Saturday 9: Sorry (2015)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
I can't believe I had to go listen to a Justin Beanie song. What a way to kill a Friday.
1) This song is a plea for a second chance. Are you good at forgiving/forgetting?
A. I forgive. I don't forget. You mess with me I'll remember it when I'm 130 years old.
2) Justin asks his girl to "forget this." What have you done/said recently that you wish could just be forgotten?
A. Well, seeing as how I am perfect, I have no answer for this.
3) Mr. Bieber says he needs just 6 hours sleep every night. How about you? How much sleep do you require to feel sharp?
A. I haven't had a full night's sleep in almost three years. A solid six hours without having to wake up to take pain meds would be wonderful.
4) Justin prefers D&G underwear, which can cost as much as $102/pair. Sam may be crazy, but there's no way she'd spend that much on underwear. What's something you're willing to splurge on?
A. If I had it, I would spend the $5,000 it would take to purchase this guitar.
5) He may be picky about underwear but not cuisine. He loves Big Macs. If we were going to McDonald's, what would you order?
A. I haven't eaten at a McDonald's in so long, I don't even know what they serve. If they have a salad, I'd get that.
6) When it comes to healthier fare, Bieber has told fans he enjoys snacking on bananas and grapes. What do you reach for between meals?
A. Almonds.
7) Performing in Germany, Justin Bieber told a girl who approached the stage, "Ich liebe dich” ("I love you") and she fainted. Have you ever fainted?
A. When I was a teenager I did. I have felt faint but now have enough sense to sit down and put my head between my legs.
8) As a kid, Justin was teased for being one of the shortest in his class. What do you recall being teased about in school?
A. This was in the 1970s, now - but I was called "computer head" a lot because I was the straight A student who kept the other kids from getting curves on their papers. It finally reached a point in the 5th grade where I would receive 110 on a paper just so the others could get a curve. I lived for school.
9) Random question: Will you be watching this weekend's Super Bowl?
A. If I do, it will only be for the commercials.
_____________
I
encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday
9 posts and leave a comment. Because there
are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes,
however.
Saturday, February 06, 2016
Thursday, February 04, 2016
Thursday Thirteen
Here it is - the great "what's on my kitchen counters" list.
1. An Oster toaster oven. We had one that nearly caught the kitchen on fire right before Christmas. I sent Oster a message, and they sent me a new one, free of charge.
2. A cup of tea, steeping and standing too long because I was taking pictures.
3. An electric tea kettle.
4. That thing under the towel is my Kitchen Aid mixer.
5. A Keurig, which I have not yet figured out how to use. My husband uses it for coffee. I know I can use it for tea but so far have not. The one cup I did make tasted like leftover coffee, so I haven't tried again.
6. A combination blender/food processor.
7. An EpiPen kit. My husband is allergic to bees and I'm allergic to everything, so we always keep one right there in the corner where we can find it. No moving of EpiPens allowed.
8. A cordless phone. Because you must talk to your friends whilst you are cooking, you know.
9. A Food Saver. I call it a laminator, because being a writer and bookish person, laminating is more familiar to me than food preparation or storage.
10. A roll of paper towels.
11. A gallon of vinegar, which I used last night to clean out the warm mist humidifier and did not put back.
12. Kitchen scissors.
13. Piles of paper from working on the taxes and not going through the mail for a week.
What in your kitchen?
_____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 433rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
1. An Oster toaster oven. We had one that nearly caught the kitchen on fire right before Christmas. I sent Oster a message, and they sent me a new one, free of charge.
2. A cup of tea, steeping and standing too long because I was taking pictures.
3. An electric tea kettle.
4. That thing under the towel is my Kitchen Aid mixer.
5. A Keurig, which I have not yet figured out how to use. My husband uses it for coffee. I know I can use it for tea but so far have not. The one cup I did make tasted like leftover coffee, so I haven't tried again.
6. A combination blender/food processor.
7. An EpiPen kit. My husband is allergic to bees and I'm allergic to everything, so we always keep one right there in the corner where we can find it. No moving of EpiPens allowed.
8. A cordless phone. Because you must talk to your friends whilst you are cooking, you know.
9. A Food Saver. I call it a laminator, because being a writer and bookish person, laminating is more familiar to me than food preparation or storage.
10. A roll of paper towels.
11. A gallon of vinegar, which I used last night to clean out the warm mist humidifier and did not put back.
12. Kitchen scissors.
13. Piles of paper from working on the taxes and not going through the mail for a week.
And obviously much more junk.
What in your kitchen?
_____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 433rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Tuesday, February 02, 2016
Hard Heads and Unhappy Hearts
There was an article The Roanoke Times this morning that indicated that two historic structures owned by Botetourt County would not be moved, and work to remove them from their site to a "historic park" area would halt.
Apparently someone misread the paperwork. I took these photos between 5 p.m. and 5:40 p.m. today, Tuesday, February 2, 2016.
Does this look like halted work to you?
This is turning into one of the most divisive issues I've ever seen in Botetourt. But Greenfield has always been an issue ever since the county purchased it back in 1995. Looks like that will continue for some time.
Apparently someone misread the paperwork. I took these photos between 5 p.m. and 5:40 p.m. today, Tuesday, February 2, 2016.
Does this look like halted work to you?
This is turning into one of the most divisive issues I've ever seen in Botetourt. But Greenfield has always been an issue ever since the county purchased it back in 1995. Looks like that will continue for some time.
Monday, February 01, 2016
Some Kind of Mushroom
I am not sure when it happened.
Some blame the Internet.
Some blame the 1960s.
Some blame TV.
