How's this for that?

The This that doesn't exist

the elusive This that it is,

Is an invisible thing, an intangible thing

more confounding than the This that is.

Now confusing as that This can be

considering it can't be seen,

I have to say... it is nothing compared

to the That that is behind the This.

Now... that That I have to admit

is that that is hard to resist,

but that That wouldn't exist

without the This that is.

How's that for this? Philoseussical enough? (I did it all in one shot... nuts I say...)

I can't breathe...

heart palpitations...

YouTubeLink (Views 688,170)

Seriously? I would have hit the pole... or scraped my legs off... or ridden over the edge...

Curtsy to the Borderline Sociopathic Blog for Boys for that heart wrenching experience. I could almost feel my teeth chattering... (Almost makes me want to dust the cobwebs off the bike and go for a quick jaunt through the trails ... not really.)

This...

The This that doesn't exist...

That is all I could muster. I was thinking that perhaps I should pursue this in a philoseussical manner. In poetry rather than prose. When my brain returns... If.

The Avengers

Further to my initial thoughts on this movie, I am not going to go into details about it, even though it is fresh in my mind, having just finished seeing it in the theatre. All I shall say for now is that I enjoyed it immensely. There was a moment when I felt like a little kid with a big smile on my face seeing Iron Man and Captain America standing side by side on the big screen. It had a lot going on and great pace, and there were elements which sort of reminded me of The Chronicles of Riddick and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. This was a massive undertaking for writer/director Joss Whedon, well known for being the creator, writer and director of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, but I think he did a smashing job, and his sense of humour shines through. On a side note, I knew that he had written Toy Story, but was not aware until tonight that he had also penned Titan A.E., all these shows being personal favourites of mine.

It is a splurge for me to see a movie in the theatre, so I have to feel that it is something pretty epic to do so. I do think this was worth it, but even though it was of a huge scale, I don't know if I could consider it as epic as Thor. Of course though, this may have to do with the fact that Thor involved otherworlds, not just Earth, or... that my opinion may have been slightly distorted by the latecomers who decided to sit in front of me, and who were perhaps the two tallest people in town. I definitely have to watch it on DVD.

Cost = Movie: $6 (cheap night) + Popcorn and drink: $6 = $12

Angry little boys and girls...

So... quite some time ago, I created a South Park Avatar for myself and then two other bloggers, just for fun. One of them, I didn't actually realize how close I was to the real thing until I saw a picture of his nephew this year. Of course though, the nephew was much cuter. Heh. Anyways, a couple weeks ago, at one of the blogs I regularly read, there was a post relating to the trials and tribulations of being dad to a 14 year old son who was NOT doing homework assignments and lagging behind. Sounds familiar eh? This prompted me to create an avatar for said dad... I did send it along to him before posting this... Thankfully, he liked it.

Ralphd00d

The funny thing about this? Way back when I created those first avatars, I also made one for the mother to a boy about the same age. I didn't realize until just now, but I used the same expression on both. Hmm... I call this one "Angry Little Girl".

 

Perspectives...

Dime on dandelion (2011)

Pondering personal perspective.

Poetic perspective.

Pragmatic perspective by a rather inspiring man. Go... read.

Nifty

Ingenuity...

Oh and on a similar theme:

(Kinda makes me wonder how many times he practiced doing this.)

From the Borderline Sociopathic Blog for Boys.

Garden Peace

"Snowball" Viburnum

Was out in the yard for six hours on Saturday (beautiful, hot and sunny) and four on Sunday (sunny, cloudy, cooler), primarily weeding one of the garden beds and pruning back a rather overgrown climbing rosebush. I now have two and a half extra-large clear bags full of weeds, 90% of which are ... the damned... buttercups. This is the worst I've seen it it ten years. Of course, I could have made a pre-emptive strike in the fall and then in early spring, but I was rather neglectful in that regard. I only took a hardline stance on the dandelions as they spread their seed more efficiently. However, I think that perhaps the buttercups are slightly more insidious with their sneaky tentacles weaving through the grass and moss. Oh.. and I'm not done yet... I have four other garden beds to attack, the largest being about twenty feet long... but I think that is mostly long grass and clover that crept in.

