Jazz Piano, super tugboat, Newton’s name, pet name poll, magic ingredients

7 years ago – Perseus tools, loved ones sick, flying monkeys, The 30 Least-Quoted Lines from Shakespeare, nosepilot, 5k compGeotarget

9183 – Tuesday, we march forth!

Recently bumped (virtually, via facebook) into Ellen from my days at the library – She and Teresa are the only remaining members of the old guard that I remember. I know what happened to Brent, but I wonder where Bill, Charlotte, Joy, Joyce, Jane and the gang are now… heck, I’d even be curious to know what Farace was up to these days.


Gary Gygax, R.I.P. – thanks for getting the ball rolling on the hobby.

My first thought is of him on Futurama…. “Greetings! It’s a (rolls 20-sided die… pause) pleasure to meet you!” and signing his EGG initials into one of the crashed vegepygmy spaceship levels from Expedition to the Barrier peaks.

Oddly enough, the Library above is where I first met most of my fellow D&D players as a community – before that, Kevin Cummins and I sort of played the blue paperback version at Unity School… (7th grade)


To counter the bad news with awesomeness, Mountain Wingsuit! Wile E. Coyote meets a Flying Squirrel outfit that seems to work. Holy Moley.


I blame BHK for the Avril Levine song going through my head. “Hey Hey, You You, I don’t like your girlfriend”. AIEEGHaba! I fear I may have to consult the big book of earworms to counter this. I forgot that she wanted to buy Pye a bunny-head hat for easter. Ol’ Pye dodged a bullet on that one, but can BHK resist the allure of kitty wigs ?


50 things I’ve done, continued from yesterday. 11-20.

11.’worked as a roofer in South Florida, in August – probably the most physically demanding job I’ve ever done, or ever will. Tar, mops, gravel, sun, drunken coworkers = some sort of Zenny Hell. I liked it for a while, and then pretty much burned out on it. Fortunately, I got an indoor, air-conditioned gig surrounded by books shortly after.

12.’Used to play in the band in jr. high and high school. Baritone / Sousaphone / Tuba were the primaries, though Alto Sax was there for a short period. I’m very slowly but surely picking up the electric bass, and look forward to getting into the stand-up bass, and going from there to a 6-string. I can read music, and should brush up on my recorder skills, too… a lot more portable than the guitar. Maybe the Ukulele will be a happy medium.

13.’Once scarred my leg as a result of swinging a trash bag in a circle while singing the theme song to the Godzilla cartoon. There was a glass bottle in the trash, and it smacked the ground, shattering as I swing it… it swooped back around and gouged a healthy gash in my shin.

14.’was wrestling with my younger brother after shooting at squirrels with bb guns, and rolled with him off of the roof our house in Boynton. I’m more ashamed of shooting at the squirrels than I am of flinging myself and him bodily into the void, only to come crashing down.

15.’has written and submitted (without an agent) 15 stories of varying lengths to assorted magazines and book companies. I fear that many are doomed to the slush pile forever…. despite this, I have been published in a few different paper-based publications thanks to my livejournal (popular science) and unknown armies 2nd edition,(for flavor text). I keep saying that I want to sit down and get back into actually writing some more, but finding that hour a day just isn’t there…. it’s much simpler to babble in a journal entry while on the bus than it is to write solid text, even if it’s just foolish fluff stuff.

16.’was once so soundly asleep that my charges couldn’t wake me up once the parents got home….I was out cold until daylight the next day. I still don’t know why they didn’t call my parents, but instead chose to have me just sleep over. If you couldn’t wake me up, I’d say call a doctor. I never sat for Abra and Tracy again. I was 13 or so.

17.’has seen a UFO, in the truest sense of the word… Just some unknown item flying overhead. I doubt seriously that it was anything extra-terrestrial. A red, slow-moving, cigar shaped cloud, sundog or balloon, maybe.

18.’lived on dry cap’n crunch and water for 3-4 days after Hurricane Wilma… Newton had more palatable food than me! No power for A/c, fridge or light for more than a few days.

19.’called the cops on a guy who was getting beaten up by two other fellows – turned out he was a drug dealer who burned them on a transaction. None of them were arrested. See Frankie the Mooch for a timeline of my encounters with him.

20.’was evacuated by a SWAT team with Newton from apartment, because landlord was despondent over the loss of his nose… was threatening gunfire to himself and others.

I’m beginning to wonder if I can make it to 50 items.