Maybe today it is still, 15 years later, millennial fever, a virus that has infected massive amounts of people.
Whatever the cause, insanity is rampant.
Maybe it was always there. We had Jack the Ripper the late 1880s. And into the 20th century, we had crazy people - Charles Manson, Ted Bundy. There have always been people who have flourished on conspiracy theories - JFK's assassination, we never really landed on the moon. Those folks have always been on the fringes of our society.
But now? In 2016, everywhere I look there is a whacko. Some unthinking lunatic who is spouting out something so crazy that you blink and can't believe it's actually being said.
We've created a time when anybody can say anything, no matter how bizarre. We have people who are "birthers" who question everyone's birth place/date/heritage/whatever. We have the people who believe the mass murders at Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, and other places, never happened, or are a government conspiracy.
Climate change deniers. Holocaust deniers. History re-writers (which might not be so bad except what they are writing never actually happened.)
Crazy people take over federal landholdings and squat there, because they don't like the government. People who don't claim to be crazy (but apparently really are) actually have seats in the government, at all levels.
Scary.
Truly, it is all around me. People who call themselves pro-life but advocate for war. How insane is that? You can't be pro-life and pro-killing-people at the same time. You just can't, not if you have any sense of logic.
Mostly this is on the internet, but also in the mass media. As Bill Maher recently said, the Information Super Highway has become Bullshit Boulevard.
Everywhere I see people spreading lies, and believing them. Truth? Who cares about truth? Truth is boring, and it doesn't fit the current story model.
People used to get their news from real news organizations. Now? You get it from the friend of a friend who doesn't know where s/he heard it, but it is all over Facebook so it must be true.
Facts? Who cares about facts? Nobody cares about facts. Everyone lives in their own little bubble, they believe what they want, they think what they want. If they want to believe the sky is green, they will think that, no matter the evidence that it is blue.
Unfortunately, this doesn't just happen on the fringes anymore. The fringes are no longer fringe. This sort of deranged behavior and the words that go along with it comes out of the mouths of influential people - like people who are running for president, and being taken seriously.
They're all smoking something. They have to be. Either that or the Earth passed through some kind of asteroid trail that left half of the United States in a total state of crazy.
We have become, I fear, the stupidest bunch of people to ever be a first world nation. I haven't been outside of the country in a while, but my friends who live in Europe tell me we're their major source of entertainment. Look at the big fat totally crazed Americans, most of whom believe in angels, and the other half think the world is flat.
Every lie has its believer. It's like Field of Dreams . . . thousands of cars heading to an Iowan farm to watch ghosts play baseball. That's the internet today. Field of Dreams, the place where every nut can go to find another nut to confirm his or her falsehoods.
Every lie becomes truth. Fiction becomes fact.
I wish I were smart enough to come up with some truly creative lie about our farm - something that would bring in thousands upon thousands of visitors, all paying $10 a piece to see a little rock that maybe I claim was brought to me in a dream by a visitor from the Planet Zortania. If you touch the rock and give me $10, you will have good luck for the rest of your life, and pleasant dreams when your eyes close (no guarantees, no warranties).
For another $10, you can join me in my new religion of Zortanimania, where we worship every lie on the Internet, eschew all facts, and drink beer and watch NASCAR. All hail Charlotte Motor Speedway! Of course, we also don't believe in government, but we don't believe in communes either, so I am not really sure yet how we would actually survive. Still working that out, but it's okay. The lie will come to me soon.
Later, you can pay me $10 to buy the Zortanimania Book of Prophecy, which would be of course our guide book to spirituality in the greatest pursuit of Zortanimanian bliss. Which, I suppose, might include the use of mushrooms.
Some blame the Internet.
Some blame the 1960s.
Some blame TV.
Maybe today it is still, 15 years later, millennial fever, a virus that has infected massive amounts of people.
Whatever the cause, insanity is rampant.
Maybe it was always there. We had Jack the Ripper the late 1880s. And into the 20th century, we had crazy people - Charles Manson, Ted Bundy. There have always been people who have flourished on conspiracy theories - JFK's assassination, we never really landed on the moon. Those folks have always been on the fringes of our society.
But now? In 2016, everywhere I look there is a whacko. Some unthinking lunatic who is spouting out something so crazy that you blink and can't believe it's actually being said.
We've created a time when anybody can say anything, no matter how bizarre. We have people who are "birthers" who question everyone's birth place/date/heritage/whatever. We have the people who believe the mass murders at Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, and other places, never happened, or are a government conspiracy.
Climate change deniers. Holocaust deniers. History re-writers (which might not be so bad except what they are writing never actually happened.)
Crazy people take over federal landholdings and squat there, because they don't like the government. People who don't claim to be crazy (but apparently really are) actually have seats in the government, at all levels.
Scary.
Truly, it is all around me. People who call themselves pro-life but advocate for war. How insane is that? You can't be pro-life and pro-killing-people at the same time. You just can't, not if you have any sense of logic.
Mostly this is on the internet, but also in the mass media. As Bill Maher recently said, the Information Super Highway has become Bullshit Boulevard.
Everywhere I see people spreading lies, and believing them. Truth? Who cares about truth? Truth is boring, and it doesn't fit the current story model.
People used to get their news from real news organizations. Now? You get it from the friend of a friend who doesn't know where s/he heard it, but it is all over Facebook so it must be true.
Facts? Who cares about facts? Nobody cares about facts. Everyone lives in their own little bubble, they believe what they want, they think what they want. If they want to believe the sky is green, they will think that, no matter the evidence that it is blue.
Unfortunately, this doesn't just happen on the fringes anymore. The fringes are no longer fringe. This sort of deranged behavior and the words that go along with it comes out of the mouths of influential people - like people who are running for president, and being taken seriously.