I didn't get around to cutting any Lilacs to take in the house this year and they are practically done now for the season. The photo above is some "Snowball" Viburnum that I cut from the rather overflowing bush out front. They sort of look like Hydrangeas, but the petals and heads are much smaller and "fluffier".

Oh... and last year, I tried to pull out the pink and red Lupines before they went to seed, so that I would have just white and blue... The other day I noticed the Lupines blooming... What do I have? Mostly pink and red. Only one white and one blue... Go figure.

No reason...

Just a song by a band I didn't really listen to that much, but which wandered back from the past the other day and again today.

When I found that link, I took a listen to a few more songs that I hadn't heard before, or don't recall, and came upon this one, which just seems to feel right tonight... for no reason.

Not forgotten...

Forget Me Nots

It is not rich, it is not rare,
This little flower – yet, ah, how fair.
Though it no merit else may claim
But this, “the magic of a name,”
Each tiny leaf into my ear
Is breathing names to memory dear;
The dead, the absent, the forgot,
Are whisp’ring here, “Forget-me-not.”

From "The Forget Me Not" by George Pirie
(Scottish Canadian poet, b. 1799)


To honour the fallen since last time:

U.K. (4)
U.S. (Oregon, Kansas (3), California (4),
         Illinois, Indiana (2), Virginia,
        Oklahoma, New Mexico, Missouri,
        Texas (2), Arizona, Tennessee, 
        Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio (2), 
        Arkansas, Minnesota, New York)

I just don't know...

I think I must be going nuts. I cannot find the me who I was. I do not know the me who I am, and I have no clue as to the me who I am supposed to be.

Ever had the desire to

skydive?

Pretty damn scary. However, I think that if it was something I wanted to do, this wouldn't change my mind.

There was an accident up here in B.C. recently where a young woman became detached from her harness whilst tandem hanggliding for the first time, which resulted in her falling 1000 feet to her death. It has apparently since been determined as hangglider pilot error... or perhaps more appropriately... negligence.

Wide awake...

I went to bed just before 2am...  I woke up at ... 3:20am. Wide awake. I am still wide awake. It hasn't happened quite like this since 2010. Hmm... I wonder what's going on. I am lucid, my head is "on" and eyes are clear for a change. ... Oh... and...  I am also hungry... very hungry. Maybe Fluffy had something to do with it, like Linus' binky. 

Say hello to my little friend...

No, I do not have stuffed animals on my bed. This was brought to my door tonight by my niece. A belated Easter present she said. He's pretty damn soft... and ... cuddly... So I took some pictures of him and me... just for fun. I call them Cuddly and Fluffy. Hahahahaha. Right now, as I'm typing this, he is tucked under my left arm, keeping me warm, with my chin resting on his head.

The lamb thing is sort of funny... My Zodiac sign is Aries, the Ram... and in the Chinese Zodiac, I am a Sheep. For several years at Christmas I used to give my sister an ornament of the Lion and Lamb... because her Zodiac sign is Leo, the Lion... and oddly enough, in the Chinese Zodiac, she is a Tiger. Just one of those weird things.

I am the what?

(No... not I am the walrus... koo koo ka choo... What the heck did that mean anyways?)

I am the slinky...

Sitting here watching it in motion, I came to that realization. This may even be more fitting than "I am the hamster." 

Curtsy to Harvey of Bad Example.

Still...

Am I avoiding sleep or is it avoiding me? I want it and I need it, I just don't want to put my head on the pillow for some reason. As I sat here pondering, yet not re-reading the post I just wrote, wondering if it even made sense, the word "still" came to mind, which brought forth the thought of that song "Still" by ... the Commodores? Or was it a Lionel Richie solo? I don't know. Big sister had the piano sheet music for that song too... I went agoogling and found a link and took a listen, but that got me confused with another song by Mr. Richie... "Lady", which I recall Kenny Rogers singing as well. Of course, now the songs just seem to sound the same... and not just sappy. I am not feeling so evil tonight as to post the links. I wouldn't want to contribute to someone walking down the street humming one of them. Nasty little earworms would they be.

Well, on my Google journey, I found that "Still" was by the Commodores, but "Lady" was a Lionel Richie solo. I searched images too and found that photo, which for some strange reason I seem to remember.

