Evil! Or not.
Current mood: voluminous
Category: Quiz/Survey

I was disinclined to post this because of the background picture in it.  *That* is evil and can cause nightmares in the very young!!  LMAO!  Anyway, here are my results for the "How Evil Are You?" quiz:

How evil are you?

4:42 AM - 3 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

Restless Brain Syndrom
Current mood: restless
Category: Blogging

INSIDE THE MIND OF AN INSOMNIAC
By W. Bruce Cameron
www.wbrucecameron.com

I often lie awake at night worrying about the ill effects of getting too little sleep. Recent news has reinforced my concern; for example, scientists have discovered that when laboratory mice are deprived of sleep for an extended period of time, the little rodents have trouble performing certain tasks, like running mazes and operating heavy machinery. I have even read that not sleeping can cause you to gain weight, especially if you get out of bed in the middle of the night to eat a chocolate pie.

My problem is that my brain seems to come alive when I try to sleep, though it does a good job of being dormant whenever my editor calls to ask where my column is. Lying there, I wind up having an interior dialogue, like this:

Me: Okay, lights are out. Time to sleep.

Brain: Now would be a good time to worry about your credit-card bills.

Me: No! There's nothing I can do about them right now.

Brain: I disagree. We can calculate how long it will take to pay them off, based on your current rate of debt reduction. I'm coming up with the winter of 2012.

Me: How is that supposed to help?

Brain: Our feet are itchy.

Me: What?

Brain: I've got a question. How do you explain the career of Ben Affleck?

Me: Just stop, okay? No more thoughts. Let's try counting sheep.

Brain: Do you think the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals would be okay with that? I mean, sheep don't exist just for you to count them, you know. They have their own lives and worries, thank you very much. How'd you like it if someone made you into a sweater?

Me: Are you crazy? They're not even real sheep!

Brain: And that somehow makes it right? Hey, what does that roll of blankets at the foot of the bed look like to you?

Me: It looks like a roll of blankets.

Brain: Could be a snake.

Me: This is madness. How could a snake get in here?

Brain: A copperhead.

Me: There is no snake. Go to sleep.

Brain: Copperheads are poisonous, you know. Shhh! Listen!

Me: What is it?

Brain: I think I heard someone coming in the window carrying an axe.

Me: Oh for heaven's sake.

Brain: You should have asked Beverly Ballou to the Winter Dance.

Me: Wha-- That was in seventh grade! Why are you thinking about that now?

Brain: I'm just saying. Sixty.

Me: You're just saying sixty?

Brain: I'm counting sheep, like you asked me to. I'm up to sixty.
Are you sleepy yet?

Me: Yes! Let's go to sleep.

Brain: Beverly Ballou, you sure blew that opportunity. What a fool.
We'll regret that forever. Have you noticed how much hair you've lost lately?

Me: I have not!

Brain: Okay, excuse me. The hair must be growing out of the shower drain, then. What are you worried about, anyway? Bald men are considered "very sexy" by focus groups comprised primarily of bald men.

Me: I am not going bald.

Brain: Maybe you should get up and check in the mirror. Hey, what are the symptoms of the Ebola virus? I think we've got it.

Me: We're not getting out of bed, we're going to lie right here and go to sleep.

Brain: Oh yeah right. Did you remember to turn off all the burners on the stove?

Me: Yes, I did.

Brain: Are you sure? I think I smell smoke. You cheated.

Me: I... huh?

Brain: High school algebra class. You looked over and saw Todd Smith's answer for question number four. How can you live with yourself?

Me: I didn't mean to!

Brain: It's not too late to set the record straight. I'll bet you we could track down our teacher. What was her name? Waters? Rivers?
Something wet. Mrs. Drip Faucet? Mrs. Dribble Drink? Can you seriously not smell something burning? I can practically hear the flames.

Me: Fine!

When I get up to check the burners, I usually raid the refrigerator.

(As long as I'm not sleeping, I figure I might as well get a chocolate pie out of it.)

4:23 AM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Something my sisters will relate to
Current mood: bouncy
Category: Life

This afternoon, I was sitting in the back room of the office with one of my co-workers, having lunch.  She opened a small tub of Daisy sour cream, and discovered some philosophy written on the inner foil seal.  She read it out loud to me:

"When life hands you limes, just rearrange the letters and give back a smile."

My response to that was immediate.  Almost without having to think about it, I responded:

"Yes, but when life hands you lemons, just rearrange the letters and flash 'em your melons."

4:57 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Where I Was Born and Raised
Current mood: determined
Category: Writing and Poetry

Hello, everyone.  I need your help!  Actually, my father needs your help.  He is looking for a copy of the book "Where I Was Born and Raised", by David L Cohn.  This book was published in 1948, I believe, and is currently out of print.  Dad is looking for a copy in fairly good condition, of course.  If anyone can point me in the right direction (we've covered Ebay and Amazon.com already), I'd greatly appreciate it.  Any ideas, anyone??

Thanks!