They're all smoking something. They have to be. Either that or the Earth passed through some kind of asteroid trail that left half of the United States in a total state of crazy.
We have become, I fear, the stupidest bunch of people to ever be a first world nation. I haven't been outside of the country in a while, but my friends who live in Europe tell me we're their major source of entertainment. Look at the big fat totally crazed Americans, most of whom believe in angels, and the other half think the world is flat.
Every lie has its believer. It's like Field of Dreams . . . thousands of cars heading to an Iowan farm to watch ghosts play baseball. That's the internet today. Field of Dreams, the place where every nut can go to find another nut to confirm his or her falsehoods.
Every lie becomes truth. Fiction becomes fact.
I wish I were smart enough to come up with some truly creative lie about our farm - something that would bring in thousands upon thousands of visitors, all paying $10 a piece to see a little rock that maybe I claim was brought to me in a dream by a visitor from the Planet Zortania. If you touch the rock and give me $10, you will have good luck for the rest of your life, and pleasant dreams when your eyes close (no guarantees, no warranties).
For another $10, you can join me in my new religion of Zortanimania, where we worship every lie on the Internet, eschew all facts, and drink beer and watch NASCAR. All hail Charlotte Motor Speedway! Of course, we also don't believe in government, but we don't believe in communes either, so I am not really sure yet how we would actually survive. Still working that out, but it's okay. The lie will come to me soon.
Later, you can pay me $10 to buy the Zortanimania Book of Prophecy, which would be of course our guide book to spirituality in the greatest pursuit of Zortanimanian bliss. Which, I suppose, might include the use of mushrooms.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Sunday Stealing: Laundry
From Sunday Stealing
Laundry Day Meme
1. Do you know any couples that have been married for a very long time? A. I'm working on 33 years. Is that long enough?
2. What are you tired of people telling you? A. That the pain in my stomach is all in my head.
3. Which type of ice cream do you prefer? A. I don't eat ice cream.
4. Do you have a little sister? What’s her name? A. I don't have a sister.
5. What was the last movie you watched on TV? The Two Towers (from The Lord of the Rings) on DVD.
6. If the internet was not available right now, what would you do instead? A. Read.
7. Do you complain a lot? A. I reckon so. I don't mean to, though.
8. Name a movie that your favorite actor is in. A. The Fellowship of the Rings (you knew that was coming, didn't you?)
9. Do you like your toes? A. I haven't really thought about it.
10. Would you rather go to an authentic haunted house or an ancient temple? A. Wouldn't an ancient temple most likely also be haunted? I'll choose the haunted temple.
11. Have you ever had champagne? Did you like it? A. A long time ago, and I don't remember.
12. Are there any seashells in your room? A. No. I have some outside in my rose garden, though.
13. What was the reason for the last time you went outside? A. To go to the eye doctor.
14. Do you like fruity or minty gum? A. I don't chew gum.
15. Are you looking forward to any day of this month? A. This month is about over, and February is just February, so not really.
16. What was the last graduation you attended? A. My nephew's.
17. Do you rummage through the $5 movie bin at Walmart every time? A. No.
18. What day of the week do you usually do laundry? A. Every day.
19. Do you like using air fresheners? A. No.
20. Are your nails ever painted red? A. No.
21. When you were a baby, did you have a favorite blanket? A. I had a favorite stuffed animal. I don't recall a blanky.
22. Ever been on a cruise? A. No.
23. Would you rather go to Alaska or Russia? A. Well, according to a former governor you can see Russia out the window from Alaska, so I suppose I could do both if I went to Alaska.
24. Strawberries or bananas? A. Strawberries.
25. Are you wearing socks? A. Yes.
26. When’s the last time you went to the mall? A. About January 15. I bought jeans.
Laundry Day Meme
1. Do you know any couples that have been married for a very long time? A. I'm working on 33 years. Is that long enough?
2. What are you tired of people telling you? A. That the pain in my stomach is all in my head.
3. Which type of ice cream do you prefer? A. I don't eat ice cream.
4. Do you have a little sister? What’s her name? A. I don't have a sister.
5. What was the last movie you watched on TV? The Two Towers (from The Lord of the Rings) on DVD.
6. If the internet was not available right now, what would you do instead? A. Read.
7. Do you complain a lot? A. I reckon so. I don't mean to, though.
8. Name a movie that your favorite actor is in. A. The Fellowship of the Rings (you knew that was coming, didn't you?)
9. Do you like your toes? A. I haven't really thought about it.
10. Would you rather go to an authentic haunted house or an ancient temple? A. Wouldn't an ancient temple most likely also be haunted? I'll choose the haunted temple.
11. Have you ever had champagne? Did you like it? A. A long time ago, and I don't remember.
12. Are there any seashells in your room? A. No. I have some outside in my rose garden, though.
13. What was the reason for the last time you went outside? A. To go to the eye doctor.
14. Do you like fruity or minty gum? A. I don't chew gum.
15. Are you looking forward to any day of this month? A. This month is about over, and February is just February, so not really.
16. What was the last graduation you attended? A. My nephew's.
17. Do you rummage through the $5 movie bin at Walmart every time? A. No.
18. What day of the week do you usually do laundry? A. Every day.
19. Do you like using air fresheners? A. No.
20. Are your nails ever painted red? A. No.
21. When you were a baby, did you have a favorite blanket? A. I had a favorite stuffed animal. I don't recall a blanky.
22. Ever been on a cruise? A. No.
23. Would you rather go to Alaska or Russia? A. Well, according to a former governor you can see Russia out the window from Alaska, so I suppose I could do both if I went to Alaska.
