Crazy...

So... a couple weeks ago I found out that Metallica is playing two days in Vancouver next month. It's one of those times where I thought ... wouldn't it be cool to see them again? Last time I did that? I ended up with two tickets to a Duran Duran concert, no one who could go and well... I still have those two tickets. I think I saw them eleven years prior to that. (Addendum: After I wrote this, I realized that that wasN'T the last time... The last time was KORN... I ended up sick as a dog with two tickets (which I can't find) and out over a hundred bucks. (That was when I had a real paying job.)

So... just on a lark, I went searching. The first night was already sold out by that time, but Saturday still had some available. For some reason, I could not see what tickets were left because I couldn't get past the damn two-headed dog (the stupid code that you type in to get beyond a certain point). I ended up agoogling for scalpers brokers and what I found was... uh... a little... crazy... One site had some listed from $89 to $179 all the way to ... get this... $506... PER ticket. This got me to wondering though... if the original ticket from the actual concert venue is sold and sent via email and then that person goes on to sell it online, what controls are there in place so that scams and phony duplicate tickets don't get re-sold? Just curious. And ... who the hell would pay $506 for a ticket? Who the heck average Joe HAS $506 to pay for a ticket? Crazy I say. If you look at the ticket stub above from 1997... it was $38.00. Not great seats, but not nose-bleed section either.

Sigh.

Space and time...

"Time is infinite and numbered... all in one breath."

That was my immediate thought upon reading a little personal view regarding physics and the dimensions of space and time over here. Makes me wonder about the way my brain functions. Also brought back to mind the space between spaces.

What is wrong?

I should be more tired than I am... I should be sleeping... But... I'm just ... hungry. Like... really hungry. Why I wonder. I ate plenty for dinner and even had dessert. Also had the delicious snack of carrots and peanut butter as I mentioned previously. So what is up? My head is tired, but the rest of me is awake and I feel like I could eat a ten ounce juicy steak... and baked potato with butter and sour cream and chives... and ... Gah! The sun will be up soon. (Oh... wait... it's already light out.)

Lost letters...

Earlier today I read this and was thinking to myself what a cool story it was that the letters written by Steve Flaherty, a young soldier, before he was killed in Vietnam had been returned by the Vietnamese government (which had used them as propaganda during the war) and were finally delivered to the young man's surviving family... 43 years later... Initially that story in and of itself was interesting enough, but I have mentioned before my fondness for the written word and letters, so I read a bit more. Now... when I went to the linked article, there was a picture, and I was thinking to myself "he sort of looks like someone I might know". (As in Steve Flaherty, doesn't quite look completely Irish.) As I read the article, the story became even more interesting. He had been adopted from a Japanese orphanage in 1956, and had a Japanese mother and American father. He moved to the States with his new family and in 1967 at the age of 20, enlisted in the US Army. He was killed in action two years later, with the rank of Sergeant at the age of 22... The weird thing? He died on March 25... my birthday. Anyways... from the information provided, he would have been born in 1947, after the war (WWII) had ended... so I'm leaning towards love-child... Not that uncommon of a thing. It is my understanding that this occurred with two of my aunts who had been "repatriated" to Japan after the war. I have no idea if it is still taboo to talk about such things. Anyways... one of them didn't marry the Native-American soldier who was the father of her child and the other did marry her big blonde American GI. It is sad and funny in a way that I am more curious about this now that I am older. No... I think I was just as curious about it before, but now it just seems a shame that it is too late to discuss it. Hmm... I went on somewhat of a tangent there.

The first article I linked to was this and the next being excerpts from his letters. One of the lines quoted was “This is a dirty and cruel war but I’m sure people will understand the purpose of this war even though many of us might not agree.” He was probably 22 when he wrote that, and he was 22 when he died. His letters are a treasure.

(Note: Took me rather a long time to write this tonight and now that I've finished I can't think of what to call it. It is now almost 4AM and I want to post it.)

What's wrong with this picture...

I was sitting here eating a bowl of carrots and peanut butter and I was thinking to myself... hmm... something's just not quite right. 

Sleepy Sunday

So... around 6pm, I was on the bed with the laptop open and I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened my eyes, more than half an hour had passed. The weird thing is that in all that time I had my eyes closed, I could hear the desk fan going and the sound from outside of any cars that went by on the rain filled street. Oddly enough, I feel somehow rested. Was I really that tired to just crash like that? Or does the laptop being on the pillow next to me provide some sort of strange comfort zone? Hmm... I know this has happened once before, but it was sometime in the early AM, so I just chalked it up to being in need of sleep. Come to think of it, when I do finally go to bed with the intent of sleeping, I always close the laptop and place it on the desk next to the bed. Sleep very rarely comes quickly. So, hmm... I know people fall asleep watching tv, something I never did nor do, but the laptop as a sleeping aid?

Mysterious ways...

...it rained today.


(Hmm...  was just reminded of this song. I think I may have posted it before. Yes, it seems I did.)

Water water everywhere...