5:02 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Texas is the greatest!
Current mood: cantankerous
Category: School, College, Greek

After having dug to a depth of 10 yards last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their New York ancestors
already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, California scientists dug to a depth of 20 yards, and shortly after, headlines in the LA Times newspaper read: 'California archaeologists have found traces of 200 year old copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers.'

One week later, the 'Houston Chronicle, a local news paper  reported the following:


'After  digging as deep as 30 yards in fields near College Station, TX, a self-taught archaeologist and dyed-in-the-wool Aggie fan, reported that he found absolutely nothing.  He has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Texas had already gone wireless.'

4:45 PM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

A Single Word Is Not Enough
Current mood: blustery
Category: Life

A few minutes ago, I got the same email from 2 of my many siblings.  The email says "describe me in one word."  Seriously?!  Are you kidding me???  For someone who lives to play with words, this is not a game.  This is TORTURE!!!  I can’t come up with just one word to describe people.  It’s impossible!  Well, okay, I could come up with words like "ho’bag", but seriously that’s more appropriate for *me* than for my sisters.  Heh heh heh.  :::ahem:::  Moving right along . . .

Restricting a description to just one word . . . it’s just not right!  I’m going to start a new slogan, right here and now:  "Free your vocabulary!  Write a sentence!"

5:10 PM - 4 Comments - 5 Kudos - Add Comment

Tagged by Jo
Current mood: awake
Category: Quiz/Survey

Not sure if I’m putting this in the right category, now that I’m looking at it.  Hmm . . . .

Okay, recently I was tagged by Jo.  Normally, despite my best intentions, I tend not to respond to such tags, but this time I’m going for it!  Brace yourselves.    And since I don’t know 10 people, I’ll just say if you’re interested in doing this too, you’re tagged! LOL.

Okay, so, 10 weird facts about myself.  Considering the fact that a lot of people out there would describe me as generally weird anyway, I’m not sure I can come up with 10 "weird" facts, but at least I can tell you a little something about myself.  So, here we go:

1)  Although every personality profile I’ve ever done for myself says I am "good with money," money and I are not the best of friends, much as I would like us to be.  Money - or the idea of having money - is vitally important to me, but I shrink from actually doing the appropriate work necessary to get it because that kind of thing would put me in the public eye.  Silly, hunh?

2)  As much as I shudder at the idea of being in the public eye, my greatest/favoritest fantasy is having complete strangers come up to me and say something like "I just read your latest novel!  I loved it!"  Talk about irony.

3)  I believe ghosts/spirits/dead people are still here, and have a tendency to be attracted to people who pay attention to them.  For a time, I was part of an on-line group of people who were - how shall I say? - trying to improve their "communication skills", and let me tell you!  During that time I had a number of intense experiences, both in waking life and in dreams (not convinced they actually were dreams).  Those experiences more than anything else convinced me that our loved ones are still around and *wanting* to communicate with us.  I just wish I could communicate more/better with them.

4)  The idea of ghosts/spirits/dead people coming to me "suddenly" and without warning scares the crap out of me, so I often spend several minutes before falling asleep telling whatever may be out there either "no, don’t try to contact me right now," or "just don’t scare me!"  I find that I am rarely contacted these days.  :-P

5)  I have seen (and am often aware of) my guardian angel.  He’s pretty cool, but laughs at my foolishness often.  (By the way, Jo, I’m pretty sure he’d be okay with me writing the full Sorian/Tate/Angel story.)


6)  I absolutely believe "weird stuff" works, and will pursue it until I have at least one experience that "proves" to me it works.  After I have that "proof," I will stop investigating it.  Some examples:  the raw food lifestyle (6 weeks 80% raw cured a whole host of issues for me, so I went back to a Standard American Diet; my health now suffers for it, but I cannot get myself back to raw, or even simply vegetarian), Astral Projection ("woke up" once feeling - feeling - the texture of the ceiling above my bed on my face before very clearly falling back onto the bed), and
neural reprogramming (I just can’t explain what it did for me before I stopped listening to the CD’s, which I simply can’t get myself to use anymore).


7)  I have this weird ability to do things well (or, at least, "well enough") with little or no training.  This makes me wonder, if I took the time to get "real" training on some of the stuff I enjoy doing - photography and writing and suchlike - would I be a genius at it, or still just "good enough"?

8)  Several weeks ago, I was walking into a 7-Eleven convenience store and had to pass a young black man who was pacing outside the store.  As I passed, I heard him say to himself, "Where am I going to get $167?"  For
hours afterward, I wanted to cry because I did not have the money to give him right then.  I’m still bothered by that little scene.  That is what I want to be able to do.  Not "Oprah’s Big Give," not "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." No.  Just to be able to hand over a few bucks to a person in need at the right time.  That would be an immense joy in my life.


9)  I am a morning person.  By "morning" I mean I have no problem with the idea of getting up at 3 or 4 AM.  Heck, I’d even get up at 2 AM if there was a point to it.  The offset to that, though, is that I turn into a pumpkin as early as 7 PM.  Staying up at night requires a change of location, a handful of people, and some alcohol.  This means I have no social life.  Quite honestly, I’m okay with that.


