The Ramblings of a Couple Ogres

[Fiona]...and His Name Shall be Frank

2011-05-24T14:20:00.007-04:00

I have an obsession. I fall in love with cute, small, adorable, stuffed animals and then I buy them. Shrek knows I have the heart of a five year-old trapped within my soul. He has given up telling me no and merely shakes his head whenever I move in for the kill. Today we played hookey from life and went to a local mall wherein a Disney Store{sigh}is housed.

Disney Store equals magic cure for my soul. It has the essence of untarnished youth. The grand possibilities of life fill my head. I feel a sense of calm roll over my being. I know silly, right? Well remind me to never tell you how excited I get over going to the local hardware store, OK?

I like to walk through the store and see all the gimmicky cutesy stuff before I carefully move to my goal. The stuffed babies display. I see him from across the stacked tshirts stand. A penguin dressed in a Yeti suit. OMGosh the smile starts to rise on my face. There is only one, he is cute, small, adorable and soon to be mine :)

By the look on Shrek's face I know he will give in to my silly need. I bring my friend to the cashier. I am aglow as I chat with the clerk. "His name is Frank." I say as I place him on the checkout counter. This would be a good time to tell you that ALL of my stuffies are named Frank. I do not know why but it makes me smile.

[Shrek] Turns out the April Fool is Dr. Melinda Boone

2011-04-01T06:23:00.003-04:00

For those that don't know who Dr. Melinda Boone is, she is the superintendent of Worcester Public Schools. Part of her job is to cancel school due to inclement weather.

In a statement released to media in late March last year about an incident where an autistic child was allegedly assaulted Boone said “Worcester public schools takes student safety very seriously and has taken immediate and appropriate action.”

It is snowing over an inch per hour, the roads are nearly impassible with accidents being reported all over the city, and several of the colleges in the city have closed for the day. But as of right now the public schools are open.

So much for caring about student safety.

[Shrek] Busy, Busy, Busy

2011-03-06T11:16:00.004-05:00

After a couple of very busy weeks and weekends and not having time to make any posts, I'll make a quick drive-by post just to mention both Fiona and I are working on the second entry in our top five favorite authors list. Hopefully that will be ready some time this week.

Last weekend we went to TotalCon 25, or as Fiona calls it, "Geekfest" or "The Clan of the Unwashed". To me it's more of a reunion of a few friends than a game convention, although i do play a lot of Battletech while I'm there. This week it's three Worcester Sharks games in 48ish hours, and next weekend we're going to see Elton John at the DCU center.

This is one of those stretches of time where going to work is the most relaxing thing we do.

So, just to make sure this post is more than just a handful of lines, here's a few articles I found interesting over the past few weeks.

Sportsscientists.com takes a quick look at critical thinking.

Jeff Pearlman of CNN takes on an online hater in a great story about internet civility.

Slate usually has some good stuff, and if you're a grammar freak you'll love their look at the use of double spaces after periods in sentences. You'll note this blog uses single spaces. Or, maybe you won't.

If you're a Dr Who fan, and I am, this cheat sheet is pretty cool. If you're not into Dr Who, you should be. Just sayin'...

And finally, for those that like pictures of odd subjects, here's a look at some very cool staircases.

[Shrek] The Shot Heard Round These Parts

2011-02-13T07:48:00.002-05:00

When people talk about the greatest shooters in basketball history lots of famous names pop up. Guys like Bill Sharman, Larry Bird, Chris Mullin, Rick Barry, George Gervin, Jerry West, and Michael Jordan litter everyone's list of "best ever". But not one of those guys has the nickname "The Shot". That's reserved for the guy that may be one of the greatest basketball shooters ever, Jack "The Shot" Foley.

Foley got the nickname "The Shot" while in high school at Assumption Prep after hitting several shot in a row, including one that was at such a bad angle he banked it off the side of the backboard and in. The next day the nickname was given in the local paper, and it stuck. In fact, to this day old-timers will still refer to him as "The Shot" or like it's his actual middle name.

"The Shot" went on the College of the Holy Cross, where in 1962 he was a Consensus Second Team All-American and averaged over 33 points per game that season. He was eventually drafted by the Boston Celtics, but after only a handful of game was traded to the New York Knicks. Foley left the NBA after his second season, once recounting "I went from sitting on the bench for the best team in the world to sitting on the bench for the worst. It wasn't hard to figure out I wasn't going to make it playing pro basketball."

Last night Foley had his jersey raised to the rafters of the Hart Center on the campus of Holy Cross, an honor that took far too long to happen.

My first introduction to Foley wasn't on a basketball court, it was in the 11th grade American History class Foley was teaching where I went to high school. Looking back on it the scene was kind of amusing, with most every other teacher wearing a suit and tie while Foley generally wore jeans and a flannel shirt (and work boots that looked to be size 15).

But while compared to the other teachers Foley looked like a Yugo he taught like a Ferrari. That's because Foley didn't teach history--he lived it. He would dart from one side of the classroom to the other, telling the facts as quick stories, only stopping long enough to jot down a thing or two on the chalkboard. And everyone was mesmerized by it.

Foley also wasn't like other teachers in that the first few minutes of every class were devoted to current events. He'd say "history is happening now, too", and many times a whole class would be devoted to what happened the previous few days. The trick was he always connected what was happening at that time to the information he wanted to cover for the day.

I remember clear as day one girl (whose name I remember but won't post, who was very cute but as dumb as they come) mentioning on a Monday early in the school year that the previous week we didn't talk about history at all and focused only on current events. Foley just laughed at her and went around the room pointing at different people and asking the same question, "What's one historical thing you learned here last week". It took 16 people to get 15 different answers, to which Foley said "that averages three new things a day for last week. Seems like a productive week to me."

What a shocking concept: learning by discussion and having fun.

Lots of the female teachers didn't like Foley because he was a chauvinist, and he played it up to comical levels. He was the foil to my English Lit teacher, who was an ardent feminist that really didn't have a sense of humor. Foley once jokingly asked how I could have both of them in consecutive classes and not have my head explode. At least I think he was joking.

I did get to see Foley play basketball once, in a charity game that was teachers against the some of the students. Foley, who was 50-odd years old at the time, was the tallest teacher and as the tallest student playing I got to cover Foley. I made the mistake of stripping him of the ball before he could take his first shot, so Foley decided to teach me a lesson by schooling me on the court for 52 points. There were no three pointers back then, that was 26 baskets. On 29 shots. All from 15 feet or further away from the hoop. In a charity game.

On Monday in class when we talked about the game all he could focus on was the three he missed. That's why he's "The Shot" and those others aren't.

[Shrek & Fiona] Our Favorite Authors--Number 5

2011-02-02T15:14:00.006-05:00

As we count down our top five favorite authors, Fiona fires first.

[Fiona]
I love the library where I grew up. The Whitinsville Social Library, a step into the past of golden days gone by. Beautiful structure with marble floors, wooden card catalogues, long wooden tables with oversized antique wooden chairs and stools. Hand carved archways, grandfather clock with spinning sun and moon faces to indicate the time of the day. I loved to watch and listen to that clock. In fact, I often went to this sanctuary to escape my dull life.

I first encountered Robert Cormier's books when I was in the seventh grade. I remember the moment clearly. I had gone to my town's library with some school friends to do research on some project. I got bored and went shopping in the stacks for something interesting to read. Right behind the circulation desk in the stacks somewhere in Dewey Decimal land of the 700s and 800s I found I Am The Cheese.

This book changed my life. I read it in one sitting. It made me rethink the way I looked at the so-called adults I was supposed to have a non-faltering faith in. I returned to the library the very next day.

I have read everything ever published by Robert Cormier. Only after I started reading his columnist work did I find out that he was from Leominster, Massachusetts. I often thought about writing to him and telling him how he changed my views on literature, life, people and how we treat each other. I regret that I never did write him. Robert Cormier died in 2000.

Published novels

Now and At the Hour (1960)
A Little Raw on Monday Mornings (1963)
Take Me Where the Good Times Are (1965)
The Chocolate War (1974) [very interesting take on fund-raising]
I Am the Cheese (1977) [My first read]
After the First Death (1979) [My all time favorite read]
The Bumblebee Flies Away (1983)
Beyond the Chocolate War (1985)
Fade (1988)
Other Bells for Us to Ring (1990)
We All Fall Down (1991)
Tunes for Bears to Dance to (1992)
In the Middle of the Night (1995)
Tenderness (1997)
Heroes (1998)
The Rag and Bone Shop (2001)

[Shrek]
Before I started reading Jacqueline Carey's books I generally didn't read books by female authors, although I don't recall any particular reason for not doing so. And I don't even recall why I picked up her first novel, Kushiel's Dart, off the stack of "remainder" mass-market paperbacks that BJ's Wholesale Club used to sell. The cover is one you would see on any run of the mill second tier science fantasy novel, and really isn't that eye catching. But for whatever reason I picked it up, and the blurb on the back sounded interesting. As I was making up my mind if I was going to buy it or not I noticed her second book, Kushiel's Chosen, was sitting atop of another stack of books. I threw caution to the wind and bought them both. Funny thing is I also ended up buying two books from Sara Douglass that day, and almost ten years later they are both still sitting in my ever-growing to read stack. Fiona has read them though, so it wasn't for naught.

Carey has written three connected trilogies set in the Terre D'Ange Universe, each one building on the series before it. The three trilogies focus on different characters, with Phèdre nò Delaunay being the protagonist in the first three books. As her story moves along Imriel de la Courcel, son of the biggest traitor in Terre D'Ange is introduced and his story becomes the basis of the second trilogy. The third trilogy is set in the future of Terre D'Ange, with Moirin of the Maghuinn Dhon, who is a descendant of the Queen of Terre D'Ange featured in the first six books. All the books, especially the first trilogy, have some mature content that may not be suitable for young readers, although nothing is extremely explicit and everything that happens truly plays a role in the story.

Many readers, myself included, were disappointed that Carey chose to jump ahead into the future with the Moirin trilogy.

Between the Phèdre and Imriel trilogies Carey released two book entitled Banewreaker and Godslayer, often refered to as The Sundering series. It's a story loose based on Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, only told from the viewpoint of "the bad guys". It's an interesting series that tells a tale that not everyone fighting for the side of "good" has honorable intentions, nor were all the bad guys truly "evil". Between the Imriel and Moirin series Carey released Santa Olivia, a standard futuresque story about an over oppressive government fighting a war.

Despite some formula in her stories I liked them all, so that gets her into my "top 5".

Published novels

Kushiel Universe series
Kushiel's Legacy series

Phèdre Trilogy series
1 Kushiel's Dart (June 2001)
2 Kushiel's Chosen (April 2002)
3 Kushiel's Avatar (April 2003)

Imriel Trilogy series
1 Kushiel's Scion (June 2006)
2 Kushiel's Justice (June, 2007)
3 Kushiel's Mercy (June, 2008)

Moirin Trilogy series
1 Naamah's Kiss (June, 2009)
2 Naamah’s Curse (June 2010)
3 Naamah’s Blessing (June 2011 release date)

The Sundering
1 Banewreaker (November 2004)
2 Godslayer (August 2005)

Santa Olivia
1 Santa Olivia (May 2009)
2 Saints Astray (October 2011 release date)

[Fiona]The Apple Never Falls Far From the Tree

2011-02-01T19:04:00.003-05:00

I never believed that old saying.It annoys me when people throw it at you to describe a behavior they find unattractive. My response has always been a pat "yeah,well I saw where it landed, picked it up and threw it." Way to fight back,eh? I am slow on accepting truths, mostly because no one enjoys examining themselves too closely the dirt might show through. Why am I mentioning this now you might ask. The simple truth is I do not do well in storms. Any kind of storms. I blame my mother. I am a grownup who should be able to accept this flaw of mine and move on but I have been unsuccessful.

My mother had many fears. Growing up with her was a daily challenge. We were not allowed to watch much TV. I think it had too much visual stimulation for her. She couldn't stand to watch anything to do with medical information,news,a myriad of other events too numerous to list. All I can say is thank the Gods for public TV because we were allowed to watch all the Mr. Rogers, Electric Co.,ZOOM and Sesame Street we could handle in an afternoon.

My mother hated storms. I hate storms. See the connection? Positive experience in usually makes a healthy connection in one's mind and fear less of an issue.I am not afraid of storms I hate feeling trapped. Trapped like an animal I believe is how my mother used to explain it. I pace. I whine. I eat everything I can find or sneak. I drive dear Shrek crazy with my endless ranting over the most trivial crap. In truth I think I hate being held hostage in the house.

I am writing this as a way to try to come to terms with the never ending swath of snow storms this winter. I have been BSC (bat shit crazy)with angst. I feel I need to put this issue to rest once and for all. I am going to try to embrace my anxiety,accept my short comings and find busy work to keep my mind on other things while hoping for better weather. Be safe all my New England friends Spring is coming I just know it. ;)

[Shrek] A Not So Positive Post

2011-01-30T13:38:00.004-05:00

I think all the snow is starting to irk me a little, so while I'm in a bad mood allow me to mention a few people that have raised my ire the last few days.