1 year ago – more photos of my new environs. boardwalk, barns, bay, decapitated gnomes and sundry other stuff, dog day at the fire dept, assassination vacation

2 years ago – rs drops to part time, spoofcard, condo issues, newtcam time lapse, spore,

3 years ago – pomade, numbers, lumbee talk going strong, rat flies a f-22, ifbot, secutiry, scotto pic, zombie quiz, miami bridge, New York Public Library Digital Gallery , hurley episode of lost, mile markers

4 years ago – stress, bro, god wishes, font music, audio books, tofu “chicken parm”, he-man, owie-back

5 years ago – stupidity genetic?, pulp-it, sick folks, history of eating utensils, tree like, riblets are great

6 years ago – fiddled with tulpa, dream, oxycontin, naproxen, oxycodone, Domesday

7 years ago – CJ & Herman story 2, dangers of reading in bed, AOK2Geotarget

9079 – monday

Monday monday – back to work! Not much to post about… general purpose day, but BHK picked me up afterward. We met Chris and Larry at Lemongrass – Larry wasn’t gaga over it, but the rest of us enjoyed the feed. We parted company soon after – BHK and I hit the store and got the boys a new water fountain and a toy or two. I barely fended off BHK’s request for goldfish and crabs and hammies and gerbils and kitties.

ATW man has varied a little from his valentines outfit.. now he has a red wig on, no heart shaped box of candy, and the rose still clenched betwixt his teeth.

If anything, he looks a bit like a grateful dead album cover at the moment. hard to get good detail with the camera phone and a back light, but bigger gets a bit more.

0303082047.jpg 0303082047a.jpg


Taking a hint from edbook, six years ago (friends only link) –

50 things I’ve done in my life: (I’ll do it 10 at a time each weekday, I think, due to time constraints.)

1. ‘was run over by a car while riding a motor scooter – snapped my collarbone. If the front wheel had been 6 inches to the left, I’d be dead.. 2 feet and I’d have been fine. The car never stopped to check on me, it just kept going. I didn’t know it was broken at first, until I called GP on the phone and he advised that I flex my arm. After I unblacked out a moment later on the floor, I went to the hospital. Only bone of mine that broke… unless you count teeth.

2. ‘have been every male part of a wedding ceremony, short of the priest. (ring bearer, usher, best man, groom). In that order. Will I be ordained enough to do the last one someday?

3. ‘saw at the very least five different kinds of consensual crime performed in under an hour… my last night as a bouncer. The pay was good, but not worth going to jail for… even if nobody there was complaining.

4. ‘met my wife thanks to the internet,  livejournal, and an ex-girlfriend.

5. ‘got a scholarship to clown college, but opted for computer science… more lucrative, and I don’t do well with sawdust-based environments.

6. ‘is allergic to cats, but happily fostered and then adopted Newton-kitty when he was 3 weeks old – bottle and rag fed him every 4 hours when he was still in the nursing stage. I now live with 2 cats and don’t show allergies much around them, but other animals will give me red eyes and sneezles, until I adapt to ’em.

7. ‘worked for an organization that helped to search for missing children. I think that my heart was in the right place, but I’m glad to have moved on. It can be heartbreaking to hear about a kid that didn’t make it, or to see petty behavior on the part of an org or the police result in stupidity that could potentially cost a kids life. Plus, I don’t like being rattled every time the cell phone rings… now when the phone vibrates, the worst thing is a downed server or a weather issue. It’s taken me about a year to get out of fireman-alert / stress mode every time the phone rings. I do feel that the national center is the best place to turn to when a child is missing.

8.’worked in a library through most of college and high school – during hurricane Andrew. Got to reshelve and relocate books while wearing a miners lamp on my head under rows of black plastic tarps… no power, no lights or AC. Until discovering them underfoot in the stacks, I had no idea scorpions lived in South Florida. Also, people bring porno to “read” in the rear stacks… ick.

9.’was also in the civil air patrol during Andrew, and got to see how destroyed homestead got… I had a huge amount of pity for the folks in NOLA that I might not have if I didn’t see areas of just rubble and water where homes used to be. We got to round up food and water for people out there… it’s what I imagine it to be like in an area struck by war.

10.’has offered spiritual advice to people, even though I have no idea what, if anything, is beyond the veil of what we can see. I’ve helped people through crises of faith and to find a common ground where elements can be conflicted even though I haven’t the foggiest about my own faith… and I’m ok with that. I don’t know if that makes me a hypocrite or what.


