Relax; take it easy...

Don't you hate it when your mind tricks you into thinking that there's a spider crawling up your leg?

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>:D

Spacecraft to Slam Into the Moon

"Scientists are plotting out a "crash course" in learning what happens when a European lunar probe slams into the Moon."

Um... what do you think will happen? It will hurtle toward the moon's surface and smash into bits after impact. And people spent money on this?

The name of the probe is "SMART-1". You know, just for added irony.

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I've gotten an unexpected day off today. So, hmm. I'm at a loss as to what to do with my time. There are tons of things I can be doing - should be doing, as a matter of fact - but. Here I am. Quelle surprise, really.

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I feel like sharing.

One of my all-time favorite albums is Cat Steven's Tea for the Tillerman. There's something about it - maybe because I grew up listening to it in the car on long trips as a child - that gives me warm fuzzies.

Here's Miles from Nowhere via Yousendit. It's an uplifting song, or so I've always thought. Anyway, the record is worth getting still, despite being from 1970 - ha!

Giant Popsicle Melts, Floods New York Park

"The 25-foot-tall, 17 1/2-ton treat of frozen Snapple juice melted faster than expected Tuesday, flooding Union Square in downtown Manhattan with kiwi-strawberry-flavored fluid that sent pedestrians scurrying for higher ground."

It's just one more example of how there are cycles in life! :^)

We had no telephone access for three days. No dial-tone. No internet. It was so eerily quiet. My brother and I were at a loss as to what to do with our time. He ended up picking up his guitar for the first time in months. I tried reading a book. Our lives had this inescapable, inexplicable void looming just beyond our consciousness. What was I supposed to be working on? Don't I usually do something right around now?What is my purpose in life?

Okay, so it wasn't that bad, and it was nice not having the phone ring with pre-recorded political advertisements every couple of hours. But not being able to call out was bizarre. It turned out that the phone line running into the house was damaged (and the telecom guy who came said that it was the original phone line that was installed in the house when it was built - fifty years ago. The lines and old phone box on the side of the house still read "Bell Telephone"). I figured that it was due to the guerilla squirrels that live in the barracks - er, tree - next door. They're vicious. :^P

( Wherein I natter on about my new job... )

In other news, it's the last day of summer - hallelujah! I absolutely *love* fall - it's second only to spring in wonderful-ness.

And while I'm in a good mood, here's a cheerful "fuck you" to our country's commander-in-chief for this bit of news stating that "The Pentagon has begun tapping into its $25 billion emergency fund for the Iraq war to prepare for a major troop rotation and intense fighting this fall, administration officials said on Tuesday, despite the White House's initial insistence that it had enough money." By god, there are no words to explain how I despise that man.

The moon this evening rose first red, then turned to orange, and finally to its normal yellow-white. It was really beautiful. I find it interesting, too, as this is the waning Corn Moon (though I've seen it referred to as other moon names), and corn can come in each of those colors, some good for eating and some...er, not.

Unlike tonight's moon, however, my Sea Monkeys never did change color from red to orange to pale yellow, as advertized. Granted, a few have grown larger than the ones I recollect having had as a child, so maybe not all is lost. One out of two claims may not be bad for a "product" based on the unpredictable-ness of aquatic invertebrate genetics (I'm making that up, of course; there may very well be someone out there who can predict the possible phenotypes inherent in so-called "hybrid" Sea Monkey offspring. What do I know?). And they are kind of cute, swimming in circles around the mason jar as if they had never visited that particular point along the perimeter several times that day already. Heck, if you're a Sea Monkey, I imagine that everything is New! and Different! and therefore Exciting! every second of your existence.

Which is probably a good thing, considering that they really don't live very long.

There may have been a point to this post at some time before I started typing which included the reasons for my not being around (and dealt with babysitting infant and three-year-old cousins, playing taxi service to my dear old uncle, and actually, gasp, going to work at the start of this oh-so-bright-and-shiny new school year), but, alas, I was distracted by the illusory color-changing antics of our natural satellite. Such is life, I suppose.

I'm leaving this afternoon for that town made famous by groundhogs and their shadows (interestingly enough, the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray was not filmed in Punxsutawney, PA, but in some other state entirely. I think that the movie producers found the actual place to be too podunk for their aesthetic tastes). It is time to visit my dad's family, and this weekend is opportune in that it is my grandmother's 76th birthday... and my aunt's 96th birthday. Whoa! :^D My aunt is a remarkable woman, not the least of which is because she was born in 1908 and can tell us young'uns all about how things were "back in the day".

So, no internet until Monday... but two, six-hour car trips to get caught up on my summer reading. Nice. And the weather out there - high of 70F! Life is good.

Lastly, apparently, not all parasites are bad - wherein some parasitic birds benefit by sharing. Huh.

Ah, this was cute and fun to do.

My Inner Hero - Wizard!

It's been about seventeen years since I was into baseball; lately, I've really been looking forward to watching the Phillies games. It's all my brother's fault, naturally. :^) While we can be nostalgic about the days of Mike Schmidt and John Kruk (and I can dig out my 1987 Topps cards... which still faintly smell of gum), I have to admit that it's been fun catching up with today's players. Bell and Thome... Michaels and Abreu... etc., etc., ... it's been great.

My brother bought a new, unknown species of cichlid for his 55 gallon tank. I've taken to calling it Little Thome, given that it's most likely going to be huge when it grows up - much like the Red Devil cichlid that's in the tank already. Another thing I can blame my brother for - getting me into fish. I was quite happy with my betta fish, Dodger. Now I'd like to set up a little community tank...and I mean little. Knock his tank down by a factor of ten, and you've got the size fish tank that I own. Unfortunately, it's currently got a green severum cichlid quarantined in it (Severum was just too hostile to Little Thome, apparently, so he's in time-out until Little Thome grows a bit bigger). All I'd like are a few tetras and a snail. I've wanted a snail for a long time - no idea why, really. They're just kind of cute. :^D

Anyway.

In other sports-related news... the DC United vs Metrostars game was great fun to watch, despite the Metrostars being thoroughly trounced as they were. Whoa, hello, defense? Are you out there? Being that I didn't really have a team to cheer on, it was fun just to watch without being tied up in knots hoping for a particular side to win.

The best thing about today? Having 13 members of my extended family here to celebrate various birthdays and graduations, talk, eat, and watch the games. Nothing much beats throwing water balloons, running around the yard in the evening with jars to catch lightning bugs, and playing with sparklers.

Life is good. :^)