The douchebag driving the Pontiac Aztek who pulled out in front of Fiona and I Tuesday morning on the snow covered roads. Good thing you fishtailed in front of us because if you hadn't we would have plowed right into the back of you. I'm sure the Honda Accord in the oncoming lane that nearly drove into that snowbank was happy to see you too.

And speaking of Tuesday morning, the meteorologists who called for "a dusting to an inch" that morning that turned into 3" to 5" made me wish I could screw up as often as they do and still keep my job.

Continuing on the subject of snow, I'd like give a shout out to how well the city of Worcester has cleared the roads after all this snow we had in the last 30 days or so. And by "how well" I mean "could you possibly have done a worse job?". A word of warning to people heading to the city, if you park at a meter and can't get to it to put money in the "parking enforcement officers" will still ticket you.

Even more on snow, why does the city of Worcester demand people shovel the sidewalks that abut their property (and for folks that live on Meadow Lane, sidewalks that used to abut their property) but the city doesn't clear crosswalks and handicap ramps from snow? There's also miles of unshoveled sidewalk abutted by city property.

I'd also like to mention that one of the biggest morons in morning talk radio, whose name I refuse to mention because he's such a jerk, got one of the nicest guys I have ever met fired and replaced him with someone that is nothing more than a parrot. I guess I should be a little happy for SW (full name withheld, but most will know who he is) because he no longer has to work for that train wreck of a station in WTAG, but being out of work in this economy does suck so I wish him well.

Here are a few things I've been reading the past week or so...

The new Governor of California Jerry Brown is cracking down on workers who have a state paid cell phone. Not exactly a huge cost savings, but every penny counts.

Speaking of debt, ever wonder how they come up with credit card numbers? It's a quick, interesting read.

As a music fan I found this very funny. No mention of greatest hits or live records, though.

The bowling alley here in Worcester has a rotary phone, so I found this an amusing little tale.

Regis Philbin, the King of morning TV, has announced his retirement. I can't recall the last time I watched his show, but whenever it was I recall thinking he was a little out of it and looked like he was being led around like a small child.

And to make sure I end on a positive note, here's an uplifting story about a Southwest Airlines pilot doing a good turn for folks that suffered a huge tragedy in their lives.

[Shrek] That slippery slope of winter weather

2011-01-18T12:01:00.004-05:00

With snow and sleet falling from the sky soon to be followed by our personal favorite freezing rain, this looks like a good time to enjoy a second cup of coffee and post an update.

First off, thanks to everyone's e-mails and mentions of concern over my latest bout with A-fib. As my cardiologist predicted in one of my early January visits I converted to regular rhythm on my own (although it took a tad longer than he expected). I'm on new meds that should help prevent a recurrence, with the only draw back being no more alcohol for the foreseeable future. To be honest, it's an easy trade off.

Fiona and I had yesterday off, not for Martin Luther King Day specifically, but because we were laid off for the day. It happens every year on MLK Day, so it's not that big a deal and we sort of look forward to it. The funniest thing about it was many years ago in contract negotiations the union that we belong to asked for MLK Day to be one of our paid holidays. The company refused, and instead decided to give everyone an additional 8 hours or personal time. Since those negotiations the company has closed every MLK Day. Go figure...

With yesterday off we went out to breakfast, but I had to avoid my normal radio listening because WEEI was full of people angered by the Patriots loss to the hated New York Jets. I'm a believer that listeners that call into radio shows, no matter the topic, all fit into one of two categories; people that have no idea what they are talking about or who call to ball wash the hosts. I've seen very little evidence to the contrary.

The one positive thing about the game is it was never really close, so I was resigned to the loss early and was able to get an incredible amount of work done that I'd have usually done on Monday, allowing for me to get even more stuff accomplished. I celebrated getting so much done by not going to work because of the weather, sleeping late, and watching TV.

With tonight's Worcester Sharks/Portland Pirates game, already postponed once in late December due to the blizzard, being put off again until tomorrow I'll get to catch up on my DVR watching. We used to DVR a lot of shows, now it's down to a few and we catch many of those as they air anyway. Our rule of thumb is if we reach four episodes of a show on the DVR, we're really not watching it anymore and it's time to think about getting rid of it. Hawaii Five-O was one we bounced; The Mentalist is one we keep no matter how many back up.

[Shrek] A Little More On Plagiarism

2011-01-09T11:07:00.004-05:00

Folks I've talked to the last few days will laugh (or cringe) that I'm still talking about this, but I'm still a bit peeved about the Union Leader ripping off a blogger. Our friend Josie pointed out something last Wednesday that really put things in perspective. She reminded me that not so long ago newspapers looked down their noses at bloggers as "inferior" and "without integrity" because there were no checks and balances that are involved in "real journalism". And now in a practice not limited to just this latest incident it's newspaper reporters stealing from bloggers and calling the content they steal their own.

So much for "integrity" and those checks and balances.

On a more positive note, here's some of the things I've been reading the past few days...

If you think you don't like taxes check out these angry witches casting spells to protest taxation in Romania. If that turns out to be successful their next spells should be to make the fast food we buy look like the pictures in the ads.

Those of you with kids or grand-kids (or maybe knowing some will be in your future) should check out the tape trick. An ingenious idea if you ask me. Also of interest is definitive proof that the study that linked vaccines with autism is totally fake.

I was sent this link by some friends from down under of pictures of massive flooding in Australia.

And lastly, if you're a hockey fan you need to check out this Puck Daddy post for something I'll bet none of us have ever seen before.

[Shrek] Go get 'em Joe!

2011-01-05T11:18:00.004-05:00

There is nothing worse to a writer than to see your work stolen by someone else.

Now I'm not talking about someone "borrowing" your words and then giving you credit, because there isn't much cooler than that. I'm talking about people just out and out stealing your words and then claiming they are their own. It's happened to me on the hockey and sports blogs I contribute to, and I've had message board posts "stolen" and added to newspaper/blog stories without credit being given.

Each time it's happened I've gone after the people responsible to get the credit I felt I deserved. The vast majority of time it just takes one e-mail and all is resolved, but occasionally it takes what would seem to be more effort than it's worth. But I do it anyway.

Now I don't know who "Joe" is, other than he's the writer that owns a site called Backyard-Hockey.com. It's a nice little site with lots of good stories that he obviously takes a lot of time preparing, and I read it whenever there's a new post.

So I was pretty disgusted when there was a post on backyard-hockey saying the Manchester Union Leader plagiarized one of backyard-hockey's stories. Now it did turn out that one e-mail set everything mostly straight, but it still amazes me that someone could be dumb enough to take content from a niche site and think that anyone interested in reading the information wouldn't recognize the information as coming from a blog dedicated to that topic. It also amazes me they offered no apology.

So, on behalf of the Union Leader, allow me to apologize to Joe...I'm sorry there are lazy writers that try to steal the content and hard work of others, and I'm sorry that what was once a proud newspaper but is now a shell of its former self couldn't say the words "we apologize" to you.

[Shrek] What's interesting this week? (1/3)

2011-01-03T15:47:00.004-05:00

On the promise of posting more even if I have very little to say, here's some stuff I've read over the past few days folks might find interesting.

From Discovery.com there's an interesting posting about active black holes and how they were at least 100 times more common 10 billion years ago. So what happened to these once ravenous monsters? Click the link and find out.

Triplepundit.com asks "Does “100% Recycled” Mean Anything?", and their "Yes. Sort of." answer was pretty informative.

After the huge blizzard last weekend dumped huge amounts of snow here in the northeast this story from Tywkiwdbi has some great pictures of a REALLY deep snowfall.

Speaking of the blizzard, Newsday has a great look at the journey of sportscaster Kenny Albert from St. Louis where he was calling the NFL game for FOX to the Big Apple where he did the play by play of the New York Rangers game for MSG.

And one final note, Fiona and I are working up a series of posts where we'll reveal our top five favorite authors. Watch in the next few days for our posts about our #5 choices, and the future installments as we count down to our top favorites.

[Shrek] My 2010 reading list

2011-01-02T08:47:00.001-05:00

Lamentation (Ken Scholes) ...421
U is for Undertow (Sue Grafton) ...403
Black Ops (WEB Griffin) ...784
The Last Templar (Raymond Khoury) ...532
The Killing Hands (P.D. Martin) ...392
The Sanctuary (Raymond Khoury) ...629
The Breach (Patrick Lee) ...376
Innocent Mage (Karen Miller) ...652
Awakened Mage (Karen Miller) ...714
Monster Hunter International (Larry Correia) ...726
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson) ...600
The Sign (Raymond Khoury) ...565
The Apostle (Brad Thor) ...532
The Accidental Sorcerer (K.E. Mills) ...551
Witches Incorporated (K.E. Mills) ...562
The Girl Who Played With Fire (Steig Larsson) ...642
Marine One (James W. Huston) ...513
Book Of Souls (Glenn Cooper) ...372
Naamah's Kiss (Jacqueline Carey) ...784
The Ezekiel Option (Joel Rosenberg) ...415
The Sculptor (Gregory Funaro) ...385
When Boston Won The World Series (Bob Ryan) ...192
Shadow Magic (Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett) ...440
Wizard Squared (K.E. Mills) ...549
Zero Minus Ten (Raymond Benson) ...272
The Facts of Death (Raymond Benson) ...290
High Time To Kill (Raymond Benson) ...304
Doubleshot (Raymond Benson) ...304
Never Dream Of Dying (Raymond Benson) ...320
The Man With The Red Tattoo (Raymond Benson) ...289
Devil May Care (Sebastian Faulks) ...278
Red Sox Rule (Michael Holley) ...207
Dynasty (Tony Massarotti) ...299
Pursuit Of Honor (Vince Flynn) ...517
The King's Bastard (Rowena Cory Daniels) ...640
The Uncrowned King (Rowena Cory Daniels) ...396
The Usurper (Rowena Cory Daniels) ...489
The Professional (Robert Parker) ...332
Early Warning (Michael Walsh) ...391
Monster Hunter Vendetta (Larry Correia) ...647
The Last Pope (Luis Miguel Rocha) ...310
City Of The Sun (David Levien) ...439
Where The Dead Lay (David Levien) ...402
The Amber Room (Steve Berry) ...390
The Romanov Prophecy (Steve Berry) ...387
The Third Secret (Steve Berry) ...376
Dead Or Alive (Tom Clancy) ...950

Total pages: 21,986

[Shrek] So where have we been? (part 2)

2011-01-01T21:24:00.001-05:00

Part one can be found here.

So off the the cardiologist's office we go, and after a couple more tests I'm presented with three options.

The first was to do nothing and hope it goes away on its own (which is can and does often do). Despite this being mostly a non-issue most of the time doing nothing didn't seem to me to be the best option.

The second was to undergo a transesophageal echocardiogram, where they would put a tube down my throat to check for blood clots on the back side of my heart, and them if that turned up clear undergo an electrical cardioversion. If you've ever seen a TV medical drama you've seen them perform an electrical cardioversion when they shock someone with the paddles.

The third option was to take blood thinners for a few weeks, and then undergo the electrical cardioversion.

Tube down my throat? Pass. I took option three.

Back home we went, and I spent the weekend getting used to having A-fib in preparation of going back to work Monday. I figured fatigue was going to be my biggest issue, so I did what I could to see how far I could push it before I had to stop and rest. By Sunday night I figured I was good to go, and went off to bed. But my heart had other ideas, and I was up most of the night. Well, so much for being a chicken. Looked like the tube for me.

So back to Dr Maki's office Monday morning, and we schedule the procedure for later in the week that will be performed by a different member of their practice. It was at the University campus of UMass/Memorial, which was good for me because my mother works at the Memorial campus so that would be one less thing to worry about. I was told it would be early in the day, but they wouldn't know the exact time until they called the day before. well, a teenager must do the scheduling at UMass because I was told to be there for Noon, and only a teenager would call noon "early". I arrived at Noon as instructed, and not being a patient person when I was still waiting at 3pm I was a little less than thrilled. I told them they had until 3:30 and then I was out of there, and amazingly enough at exactly 3:30 they took me into the procedure room.

They prep me for the transesophageal echocardiogram, and explain to me that with the sedation I'll be getting everything will be easy and it will be over before I knew it. That's easy to say when you aren't the one having a tube shoved down your throat. Although when it was over they turned out to be right. The procedure was to be done by a "fellow", which is a doctor that's gone through all his training and is a full fledged "MD", but is now beginning additional training in a specialty. I don't recall his name, but I do remember he was a nice guy.

As I'm laying on the table, laying at sort of a 30 degree angle so my right side is higher than my left side they begin by giving me a sedative. "Give him 1 to 25" is what I think the doctor said, and we chatted for a short while about, of all thing, the Red Sox and WEEI (the sports talk radio station in Boston). All of the sudden he asks me "what were we just talking about?", and I reply what we were talking about. He looked at the nurse and said "give him another 1 to 25"...

...and that's the last thing I remember until about two hours later when I suddenly realized I was back in my room talking to Fiona.

