Time is a Bitch

Time, time, time, what the hell are you doing to me? I have little or no time these days, to write, to rant, to ramble. It's all hectic-frentic rushing hither and yon for me lately.


Or at least that's the way I'm selling it, to myself and everybody around me. Truth is, I have piss-poor organizational skills, always starting something new before finishing the project I'm on. I really have to stop doing that.

Trivia Break:

1) What city in Scotland is known as the "The Granite city"?

2) What is the tallest mountain in Scotland?

3) What is the most northernly city in Scotland (not the most northernly point, the most northernly city)?

4) What Scottish village is famous for weddings?

5) What is the main ingredient in Haggis?

6) Which uninhabited Island is known as "A full stop and the end of Britain"?

7) Which town was thought for centurys as the center of England?

8) By what name is the Island of Lindesfarne also known?

9) A Jester in the the court of King Henry the 1st had a dream that inspired the king to do what?

10) What animal has been living in the Tower of London for centurys?

Answers:

1) Aberdeen

2) Ben Nevis

3) Inverness

4) Gretna Green

5) Sheep Intestine

6) Oot Stack

7) Maryland

8) Holy Island

9) Build a hospital

10) Ravens

Too Many Big Pictures, Not Enough Finished Ones

Ever wonder just what it is that you do not possess that others, specifically successfull others, do? I ponder that a lot, primarilly because I am having a dickens of a time getting a handle on things. And not just a few things - all things, everything. I'm accostumed to the whole one step forward, two steps back dealio, but lately, well, lately it's just all been...a full blown retreat.

The Least Dangerous Man In The World

Charles Schulz, The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived.


Has anyone ever given consideration to the possibility that Charles Schulz was not just the least dangerous man in the world for fifty full years, but that he may well be responsible for putting smiles on the faces of more people, worldwide, than anyone else who has ever lived?


Think about it: From October of 1950, until his retirement brought on by failing health in December of 1999, he produced a daily cartoon strip, Peanuts, that was published in newspapers throughout the world. At it's peak, Peanuts was popular in over 70 countries, in more than 2,600 newspapers.


What that means is that, every morning (or evening, as the case may be), people would open up their papers to the comics section, read three or four panels (more, of course, on Sundays), and much, much, more often than not, smile, if not laugh.


His characters, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Woodstock, Linus & Lucy, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, etc., appeared in over 17,000 individual strips. 


That's seventeen thousand smiles and laughs multiplied by what? Billions? As in, billions of smiling, laughing, happy people.


Phenomenal! And all he had was his pencil, some paper...and a wonderful imagination.

Can't Stop The Hocum

Once there was a way to make a point without getting too preachy. It was a long, long time ago, when I was a wee lad, and all I had to do was exclaim "So there!" and that was that, the point was made.

Nowadays though, I have to go into these convoluted explanations that require back stories and cited proofs, as if anyone's actually going to check the veracity of my word.

Though it could happen, I suppose.

For now, for today, I'm not going to make a point on any subject that requires more than my pathetic little ol' opinion.

My point for the day is this: I was wrong about Aerosmith when I was in the 7th grade. They do indeed rock.

An Accounting Of Space And Time

Spent a couple weeks in New York - the city, the country, upstate, central, even paid a visit to Niagra Falls.


Niagara Falls, btw, is cool. Sure, the surrounding area is all schmaltzy Honeymoon hotels and casinos, but the falls themself, they are cool. Truly a wonder.


I drove along back roads, checking out small towns like Phoenix and Liverpool, and some of the bigger towns like Rochester and Syracuse.


It was fun. The price of gas was consistently $2.86 a gallon, and food at modest little restaurants came in at $12.00 or so for lunch and about $20.00 for dinner.


The variety of Victorian homes, in Rochester in particular, was wonderful. I love me some Victorian homes. Great wrap-around porches, turrets, gables, gingerbread.

Secret Rhymes

Triskaidekaphobia

A pocket full of arugula

Galoshes, galoshes

Left behind in the lost & found

Brown fried rice, brown fried rice

Good with some rum, good with some rum

The world is full of love & strife

More than enough for this man's life

But Andy Taylor and Barney Fife

Love that brown fried rice

Full of it this afternoon.