Great... now I have that song and picture in my head. Argh...

Does it even exist?

I've always been perfectly fine with being alone in the quiet stillness of my quiet little corner of the world. It just always felt "right". Even as a kid, when a lot of kids go through a "not fitting in" stage, I did manage to fit in, but as a marginal outsider, it didn't feel quite right. The being alone part felt more "right" than the fitting in part. This carried over into adulthood as well. School friends went on to university and I started a job the first week after school got out. I didn't know what I wanted to do with life, so this was something to do until I figured out what I was going to be when I grew up. It was rather funny, each year when the high school kids had their last day of regular classes, they would hop in their cars, take to the streets and drive in line through town honking their horns. I remember doing this too, so many years ago. It was freedom. Each year, almost every year, I would be sitting in the same place in that office and would hear the horns honking... and think to myself... oh... another year has passed.  For over twenty years... I heard those horns... Freedom they said.

Old school friends finished their post-secondary educations, got married, had kids, some even moved back to raise their families. And there I was at the office ... still. Not knowing what I was going to do with my life. Time had passed, years gone by, people fade in and out of touch, but mostly out. In such a small town, you figure this wouldn't be the case, but that's just the way it is. I've heard that even people who move to town find it difficult to find a niche...  It's "clicky" they say... just like it was in school. But some old chums, even if you don't keep in contact with, you see them and pick up conversation as if no time has passed, even though so much has changed in their lives.

The big thing with kids here back in the day was to be able to go to parties and drink. I have a feeling it is still like that nowadays, but with much more available choices. The funny thing is that on the rare occasion when friends came back from university to visit their parents, the get-togethers with chums usually involved discussions pertaining to the parties and drinking whilst away at university. I think four of my friends met their future husbands at bars. Two are still married to those same guys and two are now married to new ones. Life goes on.

I do not travel in the same circles as those I used to hang with. I am fine with that. I am still for the most part, fine with being alone. However I do think that living in this quiet peaceful little town can be cold. I never really thought of that before. It isn't like I don't know my neighbours and don't chat with them on occasion when I see them. It isn't like I don't have family nearby. Those are the things that make life bearable now. I think that before, my heart was cold and didn't mind the cold environs. I feel that as I get older, being alone only perpetuates the cold... and as such, I either have to shut down completely, or I need something more to warm my heart. The only thing is... that something I need ... I won't find here.

Contemplating change...

I've been looking at the Blogger Templates every so often for a while now, seeing if there is one that I might like to switch to, considering that when I created this blog, I just started with a blank slate, picking the background colour, fonts, font colours, header placement, etc... At the time when I started blogging, I hadn't seen that many blogs, nor any like it, so I just thought of it as uniquely me. There's also a newer set of templates called "Dynamic Views", which is kinda cool, but not really me. I took some screen shots of some of the options so I'd be able to get a visual "feel"...

How about this one?

Um... no...

This wasn't bad...

I really liked this one, but it just still seems... too happy light, even though I like the colour.

The only one that seems to fit is this one, and I think it would be easier to read because of the increased size, but I sort of like the fact that the one I made was plain and simple, with single items on a black background... no highlighted little boxes or cubby holes for each thing. It was basic and simple, but not standard issue.

This is one of the "Dynamic Views", which, although completely different from the look right now, I could see how this would work well for new visitors on a blog trying to generate more traffic.

Right now it feels as though I am still in the "fading out" stage and still don't know what I am doing here or here. Change is an absolute necessity and I have been struggling with the how or to what and for why bother for quite some time now. Would that it were as easy as changing the blog template.

I think I want one...

... even though I don't drive...

YouTubeLink (Views 454,942)

Seeing it roaring down the beach reminded me of this (without the boobs of course).

Curtsy to the Borderline Sociopathic Blog for Boys.

Dammit, I missed it...