It turns out the sedation I was under is refereed to as "conscious sedation", which apparently numbs my brain so I have no memory of the transesophageal echocardiogram because they need me conscious and able to follow instructions while the procedure is going on. When they do the electrical cardioversion the patient is given enough regular anesthesia to knock them out for a couple of minutes. From there I was good to go.

Except (and isn't there always an "except"?) once you have had A-fib it can return, and mine has a couple of times. Each time it's gone away with 10-12 hours...except (there's that word again) for the this time, which is at about 36 hours and counting. Knock on wood so far everything is OK, so if it doesn't clear by Monday I guess I'm calling the doctor again.

Now that that long story is over, hopefully there will be more frequent posting, even if it's just quick posts containing some interesting links we've come across.

[Shrek] So, where have we been? (part 1)

2010-12-29T10:06:00.003-05:00

So, now that the holiday season is over and the Blizzard of 2010 (which technically wasn't a blizzard so we'll have to see what name they end up call it) is over I have a few minutes to explain why the blog has been dead and what is hopefully up in the future.

OK, the past few months...and it's kind of a long story so I'm breaking it up into smaller parts.

Over the summer I developed a heart condition called atrial fibrillation, or "A-fib" for short. In itself it's not a particularly dangerous condition other than it increased the risk of blood clots forming because my heart doesn't beat as efficiently as normal, so blood thinners were prescribed and I'm good to go. Of course, getting to that point is a journey of its own.

Not so surprisingly Fiona knows all the exact dates, but I've never been good at them so I'm going to just give a general feel of when what happened. It started in the middle of July (I do remember it was a Thursday) when I woke up in the middle of the night needing to use the bathroom and I could tell my heart wasn't beating "normally". I use the quotation marks because my normal heartbeat is abnormal to begin with as I have premature atrial contractions (PACs) that are controlled about 99% of the time by medication. So I didn't give it much thought and went back to bed.

The next morning I get up and it's still going on, but I'm still not concerned about it because it feels pretty close to what my normal arrhythmia feels like when it's happening, so I take my morning pills and go off to work...where it starts getting worse. After having a cup of coffee about 9am and it's still happening I begin to start worrying about it, beginning a text book stress cycle: my hearts beating irregularly so I begin to stress about it, which causes my heart to race in an irregular rhythm, which raises my stress level...and, well, you get the picture.

So to make a very long story a little shorter Fiona and I head off to the emergency room after consulting with my doctor's office. Now I'm not as huge fan of crowds so heading to an ER in the middle of the morning isn't exactly high on my list of things I want to be doing, but luckily when I got there the waiting room was empty. Of course when I mentioned to the triage nurse at the window that my heart was beating irregularly I doubt a large crowd would have been an issue for me as she immediately opened the door and had me sit down taking my blood pressure. I don't recall what it was, but as soon as she was done she told me they were going to hook me up to an EKG just to see what was going on.

What happened next was one of those moments that looking back you see stuff that was happening that you didn't notice was going on until you think about it. There were four wheelchairs in the triage room and the one the nurse put me in was the only one that had an IV poll attached to it. It meant nothing to me at the time, but looking back that is obviously the signal to the ER folks that I'm a cardiac patient. As they put me in a room and hooked me up to an EKG there were a handful of folks standing around at the desk. I hardly noticed them, of course, but looking back I now realize they were standing there in case I was having a heart attack.

I wasn't. What I was in was A-fib, and the nurse saw that right away. Suddenly the tension level dropped as she said to me it wasn't serious, gave me a 20 second run down of what was happening, and that we'd be able to fill out some forms while the cardiac staff drew some blood.

It was at this point Fiona asked if she should call my mother, who works at the hospital in the surgical wing. I gave her the "Are you f---ing nuts?" look as we both laughed knowing she would only worry, race down to the ER, and make stuff worse.

After the blood draw results came back a heart attack was totally ruled out (I had thought they'd already done that, but hey, it's nice to be sure) they decide to give me an echo-cardiogram, and Fiona and I have to wait about an hour for the tech to show up to give me one. During this time the nurse and doctor check in several times to check on me and report nothing has changed and that this isn't a serious condition that can be treated with medication the vast majority of times. Another thing that was helpful was I knew one of the guys I bowl with has A-fib and once they got his medication levels right he's virtually unaffected by it.

Once the echo-cardiogram was done the ER doctor came in and told Fiona and I that I needed to see a cardiologist, and that there were two available in the ER to see.

{SIGH}, now I have to talk to my Mom because I don't want to pick a guy with a bad reputation. My Mom, of course, took the news like any Irish Catholic Mom would--that the end of the world was upon us--and raced down to the ER. She wasn't there 2 minutes when all my numbers on the monitors I was attached to started going up. The ER doctor came in, looked at me, then the monitor, and then at my mother. And then he threw me under the bus with an ear to ear grin, telling me he'd come back later as he walked away stifling a laugh. As my luck would have it my Mom didn't know anything about either cardiologist, so I took the one that was going to be available first, Dr Maki.

Because the wait for test results and stuff was pretty long I was still in the ER when my Mom went off work, so she came back down to sit with Fiona and me. I had been moved into an observation room in the meantime because as the doctor laughingly said, the ER is for people who need urgent care, not for folks that need a nap. When my Mom came back she said all of the nurses said Dr Maki was the right choice, and that I'd really like him. After a short while he came in with test results and started talking about what was going on and how we planned to treat it. He also wanted me to spend the night in the hospital under observation, but the look on my face gave him the answer that wasn't going to happen.

After telling me to take it easy that night--like there was a chance I was planning on running a marathon--he told us to make an appointment at his office for the next day and to come right back to the ER if I experienced any pain, dizziness, etc. The ER doctor discharged me soon after, and home we went.

Next time, my visit to Dr Maki's office and the repercussions of being a chicken.

[Shrek] We're still here

2010-12-15T16:48:00.002-05:00

I know it doesn't look it, but we're still here.

Details to follow. Not sure when, but soon.

[Fiona] ERGH !!!

2010-09-12T21:32:00.005-04:00

Ok just a few rants before I go out of my skin. So hubby and I purchased a new laptop for me awhile back. I love it; however, I hate that it has a web cam. I have never been a known narcissus. I can not tell you the number of times in one session at the keyboard I accidentally turn the flickin' thing on and catch a glimpse of myself typing away. It freaks me out every time. Thank God it is not hooked up to anyone or site where I might be seen in my semi clad glory. I do my best think typing at the crack of dawn or the deepest darkest part of the day like-ish 8 pm or so. Sometimes I am dressed sometimes, well use that talented imagination of yours. ;)

Onto my next rant. I am a collector. I like giraffes and dragons and cute stuffed crap. I am a chick and I like shit that sparkles, OK? Deal. I recently bought a penguin at the Disney store dressed in a dragon costume. Mad cool except to join their little club online cost a body almost $60/year. Oh you can join for $6/mo and play as you go. Mind you this is supposed to be a kid site but it is rife with grownups, me being on of them :) So I am Peter Pan incarnate, again Deal. What makes me angry? You can get an account for free but all the cool things that you want access to costs $$ and not small change either.

Not very family friendly if you ask me, just do the math. If a family has 4 kiddles times $60/yr for each kid = a whole lotta beans! I like Webkinz better. Easier to use, more things to do. Better assortment of animals and games to play. I also like the fact that you can own a lot of webbies and interchange them at will. Not so at Club Penguin. If you own more than one penguin you need a membership for each one at $6/mo for each= broke in no time flat. Long live Webkinz :)

[Fiona] Angst

2010-09-05T14:58:00.006-04:00

Angst is one of my favorite all time words. This describes me to a tee.

"Angst is a German word for fear or anxiety. It is used in English to describe a more intense feeling of internal emotional strife. Angst, in contemporary connotative use, most often describes the intense frustration and other related emotions of teenagers and the mood of the music with which they identify. Punk rock, grunge, rock and roll, and virtually any Alternative Rock dramatically combining elements of discord, melancholy and excitement may be said to assert angst"

That would be me. Intense internal emotional strife or in plain English I am a hot mess. I don't mean to be that way it just sort of happens. I am prone to worry and indecision. I drive myself crazy. I enrage Shrek with it.

I stepped away from my weight loss journey. Not very smart on my part. I want to be able to live my life without belonging to the cult known as WW. The sad truth; however, is that I am a food addict so I need that support. It is just part of what makes me who I am. I am trying to let go of my demons. I do not know how to relax. I can be so intense over life that I scare myself.

I am fortunate. I have a hubby who loves me even though I am certifiable. We have a pretty great life together just being us. I need to learn to vocalize my frustrations with myself and situations in a better way. I want to be the best version of me that I can. Seems I need to do more work on myself and spend less time analyzing what is wrong in my life or with me or my job or a million other things I obsess over.

[Shrek] Just Some Random Thoughts

2010-07-06T10:52:00.005-04:00

While I'm sitting here as the temperature races past 90°F, I figured this is a good a time as any to post some stuff that's been ringing through my head since my last update.

I don't usually post book reviews, mostly because I read for the enjoyment of it and don't want to add the burden of keeping notes for stuff I read. I think that takes away from the pleasure I get from reading a good story. But the last two books I read are worthy of a quick mention--although for the exact opposite reasons.

The next to last book I've read was The Ezekiel Option by Joel Rosenberg. His first two fiction books were fun reads, jumping right into action sequences that kept you hooked throughout the book. Rosenberg isn't a great writer, but he was a good story teller that kept the plot moving. In The Ezekiel Option, Rosenberg again comes up with a great plot and starts the book off like his first two. But in this book it appears Rosenberg went insane at some point in the novel, and basically ruined what was the start of a great story with an ending that was, putting it as nicely as I can, pure bullshit. I've crossed him off my list of authors to pay attention to.

Luckily it didn't take long to find a replacement. The Sculptor, the debut novel by Rhode Island native Gregory Funaro, is an incredibly well written "formula" story that pits an FBI agent and a college professor against a serial killer. But unlike many authors, Funaro stretches that formula to its breaking point without having his characters turn into caricatures. I sent off a quick e-mail to Funaro (the first time I've ever sent an e-mail off to an author) mentioning how much I liked the book, and I got a nice "folksy" reply.

I give The Sculptor five stars, and I highly recommend it. Just make sure you leave a light on afterward--trust me on that. You can read more about the book on Funaro's website, gregoryfunaro.com.

Being on vacation this week I get to listen to a little more sports talk radio than I usually get to. Unfortunately Dale and Holley, who have the 10am-2pm slot on WEEI and are my favorites on the station, are on vacation this week. Fortunately, so are Dennis and Callahan, the morning show blowhards that I count myself lucky to miss most mornings. Filling in for the blowhards this week is Bob Neumeier, a former WEEI personality. Every time he's on the radio I wonder why Neumy doesn't have a regular gig in this market. He's 100% better than most of the on air talent on either of the big sports radio stations.

Every time we go past a BP gas station I wonder why anyone buys gas there. And here's the funny thing: the Gulf oil debacle plays no role in why I wonder that. No matter where we go, BP is the most expensive gas station around. Why would anyone choose to go there? It makes no sense that people would literally just throw money away by picking an expensive gas station.

Fiona's birthday was a few days ago and we decided to celebrate at our favorite restaunt, Joey's Bar & Grill on Mill St. in Worcester. Saturdays have prime rib as one of the specials, and as that's one of my favorites I didn't have to hear the rest of the specials to know that's what I wanted. Fiona also ordered it, and both of our dinners were cooked to perfection. For desert we had a slice of something called "Tuxedo cake", that was so super rich I'm glad we decided to split a piece. A couple of the girls there added a candle and sang Birthday by the Beatles to her.

We can't say enough great things about Joey's, and if you haven't been there you should check it out. You won't be disappointed. If you're a veal parmesan fan, go on Thursday. Just sayin'...

[Shrek] Out With The Old...

2010-06-12T07:28:00.002-04:00

After years of great service, my computer finally needed to be replaced. It caught some sort of trojan/virus/badthing that I couldn't get rid of. Now I freely admit to not putting up much of a fight at the end, and even though Fiona and I were looking at new computers for a while now I was really wanting to buy one "on my terms" and not because I was forced to.

My trouble started when I caught one of those fake anti-virus trojans a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't the first time that happened, and I knew how to take care of it so excepting for the couple of hours it took to vanquish the beast it wasn't a real big deal. Or so I thought.

Turns out this latest version isn't as easy as clicking a few boxes and running Malwarebytes Anti-Malware in safe mode because it makes changes MAM can't find. So soon after, despite thinking I was safe, odd things like my Google searches were redirected to other sites and getting pop-ups for fake news sites was happening. Plus my already very slow machine was running at a snail's pace.

After reading about what was wrong on my machine I attempted to ask for assistance on a couple of computer help forums because the fix was beyond what I thought my capabilities are, but because of the infection I was unable to connect to either of the two help sites I use. Suggestions from posters on some other forums unfortunately didn't work either. When reformatting my "as close to obsolete as you can be without actually being obsolete" computer became the best option, I pretty much decided enough was enough and killed the computer myself.