24. Strawberries or bananas? A. Strawberries.
25. Are you wearing socks? A. Yes.
26. When’s the last time you went to the mall? A. About January 15. I bought jeans.
__________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Saturday 9: Don't You Care?
Saturday 9: Don't You Care? (1967)
If you're not familiar with today's song, you can hear it here.
1) What's something that seems to fascinate everyone else, but you just don't care about?
A. Celebrity gossip.
2) The lyrics refer to "the times we cried and laughed." Which did you do more recently, cry or laugh?
A. Laugh, I suppose, though my husband told me I was crying in my sleep last night. I am not sure if that counts.
3) In the song, our hero seems surprised that his girlfriend doesn't believe him. Are you more believing and trusting, or suspicious and skeptical?
A. I think I am more skeptical now. I used to be quite trusting but life has taught me there is little to trust.
4) This song is just over two minutes long, which seems short for a song but awful long when Sam is waiting for her chicken soup to heat in the microwave. What's the last thing you heated in a microwave?
A. Bob's Mill Gluten Free Hot Cereal.
5) This week's band, The Buckinghams, was one of the first acts to perform at Chicago's premiere summer festival, The Taste of Chicago.* Let's think ahead: Have you made any plans for Summer 2016?
A. I haven't even made plans for next week.
6) In 1967, when this song was popular, Rolling Stone magazine published its first issue. What magazines do you subscribe to? Do they arrive in the mail, or do you read them online?
A. I receive Reader's Digest, Taste of Home, and Oprah, at the moment, in the mail. I have been letting my subscriptions lapse because I wasn't reading them.
7) Country star/American Idol judge Keith Urban was born in 1967. Are you watching the final season of American Idol?
A. I have never seen a single episode of American Idol.
8) In 1967, the average cost of a movie ticket was $1.25. By 2015, it had risen $8.60. What's the last movie you saw in a theater?
A. Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
9) Random question: Sam's taking everyone out to dinner and she's buying. Would you prefer the steak or the lobster?
A. I'd prefer the lobster but I've developed an allergy to shellfish in the last few years. I don't eat much read meat, either. Could I have a piece of chicken?
*Though back in 1970, it was called ChicagoFest.
Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us next week for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!
_____________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
If you're not familiar with today's song, you can hear it here.
1) What's something that seems to fascinate everyone else, but you just don't care about?
A. Celebrity gossip.
2) The lyrics refer to "the times we cried and laughed." Which did you do more recently, cry or laugh?
A. Laugh, I suppose, though my husband told me I was crying in my sleep last night. I am not sure if that counts.
3) In the song, our hero seems surprised that his girlfriend doesn't believe him. Are you more believing and trusting, or suspicious and skeptical?
A. I think I am more skeptical now. I used to be quite trusting but life has taught me there is little to trust.
4) This song is just over two minutes long, which seems short for a song but awful long when Sam is waiting for her chicken soup to heat in the microwave. What's the last thing you heated in a microwave?
A. Bob's Mill Gluten Free Hot Cereal.
5) This week's band, The Buckinghams, was one of the first acts to perform at Chicago's premiere summer festival, The Taste of Chicago.* Let's think ahead: Have you made any plans for Summer 2016?
A. I haven't even made plans for next week.
6) In 1967, when this song was popular, Rolling Stone magazine published its first issue. What magazines do you subscribe to? Do they arrive in the mail, or do you read them online?
A. I receive Reader's Digest, Taste of Home, and Oprah, at the moment, in the mail. I have been letting my subscriptions lapse because I wasn't reading them.
7) Country star/American Idol judge Keith Urban was born in 1967. Are you watching the final season of American Idol?
A. I have never seen a single episode of American Idol.
8) In 1967, the average cost of a movie ticket was $1.25. By 2015, it had risen $8.60. What's the last movie you saw in a theater?
A. Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
9) Random question: Sam's taking everyone out to dinner and she's buying. Would you prefer the steak or the lobster?
A. I'd prefer the lobster but I've developed an allergy to shellfish in the last few years. I don't eat much read meat, either. Could I have a piece of chicken?
*Though back in 1970, it was called ChicagoFest.
Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us next week for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!
_____________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Thursday Thirteen
Today, January 28, is the anniversary of the explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger. A school teacher was on board as part of the crew, and millions of children were watching when the shuttle burst apart in the air.
I was on my way to work after attending a morning class at the local community college, listening to the launch on the radio, so I learned about it while driving down the interstate. I had to pull over so I could cry.
The space program has always fascinated me. I never really wanted to be an astronaut, but those stars! And the idea of life on other planets. And Star Trek! So my idea of space was a bit on the fantastic side, and probably still is. I like to look up at the night sky and wonder who is looking back, thinking the same thing about our sun.
So here are a few facts about space stuff.
1. Sally Ride was the first American woman in space, but she was not the first female. That title belongs to Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova. This Russian cosmonaut made it into orbit 20 years before the first American woman. Tereshkova was also the first civilian in space. She made her historic flight in 1963 as part of the Vostok 6 mission. A former textile worker and amateur parachutist, Ms. Tereshkova performed experiments on herself to test the effects of space travel on the female body.
2. Rovers Opportunity & Spirit were sent to Mars in a twin mission in 2004. Landing a day apart, both rovers were to operate for about four months, then cease to work. Instead, the two robot craft kept moving about and sending back information to Earth.
3. Spirit's last communication was in 2010, was after it hung up on something and couldn't extricate itself. Opportunity continued communicating with Earth into 2013.