So, Tron 2, the movie in 2011? I’ve got to wonder about that one. Will I see it? Yes, if it’s going to be in 3-D. 3-D makes everything at least a little bit awesome. I’m sure that BHK will want to fo see national Treasure 3… and I’ll be fore it, if it’s in 3-D, too… but no word on that.


The son’s tooth helps to save dad’s sight

Rob McNichol’s son — also called Rob — didn’t think twice when the chance arose to help his dad to see again by giving him a canine tooth.

Father-of-eight Mr McNichol snr (57) was blinded in a work-place accident, when liquid aluminium exploded in his face in November 2005.

But he can now see again after doctors, using groundbreaking surgery, inserted his son’s tooth in his eye.

The surgery, Osteo Odonto Kerato Prosthesis (OOKP), involved fitting a living canine tooth with an optical cylinder and transplanting it into the eye cavity

The surgery, which costs an estimated €40,000, is believed to be the first of its kind to be carried out on an Irish resident.

Pioneered in Italy in the 1960s, Osteo Odonto Kerato Prosthesis (OOKP) surgery is carried out on patients for whom conventional corneal transplants will not work. It entails replacing a damaged cornea with a live tooth root and attached optical cylinder


John McCain apologized for a supporter’s use of Barack Obama’s middle name. And rightly so. Only his mother should use his middle name, and then only when he’s done something really naughty.


1 year ago – Sunny day sends our snowman away, pictures, star fleet battles revamp (I never did buy it), I touch witch’s rock in leonardtown- pic, also witch’s other stuff (trash can, tree, flagpole, picnic table, and ash tray), veteran memorial, google traffic, dating persona

2 years ago – router dies, kids tp, tree-hugging, get human database, my blue heaven,

3 years ago – power out, mark lenard, color wwi pics, free stock photos, 20 ways to say no, knife, razors and laws, vonnegut on writing, newt pictures and doodles, cravings, costume changes, handy freeware

4 years ago – pondering public entries, nice gab with the Cs, ADP sucks again, Zombie Recipe, Cat w/hands, gov overrides names

5 years ago – 03/03/03, MRE, rudimentary lj search engine

6 years ago – fake trading floor, Olive Garden screed, Hsien-Yu Pi-Jen

7 years ago – Owls in Myth & Culture, 3-d fax printing, DogenGeotarget

9078 – sunday

Blueberry Pancakes for breakfast! A good sized crew was here earlier, David, Larry, Chris, BHK and I all scarfed down tasty flapjacks… Before that David and I played a little lego star wars on the Wii while BHK prepped in the kitchen.

After Breakfast, BHK busted out the a sailing ships and seafaring puzzle, to work on while David and I finished out game… after he headed out, Larry and Chris high-tailed it… so BHK and I were left with about 994 pieces of the 1000 bit puzzle to put together.

I took a little break midday to rest my back, as it was still pretty sore, but got up at about 4 to have some late snacks (too late for a full blown lunch), and watched the soup, some eddie izzard, and we went back to the ol’ puzzle. More Izzard in the background while we sorted pieces and just had some nice family time.

I’d say we got about 90% of the puzzle done before I started to really ache again… we rested in the living room and caught up with a little more tv, and now it’s time for bed. Hot showers and heating pads seem to help the most. Larry and Chris never came by to have supper with us, but Larry did drop off leftover chinese food… BHK did Beans and rice, while I had tofu and broccoli.


1 year ago – we first meet Tigger (I thought she was a he), happy in NB, eclipse, running bear & white dove

2 years ago – Newt Checkup, 2nd life, Lent, Demonic tots, RPG cliches, poor lunches, schizo-art

3 years ago – netflix, avdp trimming, ann nortons, superhero motivationals,euro-seekers, I scream-you scream, new term, disney fonts, viva browardpix, florida school study, poor applicants

4 years ago – Newt-clipso, ADP did poorly her first night, Spiders dine on their master, Gators, lj-spam

5 years ago – Newt Better, pc virus, pioneer 10, Balloon v1.0, lotr quizzes, cool motorcycle helmets

6 years agoNewt at the vet pics, shadow govt, my first panorama, stikfas

7 years ago – CJ adventure (filtered for submissions), up late, newt checkupGeotarget

9077 – Saturday

March Begins! David spent Friday night at his pal in DC’s place, but returned to us this morning… after my shots, we headed out to the Museum of Visionary art w/ BHK and David, and then to Edgar Allan Poe‘s burial site (and his 13 year old at wedding-time cousin-wife ) at Westminster (little known factoid, BHK was the tour guide to the Poe site, and has keys to the crypt there.)