So we have a brand new Windows 7 computer--which I absolutely love. Of course, my ten year old printer/scanner/copier doesn't work with my new computer, so I had to buy a new one of those too. And since Fiona and I decided on a wireless printer, our six year old router also needed to be replaced. To go another step, I gave Fiona the wireless mouse from my old computer only to find the mouse that came with my new computer wasn't very comfortable to use, so I had to buy Fiona a new wireless mouse so I could take back the one I gave her.

Oh, yeah...and my favorite game (Diablo 2) doesn't run well on Windows 7 because it was designed for much earlier operating systems. So I've gone out and bought a new game that I can play to death (Dragon Age). And I needed to replace all my old Hoyles card/board/casino games because those didn't run either.

All in all, a pretty expensive week.

BTW, you can find Malwarebytes Anti-Malware right here, and if you don't have the program on your computer you most certainly should. It's free, and very easy to install and use.

[Shrek] Fourteen Years Ago...

2010-05-11T20:00:00.001-04:00

...we said "I do".

Seems like just yesterday.

[Shrek] 40 Years...

2010-05-04T12:00:00.002-04:00

[Shrek] Number Two Looks Great, Where's Number One?

2010-04-25T09:07:00.003-04:00

With hockey playoffs starting and a few other things going on, it's been a while since Fiona or I graced these pages. I actually intended to make this post a week or so ago, but the fact I had almost no time to write it allowed the story to play out a little more and make it a little more head scratching than it was originally.

The two of us occasionally make the long and arduous journey (read: five minute drive) down the street to the local Barnes & Noble to, as I like to put it, "visit the books". I love everything about books, and very seldom do we leave without buying at least one. While I generally buy new bestsellers at places like BJ's Wholesale Club or WalMart because of the deep discount, neither really stocks new authors or science fiction so a trip to B&N almost always results in finding something interesting to read.

One thing I've noticed about the B&N in Lincoln Plaza is they don't really seem to have any concept of how to order books. Now I'm sure that because they are a chain most of what they get, both new books and re-orders, is based on what they've sold in the past. But someone needs to explain to me how a store can have a dozen copies of an author's new book and not have a single copy of any of their others. Or worse, have those books be sequels or part of a series and not have a single copy of the original book. And in most cases it's not that they just sold out of that book--there's often no spot where that book would have been to begin with.

I really noticed this the Saturday before Easter when we got to spend some time with a friend from Delaware that was up visiting family for the holiday. After going out to dinner at Joey's Bar & Grille Ra...hmmm, perhaps he doesn't want his name used, so I should change it. Keeping with the Shrek and Fiona theme, I'll call him Puss in Boots because he probably wouldn't like being called Donkey.

So Fiona, myself, and Puss in Boots decided to go out and grab a coffee after dinner, and because of Puss in Boots' love of the foul tasting Starbucks coffee, we headed to B&N as that's what they serve in their in store cafe. While Fiona and Puss in Boots waited for their coffee, I wandered over to the science fiction section where they literally had half a dozen new titles that were sequels or book two in a series on the shelf and not a one had a single copy of book one available. That's too bad for a couple of those authors, because I eventually went to eBay and bought their books used, meaning they made nothing off the sale.

During our conversation in the cafe Puss in Boots mentioned a book by an online friend of his named Larry Correia called Monster Hunter International. So I wandered back into the science fiction section, where I wasn't too shocked to find B&N didn't have a copy. (So I'm sorry to tell Mr. Correia he didn't make a dime off me either as I also bought his book off eBay the same day I bought a couple of those other series).

Flash forward to yesterday, and in Fiona and my weekend journey we ended up back at B&N in Lincoln Plaza, and lo and behold they had some other "book twos" on the new book shelf without a book one around to be found. I wasn't really looking for anything but Fiona found a couple of things, so we made our purchase and left. Later in the evening we decided to go out to dinner so we decided to look in at Joey's Bar and Grille, our favorite haunt and the place we took Puss in Boots when he was here. It was PACKED.

As we're regulars and the hostess is a super sweet nice lady, she was a little upset that she couldn't get us a table. It didn't bother Fiona or I; we figured it would be packed and we didn't have a reservation. And to be honest, I want my favorite restaurant to be busy at 8pm on a Saturday. Because we were picking up our niece at her work we decided not to wait around and instead headed to the Shoppes at Blackstone to kill some time before she was out of work. Of course, we wandered into the B&N there.

Now I wasn't too shocked to see their stock of remaindered hardcovers was a little different, but I was shocked to see that they had many more new books that the B&N in Lincoln Plaza didn't have. In fact, they had two new science fiction books that definitely weren't at the Lincoln Plaza store, and with each of the sequel/book twos they had on the new book shelf they had a copy of the first book (or in a couple of cases the spot where that book would have been on the shelf was obvious so it appears they had one and sold it recently).

The store was so different in their selection that we may make the B&N at Shoppes at Blackstone our "primary" B&N as opposed to the one right up the street from where we live, and obviously I now question the competence of the person running the store in Lincoln Plaza.

But at least Mr. Correia will have more chances for his book to sell--the B&N at Shoppes at Blackstone had five copies available.

[Shrek] Funny Card Trick

2010-03-27T09:03:00.002-04:00

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 3-4

2010-03-04T00:05:00.001-05:00

Once again it's Theme Thursday, and this week the theme is "green". If you're pressed for time, I highly recommend just skimming the pictures and checking out our unrelated YouTube video at the bottom.

And a few more...

And this one is kind of cheating on our part, but what the heck...

For this weeks unrelated YouTube video, we bring you OK Go's incredible and elaborate Rube Goldberg video for their song This Too Shall Pass. After the video is a link to a story about how they did it.

How OK Go’s Amazing Rube Goldberg Machine Was Built

[Shrek] Unladylike Behavior?

2010-02-28T10:51:00.006-05:00

For those that don't know, the Canadian women's Olympic hockey team beat the US 2-0 to win the gold medal. After the arena was empty of fans the ladies returned to the ice to celebrate their victory...

From Yahoo, about the "incident"...

The celebration raised eyebrows at the IOC, which said it would look into the matter. Informed of the antics by The Associated Press, Gilbert Felli, the IOC's executive director of the Olympic Games, said it was "not what we want to see."

"I don't think it's a good promotion of sport values," he said. "If they celebrate in the changing room, that's one thing, but not in public. We will investigate what happened."

(Marie-Philip) Poulin, who scored both goals, doesn't turn 19 — legal drinking age in British Columbia — until next month. The drinking age in Alberta, where the Canadian team trains, is 18. Photos showed Poulin on the ice with a beer in her hand.

"We understand that they were asked to go back onto the playing field after the stadium had emptied to take a photo," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "We understand that some people may have felt that their behavior was over-exuberant."

Steve Keough, a spokesman for the Canadian Olympic Committee, said the COC had not provided the alcohol nor initiated the party.

"In terms of the actual celebration, it's not exactly something uncommon in Canada," he said.

While the committee does not condone irresponsibility, Keough said, "I think Canadians understand it's quite an emotional moment for our team. It was not our intention to go against any IOC protocols."

Not even uncommon at these Olympics. After Jon Montgomery won a gold medal for Canada in skeleton, he walked through the streets of Whistler guzzling from a pitcher of beer that he gripped with two hands.

The International Olympic Committee is the single most corrupt organization on the planet, and they have the audacity to give athletes trouble because they celebrated in a virtually empty building something they have spent their entire lives to accomplish?

The IOC really needs to STFU here, and so do the mental midget worrying about Marie-Philip Poulin drinking underage. I don't condone teenagers drinking alcohol on a regular basis, but there are a few times where I don't have an big issue with it. Winning an Olympic gold medal is certainly on the list of times where it's OK.

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 2-25

2010-02-25T00:05:00.001-05:00

It's time for Theme Thursday once again, and this week's theme is "bottle"...

It wouldn't be a real Theme Thursday unless we could find a way to work in some related cheesecake...

And for this week's unrelated TouTube video, we present Joe Walsh

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 2-18

2010-02-18T00:05:00.000-05:00

It's time for another Theme Thursday. We actually got a head start on things Sunday with one of my favorite jokes that fit the bill, but we couldn't leave it at that. So, here's our official Theme Thursday post..."bells".

And how about some belles named Bell?

And for this weeks unrelated YouTube video...Foreigner.

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday On A Sunday?

2010-02-14T09:27:00.002-05:00

Yep, a "bonus" Theme Thursday today. This week's theme is "bell" and we'll have a normal Thursday post for it, but seeing as we get to post one of our favorite jokes we just can't wait five days to get started.

So, without further ado...

A bishop advertises a job to ring the bell in his tower. The only job applicant is a hunchback with no arms.

Bishop: "How can you do the job? You can't pull the rope!"

Hunchback: "I have a plan - but we have to go to the top of the tower, where the bell is."

So they climb all those stairs to the top of the tower. Bishop: "Ok, show me your plan."

The hunchback runs and jumps at the bell, striking it with his head. Sure enough, he rings the bell. The bishop asks him, "How did you learn to ring the bell like this?"

The hunchback replies, "Actually, I first learned on the guitar," and walks over to a guitar on the wall and starts banging his head on it, and Lo! Beautiful music comes out. So despite his misgivings, the bishop hired the hunchback to ring the bell.

Every day the hunchback comes in and rings the bell. One day, the hunchback decides to try to ring the bell louder. He goes to the farthest corner of the tower, and runs as fast as he can toward the bell. When he jumps up and hits it with his head, the bell rings clear and loud. Unfortunately, the hunchback hit the bell so hard he's a little groggy. He staggers around a bit, and falls out a window to the street below.

A crowd gathers around the hunchback's mangled body lying in the street; the bishop goes out to investigate the commotion. The policeman arrives and again asks: "Who is this guy?"

The bishop replies: "I don't know his name, but his face rings a bell."

The policeman then asks if the bishop had hired the hunchback. "Yes," replies the Bishop, "but I had a hunchback there nothing good would come of this job interview."

The policeman then asks if the bishop can tell him anything about the hunchback. The bishop replies, "Not much, but he could play a guitar just like a ringing a bell."

The next day, a man (who has arms) arrives, claiming to be the hunchbacks brother. "Hi, I've come to take over my brother's job." The bishop offers his condolences for the loss of his brother, and then escorts him to the tower.

"Your brother used to ring the bell with his face," said the Bishop. "Will you do that, too, or will you use your arms?"

The hunchback's brother replies "If my brother can ring it with his face, so can I!" So saying, he runs full bore at the bell, glances off it with his face, falls out the window and to his death in the street below.

The bishop rushes down to see what he can do for the poor man. A crowd gathers. A policeman arrives and asks the bishop "Do you know who this man is?"

The bishop replies, "No, but he's a dead ringer for his brother."

So once again the church was left without a bell ringer. An advertisement was placed in the local paper and within days a young man who possessed two stout arms applied for the job. The bishop was greatly impressed with the fellow's bell-ringing skill, and he offered the job. The young man accepted and the bishop began to fill out some paperwork. He said, "Now what is your name?"

The fellow replied, "I cannot tell you, but I will whisper it to the bell."

Now this seemed somewhat unusual to the bishop, but he needed a bell ringer, so he nodded his approval. The young man leaned toward the bell, cupped his hands around his mouth, and whispered something unintelligible to the bell. The bishop, wondering if he was doing the right thing, left the young man to his work.

For weeks the skies above the city were filled with the most glorious tones imaginable, until one day -- quite by accident -- the young man slipped, fell out the side of the belfry, and plunged to his death upon the pavement below. A crowd gathered 'round; a policeman knelt beside the body; the bishop walked outside to investigate the commotion. The policeman looked up at the bishop and asked, "Do you know this man's name?"

The bishop paused, and then replied slowly, "No, he tolled the bell."

So once again the church was left without a bell ringer. An advertisement was placed in the local paper and within days another young man who possessed two stout arms applied for the job, and the bishop asked him to demonstrate his skill with the rope. The man replied, "I have no need for the rope--just watch this!" With that, he dropped his jaw, tilted his head backward, and produced a perfect E above high C. As he held the note, the bell began to resonate with sympathetic vibrations, and a beautiful tone could be heard throughout the city. The beauty of the sound was incredible, and the man was hired on the spot.

With his unique skill, it soon became obvious that the man could ring the bell without even entering the belfry. Each day at noon he would simply walk along the sidewalk by the church, drop his jaw, tilt his head backward, produce a perfect E above high C, and ring the bell to the amazement of all. Until one day, quite by accident, the vibrations caused the rope holding the bell to snap, and the bell flew out the side of the belfry, plunged toward the ground, and crushed the man to his death upon the pavement below. A crowd gathered 'round; a policeman knelt beside the body; the bishop walked outside to investigate the commotion. The policeman looked up at the bishop and asked, "Do you know this man's name?"

The bishop paused, and then replied slowly, "No, but he was a real humdinger!"