4. Curiosity was a rover that landed on Mars in 2011.
5. The Voyager program began in 1977, when the U.S. launched Voyagers 1 and 2. The two craft were sent on a multi-faceted mission into deep space. Mainly they were to serve as messengers to anybody else out there, but NASA used the two Voyagers to study planets and moons along the way.
6. Voyager 2 is expected to enter interstellar space early this year (20160). (I always think of the Star Trek movie where V-Ger has taken over and is trying to get back to earth; it turns out to be one of the Voyager probes). But isn't it totally amazing that these machines are still running and sending data back to Earth? They've been flying around for 27 years.
7. Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson has said that if aliens exist, they most likely will be something far beyond anything we could have imagined. He had theorized that even if they take a form that we can relate to, the difference between our intelligence might be as great as that between a human and an ape.
8. Artists' concepts of other possible "alien" races include whale-like beings that "swim" through the atmosphere of a gas giant. The possibilities are endless. The only thing that most theorists agree upon is that they will not resemble humans.
9. We may have a new planet! Science magazine recently reported recently that scientists believe there is another planet out there, moving in an orbit beyond Neptune. The researchers haven't observed Planet X itself, but believe it exists because of the unique configuration of six objects when they come closest to the sun.
10. On January 19, 2006, the space probe New Horizons left Earth for Pluto. In 2007, it made close contact with Jupiter. On January 15, 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft began its approach phase to Pluto. On July 14, 2015, it flew 12,500 km (7,800 mi) above the surface of Pluto, making it the first spacecraft to explore the dwarf planet.
11. Our efforts to go into space came about because of the Cold War, the political divisions between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the Russians launched Sputnik, the race really began. The U.S. formed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The space program became a metaphor for the success and failure. The Russians placed the first craft into orbit, the first man in space, the first woman in space, and achieved the first spacewalk. The U.S. made the first manned spaceflight and the first man on the moon. Later, however, the two superpowers would meet each other in orbit during 1975's Apollo-Soyuz Mission, part of an attempt to reconcile.
12. Pluto is no longer a planet. It's a "plutoid." That change happened in August 2006, leaving those of us who grew up learning it was a planet scratching our heads.
13. The Nasa website (http://www.nasa.gov/) is full of wonderful information about the heavens and the things we know. At the sight you can see eclipses, space launches, and learn all about the world that is outside of our reach.
_____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 432nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
I was on my way to work after attending a morning class at the local community college, listening to the launch on the radio, so I learned about it while driving down the interstate. I had to pull over so I could cry.
The space program has always fascinated me. I never really wanted to be an astronaut, but those stars! And the idea of life on other planets. And Star Trek! So my idea of space was a bit on the fantastic side, and probably still is. I like to look up at the night sky and wonder who is looking back, thinking the same thing about our sun.
So here are a few facts about space stuff.
1. Sally Ride was the first American woman in space, but she was not the first female. That title belongs to Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova. This Russian cosmonaut made it into orbit 20 years before the first American woman. Tereshkova was also the first civilian in space. She made her historic flight in 1963 as part of the Vostok 6 mission. A former textile worker and amateur parachutist, Ms. Tereshkova performed experiments on herself to test the effects of space travel on the female body.
 |
| Moon Set, March 2015 |
2. Rovers Opportunity & Spirit were sent to Mars in a twin mission in 2004. Landing a day apart, both rovers were to operate for about four months, then cease to work. Instead, the two robot craft kept moving about and sending back information to Earth.
3. Spirit's last communication was in 2010, was after it hung up on something and couldn't extricate itself. Opportunity continued communicating with Earth into 2013.
4. Curiosity was a rover that landed on Mars in 2011.
5. The Voyager program began in 1977, when the U.S. launched Voyagers 1 and 2. The two craft were sent on a multi-faceted mission into deep space. Mainly they were to serve as messengers to anybody else out there, but NASA used the two Voyagers to study planets and moons along the way.
 |
| Moon Set January 2016 |
6. Voyager 2 is expected to enter interstellar space early this year (20160). (I always think of the Star Trek movie where V-Ger has taken over and is trying to get back to earth; it turns out to be one of the Voyager probes). But isn't it totally amazing that these machines are still running and sending data back to Earth? They've been flying around for 27 years.
7. Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson has said that if aliens exist, they most likely will be something far beyond anything we could have imagined. He had theorized that even if they take a form that we can relate to, the difference between our intelligence might be as great as that between a human and an ape.
8. Artists' concepts of other possible "alien" races include whale-like beings that "swim" through the atmosphere of a gas giant. The possibilities are endless. The only thing that most theorists agree upon is that they will not resemble humans.
 |
| Moon 2011 |
9. We may have a new planet! Science magazine recently reported recently that scientists believe there is another planet out there, moving in an orbit beyond Neptune. The researchers haven't observed Planet X itself, but believe it exists because of the unique configuration of six objects when they come closest to the sun.
10. On January 19, 2006, the space probe New Horizons left Earth for Pluto. In 2007, it made close contact with Jupiter. On January 15, 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft began its approach phase to Pluto. On July 14, 2015, it flew 12,500 km (7,800 mi) above the surface of Pluto, making it the first spacecraft to explore the dwarf planet.
11. Our efforts to go into space came about because of the Cold War, the political divisions between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the Russians launched Sputnik, the race really began. The U.S. formed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The space program became a metaphor for the success and failure. The Russians placed the first craft into orbit, the first man in space, the first woman in space, and achieved the first spacewalk. The U.S. made the first manned spaceflight and the first man on the moon. Later, however, the two superpowers would meet each other in orbit during 1975's Apollo-Soyuz Mission, part of an attempt to reconcile.
