Eva And The Wilderness

    

 

Tucson Weather Today

____________________

 

Generally speaking, a howling wilderness does not howl: it is the imagination of the traveler that does the howling.
--Henry David Thoreau

Below is a photo of the wash just a few feet from Eva's home and of the path that runs alongside it.

This path runs past a domain in which lives Eva's mortal enemy, a large, loud barking, seemingly vicious canine named Sarge, according to some kids in the neighborhood. The two dogs seem to hate each other.

Of course, Eva cannot be described as being an overly sociable animal, when it comes to other animals. She loves people but shuns the proximity of other creatures -- dogs, coyotes, lizards, bees, flies -- anything that moves, especially birds. She actually tries to jump up and intercept any bird that soars over the pool deck. I'm sure she believes she can jump high enough to catch them.

But she never has... yet.

This morning I noticed a curious object out on the back deck; it appeared to be a bird's egg, snowy white but strangely light in weight, as if it was an undamaged empty shell. When Eva nosed it I hollered for her to leave it alone, and she did. I figured I would examine it later in greater detail.

After I had skimmed the pool of the many leaves floating on its surface after the night's heavy howling winds, I passed the location of the egg, or eggshell, whatever, and it had disappeared. I called Eva over and asked her if she had eaten it after all. She just looked up into my eyes then looked away, glancing over toward the hole in the Saguaro cactus wherein a nicely fashioned hole near the top lay the nest of a pair of loud and persistent red-headed woodpeckers.

I shrugged my shoulders and went inside to watch the morning TV news, followed by a quiet and carefully obedient Eva.

_____

Did You Know . . .?

If you chew gum when you study a subject and then chew the same flavor when you take the test it will help you remember.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1945, Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany, burrowed away in a refurbished air-raid shelter, consumed a cyanide capsule, then shot himself with a pistol, as his "1,000-year" Reich collapses above him. Hitler had repaired to his bunker on January 16, after deciding to remain in Berlin for the last great siege of the war. the shelter contained 18 small rooms and was fully self-sufficient, with its own water and electrical supply. He left only rarely. At his side was Eva Braun, whom he married only two days before their double suicide.

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WORD FOR TODAY

wilderness
noun
1.  a wild and uncultivated region, as of forest or desert; a tract of wasteland.
2.  wildland; a natural environment on Earth.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

John Mark "Johnny" Galecki
(born April 30, 1975)

Johnny Galecki is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Leonard Hofstadter in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory since 2007 and as David Healy in the sitcom Roseanne from 1992 to 1997. He also appeared in the films National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Suicide Kings (1997), I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), Bookies (2003), Hancock (2008), and In Time (2011).

Kunal Nayyar
(born April 30, 1981)

Kunal Nayyar is a British Indian actor, voice actor and writer. He is perhaps best known for portraying Raj Koothrappali in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

Willie Hugh Nelson
(born April 29, 1933)

Willie Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Stardust (1978), made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. He was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films and co-authored several books.

Kirsten Caroline Dunst
(April 30, 1982)

Kirsten Dunst is an American actress. She made her film debut in Woody Allen's short film Oedipus Wrecks. At the age of twelve, Dunst played the role of vampire Claudia in Interview with the Vampire (1994). She appeared in Little Women the same year and in Jumanji the following year. After supporting roles in the NBC medical drama ER (1996) and films such as Wag the Dog (1997), Small Soldiers (1998) and The Virgin Suicides (1999), Dunst transitioned into romantic comedies and comedy-dramas, starring in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), Bring It On (2000), Get Over It and Crazy/Beautiful (both 2001).

__________

Every well-written book is a light for me. When you write, you use other writers and their books as guides in the wilderness.
--Kate DiCamillo

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

    

Being Stupid Is Downright Stupid

    

Tucson Weather Today

____________________

What is it I most dislike? Stupidity, especially in its nastiest forms of racism and superstition.”
--Christopher Hitchens

Yesterday I was so upset (outraged) at all the news coverage of the Clippers owner's supposedly racist comments covertly recorded without his knowledge. His comments (in my opinion) were quite evidently a response to continual prodding by a questionably motivated, persistent young woman, prodding for some reason of her own.