This time the church placed two ads in the paper, one for putting the bell back in the tower, the other for ringing the bell. A troll showed up to put the bell back in the tower. Although loath to hire a troll, the bishop decided to let him put the bell back in the tower (the troll was big and strong). After the troll put the bell back, it demanded the job of bell ringer. The bishop refused, telling the troll that he would scare away all the church members. The troll became enraged and chased the bishop around the bell. Around and around they ran, with the troll getting closer and closer. Suddenly, the troll's arm snagged on the bell rope. Infuriated the troll pulled the rope with all its strength. The bell swung forward and then back again, pulling the troll off its feet and out the window, where it fell to its death.

A horrified crowd gathered, and the tired bishop made his way down the belfry, arriving just as the policeman arrived. The policeman asked the bishop "What happened?" The bishop explained that he had refused the troll the bell ringing job and the troll began chasing him. "How did you escape?" asked the policeman.

The bishop's reply: "I was saved by the bell."

[Shrek] An Interesting Picture Says It All

2010-02-13T23:18:00.001-05:00

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 2-10

2010-02-11T00:05:00.001-05:00

It's another week of Theme Thursday, with the week's theme being "mirror". For those that don't get what we're posting, check back on Friday afternoon in the comments section for the connection.

First, the obvious one...one of Fiona's favorites.

Now, for the not so obvious...

And for today's YouTube video, which is actually somewhat related, we present A-ha

[Shrek] The Aint's No More

2010-02-07T22:22:00.003-05:00

A few brief thoughts about the Super Bowl...

It was a great game, and as far as I'm concerned the right team won.

The commercials sucked. I can't think of one that was even close to "OK".

The Who kicked ass. Not bad for a couple of guys old enough to collect Social Security.

Phil Simms is the dumbest analyst doing pro football, and maybe in all of sports. Jim Nance, one of the best play by play guys in all of sports, deserves a lot better than Simms.

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 2-4

2010-02-04T00:05:00.001-05:00

After taking a few weeks off we jump back on the Theme Thursday bandwagon this week. This week's theme is, well, you'll figure it out.

And for this week's unrelated YouTube video...

[Shrek] Eye Catching Headline

2010-01-30T19:45:00.001-05:00

[Shrek] In other words...

2010-01-25T13:30:00.002-05:00

2010 Top 25 Engineer's Terms and Expressions
(What they say versus what it means)

1. A number of different approaches are being tried.
We are still guessing at this point.

2. Close project coordination.
We sat down and had coffee together.

3. An extensive report is being prepared on a fresh approach.
We just hired three punk kids out of school.

4. Major technological breakthrough!
It works OK; but looks very hi-tech!

5. Customer satisfaction is believed assured.
We are so far behind schedule, that the customer will take anything.

6. Preliminary operational tests were inconclusive.
The darn thing blew up when we threw the switch.

7. Test results were extremely gratifying!
Unbelievable, it actually worked!

8. The entire concept will have to be abandoned.
The only guy who understood the thing quit.

9. It is in process.
It is so wrapped in red tape that the situation is completely hopeless.

10. We will look into it.
Forget it! We have enough problems already.

11. Please note and initial.
Let's spread the responsibility for this.

12. Give us the benefit of your thinking.
We'll listen to what you have to say as long as it doesn't interfere with what we have already done or with what we are going to do.

13. Give us your interpretation.
We can't wait to hear your bull.

14. See me or let's discuss.
Come to my office, I've screwed up again.

15. All new.
Parts are not interchangeable with previous esign.

16. Rugged.
Don't plan to lift it without major equipment.

17. Robust!
Rugged, but more so

18. Light weight.
Slightly lighter than rugged

19. Years of development.
One finally worked

20. Energy saving.
Achieved when the power switch is off.

21. No maintenance.
Impossible to fix

22. Low maintenance.
Nearly impossible to fix

23. Fax me the data.
I'm too lazy to write it down.

24. We are following the standard!
That's the way we have always done it!

25. I didn't get your e-mail.
I haven't checked my e-mail for days.

[Shrek] Long Time, Eh?

2010-01-20T17:53:00.004-05:00

Both Fiona and I have been busy lately, and unfortunately the blog is one of the things that got pushed to the back burner. That means we missed posting our annual holiday greeting....that just keeps it fresh for next holiday season.

With 2009 being long over, here's the list of books I finished during the year.

The Confession (Sheldon Siegel) ...423
My War (Andy Rooney) ...313
By Order of the President (W.E.B. Griffin) ...624
The Hostage (W.E.B. Griffin) ...750
The Hunters (W.E.B. Griffin) ...815
The Shooters (W.E.B. Griffin) ...737
Silent Snow (Steve Thayer) ...407
His Majesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik) ...356
Throne of Jade (Naomi Novik) ...400
Black Powder War (Naomi Novik) ...365
Empire of Ivory (Naomi Novik) ...400
God's Spy (Juan Gómez-Jurado) ...360
The Last Patriot (Brad Thor) ...480
Santa Olivia (Jacqueline Carey) ...341
Body Count (P.D. Martin) ...376
Victory of Eagles (Naomi Novik) ...376
Kushiel's Mercy (Jacqueline Carey) ...808
Empire (Orson Scott Card) ...351
Child 44 (Tom Rob Smith) ...509
Honor Bound (W.E.B. Griffin) ...550
Blood and Honor (W.E.B. Griffin) ...723
Secret Honor (W.E.B. Griffin) ...609
Death and Honor (W.E.B. Griffin) ...771
Secret of the Seventh Son (Glenn Cooper) ...393
Havemercy (Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett) ...431
Extreme Measures (Vince Flynn) ...430
Rough Weather (Robert B. Parker) ...320
Knight Life (Peter David) ...343
Hostile Intent (Michael Walsh) ...407
The Murderers' Club (P.D. Martin) ...440
Banquo's Ghosts (Rich Lowry & Keith Korman) ...344
Fan Mail (P.D. Martin) ...475

Total pages read: 15,327

Even though I don't have a wager for this year (yet), I'll still list what I'm reading on the right because it garnered much conversation in the "real world".

Hopefully we'll be able to find time for more posts.

[Shrek] You're kidding, right?

2009-12-09T09:46:00.003-05:00

A portion of a story about First Night Worcester 2010 making some changes for this year's event...

First Night Worcester 2010 has canceled its annual fireworks display, citing a decrease in donations and the lack of a sponsor.

The earlier fireworks show for kids is being replaced by a giant Bubble Wrap carpet on the stairs of the Worcester Auditorium, where kids can stamp on the Bubble Wrap and “pop” their own fireworks.

Bubble wrap? Really?

REALLY?

Morons.

The whole story from the T&G

[Shrek and Fiona] Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T20:31:00.002-05:00

Click the pic! ;)

[Shrek] I'm Not A Jimmy Fallon Fan...

2009-11-24T17:02:00.003-05:00

...but this might be one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

[Shrek] Just A Drive By Post

2009-11-23T16:19:00.002-05:00

Def Leppard with Taylor Swift singing.

For 500 bonus points, can you identfy the person named Vivian in the video?

[Shrek and Fiona] Esmeralda and the Halloween Grandmother

2009-11-02T11:50:00.008-05:00

This was supposed to be our Theme Thursday for last week, as the theme was "Halloween". Our schedules didn't really allow us to get to a post, so we're doing it a few days late. It's a post mostly by Fiona about one of our cats, Esmeralda.

Esme used to belong to my grandmother, and we adopted her when my grandmother passed away. Ironically enough, my grandmother was born on Halloween in 1919....

[Fiona]
Esmeralda is a beautiful tortoise shell. She has a wonderful temperament. I love this cat even though I am not generally a cat person. I prefer dogs but I wouldn't trade this sweetheart for anything.

This picture is of her smiling shortly after we took possession of her and she found the "heatgod" was in fine working order.

This is Esme keeping my chair warm while I am off doing other things. She follows me around the apartment like a dog. If I am in the chair you can always find her at my feet. Did I tell you yet just how much I love this cat?

This is my favorite picture of my girlie. She is watching the family of birds that have made a nest under our porch overhang. We live on the third floor so those birdies are pretty high up off the ground. I think Esme was just watching them to make sure that no little ones fell out before they were ready to fly on their own. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

The quirkiest thing about this kitty is that she is a classic "guzzinta" kind of a cat. If it is closed she has to go into it. If it is a paper bag left on the floor she has to go into it. If it is a cabinet full of pots and pans she has to , well I think you get my drift.

My cat is getting on in her years and has a difficult time jumping up onto her favorite high perches.It is now my job to figure out if she wants up. I have to carefully pick her up as she doesn't like to be held and place her where she wants to rest without raising her ire. Not at all an easy task but I do it because I love her.When I tell people, usually other cat people, about her I always say she is the color of Halloween.

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 10-21

2009-10-22T06:20:00.000-04:00

We're back with another Theme Thursday, and this week's theme is "traffic".

Well, to be honest, traffic only means one thing to a couple of music lovers...

And now for this week's unrelated youtube video, we give you one of our favorite subjects: cats

You know what, we need more of that...

[Shrek and Fiona] We're still here!

2009-10-17T14:54:00.002-04:00

We've both been very busy lately, and really haven't had time to post. And after a planned week off from "Theme Thursday" two weeks ago we decided for personal reasons not to take part last week.

So, stay tuned, we'll have some new stuff soon. ;)

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 10-1

2009-10-01T00:02:00.002-04:00

A quick, drive by Theme Thursday post as we both get ready to take flight to New York to begin the hockey season. And, as luck would have it, "flight" is this week's theme.

Before we begin, after seeing one of the major news stories of the last few days we get to drag out an old joke...

What goes into thirteen three times? (The answer is below the unrelated YouTube video).

Now, on to flight...these are so easy I won't even mention what they are.

And for this week's unrelated YouTube video, for no apparent reason we give you Depeche Mode...

And the answer to "what goes into thirteen three times?"

Roman Polanski

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 9-24

2009-09-24T00:02:00.000-04:00

It's time for another Theme Thursday again, and this week's theme is "wild". With us both being hockey fans the first thought was obvious...

And I expect this week will see be more than a couple of mentions of "Wild Bill Hickok"...

...and Oscar Wilde.

But odds are this will be the only mention of Zakk Wylde.

There should be a mention of The Rolling Stones, who sang Wild Horses...

...and Charlie Sheen, who played Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn In the Major League movies

Now, in our attempt to find some connection to beautiful women, we determined that any actress with the last name "Wild" was more likely than not to be working in films that don't generate many "rated PG" photos--if you catch our drift.

But lo and behold, it turns out that there is an all girl classical music group called "Wild", and they have lots of rated PG pictures...

Fiona was quick to mention there's a new kid's movie coming out called Where the Wild Things Are...

...written by Maurice Sendak for the crayon set.

Which leads us to The Wild, written by Whitley Strieber...

...a book that may have actually been written in crayon.

For this week's totally unrelated YouTube video, we give you Meatloaf...

[Shrek] Greatest Comedy Routine Ever?

2009-09-19T13:11:00.001-04:00

I certainly think so.

[Shrek] Why I Love Sports

2009-09-18T18:08:00.003-04:00

From The Kansas City Star

Rivals cooperate on touchdown for player with Down syndrome

By RYAN YOUNG
The Kansas City Star

ST. JOSEPH | Matt Ziesel doesn’t stray far from coach Dan McCamy on the sidelines during St. Joseph Benton High School’s freshman football games. He likes to stay within earshot.

"I’m ready, Coach. … Coach, I’m ready," Ziesel says.McCamy says he hears it about 10 times a game, and also at practices, from Ziesel, his 5-foot-3, 110-pound running back.

So in the final stages of Benton’s third game of the season on Monday at Maryville, McCamy decided it was time for Ziesel — a 15-year-old freshman with Down syndrome — to make his season debut.

With about 10 seconds left in the game, and Benton trailing 46-0, McCamy called his final timeout, told an assistant coach to organize the team for the "Matt play" and ran across the field to the Maryville defensive huddle — and to some puzzled looks from the opposing players.

"I’ve got a special situation," McCamy remembers telling Maryville freshman defensive coach David McEnaney. "I know you guys want to get a shutout. Most teams would want a shutout, but in this situation I want to know if maybe you can let one of my guys run in for a touchdown."

Several days have passed since Ziesel chugged more than 60 yards down a sideline for his first high school touchdown — but the buzz hasn’t.

The YouTube clip McCamy posted Tuesday morning had received more than 1,500 hits as of Thursday night. The e-mails and messages of support also have been rolling in all week — to McCamy as well as the Ziesel family.

"It’s just amazing how one play can mean so much to one kid and then to a team and then to a community," McCamy said Thursday after practice. "And now it’s spread not just to the community of St. Joseph, but now it’s spread across the region. How something so simple can impact so many — to me, that’s the amazing part about it."

Mike Ziesel, Matt’s dad, a longtime high school coach and the athletic director at Benton, was standing near the top of the bleachers Monday when a spectator told him it looked like Matt was about to enter the game. His wife, Patty, was at home. She hadn’t planned on Matt actually getting on the field Monday.

Neither had McCamy. As he headed across the field to talk to McEnaney, McCamy wasn’t sure what the reaction would be. He asked the players to avoid physical contact with Ziesel but to make it as real as possible for him.

"The (Maryville) players, they didn’t hesitate at all," McEnaney said. "They jumped right on board."