Most of what was done and seen can be expressed in photos… sadly, you’re not supposed to take pics inside. ( I did sneak one with the camera phone , however.) clicking on items below will go to larger images. No ghosts captured at the graveyard, but I had fun doing some more stitching.

My favorite bit was probably the giant bird, nest and mirrored egg outside the museum. The egg glittered like an 8 foot tall disco ball in the setting sun.

To be honest, the interfaith art exhibit didn’t do a lot for me… I was more interested in the permanent items, including the kinetic sculptures art cars, and painted screens.

Guy in the green hoodie is David, BHK’s cousin – I think he had a nice time with us. BHK managed to dodge my best efforts at capturing her candidly.

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We caught up with Larry and Chris after sundown – stopped off at cheeburger cheeburger for frings and shakes! My back was tricking up, so I begged off the jam session- hitting the sack with a heating pad early tonight.


1 year ago – newt and pye’s distant relative – Kiddo – the transatlantic airship kitty, GP, tina, gaming, and 2003, transfusion song

2 years ago – memes & links, dino pic, windows live pigs in space mefi, hop sing, haha ray

3 years agotorn mime video awesome, zombie-like news story, book, idiopathic, Japanese Macaque, choicepoint data theft, duckie bath, yahoo video, kaleidoscope, mapper of doom, viva broward pictures

4 years ago – Blueberry Doughnuts, Meme, Factoid and so on

5 years ago – Dorky-Newt explanation, Vet Visit, AI 20 questions, TV schedule

6 years ago – Evil proggy struggle, baby critters, folks getting fired over weblogs, palm piccies

7 years agowhy wiccans suckGeotarget

9075 – Friday! Leap Day!

Not much able to update – it’s cold here at the bus stop… frozen hands, or punching the phone with robot-gloved fingers? Neither work very well, but thank goodness for spell check!

Theme to Quincy in my head this evening. (mp3 )

DANG IS IT COLD!!

Random Scotto factoid – I remember my first rated R movie – Alien… but I’m not sure if I properly remember the first movie that I ever saw in the theater. Herbie Rides again (my first movie was a sequel?) Benji, Maybe? I’d have been 4 or 5.

[later edit – BHK got a cutie-pie bob! and asked me to marry her (though we already are) sadie hawkins style!]



Ten year old obit that never gets old –

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week.

Larry LaPrise, the man that wrote “The Hokey Pokey” died peacefully at the age of 83.

The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin.

They put his left leg in.

And then the trouble started.


Google docs changed the layout slightly – I like the new bar across the top.

Speaking of google docs – my ongoing author bingo card from the library… I’m off to a good start. When we hit 25


Not much in history, today, given the leap!

Leap Year, 2004 – art, buttons, beach erosion, dreams, and bro update

9074 – Thursday

Chinese food tonight! Yum, and Hooray!

BHK and David went to the thrift store today – brought home some treasures :

She got me a comic book of Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham‘s first appearance in Marvel Tales (Tails). I actually dug Steve Mellor’s art in Goose Rider and the cover even more than the main story.

A black embroidered shirt, and a yellow sweatshirt, both in excellent condition.

Also picked up a pretty broad assortment of books – to be cataloged later.

Also, squid shake.

Cancel that.

After Din-din, we jammed a bit – David on acoustic guitar, Larry on mandolin, and me on the bass. It was fun, but I was full of food and very sleepy, so we cut it pretty short.


The DORmino concept uses an oversized mousepad to soak up the bleedout warmth of a laptop, which embedded electronics convert and transmit to power a wireless mouse. No need to recharge, no dead batteries to pollute the environment.

I need something like that to charge my electronics, based on the warmth I throw off… If I can knock out a baby or a small animal with my temperature, surely the therms could keep my blackberry and digicam juiced up for when I want to use em! How handy would that be for other stuff… a trickle charger in the sofa to keep the remote powered!

I’m just saying.


Looks like the one over-enthusiastic and socially frustrated gamer-type on the icehouse mail list is taking an indefinite leave of absence. I wonder what it’ll be like with a better signal-to-noise ratio ? Half the reason I lost interest in pyramid games and participation on the list was due to that guy… maybe the group will get back into friendly design mode rather than debates about wiki formatting and award shows.


Note to self – make a ghost statue.


Pretty keen – Microwave glucose sensor.