After the outrage left me, I found myself so depressed that I could not write about it coherently. I was too pissed off.

I still am . . . pissed off that is, but I will say that (through the guise of racism) this man's constitutionally guaranteed Freedom Of Speech has been blatantly and maliciously violated. Mainly by the media.

It is foolish sometimes, I'll admit, to speak out about one's private thoughts. But it is not illegal.

Racism is rampant, within the minds of men. Most men. Deny it all you want. Go ahead, if it makes you feel acceptably liberal... makes you appear intellectually and morally superior to the ignorant masses.

Here is what I say -- "Racism is not a product of ignorance, but of universal stupidity." wherein the definition of universal is: "of, affecting, or done by all people or things in the world or in a particular group; applicable to all cases."

See what I mean? I cannot write about this incident objectively and unemotionally.

Just can't do it. Not now.

Maybe later, perhaps in the near future.

_____

Did You Know . . .?

In 2007, University if Minnesota researchers found a huge hole in the universe a billion light years across that is not a black hole and is completely devoid of matter.

_____

HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1992 in Los Angeles, California, four Los Angeles police officers that had been caught beating Rodney King, an unarmed African-American motorist in an amateur video were acquitted of any wrongdoing in the arrest. Hours after the verdicts were announced, outrage and protest turned to violence, as rioters in south-central Los Angeles blocked freeway traffic and beat motorists, wrecked and looted numerous downtown stores and buildings, and set more than 100 fires.

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WORD FOR TODAY

racism  [REY-siz-uhm]
noun 
1.  a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2.  a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3.  hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld
(born April 29, 1954)

Jerry Seinfeld is an American comedian, actor, writer, and television/film producer, best known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David. For the show's final two seasons, they were co-executive producers.

Uma Karuna Thurman
(born April 29, 1970)

Uma Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films. Following early roles in films such as Dangerous Liaisons (1988), she rose to international prominence in 1994 following her role in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. She starred in more films throughout the 1990s such as The Truth About Cats & Dogs, Batman & Robin, Gattaca and Les Misérables.

Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis
(born 29 April 1957)

Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation and has earned numerous awards, including three Academy Awards for Best Actor, for his portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot (1989), Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood (2007), and Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln (2012).

Michelle Marie Pfeiffer
(born April 29, 1958)

Michelle Pfeiffer is an American actress and singer. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her breakout performance in Scarface (1983). Pfeiffer has had her greatest commercial successes with Batman Returns (1992), What Lies Beneath (2000), and Hairspray (2007). Her other films include Ladyhawke (1985), Into the Night (1985), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Married to the Mob (1988), Tequila Sunrise (1988), The Age of Innocence (1993), Wolf (1994), Dangerous Minds (1995), I Am Sam (2001).

__________

Ageism is as odious as racism and sexism.
--Claude Pepper

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

    

4-28-14

    

 

 

Tucson Weather Today

____________________

"If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to the library."
--Frank Zappa

_____

Did You Know . . .?

Jesus encouraged people not to pray out loud, and to practice their religion in private.

_____

HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1945, "Il Duce," Benito Mussolini, and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were shot by Italian partisans who had captured the couple as they attempted to flee to Switzerland. He and his mistress made it to the Swiss border, only to discover that the guards had crossed over to the partisan side. Knowing they would not let him pass, he disguised himself, hoping to slip into Austria with some German soldiers. His subterfuge proved incompetent, and he and Petacci were discovered by artisans and shot, their bodies then transported by truck to Milan, where they were hung upside down and displayed publicly for revilement by the masses.

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WORD FOR TODAY

nympholepsy
noun
1.  A frenzy supposed by ancient peoples to have been induced by nymphs.
2.  An emotional frenzy.
3.  Frenzied passion aroused in men by beautiful young girls.
4.  (Psychiatry) a state of violent emotion, esp when associated with a desire for something one cannot have.