And so Matt Ziesel ran a sweep to the right and just kept going. This time, it was McCamy making sure he was close enough to be heard — running down the sideline alongside Matt, yelling as loud as he could.

"Come on, Matty! They’re coming!" McCamy yelled, making the play as real as possible for Ziesel.

Benton lost Monday’s game 46-6, but those six points made a bigger impact than McCamy could have ever imagined.

"It’s not necessarily about winning or losing," said McCamy, a second-year coach who played college football at Missouri. "Obviously up in Maryville we lost the game. The end result, we lost the game, but when we went away, we were all kind of winners."

After he posted the touchdown video on YouTube on Tuesday morning, McCamy sent the link to the Ziesels, so Patty could see her son’s first high school score, and to five fellow Benton coaches.

From there the highlight and the emotions it stirred just kept spreading.

"I don’t know that I (have) gotten one comment from somebody who said they didn’t cry" after watching the video, Patty Ziesel said.

Mike Ziesel, who coached boys basketball for 19 years, said what made him most proud was the way the rest of the players embraced the opportunity.

"It was just a good thing to see people realize that the value of winning is not (as) important as it is to participate and enjoy the game," Mike Ziesel said.

Said McEnaney, who co-coaches the Maryville freshman team with Jordan Moree: "It just kind of takes you back to what it all really should be about."

The truth is, Patty Ziesel had reservations about Matt joining the football team. And after she had taken him for the mandatory physical, she received a call from his pediatrician.

"When they got the report that said he was playing football, the pediatrician’s office said, 'We just want you to know that (the doctor) doesn’t approve of him playing football,' " she recalled. "I said: 'Well, neither do I, but here’s the deal: He wants to be part of the team, and he will be part of the team.' "

To minimize the danger, Matt doesn’t take part in full-contact drills at practices, and on his touchdown run he raced untouched as players from both teams trailed along.

Standing next to Matt on Thursday after practice, Patty said she hoped the players on both teams understood how important Monday’s touchdown — and their roles in it — were for her son.

McCamy is sure they do.

"Some of them get it now, but in due time all these kids who were a part of it will have a better understanding," McCamy said. "When they grow up and they get older, everybody will realize the impact that maybe that play (has) had — not just on that kid’s life, because Matt will remember that forever — but on some of these other kids and what they may have been a part of."

[Shrek] Theme Thursday 9-17

2009-09-17T00:12:00.000-04:00

Well, with Fiona being away for this week's Theme Thursday post, it's pretty easy to figure out that I was going to find a way to post pictures of beautiful women as long as I could make it fit the theme. And despite this week's theme being "over the hill", it was pretty easy to find a link.

So here's six beautiful women, all of them somehow connected to the theme. See if you can figure out how. The answers are after the unrelated YouTube video at the bottom.

While thinking about the topic it came to be that "over the hill" really refers to being older than 40. Does Heather Locklear look over the hill?

Or Sela Ward?

So maybe "over the hill" should mean an older age. How about 58?

Huh, Jane Seymour doesn't look over the hill. So maybe 64...

Helen Mirren looks pretty good at that age, so perhaps we should look at age 70.

Raquel Welch is about to hit 70, and she doesn't look over the hill. I know, let's go to 75.

And Sophia Loren is about as stunning as you can get.

So I guess "over the hill" must really mean how you feel, not any particular age or look.

Now for this weeks totally unrelated YouTube video, here's Chris de Burgh.

OK, so now about the first six women posted...

The first two are Rozonda Thomas and Taraji Henson, and they both dated actor Hill Harper. The second two are Jada Pinkett and Mariah Carey, and they both dated NBA star Grant Hill. The fifth pick should have been the biggest clue, as that's Faith Hill, who was once married to music producer Dan Hill. The sixth is Morgan Fairchild, who once dated ZZ Top guitarist Dusty Hill.

As none of those couples are together any more, it's safe to say they're all "over the hill"s in their lives.

[Shrek] King Times Three

2009-09-12T23:02:00.003-04:00

Tonight was my third King of the Hill tournament, and like last month I showed up much earlier than I needed to.

Because my back has been bothering me I didn't really warm up at all before the match knowing that my opponent was going to want to grab a quick cigarette after his semi-final match, giving me plenty of time to loosen up a little on the lanes we were going to bowl on.

I haven't been bowling that well as of late, but I knew my opponent was wearing down because he started the head-to-head rounds as the lowest seed. I just kept muttering to myself "no bad boxes" and just tried to stay in the game until he ran out of gas.

I had a small lead after the first string, and about midway through the first half of string number two my opponent was literally running on empty. I went back to my manta "no bad boxes", and cruised on to victory. Fiona and I celebrated by buying some Chinese food.

Next month might be a little different story as I have enough strings to have my average figured based on what I've bowled at the King events, so my lowly 98 average will no longer count for me.

I'm still planning on winning, though.

[Shrek] Do You Like It In The Can?

2009-09-10T12:23:00.002-04:00

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 9-10

2009-09-10T00:15:00.001-04:00

It's Theme Thursday again, and despite being on vacation we're back with another weekly dose of brainstorming. This week's topic is "rhythm".

Oh, we have no problem saying who it is--it's us. Out of tune and out of step; that's us.

But there are a lot of other folks that have rhythm...

But as it turns out, everyone needs a certain rhythm to live...

Years ago Shrek did actually have some rhythm, as he and frequent commenter Cousin Saul became members of the...

Rhythm can be important for lots of things, and not having it can lead to serious consequences...

And now, for a totally unrelated YouTube video...as there has been a mention of Cousin Saul, this one is for him.

[Shrek] Pet Rock Festival: Unintentional Comedy

2009-09-06T09:26:00.001-04:00

So Fiona and I are sitting this Sunday morning in our front room watching TV, which is the usual occurrence for early Sunday. On ESPN, a local commercial aired for the 11th annual Pet Rock Festival here in Worcester.

The Pet Rock Festival is a really great local event that shines a light on rescue animals and abused pets. From their website:

The mission of the Pet Rock Festival is to provide a venue where animal welfare organizations of all kinds (from those that fight to prevent cruelty in the courts to shelters to rescues to rehabilitation programs) can gather to fuse an even tighter network, and to also get the word out about their programs to the public.

By placing these organizations in a bed of family style entertainment that includes live music and attractions, we hope to reach a wider range of people to get them caring about animals. We promote kindness to animals – a focus that reaches to areas that include the appropriate adoption of shelter pets, spaying and neutering, educating children that animals are living creatures that feel pain, etc.

Pet Rock is a work in progress, but one we hope will extend to national levels and get more and more people thinking about the welfare of animals. It is an area that needs more attention.

Fiona's dad has a rescue dog, and a very good friend in Delaware has also in the past volunteered time at a shelter and has has several rescue animals. Because the Pet Rock Festival is such a great event one would think that making fun of it would be the furthest thing from my mind.

Au Contraire.

First, watch the commercial...

Did you catch it?

At the :13 second mark they announce the musical headline act is the Bay City Rollers. Now if that weren't funny enough on its own, the graphic shows "Bay City Rollers featuring Ian Mitchell". Ian Mitchell wasn't even in the Bay City Rollers when they had all their top-40 hits, and in fact wasn't in the band even a full year before quitting. There are actually several acts touring as the Bay City Rollers...and no, I have no idea how I know all that.

Despite the goofy musical act, both Fiona and I call this a "thumbs up event", and if folks are not busy on September 13 they should think about attending. For those that can't make, you can contact the Pet Rock folks and make a donation. I'm sure they'd love to hear from you.

[Shrek] Normandy: Then and Now

2009-09-05T16:44:00.002-04:00

Just a drive-by post with a cool link that has some pictures taken at Normandy just after D-Day and comparative shots taken recently. I thought it was sufficiently cool enough to share with everyone.

Normandy: Then and Now

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 9-3

2009-09-03T12:59:00.002-04:00

We're back with another Theme Thursday post, with this week's theme being "beginnings".

When we think of "beginnings", the first thing that jumped into mind was some famous opening lines from some of literature's greatest books...

Call me Ishmael. (Herman Melville, Moby Dick)

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. (George Orwell, 1984)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities)

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. (J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye)

All this happened, more or less. (Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five)

Being music lovers, mentioning some great beginning lyrics is pretty easy too...

You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips (The Righteous Brothers, You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin')

Hello, Darkness, my old friend (Simon and Garfunkel, The Sound of Silence)

There must be some kind of way out of here, said the joker to the thief. (Bob Dylan, All Along the Watchtower)

I was born in a cross-fire hurricane. (The Rolling Stones, Jumpin' Jack Flash)

And now, the end is near, and I must face the final curtain. (Frank Sinatra, My Way)

But there are tons of other beginnings...

And this post is also a beginning, as from this point forward all of our Theme Thursday posts will have a totally unrelated YouTube video shown at the end. Why are we doing this? It's nice to have our own little hook.

[Shrek] Theme Thursday 8-27

2009-08-27T18:17:00.003-04:00

Well, it's time for another Theme Thursday post. This week's post was delayed because Fiona is heading out this evening to catch Menopause, a musical playing at Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.

How simple would have it been if Fiona had taken a limo to the theatre?

But alas, she decided that a limo was a little over the top for a three mile ride after taking a look at her choices.

Given those choices, can you blame her?

[Shrek] Thank You Tornadoes

2009-08-24T18:24:00.004-04:00

The Worcester Tornadoes are, in fact, going to take care of the few of us that chose to stay away from the ballpark during the warnings/watches. I learned of this prior to Peterman's comment a few minutes ago on my previous post, but I wasn't able to make this post until just now (Google/blogger only allows one ID to be signed in at a time, and I was doing something under my other ID).

I've always enjoyed going to the Tornadoes, and I'm glad this all got worked out.

[Shrek] Am I wrong here?

2009-08-23T16:37:00.002-04:00

Imagine you have tickets for a concert that you've paid decent money for, and when you arrive at the venue you're told that there is a very slight chance the building could burn down because a nearby building is on fire. But because the chance is so slight they've totally discounted the possibility and they've blocked all the fire exits with more seats so they could sell more tickets. Right now you're thinking that could never happen...

...but that's almost exactly what the Worcester Tornadoes did Friday night.

With a severe thunderstorm warning and (ironically enough) a tornado watch covering our area, the Worcester Tornadoes opened their unprotected ballpark as scheduled for fans with tickets to the BBQ tent. Yep, that's right folks; with the National Weather Service issuing those watches and warning, the Tornadoes decided to allow fans to enter their unprotected ballpark and sit under a tent.

And here's some important information--the Tornadoes have no viable evacuation plan for their ballpark. Their evacuation plan is to have fans at the ballpark exit through the main gate and enter the parking garage next to the ballpark. A parking garage, I might add, that sits higher than the ballpark it serves, and certainly doesn't qualify as a "safe structure" if severe weather were to strike.

Oh, the best part? The BBQ tent is the furthest away from the garage that you can get and still be in the ballpark. And because it's at field level, you'd have to climb to the top of the seating section before you could even make your way out of the ballpark.

Because of the watches/warnings, and knowing the Tornadoes have no ability to protect fans at the ballpark, Fiona and I didn't go to the game. The Tornadoes, after allowing fans into the ballpark, waited out the rain and started the game at 8:45pm, meaning according to their policy I'm not entitled to a refund.

Right now the person who ran the event for us has an e-mail in to the Tornadoes asking for one anyway. If the Tornadoes have any business sense, they'll be writing us a check. If they don't, this could turn into a PR nightmare for them.

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 8-20

2009-08-20T16:19:00.004-04:00

It's Theme Thursday again, but this week it looks like we really have nothing to post about this week's theme, "shadow".

The heat wave we're experiencing here in New England has left both of us feeling a little under the weather--I guess you could say, staying with the theme, we're a shadow of our normal selves.

The room that our computers are in isn't air conditioned, and the sun beats on our third floor apartment in the afternoons with the intensity of a desert without, ummm, shadows.

So we leave you with one picture, which we know at least a few of you will get...

Next week we promise a much better effort.

Stay cool, friends.

[Shrek] 40 Years

2009-08-16T15:11:00.001-04:00

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 8-13

2009-08-13T00:15:00.003-04:00

It's another Theme Thursday post, and this week we get to "mail it in". Fiona already had a post ready to go that was about this week's theme of "festival", and so this week it's a solo post by her...

Art In The Park

Sometimes cool happenings just sort of fall into a person's lap. Last week my best galpal called me in the afternoon and asked if I could please go with her and her four kiddles to our local park. She had a "play date" with some other moms and dads, but as her SO was getting home late that afternoon she didn't feel confident enough to handle the four on her own in a crowded park. I gladly accepted as it was a beautiful afternoon and I am a sucker for kids. I bid Shrek a fond "see you in a bit" and set out for Jadi's.

There is something magical about being a kid and viewing the world through untainted eyes.

We finally managed to load all the stuffs and the kiddles into the minivan and set out for The Art in the Park Festival. At my age I still get hyped up and excited about the goings on of humans in their natural environment. We circled the park a few times and found parking off a side street. The kids were so antsy to get to the park it made it difficult to keep them all together and going in the same direction.