A strange looking word neglect is. It came to mind today when I realized that we have had ten straight days of hot dry weather but that I haven't yet once watered any part of the garden. (I don't water the yard.) It rather shocked me. But then... if you think about it, neglect pairs well with a plate of "what's the point" and a dash of "why bother". Goes without saying that if you don't do a load of dishes for a week or two, what would happen to your garden? Out of mind out of sight, right? The thing is... that I have been out in the garden and looked right at it and touched parts of it, so why would I forget such a thing? I have come to the conclusion that it is due to the domino effect of neglect. It started off with life, the spirit, the mind, the body, then the soul... I knew that I was neglecting other parts of the yard and garden, but I didn't remember that it all needed water regardless of that other neglect. But then... I often forget to drink water myself. Forget... or not bother? Neglect.

What happens after neglect? Things fall apart. Technically things may have been falling apart before the actual neglect took effect. Things go from functioning efficiently to moderately to marginally to not functioning at all. Do you desperately cling to that one thing which seems to keep you afloat? What if you are in rough seas and in need of a lifebuoy but all you have is a set of waterwings? Treading water but you're losing consciousness and your arms and legs have gone numb? What then? Sink or swim. It's a no-brainer. But... what if you can't see the shoreline? What direction do you head in? I'm getting sleepy, I'm just going to close my eyes for a moment...

Saturday sillies

Was rooting around for a song and once again, something caught my eye on the sidebar. Although country music is not my thing, I am glad I took a listen, because it ended up reminding me of someone... but not in a bad way. Then... another song, not country, but which was even more ... er... catchy. (Earworm Warning: You may find yourself walking down the street singing this one.)

S P O C K G I R L

I tried about three or four times to copy and paste the code, but only the empty cells showed up on screen, even though the words were definitely in the HTML code. So... I decided to just save the image instead. Anyways, it was an acronym word generator that I tried out. Good for a chuckle if nothing else. 

Like Supermodel sex fun hmm?

(Yeah, that's what he says...)

Ah... gorgeous... almost Batmobile-esque... And... even more of a bigboygiggle and grin for this one. Be a blast going for one of these test-drives with that dude.

YouTubeLink. (Views 193,840)

Another one from The Borderline Sociopathic Blog for Boys.

Falling...

I just commented the other day upon seeing a loaded logging truck, I wonder where they're still logging around here? A few days prior, I had seen another truck, but with considerably younger trees. This video is from a couple years ago, but I just found it posted over at the Borderline Sociopathic Blog for Boys. Very cool. I'd seen guys take down trees on the ground, but not on the side of a mountain before. The mountains looked so damn familiar ... wouldn't it have been funny if I'd recognized the guy with the chainsaw. (Aged father used to be a faller.)

YouTubeLink. (Views 441,617)

Quandary

All I know is one thing... and that one thing I don't know.

Dying light...

As the sun begins its descent into the western sky, the remnants of sunlight struggle through the tall evergreen outside my window. The wind wreaks havoc upon its journey, threading its way through the flailing fronds and the window's veil, to become a flickering light beneath the table. I sit looking at it almost mesmerized as the light's reflection dances before me. Soon... it fades and all that remains is a shadow where it once had been.


I ponder this for some time. It begins to grow darker...


Am I the flickering light or the shadow...

Eating veggies

has never been so darn carnivorous... (yeah, no, I didn't make that up.)

DROOL!

By no. 14, his voice started to sound like the teacher from Charlie Brown. Seriously... I was so engrossed with the images by then, I could only hear with my eyes.

Growling at this dude for that. Glad I didn't come across it at 2AM.

Team Navy underway

(Underway, not underwear.)


When I first found this blog, it was early yet in my internet journey and I think I may have posted a comment before I had read any of the backstory. I had no idea what the gentleman had been through and it wasn't until later that I found out, and a bit after that that I learned he was the impetus behind Project Valour IT at Soldiers' Angels.

Go Team Navy, the first time I hopped on board.

I am rather fond of my laptop, being my first personal computer at home, and it has become not only a valuable and useful tool, but a companion of sorts. Imagine the value and usefulness of a voice-activated laptop to someone without the use of the necessary appendages. (Too blunt?)

To be...

young?

or to have a dream?
or to want something so much as to follow your heart?

Came across this today. Crazy, but in a good way. Safe journey young man.

Priceless

What is a smile worth?
(And in the morning yet.)
(And on a Monday.)

Update:
Okay... so it is not Monday, but still.

Summer night

The opalescent moon

glides across the black velvet sky

Bright white marble eye

peers through my window

A pale light filters through the darkness

and falls upon my restless form

As the days heat is enveloped

within the chamber walls

I toss and turn

in the uncomfortable warm stillness

until the night wind

follows the tendril of light

with a soft cool touch.

Aug 14, 1990 (untitled)

(Hmm... I just checked and I've used the title "Hot Summer Night" twice. Once just a short time ago and last year.)

Birthday wishes...

to some big little kid...

(A little bit about the South Park Avatar I put together here.)