From The Urban Dictionary:
Having nympholepsy is to suffer from a rare ailment whereby one experiences severe and debilitating seizures from the endless pursuit of sexual encounters. Much like an orgasm, but with more terrifying and violent endings than that of the common orgasm. It is found rarely in women, as men tend to possess more of the genetic triggers that can cause this impairment.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno
(born April 28, 1950)

Jay Leno is an American comedian, actor, voice actor, writer, producer and television host. Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time, also on NBC. After The Jay Leno Show was canceled in January 2010 amid a host controversy, Leno returned to host The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 1, 2010. Leno hosted his last episode of the Tonight Show on February 6, 2014. That same year, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.

Jessica Marie Alba
(born April 28, 1981)

Jessica Alba is an American television and film actress and model. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994). Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the James Cameron television series Dark Angel (2000–2002) when she was 19 years-old. Alba later appeared in Honey (2003), Sin City (2005), Fantastic Four (2005), Into the Blue (2005), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) and Good Luck Chuck (2007).

Jorge Garcia
(born April 28, 1973)

Jorge Garcia is an American actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian. He most recently starred in the FOX television series Alcatraz, as well as playing a minor character on ABC's Once Upon a Time.

Kathryn Bridget Moynahan
(born April 28, 1970

Bridget Moynahan is an American model and actress. Moynahan made her television debut in a guest appearance in the comedy series Sex and the City in 1999, where she would later have a recurring role as the character Natasha. She made her feature film debut in Coyote Ugly. She was then cast in a supporting role in Serendipity (2001). Moynahan was also featured in the action film The Sum of All Fears (2002), spy thriller The Recruit (2003), the science-fiction movie I, Robot (2004), and the political thriller Lord of War (2005). Moynahan completed work in Elizabeth Allen's Ramona and Beezus, which was released in July 2010, and has starred in the CBS drama Blue Bloods since September 2010.

__________

"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity."
--George Carlin

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

    

Guest Blogger 4-27-17

    

The Old Truck

Once upon a time it was "the new truck." It was 1982, and we were newlyweds buying gas with bottle return money and living on hamburger and Rice-a-Roni (when it was on sale). The little truck was a 1981 4x4 tan jobber, with a camper shell. It was a return from someone who found out they were having a kid and needed a station wagon instead.

And once upon a time after that, it was just "the truck." To differentiate it from the cars that paraded through our lives, of course. There was always only one truck.

Until late 1999, when we bought the Tundra. That was when our first joint vehicle purchase became "the old truck."

For all this time, we've had the Tundra, the old truck, and the car.

Today, we have only the Tundra and the car. Our old truck has gone to find a new home. While the truck with the distinctive stripe is gone, the memories remain:

 - The time we went fishing and the bait bucket tipped over, dumping a dozen flopping minnows in the floorboards. We didn't find them all, as we discovered within a couple of days --- the smell lasted quite awhile.

 - The time we transported a cactus (I think it was a barrel cactus, about four feet high) on its side in the back. Note to self: never transport cactus on carpeting.

 - The time we went four wheeling with our dog, Ressu. He stood brace-legged on the toolbox in the back (the pass-through was open) until we hit one whoop-de-do and the toolbox flew into the air and came down with a crash. The dog flew in the air, too -- but he landed in the front seat with us.

 - The time stranded on the road just outside of Santa Nella -- with a camper full of birds.

 - The time someone broke into it and tried to hotwire it -- the wrong way.

 - The time the alternator light was on for four days -- and then the headlights dimmed and went out on my way to work.

There were good times, too; trips and conversations and dependable drives to work and loaning it out to someone whose vehicle was sick. We probably put well over 300,000 miles on it. I'm going to miss that old truck.