12. Pluto is no longer a planet. It's a "plutoid." That change happened in August 2006, leaving those of us who grew up learning it was a planet scratching our heads.
13. The Nasa website (http://www.nasa.gov/) is full of wonderful information about the heavens and the things we know. At the sight you can see eclipses, space launches, and learn all about the world that is outside of our reach.
_____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 432nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
The Men on the Chessboard
My local daily paper today is full of anger. It usually is. Americans are angry people these days. Fearful people tend to become angry people, because they feel they've lost control.
There is not usually so much local anger, though. But today we have Montgomery County angry over a Circuit Court Clerk's decision to fire half of her staff, Rockbridge County is upset over Botetourt's near-certain approval of 25 wind turbines on North Mountain, and people in Botetourt are upset because the supervisors want to tear down historic structures to build a big shell building.
The state of Virginia is upset because somebody rooked the Commerce and Trade Department out of $1.4 million.
Nationally, people are angry over polluted water in Michigan and Planned Parenthood (pro and con). Online, people are still talking about those men in Oregon who took over a federal facility and for some reason are still there, and I see as I write this there are reports of yet another mass shooting. Sad that those have become so commonplace one barely blinks at the headline anymore.
And this is all caused by those in power. Yes, we have class in America. We have people in power who don't know what they are doing, and we have people behind the people in power who probably know what they are doing, but what they are doing is not in the best interest of the rest of us. Power only serves power, and it most certainly does not share it with the likes of the little people, of which I am one.
I learned to play chess when I was about nine years old. I never was very good at it. But chess is an interesting way of looking things going on in the world.
You have the king, who can only move one square at time and who, in my opinion, is weaker even than a pawn, though the rules say otherwise.
The queen is the most powerful piece. She can whiz about the checkered board with impunity. She can knock off bishops and knights, destroy castles (rooks), and eat pawns for lunch.
The queen is the power behind the throne. I firmly believe that in the U.S. the power behind the throne is something - or a group of someones - that Americans are not even aware of. Maybe it is simply rich folk like the Koch brothers, using their lobbyists and money to bend our elected representatives to their collective will. Perhaps it is something more sinister, like in the movies, an evil coalition set about to destroy all that was once good in this world in a grab for more power.
Which means I believe our government is broken, and is more like the chess board tossed about by a two-year old than any sort of conventional play. No, we have a president who was unable to bring forth his vision for the country because of the can't do Congress and Senate, and they can't do because of that invisible power - the Queen - who really runs around the board and takes care of the business of the rich and the powerful.
This even plays out on the local level. I will use my own county as an example. We have five elected representatives, a few of whom appear to believe they must answer to the people who elected them. They have collectively assumed the role of queen, and tossed the pawns completely off the table. The king - I'm not sure who that might be - will step around his single square waiting for the Queen to offer permission.
As for the rest - the bishops, the rooks, the knights - they are all loyal subjects. Lower level administrators, maybe, and other county employees. They have a place on the local little chessboard (and no place on the bigger, state-sized one, and not a prayer of ever being on the national chessboard) but some, I suspect, aren't sure whether they are rooks or knights. They may even really be pawns and not realize it.
Every locality plays its own game of chess, even the tiny towns that lie within the boundaries of our county. We have three little towns and they have their own versions of king, queen, and supporting players. It happens everywhere, not just here.
The problem is always the queen, though. Who gets to be that power player? That's where the fighting and anger comes in. The public, who does the electing, thinks it is the queen - and rightly so. This is supposed to be a democracy, after all, so those who vote should be the ones to move around the board, overseeing this, looking at that, whispering in the ear of the king so he will move from front to side and back again.
But instead we have reversed power - we've given it all to those we elect, because we are now not even on the board. We're not pawns, we're watchers. We do not participate in the game at all. We're content to go to work, watch TV, eat a Milky Way, and go to bed.
About half of us aren't even aware that there is a game being played, and that whatever these kings, queens, and bishops do, it affects us in some fashion or another. The only time we look up to see the board is if the word "taxes" appears, blinking like a magic neon sign over the bar in which the chess game is played. Then, maybe, we speak up. But most of the time we simply go back to watching Netflix.
I wish citizens would be more active in their government, whether at the local level or at higher levels. Many times we have offices up for election and no one has opposition. This is wrong. People should always have a choice. I understand that it is a time commitment and the financial rewards can be limited, especially in local politics, but there is more to life than money.
My actions have been to vote in every election (I don't think I've missed a single one), to write letters to representatives and newspapers, and, when I was a working journalist, to report on topics as objectively as I could so that the citizenry could make an objective opinion on issues. I also served on an appointed board as a representative for my district (the local library board, which is not a major determiner of destiny, but I still served). I continue to write letters and monitor things and work on issues I care about. Others do too, of course, but so many do not.
If you have never written a representative about an issue, I encourage you to read up on something you have an interest in, and then express your opinion in a letter to the editor, or a letter to your representative. Email makes this easy (though a "real" letter tends to be held in higher esteem by some officials).
We can't "Make America Great Again" unless we all participate. If we're sitting back waiting on a sugar daddy to save us, we're going to slide right off that sucker and into a drainage ditch full of sewage. Is that really what we want for our selves and our children?
Take action today. It really is important.
There is not usually so much local anger, though. But today we have Montgomery County angry over a Circuit Court Clerk's decision to fire half of her staff, Rockbridge County is upset over Botetourt's near-certain approval of 25 wind turbines on North Mountain, and people in Botetourt are upset because the supervisors want to tear down historic structures to build a big shell building.
The state of Virginia is upset because somebody rooked the Commerce and Trade Department out of $1.4 million.
