*blend

I’m in one of those moods where I need to be reminded why I voluntarily took on 4 more children. My better half is very good at reminding me why, and for that I am very thankful, but it doesn’t quite equal out the negative thanklessness I get from the smaller members of the household. After a very nice Thanksgiving meal at home, and another I took out for the crew at Brian’s rig, I felt Thursday was indeed a happy Thanksgiving. But like all things good, it couldn’t last. Read the rest of this entry »

The Mint on Monday revealed the design of the new U.S. $1 coin, which will be issued in a series that will eventually include the faces of each U.S. president. It will release four new presidential dollars each year, starting with George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in 2007. The Van Buren dollar will be released in 2008 and the Fillmore in 2010. Richard M. Nixon, who resigned in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate scandal, will appear on the coin in 2016.- Reuters . They are working on getting “In God We Trust” off…now it’s very much less prominent on the side edge of the coin. This is a new feature…I don’t think any other US coin has had this edge-imprint.

Black Is…

Water in a stagnant pond

A fermented leaf under a storm cloud
swollen with rain
blocking the sun

A casket lowered into the moist earth

Dark reality and painful truth

Lies

A battered guitar in a dark corner

The rope of life and death

Fear

Dreams

A dead wolf at my feet

My philosophy of ‘black’ began taking form in 1988. I live in a world of light, of optimists, of God and Jesus, of goodness and hope. Yet I surround myself, literally, in darkness. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve taken hundreds of these tests over my lifetime, and they never seem to change….I thought people changed as they aged! You should take a few of these Myers-Briggs and Jung type tests if you haven’t before, or it’s been a while since you have. They are many different ones available for free online. For me, they help to remind me that not everyone thinks the way I do, and I have a better understanding of why I do things the way I do. Get your significant other to take the tests as well…it will really open your eyes to their behavior and thought processes.

attention techiehoodoo and non-emo:
pay extra close attention: I now have official results…so there.: and NO, I did NOT cheat on the darn test.

***You Are 50% Weird***
Normal enough to know that you’re weird… But too damn weird to do anything about it! How Weird Are You? http://www.blogthings.com/howweirdareyouquiz/

I am a Light Cycle.I drive fast, I turn fast, I do everything fast. I even breakfast. I tend to confuse people with my sudden changes of heart. Sometimes I even confuse myself, which tends to cause problems. What Video Game Character Are You?

Read the rest of this entry »

One of my daughters has been good friends with a little boy since 3rd grade. He’s a nice, polite boy, and I never minded him coming over to play, and she would spend many hours at his house as well. Over the past 2 years, he and my daughter seem to have grown apart. They don’t spend any time together outside of school. I know that their changing views of the opposite sex has a lot to do with their changed relationship, but I still was bothered by the seeming loss of an important friendship from my daughters life.

Yesterday, she got an electric guitar for her 14th birthday and surprised me by asking if he could come over today to see it. Now, they are playing video games and eating chips and ice cream in the back room with her sisters. 5 teens. One of them is a deep-voiced, tall young man that doesn’t much resemble the little boy who used to come over to play on the weekends. I hear snippets of conversation between laughter…”No, really, we have gel and can give you a faux-hawk” (Note to self - find out if they really think faux-hawks are cool) Woman-like laughter and seriousness in the midst of playing video games and surrounded by stuffed animals.

Seeing them together now after so long makes me realize even more clearly how quickly they are growing up - and I don’t like it. I guess I’m also realizing that the changed relationship thing doesn’t affect them half as much as it affects us. She and I. They are adapting to the changed nature of their relationship, while I tend to get stuck treating us the same as I did when she was an awe-filled little girl fascinated with everything around her. She’s quickly becoming a young woman learning to control the things that used to confuse her. And even though he’s still as polite and well-mannered as ever, right now I’m thinking I really don’t mind the fact that this tall, deep-voiced young man doesn’t come around much to keep reminding me that children become adults, and playground friends become something I am TOTALLY not ready to face.

I thought that I would post updates about my final month at the library, and the act of taking everything and giving it over to a total stranger. Everything I have poured my heart and soul in over the past 7 years as the director of the library. The programs, the services, the network, the relationships…all of these things took cultivation and care and planning…and I love them. And now I do not have them. It was a long, difficult, stressful month - and as you can see by the date of this posting, I’m just getting around to commenting on it almost 2 weeks after my last day there. I miss it already, but do not regret my decision yet. I worry about about what is happening, with my replacement not having any library OR tech experience, there’s a LOT to worry about. But it’s getting better, I have so many other things to focus on, that it’s getting easier every day. My business is taking off exponentially. It’s pretty amazing - like everyone found out I was no longer working a ‘regular’ job, so I got 5 major projects dropped on me, 3 minor ones, and a whole slew of “can you come look at my computer?” requests. No way I’m complaining about THAT. I will make more this first month with WestXdesign than I have all year, and more than I would have with my salary from the library (which is NOT saying a lot about librarian salaries…). But next month might not be so profitable. It’s nice that I don’t need to count on this business to live….having the opportunity to quit and stay home is a rare one indeed, and not one I would have ever foreseen in MY future even 3 or 4 years ago. Crap. I got off on a tangent and forgot what my point was when I starting writing this. Oh yeah - being overdue. This post is overdue…..and my library books are long overdue. Go figure.

there’s an expected 29% voter turnout rate for todays election in Texas…

stop surfing the net, get off your butt, and go VOTE

now.

This has been a public service announcement from yours truly. Thank you.