This one needs a little background: A friend of mine came over to see the Woody Guthrie Center. It's been a great week on the creative front, being able to work together on artistic ideas. We collaborate well together, which is something I have needed for a long time. Someone to drive me musically, to feed my muse. The other night we headed out for drinks. Being how yet another friend was buying, we drank red bar (which, we decided, only needed cheese to suffice as "liquid pizza"), and san...
OK, I'm tired of this. Sometime ago I was challenged by a certain individual on the text of the second amendment. I contend that it reads as follows: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. This particular individual contends that it is much longer, and that all texts available on the Internet are wrong and that we have been duped by a government that will not allow us access to o...
Last October, when we re-upped our cell phone contract, we opted for the emergency roadside assistance on one of our phones. We figured that it was worth it to have that extra safety net when we are on the road. This past weekend, we went to Okemah, Oklahoma, and the big Woody Guthrie Festival there. On the way home, we were stricken with a case of car-wouldn't start-itis. First in OKC, but as we lumbered out, the alternator was working, albeit intermittently. We were hoping it would be just ...
For those of you who don't know, I went back to school last fall to get my Associate's in Computer Technology. My long range goals are to get my Bachelor's in Business Administration, then head on to law school. Well, the first summer semester's out of the way, and I have no classes scheduled for summer 2. I'm going to knock out a few certificates over the "down" weeks (for me, there are NEVER "down" weeks...I'll also be working up the October Woody Guthrie tribute, so the devil won't have an...
(Note: The following is work product that I may or may not use at a future time) Over the years, I've worn many hats. I've been (in no particular order): a groundskeeper for a cemetary, an office assistant, a dishwasher, a bus boy, a fry cook, a factory worker for a fireworks company, a printer, a fast food restaurant attendant, a car wash attendant, a factory worker for a crutch factory, manager of group homes, stockboy at a WalMart, an underground miner, a plumber, a paperboy, a suppor...
<a href=" http://bbspot.com/News/2003/01/os_quiz.php"><img src=" http://www.bbspot.com/Images/News_Features/2003/01/os_quiz/os2_warp.jpg " width="300" height="90" border="0" alt="You are OS2-Warp. You're plagued by feelings of abandonment and disgust for your backstabbing step-brother. Oh, what might have been."><br>Which OS are You?</a> "
As the headlines of the sports sections around the country focus on Barry Bonds' chase for the AMERICAN home run record (Japanese baseball fans do not need to ask why the word "American" is in caps!), it is only natural for people to have a sour feeling towards professional sports. After all, Bonds has been cast, rightly or wrongly, as the epitome of the selfish athlete, and there are many who do not want to see Hank Aaron's record fall. And so, it is even more stunning, more beautiful when w...
It has sat there on the shelf for allmost ten years. Since before I played guitar, long before Texas. It has haunted me, jeering at me in my creative hours, begging to be finished, begging to be made whole so that it can be the masterpiece it was meant to be. "It" is a song I started years back. A song based on a fantasy of a chance meeting with an old folksinger (a la Woody Guthrie/Bob Dylan). Onlly in my song, the old folk singer has given in to the ravages of alcoholism and age, and the ch...
Tonight was our Friday night jam session. For those who've kept up this week, I put together song lyrics I'm pretty proud of ( Link ), and when I went in to the jam session, I pulled a couple of friend aside. I've never really written music before and needed a little help. As I sang the song a capella, we decided that it works best in the key of "G". We put together some rough tablature, with a little trial and error. The chorus begins in "C", and the arrangement is pretty simple. I decided ...
I don't put my poetry out much, but this one I think you'll like. It's a song lyric, really, and it works with the tune I have in mind. It's a rough draft, but the basic idea's there (and the chorus is done): Superman Sleeps with Winnie-the-Pooh Superman in his caped pajamas Is running through our hall He can leap over tall buildings Though he’s only two feet tall When the night is late He falls asleep in my hands He’s not afraid of the big T. Rex But he’s afraid of the boogeyman
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This week in our free time, my friends and I have been sorting through our haul from last Saturday's auction. Things were off to a good start when a high number of items had a good resale listing price on half.com. Even better on Sunday when our first sale came through. Followed by another on Monday. Then three today. In three days' time, we have nearly doubled what we spent at auction (although gas must be accounted for), from the sale of five books. Five books, it must be noted, out of TWELVE ...
I encountered one of those interesting situations today. One where the solution was for me to sit in front of the computer and just fix the problem. Those situations do not often come up, but when they do I try to help the best I can. This was ten miles out in the country, a dialup customer, who had just purchased (well, is renting to own, to be more accurate, but that's another story) a new computer with Windows Vista. When I tried to describe the situation over the phone, she didn't understand...
Some years back, I had a small book reselling business. It wasn't much, but I made good margins, learned how to buy and sell, and most importantly, learned what NOT to do. One of the biggest downfalls of the business was that I did not have any extra help to inventory, ship, and receive books. Well, a few weeks ago, we caught a glimmer of some possibilities when we received a whole bunch of equipment from a major corporation. We will begin to see returns on that investment (of time more than ...
I've always been mystified by the idea of taking a vow of poverty. To me, raised as I was in the liberal household of liberal households, it seemed compelling: live as the world's poor do so that you can help the poor. Now, I grant you, the poverty vow as usually expressed in the Catholic church, Buddhist monks, etc, has little to do with that and more to do with self denial of the material so that one can draw closer to God. But in the world of the Uber liberal, there's something noble, somethi...
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=ArDU83F_vYUJqgEegPO_QXU5nYcB?slug=ap-hancock-lawsuit&prov=ap&type=lgns Baseball fans know the story all too well: St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock died in an April 29th car crash when his SUV slammed into a tow truck that was towing a parked car away. Hancock had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system, was speeding, was using a cell phone, and was not wearing a seat belt. Marijuana was also found in the vehicle. Now ...