Copyright 2014 Michelle Hakala
http://www.winebird.com/

    

    

New Words And Stuff

     

Tucson Weather Today

____________________

174 pounds

We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but of the quarrel with ourselves, poetry.
--William Butler Yeats

A new word has cropped up... vape. It means, of course, to have nicotine delivered to your respiratory system by means of an e-cigarette, or similar vaporizer.

Good God! What next? Powdered alcohol?

Yeah... I know.

Random Photo

A Single Little Cactus Growing All Alone

Tucson, AZ  April 25, 2014

This evening I will once again be temporarily moving outside the city limits and into the scrubland to share a house with Eva. I will be there for at least a week, perhaps two weeks.

_____

Did You Know . . .?

Richard Harris who played Dumbledore, only accepted the role because his 11-year-old granddaughter threatened to never speak to him again if he did not take it.

_____

HISTORICAL EVENT

On April 26, 1986, the world's worst nuclear power plant accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Soviet Union. Thirty-two people died and dozens more suffered radiation burns in the opening days of the crisis, but only after Swedish authorities reported the fallout did Soviet authorities reluctantly admit that an accident had occurred.

An estimated 5,000 Soviet citizens eventually died from cancer and other radiation-induced illnesses caused by their exposure to the Chernobyl radiation, and millions more had their health adversely affected. In 2000, the last working reactors at Chernobyl were shut down and the plant was officially closed.

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WORD FOR TODAY

perorate
verb
1.  To conclude a speech with a formal recapitulation.
2.  To speak at great length, often in a grandiloquent manner; declaim

According to Wikipadia: "In classical rhetoric, a peroration was the final part of a speech. The peroration had two main purposes: to remind the audience of the main points of the speech (recapitulation) and to influence their emotions."

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Kevin James

(born April 26, 1965)

Kevin James is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. James is widely known for playing Doug Heffernan on the hit CBS sitcom The King of Queens. James is also known for his lead roles in the comedy films I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Grown Ups, Zookeeper, and Here Comes the Boom.

Carol Creighton Burnett

(born April 26, 1933)

Carol Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. She is best known for her long-running TV variety show, The Carol Burnett Show, for CBS. She has achieved success on stage, television, and film in varying genres including dramatic and comedy roles.

Bobby Rydell

(born April 26, 1942)

Bobby Rydell is an American professional singer, mainly of rock and roll music. In the early 1960s he was considered a teen idol. Well known tracks include "Wild One" and "Volare", and he appeared in the movie Bye Bye Birdie in 1963.

Stana Katic

(born April 26, 1978)

Stana Katic is a Canadian born American film and television actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Detective Kate Beckett on the ABC series Castle (2009-present).

__________

Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.
--Plato

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

4-25-14

     

Tucson Weather Today

____________________

175 pounds

"Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian."
--Robert Orben

George Will's latest column is titled Barack Obama, The Adolescent President and it's an eye opener (in my opinion) --

Read it HERE

ALSO

The Writer's Almanac has a fine piece describing the life of Daniel DeFoe.

Read it HERE

_____

Did You Know . . .?

Humans are not appropriate prey for great white sharks because shark digestion is too slow to cope with the high ratio of bone to muscle and fat.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 19900 the crew of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery placed the Hubble Space Telescope, a long-term space-based observatory, into a low orbit around Earth. The space telescope, conceived in the 1940s, designed in the 1970s, and built in the 1980s, was designed to give astronomers an unparalleled view of the solar system, the galaxy, and the universe. Free of atmospheric distortions, Hubble has a resolution 10 times that of ground-based observatories. About the size of a bus, the telescope is solar-powered and orbits Earth once every 97 minutes.

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WORD FOR TODAY

apocryphal
adjective
1.  of doubtful authorship or authenticity.
2.  Ecclesiastical .
 a.  ( initial capital letter ) of or pertaining to the Apocrypha.
 b. of doubtful sanction; uncanonical.
3.  false; spurious: He told an apocryphal story about the sword, but the truth was later revealed.