10)  I have a deep and abiding love of flavors.  "Original flavor," or - god forbid! - "plain" do absolutely nothing for me.  Even with alcohol, I drink for the taste of it, not for the effect.  This means I tend to drink less than other people when out for an evening of fun, but please don’t ask me to be the designated driver.  Why?  because . .  .

11) Bonus fact!  I got my driver’s license when I was 30 years old, and I’m still not entirely comfortable with it (although I do love my cute little Scion Xb!).


And now I’m running late for work.  Here’s another fact: I despise living my life on someone else’s schedule (i.e., when I have to get to work, and when I can leave work), but like I said earlier, I find myself unwilling to do the work necessary to be able to create my own schedule!  Silly, silly.

4:01 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Atom smashing fun!
Current mood: smart
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

(Really this should be listed under "science," but alas! no "science" category. ) Read the full article here!


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Greatest experiment ever in particle physics nears countdown

A large dipole magnet is lowered into the tunnel during the installation of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2007. In a vast circular underground tunnel below the French-Swiss border, the final pieces of a gigantic machine are being set in place for an extraordinary investigation at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). In a vast circular underground tunnel below the French-Swiss border, the final pieces of a gigantic machine are being set in place for an extraordinary investigation into the infinitely small at CERN: Europe’s atom-smashing laboratory.

If things go according to plan, the greatest experiment in the history of particle physics could unveil a sub-atomic component, the Higgs Boson, which is so tantalising that it has been called "the God Particle." The "Higgs," named after a British physicist, Peter Higgs, who first proposed it in 1964, would fill a gaping hole in the benchmark theory for understanding the physical cosmos. Other work on the so-called Large Hadron Collider (LHC) could explain dark matter and dark energy -- strange phenomena that, stunned astrophysicists discovered a few years ago, account for 96 percent of the Universe. It could shed clues on the mystery of how the Universe came to be. And it may determine whether, as some physicists believe, space-time holds dimensions other than our own. "We are standing on the shoulders of giants. But we want to know better and we want to know more," said a leading CERN investigator, Juergen Schukraft. A gamble costing six billion Swiss francs (almost six billion dollars, 3.9 billion euros) that has harnessed the labours of more than 2,000 physicists from nearly three dozen countries, the LHC is the biggest, most powerful high-energy particle accelerator ever built. "It’s fantastic. It’s like a baby, only it doesn’t take nine months to be born, but 19 years," enthused Daniel Denegri, whose Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector is bidding to be first to snare the Higgs. In July or possibly August, the LHC will start its work, initiating a cautious programme of tests before cranking up to full intensity. In October, CERN (officially called the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) will invite heads of state and government to an official inauguration. Beams of hydrogen protons will whizz around at near-light speed in opposite directions until, bent by powerful superconducting magnets, they will smash together in four bus-sized detector chambers, where they will be annihilated at temperatures hotter than the Sun. Swathed within the chambers are arrays of delicate sensors which will track the wreckage from the smash-up -- the shower of quarks, muons, pions and other exotically-named members of the sub-atomic bestiary. Data from these collisions will then be sifted by a massive computer farm above ground, which will send the most promising events on "The Grid," a miniature World Wide Web. The Grid comprises 11 institutions around the world that specialise in high-energy physics, which in turn will hand on the information to physics departments in universities. Each partner has agreed to give up space on its computers to store and pool data and analyses, which thus opens up an unprecedented global computational resource. A quiet dread felt by all the researchers at CERN is that a team in Chicago, working at the legendary Fermilab, might grab the elusive Higgs first, using an ageing accelerator, the Tevatron, which is due to be phased out in 2010. "It will take us a year to get the whole thing [the LHC] working," cautions Schukraft. Even so, the competition is fierce but not cut-throat. The United States -- and Fermilab itself -- are enthusiastic partners in the LHC, and in the small world of particle physics, everyone knows everyone else and friendships run deep, cutting across borders, ethnicities and nationalisms. "At CERN, everything co-exists here, the very big and the very small. The Pakistanis work alongside Indians and Palestinians alongside Israelis. Physics is one throughout the world," noted Denegri.

Currently reading : Alice in Quantumland: An Allegory of Quantum Physics By Robert Gilmore Release date: 21 July, 1995

6:45 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Texas Traffic
Current mood: weird
Category: Travel and Places

Looks like Texans are finally starting to take traffic laws seriously instead of just as "guidelines".

Warning - not just for Texans but anybody planning on a visit!!!!

Zero tolerance speed camera

With the Texas highway death toll continuing to increase, this will be the first year that Zero Tolerance Speed Cameras will be used.  The new cameras look different from the normal cameras.  I have included a photo so that you are familiar with them.  Make sure you do not speed when approaching one Please take this warning seriously as you will not get a second chance.

Currently reading : Weird Texas (Weird) By Wesley Treat Release date: 25 July, 2005

6:40 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

R.I.P. Arthur C Clarke
Current mood: sad
Category: Writing and Poetry

Arthur C. Clarke, Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 90

Currently reading : 2001: A Space Odyssey By Arthur C. Clarke Release date: 12 September, 2000

4:00 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment