The spirit of sports and then some...

At my regularly scheduled twice weekly sporting activity, which I have been playing at since about 1987 or so, we end our games... every time... with handshakes, a "good game", "thank you" and sometimes a smile. (And I lose more often than I win.) That's just what we do. The thing about being Canadian is that we are good sports, we are apologetic and we fight fair. Although because of this, I often wonder how our collective competitive spirit is fostered with such a generally laid back attitude.

Where am I going with this? The Olympics are on. I have a t.v., but I don't have cable or satellite, so there is no watching of sports or the news. This is the way it has been for ten years now. So I check CBC coverage online just to see how it is going over there. The thing I used to like best about the Olympics is that the stories of Canadian athletes were usually surprises, or coming from behind or out of nowhere, or heartfelt stories about personal bests. When those personal bests ended up being a surprise medal, it was even better. Watching a Canadian earn a medal was like Christmas. Where am I going with this? I wasn't sure when I started with the original idea, but then tonight... I saw the beginning of a headline "8 Olympic Badminton players..." That was all they showed... so I was wondering what the heck it could be... Well... pretty sad.

Speaking of sad...

Many years ago something horrible happened at the Olympics. I was only a little kid at the time, and my memory from back then is scarce, to say the least. All I knew is that several athletes from Israel had been killed and it was absolutely awful. About the only thing I specifically remember from that time period was... oddly enough... sports day in kindergarten. Anyways... this year marks the 40th anniversary of that tragedy at the Olympic Games in Munich and you would figure that some words would be spoken to honour the memory of those killed. I guess not. Please tell me that this was reported incorrectly. Please tell me there was at least a moment of silence at the opening ceremonies.

Of course though, the sad thing is that if I didn't have access to the internet, none of this would have entered my daily consciousness. However, it did, so here it be.

A walk in the clouds...

Illusions...

Yes, I know... it is sad that I don't have a real camera anymore.

Striations in a rock cliff face? (Barking up the wrong tree.)

Exciting stuff...

Ripped off a piece of my toe today. (I was attacked by a sidewalk.) It wasn't that bad, just a balloon of blood bursting forth from a flap of flesh. Nice. In the past five or so years I have become very good at cleaning and dressing my own wounds, a couple of which, like today, have required more than just a band-aid. I actually prefer the gauze and tape. I did not know that a toe could bleed that much. Not looking forward to seeing what it looks like later.

***

Oh... was at the store today and whilst at the cashier, noticed a display with 1st and 2nd Degree Burn Doritos... They were on sale for 99 cents, so I picked up a bag of the 2nd Degree Burn Fiery Buffalo... Um... I like hot stuff, but this was... different... Usually things like wasabi, ginger or tabasco, hot peppers... it goes directly to the nasal passages... but these chips... the heat sat on the tongue... for a rather long period of time... AND my nose was running.

***

Last week I walked into a signpost. In the middle of the day. My excuse is that it was a narrow metal pole which blended in with the colour of the sidewalk. Or ... maybe the sun got in my eyes... yeah... that's it... it was the sun.

From cartoons to BFGs?

I remember this little dude from watching Saturday cartoons when I was a kid, so I just went agoogling for the bit I remember of him with Foghorn Leghorn. Now, for some reason (the big round head and the oversized glasses), reminded me of an angry little girl I know, but upon having my memory jostled watching this, he sort of reminds me a little of me. (Just a little.) I had forgotten about that paper airplane bit...  

So then ... that airplane reminded me of this. Holy carp... All I did was go looking for Snoopy vs. the Red Baron and this caught my attention on the sidebar... I would not want to be ... er... his vocal chords... Hmmm... I am rather curious what the failure rate is.

Oh... and... earlier today checking out the usual suspects, there was a video over at the Borderline Sociopathic Blog for Boys that touched my heart... Yeah, gosh darn... I have an "admire from a distance" thing for BFGs (I use that as a generic term) and helicopters... not just tanks...

Curious...