Often when I go out I bring my camera. I like to be ready for that shot. The one that invokes emotion or sheer awe. I am happy to report that I had my camera. I was indeed awed and felt the twinges of yearning for the old days when my parents and I were young and we did cool things like Art In The Park.

nest made from tree droppings and electrical wiring after the great ice storm of 2009

There were a lot of interesting and well thought out pieces.

3D stained glass

made from Solo plastic dishware

???

There were a few recycled construction/scrap metal pieces...mad cool.

And fun pieces...like the piano; recycled into a funky birdcage.

There was art to ride.

...and some people even came dressed as art.

On Thursdays during the month of July and August bands come to the park and accompany the art in a beautiful joining of two mediums.

I offer a toast to the city of Worcester for a job well done!

[Shrek and Fiona] Our New Home

2009-08-12T08:54:00.002-04:00

Yes, we know...it looks a lot like our old home. In fact, it's just about identical. Right now all that's changed is our URL, and we've taken out the links section. The links will be back (with additions) soon.

So, why the change? Well, when we started this it was kind of "on the fly", and we didn't really give much thought to how easy (or hard) it would be to tell folks what the address of our blog would be. The shorter URL fixes that.

All our previous posts are here, so hopefully this will be a seamless transition.

[Fiona] The Train Man

2009-08-09T18:15:00.000-04:00

The awe factor disappears with youth. That's what really separates children from adults. Perhaps it is just a casualty of growing up and seeing beyond the magic. I for one miss that sparkle of excitement over a new discovery. My dad and I struggle with his dementia. Somehow we manage. We laugh, we argue, we cry and sometimes together we discover that deep in our souls we still have the ability to be awed.

Recently one Sunday after church dad and I made a discovery. On the corner of a little side street down a short distance from our church we found the train man. The look on my dad's face, as he realized that the movement he'd caught was not an animal but an actual miniature railroad in fine working condition, was amazing. I stopped the car, put down the passenger window and told the man operating the train how cool dad and I thought his setup was. The train man said we should stop sometime and have a look.

Herb

I usually have my camera with me when I take dad out just because it helps keep life interesting. I want to make as many memories as I can with my dad before the curtain of dementia comes completely down and I lose him to it. As luck would have it I did not have my camera that day so dad and I drove away. I was a little disappointed and pretty sure that we would never be lucky like that anytime soon.

Most Saturdays I take dad out. We do everyday chores and goofy things and if time allows we go to mass. Much was our mission yesterday. I always make a list of every thing that needs to be done for both households; mine and dads. If I didn't mayhem would ensue. I am only one person and it is a near impossible task to remember everything for everybody and let's not forget about all the pets. So with list in hand and my camera I drove to dads to start our Saturday adventure. First stop after getting dad? The gas satation followed by DD and then off to the bank and the pharmacy. Like most people I am a creature of routine. I drive the same streets to get to the same markets and stores I go to.

Dad made a remark about how neat it would be if the train man was outside. So I changed my routine which paid off handsomely. Not only was the train man outside but he was working on his passion. I parked the car. I approached the chainlink fence surrounding his yard and asked him if it was ok if I took some photos. Happily he agreed.

There are three separate sets of tracks and trains. The trains go into the basement on bad weather days. The tracks are stainless steel so they stay put rain and/or shine. Herb,the train man,told me it has taken him nearly five years to get his front yard turned into a tiny working railyard. It has bulidings, people, vehicles and animals. The attention to detail is mind-blowing. Dad and I chatted with Herb for a good ten minutes and only left because chores needed to be done. Herb I thank you. You gave my dad something there are no words for, a new memory. He doesn't get many of those anymore. My dad talked about the train man all day.

[Shrek] King Once Again

2009-08-09T09:11:00.000-04:00

Last month I posted about the King of the Hill tournament at Colonial Lanes in Worcester. Well, sans the 44oz Diet Coke, I returned to defend my title. Even though I didn't need to arrive until later in the evening, I went for the start and stood around to watch the preliminary rounds.

The 5v4 match ended in a tie, with both bowlers having to bowl two additional boxes to break the tie. The rest of the matches weren't even close, which included my two string finals match. It was really over after 7 boxes when I threw 4 spares in a row (and had a fifth waived off because of a lob).

So next month I get to defend my title again...

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 8-6

2009-08-06T00:10:00.000-04:00

Well folks, it's time for another edition of Theme Thursday. This week's theme is "KISS", and that turned out to be a lot harder than we thought it would be. Usually there are no real rules about Theme Thursday, but there was one specific rule mentioned for this week: keep it clean.

OK, that eliminated idea number one.

Our second idea was to post pictures of celebrities kissing each other, and turn it into a long chain of celeb #1 kissing #2, and then #2 kissing #3, and so on until #7 or #8 was back to kissing celeb #1. While not a bad idea, we couldn't get the chain beyond four celebs while still following the "keep it clean" directive.

So much for idea number two.

Doing something about the rock group KISS seemed to easy, but we did find one pic worth posting along that vein.

And there's another kissing pick that has made the rounds as the punchline to the joke about where the swine flu came from, and while we suspect many will post it the pic is funny enough to share again.

It's kind of ironic that KISS can also stand for "keep it simple stupid", because at this point it was anything but simple to come up with a good idea for the theme. We did find a few cute picks of kissing...

...but, in general, not really a great path to take as there really isn't anything there that results in a punchline.

But then we remembered one pic that follows every rule we need to follow...it's a kiss, it's clean, and it's funny. It's a picture of Cristie Kerr kissing the trophy she just received after winning the LPGA Longs Drugs Challenge at the Twelve Bridges Golf Club in Lincoln, California.

You can create your own punchline.

[Fiona] Tuesdays in the Summer

2009-08-05T15:45:00.000-04:00

I am a repeater. When I am cold or I don't feel well, I will tell you at least a half dozen times. It is just part of the charm that makes me who I am. Shrek has this silly rule. I can complain/whine about the same thing only twice and then I need to move onto a new subject and/or complaint. I think it's funny but it actually helps me most times to move on.

All except for Tuesdays.

It is a matter of fact I loathe Tuesdays for no particular reason and yet a few come to mind. Tuesdays in the summer simply means I have to bowl. I stink at bowling. I am a visually inspired person and, let's face it, there is nothing visually appealing about bowling. My mind wanders. I often throw that little ball in the gutter and it makes me get creative with my language (not ladylike in the least).

You may wonder why is it then that I participate in something that causes me so much angst? The short answer? The people.

I try to have some fun while my torment is on going. I like to laugh with Hilka and Pat is a real gem. My friend Chris taught me all about trying to do your best no matter what and I have to admit I look forward to seeing them each week. Yes bowling has been good for me in some ways. {{Don't tell anyone ;)}}

Fiona and Hilka

Pat

Chris

Dear Shrek joined a men's bowling league about ten years ago as a way to have a guy night out without causing too much mayhem. Skip is an old-time bowler and has been in the game 30 odd years. He is on Shrek's team in the mens league. Paul not only bowls but keeps the lanes in fine working order and has a vast knowledge of bowling greats past and present truly amazing.

Shrek

Skip

Paul

Shrek found he enjoyed doing something with the guys and it allowed us some together time. It was only a short jump to the summer mixed couple league and a request from the Big Guy about having our own team. Shrek likes when I do the things in his life that he enjoys even if it means I need to "make believe" I also enjoy said activity.

So now each summer for approximately 17 weeks I bitch, I moan, I get really angry. I laugh, I cry , I enjoy my friends. I hate going to the bowling alley but I adapt. I accept, I move on until...the next Tuesday dawns when it all begins again. I told you I was a repeater.

[Fiona] Tossing and Turning

2009-08-01T19:05:00.000-04:00

The funny thing is I am wide awake. I have never learned how to relax. It drives dear Shrek crazy. It drives me crazy. I have this inner drive that takes me nowhere. I feel much like a tornado in a jar. I really think it is anxious energy. If you are lucky enough to survive a dysfunctional childhood it is likely that you have indeed dragged along a few neurosis to keep you company. I like to call my issues the demons in my head. Self-loathing is the hardest obstacle to overcome. My mom never made it. My kid sister never got over it. I am pretty sure my older sister suffers with it. I struggle with it everyday. Why am I so accepting of everyone and their shortcomings but not of my own?

I used to have this fantasy that when I grew up all of the pieces of my life that lay scattered all around me would somehow miraculously fall into place and I would be the cool put together person I always dreamed I could be. I find that I am still trying to get the puzzle pieces to fit. So I toss and turn.

[Shrek] Ten Thousand And Counting

2009-08-01T18:23:00.000-04:00

Some of our new readers may not have heard, but earlier this year I was challenged to a bet for charity by a friend to read 10,000 pages in one calendar year.

Just moments ago, I broke the 10,000 page mark. Presuming my math is correct, I'm at 10,364.

The current list:
The Confession (Sheldon Siegel) ...423
My War (Andy Rooney) ...313
By Order of the President (W. E. B. Griffin) ...624
The Hostage (W. E. B. Griffin) ...750
The Hunters (W. E. B. Griffin) ...815
The Shooters (W. E. B. Griffin) ...737
Silent Snow (Steve Thayer) ...407
His Majesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik) ...356
Throne of Jade (Naomi Novik) ...400
Black Powder War (Naomi Novik) ...365
Empire of Ivory (Naomi Novik) ...400
God's Spy (Juan Gómez-Jurado) ...360
The Last Patriot (Brad Thor) ...480
Santa Olivia (Jacqueline Carey) ...341
Body Count (P.D. Martin) ...376
Victory of Eagles (Naomi Novik) ...376
Kushiel's Mercy (Jacqueline Carey) ...808
Empire (Orson Scott Card) ...351
Child 44 (Tom Rob Smith) ...509
Honor Bound (W. E. B. Griffin) ...550
Blood and Honor (W. E. B. Griffin) ...723

As I've done during the countdown to 10,000, I'll continue to list what I've read on the list to the right.

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 7-30

2009-07-30T00:15:00.000-04:00

Well, it's Theme Thursday again, and seeing as we fired the staff after last week's debacle we're on our own to come up with an idea.

Oh, hold on a second...it's "button" and not "butt on"?

Looks like we need a new staff.

[Shrek] Congratulations Jim Rice

2009-07-26T18:50:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Jim Rice, one of my boyhood heroes, on his induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. If you ask me, it was fifteen years too late in coming.

[Shrek] BOLO: Tom Clancy

2009-07-26T07:45:00.000-04:00

When asked, I used to say Tom Clancy was my favorite author. I'm going to have to say that's not true anymore, and that he's been passed by W.E.B. Griffin on my list. I'm sure the reason for that is Clancy hasn't released a book in years (and his "latest", 2003's The Teeth of the Tiger, was terrible), while Griffin continues to pop out one great military thriller after another. Clancy has also been passed on my list by Vince Flynn and Brad Thor, two authors that are now as "hot" as Clancy was in his heyday.

I, of course, reserve the right to change my list if Clancy decides to release another book.

In a totally unrelated note--was Gilbert Gottfried ever funny? Fiona and I watched a One Night Stand On HBOcomedy last night, and in an episode obviously filmed in the mid '80's, Gottfried was spectacularly unfunny. I can't think of a single time I though he was even remotely amusing.

Since I mentioned my favorite author, I'll mention my favorite comedian is Lewis Black. For those that don't know who he is, he currently "stars" in a series of commercials for tourism in Aruba.

Contains some rated "R" language; not for the kiddies:

As someone that likes to tell jokes, I find the "science" of comedy very interesting. Perhaps someday I'll get into that more, but one thing I love to do is tell a joke and only have a handful of people in the room get it. That way the joke is twice as funny for some of us as we watch the folks that don't get it look perplexed.

Kind of like our Theme Thursday post.

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 7-23

2009-07-23T00:30:00.000-04:00

It's Theme Thursday again, and this week the theme is "shoe". Unlike last week where we both had the same exact idea almost immediately, this week we tossed around lots of ideas, but none really seemed to stick.

There were the obvious ones...

We decided that we didn't want to go that route, that maybe we'd go off the beaten path a little and go this way.

But thinking about it, even this seems like a well traveled road, so we decided to get the staff together...

...and the idea they came up with was to look at some music.

We'd like to now announce that we have just fired the staff.

So it looks like we won't be participaring in Theme Thursday this week as we can't decide on how to go about it. I guess we'll just settle down for a nap and try again next week.

[Shrek] Thanks For One Last Ride

2009-07-19T19:58:00.000-04:00

Some do it on talent. Some do it on luck.

You did it with class.

Thanks for one last ride

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 7-16

2009-07-16T01:00:00.000-04:00

We've decided to do something a little different, and we're jumping on the "Theme Thursday" bandwagon. Every week a different theme is selected, and several blogs (which are generally linked on the Theme Thursday page) each post on the given theme.

This week's theme is "stage"...so let's see what we can do with that.

Yeah, of course there's more to what you see. Can you figure it out?