I had coupons... This is the second time I had coupons. My intention was to get the 2 for 1 Papa Burgers, and I missed it... by ... one day. A & W burgers have a rather unique flavour, different from other places, but I have no idea what it is. Much like my extreme fondness for Swanson's Turkey TV Dinners, there is something about the A & W Beef that ... once you take a bite... you cannot stop, and the burger disappears... just like that. My plan was simple. The Papa Burgers have two beef patties... I was going to bring the burgers home, take out one patty from each, refrigerate one of the burgers, freeze the two extra patties, add some fresh spinach to the remaining burger and enjoy it like there was no tomorrow. I would have had four meals for the price of one Papa Burger. And ... I missed it.

On a happy note however... today I had a ham sandwich... Man... I almost keeled over it was so good. Ate half of it walking home and when I got here, ate the other half with spinach added. Absolutely yummy.

I ... Zombie...

Awoken from my peaceful slumber...(ha ha ha)... by a ringing. Seriously... I have a hard enough time with sleeping in the first place. I almost did one of those Bugs Bunny type "Who, what, where?" things. Not quite, but still. Who the heck would be calling this early? Was it an emergency? What time is it? Is it early? Walked down the hall zombie-ish, ring... ring... ring... Made it to the phone in time to see "Unavailable", and with my zombie eyes the time appeared to be 6:33. At first I thought it was 7:33, which wouldn't be that bad for a telemarketer to call, but ... 6:33? What the? Had picked up the phone a tad too late... Checked to see if there was an incoming message... nope. Walked back down the hall and looked out the kitchen window and the garbage was still there where I'd put it about five and a half hours ago. Turned around and checked the time on the stove.... nope... the call had come in at 6:33, not 7:33... I have to say, an expletive crossed my tongue. (A rarity.) More than once. It isn't that early in the big scheme of things ... but for a random call? At 6:33AM? Now I'm wondering other than a telemarketer who could it have been?

Well... it has been almost an hour now and no other calls, so I guess it wasn't an emergency. I can now return to my regularly scheduled ... nothing. Hopefully that will be my excitement for the day. I had enough of that yesterday.

Underneath the Stars....

Was watching Ferris Bueller's Day off last night (prompted by this) and there was a song in the movie that was an instrumental version of something that I knew, but for the life of me I couldn't place. I had some of the words in my head, but still couldn't remember. Anyways, I finally did ascertain what it was and went looking for a link, and then it came to me that I had already posted it on the blog before. When I had gone agoogling for it, I found out that it was also on the Pretty in Pink soundtrack, which I thought I had, but when I went looking through the drawer of CD soundtracks ... nope ... not there. I have them in alphabetical order and so decided to grab a couple from the next row, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and Virtuosity. I had forgotten what songs were on that Underworld soundtrack and was pleasantly surprised when I listened to it. So... I went agoogling and YouTubing to find some links. Along the way to the song I wanted to post originally, I came across a few more covers by one of my favourite bands, Deftones... Seriously... these guys must have listened to the same music as I did in high school. I was actually rather shocked to find a cover of a Sade song AND one by Depeche Mode. Here is the Deftones cover of Sade's "No Ordinary Love".

I'd written a little about the Deftones back here. 

Oh... almost forgot... One of the songs I originally went to look for was by the Cure. I hadn't really gotten into them that much early on, but their leadman Robert Smith definitely had a unique voice. I barely remember what he looked like back when I was in high school, but it is kind of funny watching a video of him/them performing live a few years ago. The song is "Underneath the Stars". Simple and beautiful, and his voice has held up well.

In my YouTube journey, I also found a talkshow interview he did following the release of the album on which that song appears. I just thought it was kind of cute, as he mentioned that the artwork on the album cover was actually pictures drawn by his nieces and nephews.

(Can you see my brain running around in the hamster wheel again?)

Having fun today...