Very odd... Last time I was here on the blog, probably around midnight, there were 9370 visits showing on Sitemeter. When I came back on just now... 9364. It indicated that there had been 4 new visits, so the total should be 9374, which means that 10 visits have vanished from the Sitemeter record. I have a thing for numbers, and my memory for numbers used to be excellent, and is still very good compared to my memory for personal life history. If I recall correctly, there were 26,219 Blogger Pageviews when last I checked and when I looked just now there were 26,262. I do specifically remember there being 15 Blogger Pageviews for "today", and now there are 60. Hmm... I know that Sitemeter is more "sensitive" and that Blogger picks up ANY hits, but this just seems a little strange looking at it right now. The funny thing is that the disappearance of the 10 Sitemeter visits coincides with the 4 latest visits (plus one, after I was typing this up), which appear to be somewhat suspect in nature. Judging from the number of similarities to the differences of each, it might possibly be the same person scrambling IP addresses? I don't get that much traffic, so this is just me being curious.

Update: Jul 28 2012 10:25AM... I figured I would log in to Sitemeter and root around there. According to their "Knowledge Center" News/Announcements, they moved servers yesterday. That would explain the glitch/lost visits. The other thing that was odd is that the HTML code must have changed for the counter itself. It is no longer centered at the bottom of the page nor is it flush with the other meter's map above it.

Timely...

Strange that right after writing that, a gust of wind roared past my window. Just one ... and then it was gone. A storm is coming.

No words... again...

I have been in that place again... but no wind rages. I am lost within that nebulous void with no words.


To honour the fallen since last time:

U.S. (Michigan, Florida (6), South Carolina,
       California (3), Alabama, Arizona (2),
       Pennsylvania (2), Puerto Rico, Ohio,
       North Carolina (2), Texas (2), Georgia,
       Maryland, Indiana (2), New Jersey (2),

       Illinois, Kansas, Missouri)

     

Oh... the things I say...

My brain hurts. Not that I am thinking too much, but that there are thoughts swirling around in the back of my head, unsupervised.

(Actually now that I think about it, sounds pretty accurate.)

A few good things...

Considering how bad the night before was, I went to bed early last night... Lights out before 1AM (wow!)... Still took a while to fall asleep, but... didn't wake up until ... (drum roll) ... 5AM... Went online for about half an hour and then managed to fall asleep again. Amazing.

***

Went to the store to grab a bag of Doritos and a slurpy. Was looking at the rows of candy and Sweet Tarts popped into my brain, but... I couldn't find them. However, on the rack I noticed Shockers... Same packaging, sounded good, so picked them up as well. Well... on the way home... I did something that will make you smile and wince at the same time... I opened the package (there was a purple one on the top...) popped it in my mouth... and ... gah! Doh... I had just taken a sip of the Pepsi Slurpy prior to that... A smile with a wince, but in a good way.


***

Hard-boiled some eggs about a week ago, as I had a hankering for an Egg Salad sandwich. The eggs in the fridge were well beyond a month past their "best before" date, so I figured it would be a good plan. Also had some Jalapeno Chips to go with, which makes for a perfect pairing. Added a tall glass of homemade Iced Tea and life was good.


***

Boiled up some water for a Double Bergamot Earl Grey Tea Latte (steaming hot) together with which I nibbled on two Ginger Thins, perfect for a quick but relaxing hot summer evening snack.


***

I don't know what is with my brain the last little while... Not that I am "scatter-brained" so to speak, but that my thoughts, if/when I do have them seem to be simply scattered. Sort of like cherry blossoms floating around in the wind, except not as pretty.

Darkness is life, life a dream...

Having trouble sleeping for the past few days... although this is really nothing new (understatement). Was tired last night... but once again, soon as the lights were off... boom... wide awake. That was around 3AM. I woke up at about 6:30... then 7:30... then 8:30... (don't think I was really sleeping). Had closed my eyes, but no... nothing. As the day trudged on... dead tired. Anyways, back when I had turned the lights off... the only thing I could think of was, "The darkness beckons me to wake." There was a little more, but I didn't write it down at the time, as I was trying to go to sleep. I did add a bit more and just finished it, but now it comes across sounding like a nursery rhyme, albeit a rather blackened one.

The Darkness beckons me to wake,
this weary soul of life partake
Clarity of thought returns
when heavy eyes the light forsakes.
Arise, arise, the black void cries.
Arise, arise, drink deep the night.
For what you seek you shall not find
in this labyrinth of your mind.
The Darkness beckons me to wake
I pray the lord my soul to take.

Yeah, I know... I know... It is a little dark... But hey... I was half dead today.

Zombies?

The re-animation of dead tissue may become an issue for you later this month.

(From Laughsend.)

Another slippery fish...