Apocrypha are statements or claims that are of dubious authenticity. It is commonly applied in Christian religious contexts involving certain disagreements about biblical canonicity.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Alfredo James "Al" Pacino

(born April 25, 1940)

Al Pacino is an American film and stage actor. He is well known for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy and Tony Montana in Scarface, and as a police officer, a detective and lawyer. For his performance as Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992. Pacino made his major breakthrough with the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather, and for Dick Tracy and Glengarry Glen Ross. Oscar nominations for Best Actor include The Godfather Part II, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, ...And Justice for All.

Renee Kathleen Zellweger

(born April 25, 1969)

Renee Zellweger is an American actress. She first gained widespread attention for her role in the film Jerry Maguire (1996), and subsequently for her roles as Bridget Jones in the comedy Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), and as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago (2002). Zellweger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama Cold Mountain (2003).

Meadow "Meadowlark" Lemon III

(born April 25, 1932)

Meadowlark Lemon is an American basketball player, actor, and minister. For 22 years, Lemon was known as the "Clown Prince" of the touring Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. He played in more than 16,000 games for the Globetrotters and is a 2003 inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Talia Shire

(born April 25, 1946)

Talia Shire is an American actress most known for her roles as Connie Corleone in The Godfather films and Adrian Balboa in the Rocky series.

__________

"The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off."
--Gloria Steinem

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

Nuke 'em Back To The Stone Age

     

Tucson Weather Today

____________________

175 pounds

I always go back to Harry Truman: Should we drop an atomic bomb to save 100,000 lives? That's a hell of a decision to make. Did he make that decision by himself? No, he had advisers.
--Lee Iacocca

Decisions.

The older I get the more difficult I find it to make choices. Little things. Tiny, seemingly insignificant selections (Hunts, Heinz, or store brand catsup) from the grocery shelves become overwhelming options to be lengthily considered. One has a better flavor, another is 20 cents cheaper, the other is almost a dollar less.

Adding a dollop of catsup to a serving of fried fish makes it tastier, but it also causes me to want more than one. Maybe I would be better off not buying any. I like the taste of breaded crunchy-fried fish without enhancement well enough. And catsup adds unnecessary calories.

But I like it even better with a splash of catsup.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.


It is getting harder for me to walk my usual two miles each day. After the walk my legs are so tired they hurt, and the pain lasts for several hours. Especially if I do not lie down for a while after I get home, take a possible nap for an hour or so. And I need nothing from the grocery, which is at the halfway point of my walk. My cupboard, my refrigerator, and my freezer are full.

Maybe it is better to skip walking today... let my old muscles rebuild a bit.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.


Is it so mysterious that I feel John McCain, well into his seventies, is a poor choice to continue as a decision making U.S. Senator?

I think not.

_____

Did You Know . . .?

The first animal launched into orbit, Laika, was found as a stray wandering the streets of Moscow. Soviet scientists assumed that such animals had already learned to endure conditions of extreme cold and hunger.

_____

HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1945 President Harry Truman learned the full details of the Manhattan Project, in which scientists were attempting to create the first atomic bomb. The information thrust upon Truman a momentous decision: whether or not to use the world's first weapon of mass destruction.

The war with Japan dragged on and it looked to many as if the Japanese would never surrender. On July 16, the team of scientists at Alamogordo, New Mexico, research station successfully test  exploded the first atomic bomb.

The first Japan-directed bomb was exploded over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and a second was dropped on Nagasaki on August 8. The Japanese quickly surrendered.

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WORD FOR TODAY

bombastic
adjective
1.  Ostentatiously lofty in style,
2.  High-sounding but with little meaning.
3.  (of speech or writing) high-flown; inflated; pretentious.

To be bombastic is to be full of hot air -- like a politician who makes grand promises and doesn't deliver.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Barbra Joan Streisand

(born April 24, 1942)

Barbara Streisand is an American singer-songwriter, author, actress, writer, film producer, and director. She is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award. She is the best selling female artist of all time, with more than 71.5 million albums in the United States and 245 million records sold worldwide. 