Nationally, people are angry over polluted water in Michigan and Planned Parenthood (pro and con). Online, people are still talking about those men in Oregon who took over a federal facility and for some reason are still there, and I see as I write this there are reports of yet another mass shooting. Sad that those have become so commonplace one barely blinks at the headline anymore.
And this is all caused by those in power. Yes, we have class in America. We have people in power who don't know what they are doing, and we have people behind the people in power who probably know what they are doing, but what they are doing is not in the best interest of the rest of us. Power only serves power, and it most certainly does not share it with the likes of the little people, of which I am one.
I learned to play chess when I was about nine years old. I never was very good at it. But chess is an interesting way of looking things going on in the world.
You have the king, who can only move one square at time and who, in my opinion, is weaker even than a pawn, though the rules say otherwise.
The queen is the most powerful piece. She can whiz about the checkered board with impunity. She can knock off bishops and knights, destroy castles (rooks), and eat pawns for lunch.
The queen is the power behind the throne. I firmly believe that in the U.S. the power behind the throne is something - or a group of someones - that Americans are not even aware of. Maybe it is simply rich folk like the Koch brothers, using their lobbyists and money to bend our elected representatives to their collective will. Perhaps it is something more sinister, like in the movies, an evil coalition set about to destroy all that was once good in this world in a grab for more power.
Which means I believe our government is broken, and is more like the chess board tossed about by a two-year old than any sort of conventional play. No, we have a president who was unable to bring forth his vision for the country because of the can't do Congress and Senate, and they can't do because of that invisible power - the Queen - who really runs around the board and takes care of the business of the rich and the powerful.
This even plays out on the local level. I will use my own county as an example. We have five elected representatives, a few of whom appear to believe they must answer to the people who elected them. They have collectively assumed the role of queen, and tossed the pawns completely off the table. The king - I'm not sure who that might be - will step around his single square waiting for the Queen to offer permission.
As for the rest - the bishops, the rooks, the knights - they are all loyal subjects. Lower level administrators, maybe, and other county employees. They have a place on the local little chessboard (and no place on the bigger, state-sized one, and not a prayer of ever being on the national chessboard) but some, I suspect, aren't sure whether they are rooks or knights. They may even really be pawns and not realize it.
Every locality plays its own game of chess, even the tiny towns that lie within the boundaries of our county. We have three little towns and they have their own versions of king, queen, and supporting players. It happens everywhere, not just here.
The problem is always the queen, though. Who gets to be that power player? That's where the fighting and anger comes in. The public, who does the electing, thinks it is the queen - and rightly so. This is supposed to be a democracy, after all, so those who vote should be the ones to move around the board, overseeing this, looking at that, whispering in the ear of the king so he will move from front to side and back again.
But instead we have reversed power - we've given it all to those we elect, because we are now not even on the board. We're not pawns, we're watchers. We do not participate in the game at all. We're content to go to work, watch TV, eat a Milky Way, and go to bed.
About half of us aren't even aware that there is a game being played, and that whatever these kings, queens, and bishops do, it affects us in some fashion or another. The only time we look up to see the board is if the word "taxes" appears, blinking like a magic neon sign over the bar in which the chess game is played. Then, maybe, we speak up. But most of the time we simply go back to watching Netflix.
I wish citizens would be more active in their government, whether at the local level or at higher levels. Many times we have offices up for election and no one has opposition. This is wrong. People should always have a choice. I understand that it is a time commitment and the financial rewards can be limited, especially in local politics, but there is more to life than money.
My actions have been to vote in every election (I don't think I've missed a single one), to write letters to representatives and newspapers, and, when I was a working journalist, to report on topics as objectively as I could so that the citizenry could make an objective opinion on issues. I also served on an appointed board as a representative for my district (the local library board, which is not a major determiner of destiny, but I still served). I continue to write letters and monitor things and work on issues I care about. Others do too, of course, but so many do not.
If you have never written a representative about an issue, I encourage you to read up on something you have an interest in, and then express your opinion in a letter to the editor, or a letter to your representative. Email makes this easy (though a "real" letter tends to be held in higher esteem by some officials).
We can't "Make America Great Again" unless we all participate. If we're sitting back waiting on a sugar daddy to save us, we're going to slide right off that sucker and into a drainage ditch full of sewage. Is that really what we want for our selves and our children?
Take action today. It really is important.
Monday, January 25, 2016
It Snowed.
The snow began in the wee hours of Friday morning (January 15) and continued into Saturday. We ended up with 14 inches. It could have been a lot worse - West Virginia received 40" in some places.
Anyway, here photos of the event.
Anyway, here photos of the event.
 |
| Not quite 14" when I measured, but we had a bit more snow later. |
 |
| It did not stay on the trees long: wind. |
 |
| It makes for high snow banks when you shovel. |
 |
| Some of these I took out the window. |
 |
| Whatever the weather, my front view is a beauty. |
 |
| Side shot out window. |
 |
| Out the back door. |
 |
| Deer needed to find something to eat. |
 |
| Clean up crew. (Thanks husband.) |
 |
| This one used its nose to borrow down for grass. |
 |
| Sunday, things started clearing up. |
 |
| Big piles of snow. |
 |
| Still beautiful. |
 |
| Love my Blue Ridge Mountains. |
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Sunday Stealing: Feisty
From Sunday Stealing
1. Do you like to see it snowing outside? A. Not anymore. Too old and it makes my bones hurt.
2. Do you tell your family you love them enough? A. I reckon.
3. Do you like getting jewelry or do you not wear any? A. I have a few pieces I wear regularly.
4. Do you watch a lot of NFL football? A. Nada.
5. Have you ever used the word ‘lame’? A. As in, "This is a lame question?" Sure.
6. Are you/Were you in a band? If so, what was your band name? A. Yes. It was called Almost Famous. If you want to count the high school band, too, we were the Cavaliers.