Whatever happened to books... books that you learned to read from. Was in a store yesterday and there was a kid reading a book... There were the usual pictures and words in said book, but also buttons that you press in order to hear the words to match the pictures, and to form sentences. Sounds all well and good. One of the sentences that came out upon the kid pressing the buttons? "The cat danced with the slippery fish on the moon." (I liked that one.) How about, "My teacher sat on the toad in the spaghetti." I can't remember the one with the cow, but it was pretty damn funny. Kids formative years... when they are most absorbent and receptive to learning... Sigh.

What's the use?

You live and then you die. What if the in between stuff isn't worth it? What if there IS no in between stuff? Effort after foolishness and all that rot. I've been wanting to say "I give up" so many times in the last little while, on this, that and everything, such that it has been sitting on the tip of my tongue, an unplayed prelude to a song without words. What came to mind just now is that the day "I give up" will be my last day on this planet. Why am I here?

(ps: I am fine. Just having one of those moments.)

No go?

So... if you go out and eat two plates at the Chinese Smorgasbord and are rather stuffed, but decide to have a Fortune Cookie after you have finished eating, just because that is what you always do, you pick one out of the bin with the tongs, take it to the table and crack it open, pull out the fortune and put a piece of the cookie in your mouth and it is ... stale... (Read, chewy, crunchy, cardboardy stale.) If you don't eat the cookie, does that mean that the fortune won't be true? Damn...

I don't ever get fortunes like this. The thing is... do I want my dearest wish? Do I even have one?

My tongue is blue...

I remember this from when I was a kid. Not something we had very often. Several months ago I bought a couple to keep in my low blood-sugar stash. I also have Sour Lemon Drops on hand, but today, in need of a boost, I tried the Razz Apple Magic Dip... and discovered that my lips and tongue were ... blue. Basically it is licking tangy blue sugar from a candy stick.  

Same old, same old...

Comment today... Something to the effect of: You haven't had any comments lately. Your blog is kind of depressing. Uh... yeah... I'm struggling to find a reason for my existence in this world, so how do you think that translates to the blog? I just think it is amazing for me to still be here... that I even find something... anything... at all to post about. Substance has long since flown out the window.

But you know, sometimes all it takes is that one little thing.

Or... that little spark in conversation... Like the things I say without thinking...

me: Hope to see your reflections on an asshole post.
**: That sounds kinda painful... :)

I didn't realize when I typed it... Took me a moment... Then I couldn't stop laughing.


***

Oh... also ... my new word .. "snunch". Did you eat dinner yet? No, but I had a big lunch. Ah... me: "I had a late snunch." It's probably been used before, but it's new to me.

I dream of food...

I recall two dreams from this morning... The first, I was in a mall I didn't recognize getting an A & W burger and an orange smoothie... Not an Orange Julius, a real orange smoothie, which... I've never had before. It was good. The second dream I am quite sure I've had before (same or very similar) rather recently. I was in another mall I didn't recognize with an old friend. She had been there before and was purchasing three pies or cakes that looked absolutely delicious, but that I cannot remember. From the same kiosk, I tried some sort of creamy chocolate peanut butter ice cream which reminded me of this, that I have made once. Damn, that was fine.

Funny that I can't remember if I was hungry when I woke up or not.

How evil am I?

Of course I had to try this one... considering if you search the blog for the words "Little Evil Mini-me"...

You Are 6% Evil

You are good. So good, that you make evil people squirm. Just remember, you may need to turn to the dark side to get what you want!

How Evil Are You?

Blogthings: We'll Tell You The Truth... Someone Has To!

Hunh... I don't think they asked enough questions.

Talk and song from tongues of lilting grace...

Okay now... After THAT post, I stumbled upon a violinist playing the same Nirvana song with an orchestra. Just doesn't quite work for me. Then, I noticed something else... a piece of classical music I remember from many years ago. It had a dark, mischievous feel to it, which seems to be completely lost in this translation.


Oh yes... and he does many other songs, including stuff by Metallica, but I just couldn't. Apocalytica was acceptable, but for some reason, not this. And... um... no. I'm pretty laid back about the blending of musics, but that with violin ripping through it just doesn't seem... right. I see that he was a wunderkind, and it is good that he has the talent, ability and means to share his love of music, but ... (Is it just me?)

The title to this post is from the lyrics to this song. Although I heard it ages ago, I don't think I knew the actual words before tonight.