Stupid me... When I killed the plunger a few weeks ago, I didn't go and buy a new one, even though this has been an ongoing drainage issue for almost a year. Early on it was just the bathtub and sink that would clog. Easy enough to clear the drains, or to plunge them for clearance. Now however, when the bathtub and sink drain properly, the toilet for some reason gets backed up. When the showerhead runs for five minutes, or if there is a load of laundry on, the toilet drains quickly and starts gurgling. I think I've written about this a couple of times here before, but today was just... funner. Yesterday, it backed up again... and I didn't have a plunger. So I made do with running the water and letting the toilet drain that way, until I could pick up a plunger this morning. Having a shower this morning drained the toilet, but it still wouldn't flush properly, so it definitely needed assistance. Went to the cheapie store down the street and picked up the only plunger they had...  a rather flimsy looking thing for $2.00. Oh,.. fun... Flush the toilet and try to plunge it and the damn thing would flip inside out... every. time. So the only way to flip it back out was to ease it back into place by rubbing it against the edge of the toilet... This of course caused the excess water to slosh over the edge.  It seemed to work initially, but after a while, it was not emptying. Wet spots on floor, wet socks. Used wet wipes to clean the floor, dried it with rags, washed up, changed clothes and went out to run errands and go to the hardware store. Plungers? I asked. Down the stairs, first aisle to the left. I went down there and got side-tracked looking at shiny new kitchen faucets. The one I liked was ... $149.99...  Walked down the aisle... no plungers...  Walked back and nope... Walked to the other side of the aisle ... nope... Went up the next aisle... ah... there... The stick and plunger thingy sold separately. Two different types, as well as a plastic thing that looked like I could break it rather easily. Went with the heavy duty black plunger thing and the nice wooden dowel. No way I could break that. $6.15... 

Was going to walk home, but then decided to make a detour up the street to grab some snackfood. Tortilla chips, a chocolate bar and Chicken Bones (haven't had those in ages). Ate part of the chocolate bar on the way home. Got here, started to screw the dowel into the plunger, got it almost all the way in, but then not enough traction, so ended up using a rubber garden glove to tighten it all the way. I was hoping the toilet would just drain out upon flushing this time, but nope. Man, that thing was stiff, but it finally worked after a few gos. Exciting? You bet.

***

Was getting the garbage ready to take out and was going to throw out a brand new insulated glass mug that somehow managed to get water stuck in between the layers. I had had it sitting on the counter hoping the water would drain out, but it hadn't, so I gently tapped it on the edge of the sink and ... crack... shards of glass everywhere. Sigh. Was very careful, but managed to stab myself. Damn finger wouldn't stop bleeding even after I cleaned and dried it and put Polysporin on it... and held it up in the air. Finally stopped after a while. Glad it was a small puncture.

***

Still struggling with the disconnected floating feeling, and those two little bits of fun oddly enough made me chuckle and brought me back for a while.

Yeah, meh and nah

Three not quite movie reviews.

I watched three movies the other night... Or rather two and a bit... Had to finish the third one the next day. I would do a review of each, but I just can't. Well, I could, but considering the second movie was a "meh" and that I had a hard time just sitting through the third one, I don't think it would be a good idea. However, since I got to watch them for free, I should say something about them right?

Okay... so... here I go... Warning: I'm going to be brief, and not very nice.

The first movie I watched was "The Help". Had an interesting storyline, compelling characters and was both funny and sad.

The second was "I Don't Know How She Does It" starring Sarah Jessica Parker with Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear. Sort of charming and funny.

The third one was "The Accidental Husband" starring Uma Thurman, Colin Firth and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (the charmer from P.S. I Love You). I left this for last, and was almost tempted to not finish watching the whole thing. Maybe it was just me on that day, but I found it cluttered, noisy and annoying. Not sure if it is that I didn't find the characters appealing or likeable, or if it was something lacking in the writing. I think I just like romantic comedies to be less frenetic... or to have a little more natural flow if they are going to be cluttered.

These are movies that I'd have to be in the right frame of mind to watch in order to appreciate them. Although, come to think of it, when I used to rent movies, if I was watching more than one, I would have to watch an action with a rom-com, or a comedy with a drama. I think I'd have a hard time watching consecutive rom-coms or back-to-back dramas. But that's just me. So maybe that third movie might have been better if I'd watched it first... I don't know.

Just curious...

Who would have a screen resolution of 30,720 x 768? (Unless Sitemeter has picked it up wrong a couple times. It has to be wrong.) The other highest was 2,560 x 1,080 or 1,680... or something like that. Could you imagine the clarity, the sharpness? Zoinks.

Random Sunday stuff

Something hasn't felt quite right in the last little while. Not sure what it is or was. I've been here before but not as ... intense. (I don't do intense.)