7. When is the last time you went to the doctor? A. I saw the chiropractor Wednesday.
8. Do you own any shirts with a peace symbol on it? A. Yes.
9. Would you ever go to Japan? A. Yes.
10. What was the last thing you went to Walmart for? A. Lotion.
11. Ever gotten in a car accident? A. Many times.
12. Have you ever been in a choir? A. Yes.
13. Do you like the color of your eyes? If not, what color would you want them? A. I like my eyes.
14. When was the last time you went ice skating? A. When I was about 10.
15. Do you like to brush your teeth? A. Yes.
16. Have you ever had a surgery? A. Multiple times.
17. Do you look older or younger than you actually are? A. Maybe a little younger, but not much.
18. When is the next time you’ll be up on stage? A. No clue.
19. Where did you spend your last birthday? A. At home.
20. What is the last show that you watched a full episode of? A. Supergirl.
21. Do you know anyone who lives in Utah? A. Not anymore.
22. Is there anything you need to work on doing soon? A. Taxes.
23. Do your feelings get hurt easily? A. Yes.
24. Do you, or do you know someone who has taken karate lessons? A. Yes.
25. Were you ever a boy or girl scout? A. No.
1. Do you like to see it snowing outside? A. Not anymore. Too old and it makes my bones hurt.
2. Do you tell your family you love them enough? A. I reckon.
3. Do you like getting jewelry or do you not wear any? A. I have a few pieces I wear regularly.
4. Do you watch a lot of NFL football? A. Nada.
5. Have you ever used the word ‘lame’? A. As in, "This is a lame question?" Sure.
6. Are you/Were you in a band? If so, what was your band name? A. Yes. It was called Almost Famous. If you want to count the high school band, too, we were the Cavaliers.
7. When is the last time you went to the doctor? A. I saw the chiropractor Wednesday.
8. Do you own any shirts with a peace symbol on it? A. Yes.
9. Would you ever go to Japan? A. Yes.
10. What was the last thing you went to Walmart for? A. Lotion.
11. Ever gotten in a car accident? A. Many times.
12. Have you ever been in a choir? A. Yes.
13. Do you like the color of your eyes? If not, what color would you want them? A. I like my eyes.
14. When was the last time you went ice skating? A. When I was about 10.
15. Do you like to brush your teeth? A. Yes.
16. Have you ever had a surgery? A. Multiple times.
17. Do you look older or younger than you actually are? A. Maybe a little younger, but not much.
18. When is the next time you’ll be up on stage? A. No clue.
19. Where did you spend your last birthday? A. At home.
20. What is the last show that you watched a full episode of? A. Supergirl.
21. Do you know anyone who lives in Utah? A. Not anymore.
22. Is there anything you need to work on doing soon? A. Taxes.
23. Do your feelings get hurt easily? A. Yes.
24. Do you, or do you know someone who has taken karate lessons? A. Yes.
25. Were you ever a boy or girl scout? A. No.
__________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Saturday 9: The One You Love
Saturday 9: The One You Love (1982)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
Thanks so much for joining in Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us next week for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!
_____________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
In memory of Glenn Frey (1948-2016). (We lost a great one there.)
1) In this song, Glenn explores one of the great romantic conundrums. This week, Saturday 9 is confronting it, too. If you had to choose, would you prefer to be loved, or to be in love?
A. To be loved. Although both are preferable.
2) The song describes an awkward moment: an old boyfriend calls when a woman is on a date with someone new. To whom did you last say, "I can't talk now?"
A. I can't remember.
3) The lyrics talk about heart vs head. When you find yourself in that predicament, which usually wins -- heart or head?
A. Head.
4) This song was from Glenn Frey's solo album, No Fun Aloud. What fun stuff are you looking forward to this weekend?
A. We are having feets of snow, so I'm just watching the white stuff fall and working on my taxes. Isn't that like the most fun ever?
5) Glenn Frey was born in Royal Oak, a suburb of Detroit. The Motor City is known for car manufacturing. Is your car domestic or foreign?
A. It's a Toyota but it was made in the U.S.A. Or some of it was, or something. I'm not a car girl. I just drive 'em.
6) The popular 1990s sitcom Home Improvement was set in Royal Oak. Are you handy around the house?
A. I have my own tool kit. My husband is always "borrowing" things and then I must fuss to have them returned. I think he owes me a screwdriver.
7) Glenn Frey co-founded The Eagles in 1970. What's your favorite Eagles song?
A. There are so many. I loved the Eagles. Hotel California is great fun to play on the guitar; lots of minor chords. Desperado is one of the songs I sing when I'm really blue. I play Best of My Love when my hubby and I have a spat. Peaceful Easy Feeling is great in the key of E on the guitar. I love the harmony on Seven Bridges Road. I cannot choose just one.
8) The Eagles helped define "California Rock," but in recent years Glenn and his wife lived in Tribeca. Have you ever been to New York? If so, did you like it?
A. I went to New York when I was a teenager. My parents took me one year. I think I was about 15; we went to Chinatown and had the best sweet and sour shrimp ever. But I have not been as an adult.
9) Glenn wrote "Smuggler's Blues" and "You Belong to the City" for the iconic 1980s TV show, Miami Vice. What else comes to mind when you think of the 80s?
A. Cyndi Lauper, the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, and Oliver North.
Thanks for the tribute to Glenn Frey.
Thanks so much for joining in Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us next week for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!
_____________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)