After beginning a successful recording career in the 1960s, by the end of the decade, Streisand ventured into film starring in the critically acclaimed Funny Girl. Other notable films include The Owl and the Pussycat, The Way We Were and A Star Is Born. 

Shirley MacLaine

(born April 24, 1934),

Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author. She has won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy twice, for her roles in The Apartment and Irma la Douce, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama twice for Terms of Endearment and Madame Sousatzka. 

Jill Dorothy Ireland

(Apr 24, 1936 - May 18, 1990)

Jill Ireland was an English actress, best known for her many films with her second husband, Charles Bronson.

Melinda Patrice Clarke

(born April 24, 1969)

Melinda Clarke is an American actress who has primarily worked in television. Clarke is known for playing Faith Taylor on the daytime drama Days of Our Lives, the manipulative and cunning Julie Cooper on The O.C., and the professional dominatrix Lady Heather on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. From 2010 to 2013, she portrayed Amanda on the action-thriller television series Nikita. She was added as a recurring character on Vegas in 2013.

__________

I do not believe that civilization will be wiped out in a war fought with the atomic bomb. Perhaps two-thirds of the people of the earth will be killed.
--Albert Einstein

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

Is A Surreal Dream A Lifelike Dream?

     

Tucson Weather Today

____________________

176 pounds

Surrealism is merely the reflection of the death process. It is one of the manifestations of a life becoming extinct, a virus which quickens the inevitable end.
--Henry Miller

I have been having dreams lately. Too many dreams. Way too many dreams.

And it bothers me.

_____

Did You Know . . .?

NYC had to recall pencils with the message "Too Cool to Do Drugs" on them. As they were sharpened , they'd say "Cool to Do Drugs" and "Do Drugs", etc.

_____

HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1969, Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to the death penalty after being convicted in the assassination of politician Robert F. Kennedy. Following a three-month trial, during which Sirhan's lawyers argued he was mentally unstable at the time of the murder, he was convicted on April 17, 1969. On April 23, he was given the death penalty. However, in 1972, the California Supreme Court abolished the death penalty and Sirhan's sentence was commuted to life in prison. His requests for parole have been denied over a dozen times, and he continues to serve his time in a California prison.

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WORD FOR TODAY

surreal
adjective
1.  of, pertaining to, or characteristic of surrealism, an artistic and literary style.
2.  having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream; unreal; fantastic.

If you see a bus crash into someone’s front porch while a caged dog barks in the side yard, near a man in a business suit who is grilling hamburgers, you might call that a surreal image. Things that are surreal combine unrelated elements to create a bizarre scene.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Michael Francis Moore

(born April 23, 1954)

Michael Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic, and political activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine (2002) and Sicko (2007) also placed in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries. In September 2008, he released his first free movie on the Internet, Slacker Uprising, which documented his personal quest to encourage more Americans to vote in presidential elections. He has also written and starred in the TV shows TV Nation and The Awful Truth.

Valerie Anne Bertinelli

(born April 23, 1960) 

Valerie Bertinelli is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Barbara Cooper Royer on the sitcom One Day at a Time (1975–84), Gloria on the drama series Touched by an Angel (2001–03) and Melanie Moretti on the sitcom Hot in Cleveland (2010–present).

Kal Penn

(born April 23, 1977)

Kal Penn is an American actor, producer, and civil servant. He is known for his role portraying Dr. Lawrence Kutner on the television program House, as well as the character Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series. He is also recognized for his performance in the critically acclaimed film, The Namesake.

On April 8, 2009, it was announced that Penn would join the Obama administration as an Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Sandra Dee

(Apr 23, 1942 – Feb 20, 2005)

Sandra Dee was an American actress. She became known for her wholesome ingenue roles in such films as The Reluctant Debutante (as Rex Harrison's daughter), Gidget, Imitation of Life, and A Summer Place. She later played "Tammy" in two Universal sequels to Tammy and the Bachelor, in the role created by Debbie Reynolds.