For diabetics, the daily routine of pricking their finger to check blood-sugar levels can be an annoying and inconvenient task. But now, a Baylor University researcher has developed an electromagnetic sensor that could provide diabetics a noninvasive alternative to reading their blood glucose levels, and new research shows the sensor works and is effective.


Today’s search engine hits of my journal – someone really wants to see bunnies melt!

melting bunny
chocolate haas
melting bunnies
melting rabbit
armored polar bear
melting chocolate pictures
quiz meme
calvert county and motorcycle shop train
louis octopus potato head
armored polar bears
mistletoe dung on a twig
bubbles3563
compliments for a lady
scotto grotto
chocolate hass
weather on February 28, 2008, washington
sunday souse scotto
sander plug
“pomonkey indians”
melting chocolate bunny
sweeney todd hoody
melting chocolate photos
pictures of melting chocolate
pomonkey indians
melting chocolate rabbit
haas melt
two such as you with such a master speed
cbsrmt
fluffy cat
where will spy satellite passably come d
cathy s scotto
black fluffy cat
stephen jacoby
larry newton
crabs for christmas mp3
“dicecapades”
armored bear
pyewacket
grotto in maryland pictures
lj scotto
melting bunnys
octopus+mr.potato head+video
chocolate rabbit melt video
potato head birthday cake
prank bots
xenobiology pictures
bird dung good luck
aardvark videos calvert county
joe carnival shoes
pictures of chocolate melt

and on my website as a whole –

hero machine
melons
freaky
heromachine
mothra
newtcam
freaky pictures
boners
shrieker
listerine
scotto
death note oekaki
humility
jetpacks
scottobear.com/toybox/hmach10/heromachine.html
yoruichi
bleach yoruichi
cracks.me ataxx
disco gif
freaky%20pics

1 year ago – email responses still slow, thrift store near andrews, county called for an interview, how I will die

2 years ago – shout run, booze song, ms ipod packaging, 60’s wonder woman tv show, HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos, googler hacks, bible promotes cooking with poop, ADS weapon

3 years ago – sleepy, bye-bye feb, bok sanctuary, renfaeries, almost saw PM, lightning bolt!, oscars, klaxon, WWII tech, leaper, writing on the run, gorilla nip lawsuit, john irving, NA birds, george wendt decapitated, Hally razzie, FUD-o-pedia, kerby fanmail

4 years ago – Superhero dreams, chant poll

Leap Year, 2004 – art, buttons, beach erosion, dreams, and bro update

5 years ago – Dexter-doggie, filtered legal question, Stressy-day

6 years ago – Clucky-newt, Zorkbot, water-cooled notebooks, Dooce fired over her journal, 3d html, wcag in haiku

7 years ago – news links, monkey robbers, gallery of huge beings, Vehicle mounted active denial system, Invictus, OzymandiasGeotarget

9073 – Wednesday – Heed my warning!

David came by tonight – arrived at about 8pm. He’ll be here through the weekend! Larry came over for a bit and we all had a little powwow after BHK’s tasty supper of faux chicken in real yummy noodles and mixed veg.

Tomorrow after work, I suspect we’ll be jamming a bit at the blue house… Larry and David on guitar, me on bass.. have a few amps over there already, and we can get a little loud if we like.


Hitler, Frankenstein battle for votes in India

Think Barack Hussein Obama has it rough campaigning for president with a name like that? The Illinois senator has nothing on Frankenstein Momin. Or Billy Kid Sangma. Or Adolf Lu Hitler Marak.


Bill Hicks died fourteen years ago yesterday.

From his positive drug story – “Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.”


Random Scotto factoid. I’ve been accused of being a psychic more than a few times.

Ray, you might want to move that, before the kitties knock it over. (Ok, that’s an easy one.. but you… the one in the plaid. Put that down.)


In the vein of yesterday’s garfieldless garfield, see also Lasagna cat.


1 year ago – crazy happy (and I’m crazier happier now!!), mad dvd, mark millar says video games are for pedophiles

2 years ago – apes and mr rogers, whiz, walkies

3 years ago – asked for change at every turn, music and pie, bro maint, striking, long weekends, bk commercial evil, walkabout pictures

4 years ago – Images, missed calls, made an offer on a condo, lj-spam, walkies, matchstick rockets, gorilla basketball

5 years ago – doc, news, Mr. Rogers, eckerds sucks, palm-doodle

6 years ago – OSI closes, tardbucket, 1980 jc penney catalog, 3-minute noir

7 years ago – hurricane names, wacky news, poot, Be courteous, kind and forgivingGeotarget