***

Earlier this week a splurge took place wherein I had for breakfast the following: Corned Beef Hash, two Eggs scrambled and two slices of Toast with Raspberry Jelly. Funny though, that I was thinking it would be canned Corned Beef, but they used sandwich meat, which I just found odd. I was really looking forward to canned Corned Beef Hash.

***

At the beginning of the week, on one of the sunny warm days, I was just heading out the door, and standing on the front porch, saw two cyclists turn onto my street and I heard one of them say... "Could you imagine these trees on your street?" (I suppose, depending on where you come from, seeing fifty or sixty foot evergreens in a residential area might be a sight.)

***

The other day I had a Sausage Egg McMuffin, Hashbrown, Orange Juice and Medium Mocha. I drank about 1/3 of the OJ and 1/3 of the Mocha, and saved the rest for later. The remaining Mocha I managed to save for two more separate drinks, adding milk and water to make it last longer. The remaining OJ I savoured... I would take one sip at a time. It lasted for two days.

***

Oh... a couple days ago, I read that there is a Solar Eclipse occurring today, which can only be seen from parts of Asia and of the western US and Canada. Not a Total Eclipse, but what is called an Annular Eclipse. Last year I learned of a Lunar Perigree that took place and a couple weeks ago, there was a Lunar Perigree/Syzygy. Fascinating stuff.

***

Back to the beginning... Hard to explain, but I have felt detached somehow ... Connected to the earth (thank god for gravity), but disconnected from everything else. Hmm... maybe it's that damn moon again.

***

It fits...

(My cat used to like sitting in boxes (even if he didn't quite fit into them), something that apparently I also liked to do when I was a baby.)

Disconnected...

Connected to one ...

but not the other.

I had an epiphany ... just looking at these pictures I took on a long walk the other day. I was thinking that perhaps I might have fallen through the cracks in the pavement of life, but then it came to me that maybe I never managed attempted to slip through the fence to live it.

I am here because there was never a place I looked at.

How can I be so calm and at peace with where I am, yet at the same time feel as though I was not meant to be here at all?

Sounds lovely...

Hobbies may have to take a back seat this week as your spleen dissolved into your gastric juices. You may hear good news today from an excitable old lady who may turn out to be drunk. Your itchy nose will soon be gone after you suffer a week of agonising hell locked in a pepper cupboard with a strait-jacket.

(From Laughsend.)

Underworld: Awakening...

Movie Review:
(Yes, it has been a while since I've done one of these.)

Wasnt too sure how this one would play out. What I found was a movie that was actually cut more like a comicbook or a really long trailer than a movie. It starts off with a prologue of fast little clips from the previous three movies to bring you up to date on the vampire/werewolf saga and then jumps into the new story immediately. It had such a fast pace that I didn't really have time to take note of that much of anything, good or bad, other than that the little girl reminded me of something from the Exorcist and that parts were reminiscent of two of the Blade movies.

The first installment of this series was rather slick and stylish, perhaps deliberate and focused in the telling out of necessity, but this one seems to have been made more for the short attention span. There seemed to be more blood and guts, more in your face violence, but not much fleshing out (so to speak). I suppose the major difference was that in this movie, it was Selene killing humans and not just Lycans. Speaking of Lycans, not to give anything away, but the only other actors I recognized were Stephen Rea, Charles Dance, and Sandrine Holt, and that the ending was left open for another sequel.

So, all in all, perhaps it might be lacking in substance, but it definitely makes up for it in speed. Or... maybe the substance IS there, but I just missed it because it went by too fast. Something I just realized is that Selene got to stick her hand into two chest cavities, one to save and one to kill. Lastly, despite the quick pace, one line caught my attention:

"My heart isn't cold... it is just broken."

I'm a mess..

I know this. But I didn't realize until I got BACK from McDonalds how exactly messy I actually looked!

A week or so ago, my nephew said to me... "I'm going to buy you a brush, so you can brush your hair." I had already told him that I don't NEED a brush. I comb my hair after I wash it and that is all. No gel, no mousse, no hairspray. Basically, a brush would not help me... but I can't be bothered with wasting money on extraneous hair products. It's funny he didn't mention anything this morning when he saw me. I suppose he was too preoccupied with being grumpy.