__________

Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision.
--Salvador Dali

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

Today Is Earth Day

      

Tucson Weather Today

____________________

175 pounds

Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.  
--Cree Indian Proverb

TODAY IS EARTH DAY

I really have nothing relevant to say about Earth Day.

Except that I approve.

And that:

Earth Day was the brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin,

a staunch environmentalist who hoped to provide unity to the grassroots

environmental movement and increase ecological awareness.

_____

Recently I finished writing another 100 word short story:

"Oh Damn!"

I was 17, an innocent, strictly sheltered, physically strong but ignorant and gullible farm boy. She was 18, a former cheerleader and daughter of the town mayor.

We came together beneath a harvest moon.

It was magic.

We fell naked onto a haystack. She reached down and grasped my penis. No girl had ever done that to me before. I was a virgin. I don't think she was, though.

I couldn't help myself.  It just happened.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"No problem," she said.

She raised her hand and in it appeared a long, black, rigid wand.

"Abracadabra!" she said.


The comments I received about the story surprised me. I had not expected to get such a varying lot of interpretations of the ending, and of its meaning. One person thought that the 'long, black, rigid wand' was a vibrator. Another thought the guy's penis had been transformed into the wand.

Etc.

Actually the wand was merely intended as a symbol signifying that the earlier statement, "It was magic" was literally true. And that after his premature ejaculation she used the wand to to make him sexually viable again. That's all.

Oh well, it's hard to be precise as to my intended meaning with a 100 word limitation.

That will probably be the last of my attempts at writing 100-word stories. For a while, anyway. I still have three other conventional short stories in the works that I occasionally return to and of course, my novel, which I have been writing for about thirty or forty years.

The little 100 word blurbs were fun, though. That's more than I can say about any of my other writing endeavors.

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Did You Know . . .?

The United States is the only developed nation to permit humans to drink milk from cows given artificial growth hormone.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On April 22, 1970 Earth Day, an event to increase public awareness of the world's environmental problems, was celebrated in the United States for the first time. Millions of Americans, including students from thousands of colleges and universities, participated in rallies, marches, and educational programs.

On April 22, 1990, the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, more than 200 million people in 141 countries participated in Earth Day celebrations.

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WORD FOR TODAY

environment
noun
1.  the aggregate of surrounding things, conditions, or influences; surroundings; milieu.
2.  the social and cultural forces that shape the life of a person or a population.
3.  Ecology: the air, water, minerals, organisms, and all other external factors surrounding and affecting a given organism at any time.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson

(born April 22, 1937)

Jack Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer, and writer. Throughout his career, Jack Nicholson has portrayed unique and challenging roles, many of which include dark portrayals of neurotic and psychopathic characters. He has twice won the Academy Award for Best Actor, for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and for As Good as It Gets. He also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the 1983 film Terms of Endearment. Nicholson is well known for playing villainous roles, such as Frank Costello in The Departed, Jack Torrance in The Shining and the Joker in 1989's Batman.

Cassidy Freeman

(born April 22, 1982)

Cassidy Freeman is an American actress and musician. She is known for her role as Tess Mercer in The CW's superhero drama Smallville.

Ryan Lee Stiles

(born April 22, 1959)

Ryan Stiles is an American actor and comedian whose work is often associated with improvisational comedy. He is best known for his career and co-production work on the American and British versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and the role of Lewis Kiniski on The Drew Carey Show. He plays Herb Melnick on the CBS comedy Two and a Half Men and was a performer on the show Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza.

Marilyn Chambers

(April 22, 1952 – April 12, 2009)

Marilyn Chambers was an American pornographic film actress, exotic dancer, model, actress and vice-presidential candidate. She was best known for her 1972 hardcore film debut Behind the Green Door and her 1980 pornographic film Insatiable. 

Note: I don't know if Marilyn was a relative... probably not.

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The Earth has a skin and that skin has diseases, one of its diseases is called man.
--Friedrich Nietzsche

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This Is Who I Am