Unravelled

I am a ball of yarn. I am no longer the neatly rolled ball of yarn that I started off as. I have been played with by the declawed cat of the cosmos... and therefore, my yarn isn't frayed or chewed up, it is merely ... displaced... unravelled. I just need to be rolled back up in some semblance of order.   

Thursday Three: At the river...

a beautiful, sunny day, but ... darn windy and chilly.

I know I have posted some pictures with much better clarity than these, but I could only find this one.

Come undone

At some point, one must accept the nothing and cease to exist, or not accept the nothing and strive for something more than the nothing that is. What if that something is invisible, intangible, inaccessible? What if that something does exist, but only for the purpose of perpetuating the nothing... prolonging the inevitable.

With that being said, a song came to mind, by one of the groups that I listened to in high school. They didn't carry much weight long after that, but for maybe two or three songs a few years later. Anyways, this is one of them that seems to fit the underlying tone today and in the last couple years.

Then somewhen in the late 90s, I started listening to Korn, who in 2002 released a song that was unlike anything I'd heard by them prior. I was quite sure that I had posted about it before, which sort of explains the connection, and which you might even be able to hear between the two.

A few years after that, they released a song called... "Coming Undone"...

Hmm... Come Undone and Coming Undone.

In closing... from another song from Duran Duran, the words... "And I don't cry for yesterday, there's an ordinary world somehow I have to find."

So... on a rather funny side note, nearing the end of my Google journey finding these links tonight, I noticed "Slipknot backstage with Korn" (Views 45,065), and of course couldn't resist checking it out.

Speaking of Slipknot... They weren't quite my thing, but this mashup just ... works. (I've posted a link before.)

Wednesday Wisdom...

An old Farmer's Words of Wisdom
we could all live by.......

(Advice from Canman)

Your  fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and  bull-strong.

Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.

Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

A bumble bee is considerably faster than
a John Deere tractor.

Words that soak into your ears  are whispered....
not yelled.

Meanness don't just happen overnight.

Forgive your enemies; it messes  up their heads.

Do not corner something that you  know is
meaner than you.

It don't take a very big  person to carry a grudge.

You cannot unsay a cruel word.

Every path has a few puddles.

When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

The  best sermons are lived, not preached.

Most of the  stuff people worry about,
ain't never gonna happen anyway.

Don't judge folks by their relatives.

Remember that silence is sometimes
the best  answer.

Live a good and honorable life, then when  you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second  time.

Don't interfere with somethin'
that ain't bothering you none.

Timin' has a lot to do with the outcome of
a rain dance.

If you find yourself  in a hole, the first thing to do is
stop diggin'.

Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have  to deal with, watches you from the mirror
every mornin'.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

Good  judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from  bad judgment.

Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier
than puttin' it back in.

If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some
influence, try orderin' somebody
else's dog around.

Live simply,  love generously, care deeply,

Speak kindly, and leave  the rest to God.

Don't pick  a fight with an old man.
If he is too old to fight, he'll  just kill  you.


And, finally.........................................

Curtsy to Edna for this gem.

Just ride...

I was walking home the other day and a guy I've known since way back in third grade was coming across the street with his beautiful, fluffy and friendly dog (a leaner) for a quick break in the park. We had a long chat, part of which involved his great enjoyment of being out on the road with his motorcycle. I was immediately reminded of this. (A repost.) He hardly ever takes time off from work, but said that whenever he can on weekends, he just rides.

Kinda makes me wish I had taken the time to travel more when I was younger and had the money to do so, but for some reason I preferred to just work.

The Great War as seen by a Canadian...

Image from here.

As I was walking home from the store today, for some reason I decided to stop and look at the books for sale in the rack outside the used bookstore. I walked past there just the other day, not bothering to check them out. As usual, I was immediately drawn to the rather aged looking hardcovers, and about the second or third one I picked up, I found this book by this gentleman. I then looked at the sign taped to the side of the rack and found that all those books were $2.00. Without being familiar with the book or the author, and without even having read a part of it, I already knew that I was going to get it. I flipped through the pages for any major damage and found none. The book even had its original jacket, which as would be expected, was slightly ripped in spots. I checked the rack for some other hidden treasure, but found none. I went in and paid the young man working at the counter, who offered a chipper "Have a nice day!" to which I responded also rather cheerfully, "You too!" I walked home and set the book down. I think in my mind I had already determined that I was going to sit outside and start reading it, so soon after that, I grabbed the book and the magnifying glass and went to the backyard. The sun was hot on my back. My right eye not working, I closed it and used the left eye with the magnifying glass. Now that I think about it... any passerby would have seen me doing that and wonder what the heck I was looking at so intently. Anyways... I was only able to read a small portion of it, and didn't make it into the personal recollections at all. I was however immediately moved by a few things in the introduction, first, a poem, which seems familiar:

and this:

The odd thing about that part of the introduction is that a month or so ago, I made this comment on a blog relating to a "thumbs down" to a movie set in the Great War:

"My way of thinking is that IF a movie gets one person... someone... interested enough in an era or period in history to look further into it when they otherwise wouldn't even have bothered, then it is a good thing."

***

On a side note, one of my most personally valued items that I managed to procure at an auction two years ago is a photograph contained in a very worn textured black wooden frame, of Canadian soldiers from WWI. On the bottom of the photo, in faded letters are the words “4th Divisional Train” C.E.F. C.A.S.C. (VANCOUVER, BC, 1916)". The interesting thing about the book is that it wasn't published in Toronto or Montreal as one might expect, but ... in Vancouver, BC.

***
Yes, it is after 3AM and I know I should be sleeping, but I had to finish this while it was fresh.

This means war...

Sweet Woodruff flanked by the leaves of the white viola

as well as the encroacher.

I may have defeated the dandelions for now, but the war on buttercups is coming. I saw them lurking and spreading their spawn long before those dreaded happy yellow flowers started popping up... Oh.. and the garden beds have been infiltrated by... the grass.

Oh... and ... working in the yard again today, I killed my weeder. Somewhere in my yard there are now two screws lost to the far reaches of time. I guess that's what you get for spending only $9.99 on a garden tool. I should know better... that's what I paid for the snow shovel I bought a couple years ago and snapped the wooden handle off of. Sigh.

Speaking of killing things... I somehow managed to cause a bamboo plant I've had growing in the kitchen for five years or so to shrivel up and die. And ... a couple weeks ago, attacking either the bathroom sink or the bathtub drain, I did grievous damage to my plunger. I was happily plunging away and wondering to myself what the heck was going on... It wasn't working... I then realized that I had somehow ripped almost the entire cup from the part that is glued to the handle. The bathroom sink is clogged again, but on a positive note, the tub is draining just fine. It is an ongoing mystery. I still think it has something to do with the increased volume of water to the municipal drainage system caused by the car wash that opened up a hop, skip and a jump away from the house.

***

We've had two days in a row of almost 30 degree beautiful sunny weather. I did get burnt, but the yard looks pretty darn good. Next up... attacking the nefarious weeds and insidious grass that have almost overtaken the garden beds. It is tempting to just pull things out and start over again, if not for little things like this...

A new colour of variegated violet or viola has appeared. The tiny blue flowers are Forget Me Nots that I let run wild. You can also see the damned buttercup leaves in both pictures.

Monday day...

Blue Hydrangeas from the garden a couple years ago.

Hitting the hay early...

Worked outside in the yard for almost five hours today. Twas a beautiful, sunny, warm day, and the temperature went up to 27 C. Mowed the lawn and finally got around to scraping the moss off the basement steps,  as well as picking up pinecones and cleaning up the leaves and branches strewn about since last year. Somewhere in the middle, had a very brief picnic, with big sister bringing an A & W Teen Burger (which I inhaled), Fries and Rootbeer. Sooooooo good.

Oh... I had a bright coloured green wormy creature land on my shoulder which grossed big sister out. I squished it... Gah. (Sorry worm, you landed on me.)

Had a nice hot shower and even had time to go sit outside in the sun with a bowl of frozen blueberries and yogurt topped with a little cinnamon-nutmeg-sugar.

I think I might have had a little bit too much sun, as I had a slight bit of the chills later on.

Was at a loss for thoughts or anything for a blogpost, but today was a good day and deserved acknowledgement. And... I'm going to bed early... and... I think that I shall sleep.