[Fiona] Spider Web

2009-07-13T21:28:00.000-04:00

The frailty of life confounds me sometimes. Time marches on and for the most part people are strangely detached from the people in their lives that mean the most to them. I just don't understand. I used to be that type of person and then my kid sister died. Now I have the opposite issue I am hyper-aware of people. It saddens me on a level I have difficulty finding words to explain to the casual reader. I guess it is merely a case of living ones own life. People come in contact with you but are meant to move along their own strand like a delicate spider web.

We all weave our own patterns so delicate, beautiful and awe inspiring. Some people never know the impact they make on another. Like a gentle breeze or a downpour what a person contributes can change everything. I want to be that gentle breeze instead of the downpour.

[Shrek] Monday

2009-07-13T08:48:00.000-04:00

[Shrek] King Of The Hill

2009-07-12T12:38:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, one of my hobbies is candlepin bowling. I bowl in a couple of fall leagues and one in the summer. I do it for a night out with friends, and while one fall league is a very competitive league the other two I regularly bowl in are supposed to be for fun. I sometimes forget that it's supposed to be fun, but I am getting better at that. This summer I've had some issues remembering that because, well, for lack of a more family friendly term, I've sucked pretty badly.

My usual 110ish average has fallen to 98, and it is beginning to frustrate me. Just about everything that I can do wrong I'm doing, and as soon as I fix one thing something else starts falling apart. And even when I get it all together, I'm not catching any breaks, which causes even more frustration.

So it makes what happened last night more than a tad confusing.

On Saturday nights, there are mini-tournaments called "King of the Hill" at different bowling alleys across central Massachusetts. The only Saturday night in the month that didn't have one was the second Saturday, and to fill that gap a couple of guys I bowl with started one here in Worcester at Colonial Bowl, the place I normally bowl at. It being at my "home house" was the only reason I showed up.

So with my 44oz Diet Coke in hand and a stiff back, I showed up to see what was going on. Looking around at the number of people that were there, which included a few guys I knew, I figured I'd give it a shot....and I'm glad I did.

I have no idea how it happened, but everything began to click. I threw three great strings for a 353 triple, and because my average was so low I got a handicap of 72 pins for a 425 total. That was good enough to be the second seed in the ladder matches, where the 5th seed plays the 4th, and the winner of that match bowls the 3rd, and so on. The championship round is a two string final.

The 5v4 match was very high scoring, as was the next match. When it was my turn to bowl I had been standing around for twenty minutes and had cooled off a lot. My practice box was terrible, with me going back to not doing anything right. Luckily, that was the only time it happened. I was on fire in the match, throwing a 130-odd string to win it scratch.

That carried over early in the championship match, and it was a good thing. I haven't bowled more than three strings in a night in a very, very long time. Now toss in a bad back and I knew I needed to get out front quick. I won the first string by 11, and then ran out of gas. Lucky for me, my opponent wasn't getting many breaks and I was able to keep it over a 10 pin lead for the rest of the second string. In the last box I needed just a six to force him to throw a double strike, and with my seven drop on my first ball and him not throwing a strike I was the winner.

Next month I'm automatically the #1 seed, and only have to bowl in the championship match.

I do expect to get some razzing on Tuesday when I show up for my summer league night as the score sheets were collected by one of those bowlers to poke fun at my 98 average...a razzing I'll be more than happy to take.

[Shrek] Post Your Own Caption...

2009-07-10T20:23:00.000-04:00

President Obama feeling the stimulus kicking in.

[Shrek] Some Things That I Think...

2009-07-10T07:28:00.000-04:00

I think the Summer Nationals, the annual car show held at Green Hill Park and in downtown Worcester, are great for the city as a whole but bad for the neighborhoods that these cars drive through at all hours of the day and night. Perhaps it's because I'm not a "car guy", but I don't understand the need for people to peel out like they're playing Grand Theft Auto and make more noise than a heavy metal band while repeatedly driving up and down the street. I'd be interested to hear how much it costs the city to repair the damage done by the car show, and to clean up after the event.

+++++++++++++

I listen to WEEI's "Dennis and Callahan" morning show on the way to work, mostly because it's the station my radio is usually tuned too. They are basically both idiots, and if you listen long enough you'll hear that they often contradict their own supposed views on things. So imagine my surprise when they went on vacation this week and found an even bigger idiot to take their place in Michael Felger. Felger's only redeeming quality is he's married to Fox25's super-cutie news anchor Sara Underwood.

+++++++++++++

With the budget shortfall in the state, the Registry of Motor Vehicles has decided to close some offices and relocate some others. One of the ones to be relocated was the office previously in Southbridge, and it will be moved to the Charlton service area on the Eastbound side of the Mass Turnpike. It's a location the state already owns, so they won't have to pay rent on the new location.

Boy, that's great on paper, but as soon as I read the state was moving the office to that location my brain started thinking of questions I was pretty certain no one had thought of...

How do you get to the eastbound lanes to get to the service area from the westbound lanes?

And if you're going to use the Route 20 entrance to the service area as employees of the plaza can use, do you really expect people to stop on Rt20 to turn when that stretch of the road is in a 50mph zone? (And in Massachusetts, that means the minimum speed is really 60)

Or how about the fact there is no vehicle access to the service area from that Rt20 entrance, it's just access to a fenced in parking lot that you can park in before you walk into the service area. And it's not a short walk either, so elderly and handicapped folks will have issues making the trek. Oh, and that trek crosses two lanes of potential truck traffic entering the truck parking area from the service area.

Turns out, at least according to the Boston Globe, I was right and those questions weren't answered before the move was announced. Anybody wondering how much this "cost cutting" move will end up costing the tax payer?

+++++++++++++

Many people are shocked I didn't make a single post about the death of Michael Jackson. It's because I really didn't have anything to Say, Say, Say. Tremendous talent. Total loon.

[Shrek] Josie's Day

2009-07-05T16:52:00.000-04:00

While most of the country was celebrating July fourth by going to cookouts and scoffing down hot dogs and potato salad, Fiona and I spent the day at the wedding of our friends Rich and Josie at the sprawling Harding Allen Estate in Barre, Massachusetts, which is one of the coolest wedding/reception places in the area. And after what seemed like endless weeks of clouds and rain, the day could not have been better for their outdoor wedding.

As I was a groomsman, the event really began for Fiona and I Friday night at the rehearsal. Most people have a good idea about the ins and outs of being in a wedding party, so usually these rehearsals are just an excuse to get together before the wedding and relax before the next day’s festivities. This one was a little different because it was going to be a Quaker wedding, and for most of us it would be the first time we were introduced to anything about that religion. I’ll talk more about the ceremony later, but the rehearsal went very quickly and we had lots of time afterward to go into the estate and look around.

After we were finished our business in Barre we went to Josie parent’s house in Worcester for the rehearsal dinner. Despite the thunderstorm that chased everyone into the house it was a very nice gathering, with some great food catered by some company whose name I don’t remember. Rich, his best man Ray, and I spent most of the evening holding court on the back porch. Uncharacteristically, Rich was drinking water. And in character, Ray and I were not.

The high point, at least for me, was when Fiona was surprised with a birthday cake that was served for dessert. I had let Josie know when we got the invitation to the rehearsal dinner that Friday was Fiona’s birthday, and Josie jumped right in and got the caterer to make a cake for Fiona. Fiona was moved to tears by Josie's gesture, and then kept talking about how embarrassed she was for crying. She shouldn’t have been embarrassed, there’s nothing more genuine than sharing an emotional moment with a friend.

The next morning I arrived at the Harding Allen Estate at my appointed time, already dressed in my tux. I roamed around the lower level while Rich, Ray, and Dan were up changing, heading upstairs when summoned by Josie’s mom so she could pin a boutonnière on my jacket. It was a good thing I went up, as I was the only one who knew how to adjust the size of the ties we had. We hung around in the room for awhile waiting for Josie’s younger brother Peter to arrive. I learned yesterday that he’s seldom on time for anything, and is easily distractible.

The next part of the post I’ve written and edited half a dozen times, trying to get all the information correct about a Quaker wedding ceremony. It turns out I needn’t have done any of that, as Josie posted what happens at a Quaker wedding on her marriage blog. Because what she posted is generally what happened, I’ll link to that so you can read it if you wish, and just mention the small differences they did.

http://joandrich.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-quaker-wedding-works.html

Generally Meetings are done in a circle, but the layout of the lawn area made that impossible. So they went with the Clearness Committee sitting behind Rich and Josie, and Ray and Sarah, Josie’s sister and Maid of Honor, sitting aside of them. The groomsmen and bridesmaids, after making their way from behind the raised area, sat in the first row of seats.

I was paired with Josie's friend Celia, and as instructed, we walked down the stairs to the lawn and into the first row of chairs, with bridesmaids going to the right side and the groomsmen to the left. I think we were supposed to sit starting at the aisle, but Dan continued down the entire row and sat at the end, which happened to be in the shade. It was a good call on his part.

Now every wedding has a small thing that goes wrong, and I just happened to notice what it was as we were standing waiting for Rich and Josie to make their entrance--there were no chairs on the raised area for Ray or Sarah. Luckily Peter, who was the last in the row, was paying enough attention so when I whispered to him to grab a char and give it to Ray he did it. I walked across to the other side to grab one for Sarah, who had a look of “what am I supposed to do?” before she realized I was grabbing her a chair.

The silence of a Quaker Meeting is something that is odd for folks used to more traditional wedding service, but it was a cool experience, and I think it’s great that Josie chose to share that experience with all of us.

From that point on everything was just like you’d expect at a wedding, with the normal picture taking (and family bickering) going on. The reception was great, with Ray’s toast certainly being one of the highlights of the event. There was no head table, so I got to have dinner with Fiona and many of my “Sharks” friends.

Once the reception was over the bridal party stayed at the estate and had our own after party, where everyone was happy to be back in “normal” clothes. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that, to use Josie’s own words, she was wearing “the most God awful ensemble (she) could put together.”

Below are some pictures of the rehearsal dinner and wedding that Fiona took...when you click on the individual pictures they will show in a larger size.

Josie (center) gives us the rundown on how things are going to work. Rich is to the right, and the women on the left is the Events Coordinator for the estate.

Ray, the best man. The view is from the raised area where the ceremony will take place out toward where the visitors will be seated.

This is the walkway the bridal party would cover while heading to the ceremony. We entered by the gate on the right and then turned left, heading toward the camera.

This is the continuing view heading toward the area of the ceremony.

The reception hall.

The crowd gathers waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Shrek and Celia make their entrance.

A member of the Clearness Committee explains the traditions of a Quaker Meeting. I was about 10 feet away from her and could barely hear a word she said. I can't imagine anyone behind me could hear her at all.

Rich and Josie during an early portion of the Meeting.

Rich and Josie exchanging their vows. Despite the differences between weddings I was used to and a Quaker wedding, the vows were very similar.

Rich and Josie signing their marriage certificate. Fiona was unable to get a picture of it, so trust me when I say it is very cool looking.

The Meeting ends with everyone shaking hands.

Shrek and best man Ray

The bridal party. The girls, from left to right: Cecilie, Celia, and Luciana. Sarah (the maid of honor) is in the background over Cecilie's shoulder at the marriage certificate as the guests sign it. The guys, again from left to right: Shrek, Ray, Peter, and Dan.

[Shrek & Fiona] We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program...

2009-06-23T15:49:00.000-04:00

...so that we can make a public service announcement.

This is from an e-mail I was sent from WROR, 105.7FM out of Boston:

The international record labels are asking Congress for a handout and they want to take it from us. To put it simply, they want to charge us big fees to broadcast the music you love!

Local radio stations relationships with record labels and artists have always been positive… free play for free promotion, but this could all change for the negative if this performance tax is enforced.

How does this affect YOU?

Your favorite stations are likely to experience job cuts, stifled airplay, and have reduced ability to contribute to the community organizations and listening public who depend on local radio right here in Boston.

Please help us continue to provide great radio by signing our petition.

Thank you for your continued support of 105.7 WROR

Their petition can be found online at helpsaveradio.org...

[Shrek] You Can't Make This Stuff Up

2009-06-22T19:54:00.000-04:00

Fiona and I were just watching an NCIS repeat on USA Network, when an ad for a new prescription product was aired. The product's name is Latisse, and because it's not possible for me to type what it's used for without laughing hysterically I'll just post the link and you can see for yourself.

Latisse.com

I like to end each post with a punchline, but how the heck can I top that?

[Shrek] I Remember When...

2009-06-18T21:33:00.000-04:00

After work today Fiona and I were discussing a topic that, now that we've thought about it for awhile, is far more important than any topic you're bound to read about in any newspaper or hear about in any newscast today.

Cracker Jacks were a lot better when we were younger.

I realize times are tough, but how bad is it when there is no longer enough caramel on the popcorn to make your fingers sticky? And are peanuts so expensive that putting more than three or four in the bag causes significant profit loss?

Oh, yeah--and the bag. Cracker Jacks belong in a box and not in a foil bag.

They also managed to make the crappy "prizes" even crappier. Keep your damn tattoos and stickers, I want my magnifying glass back. Yeah, I know, you didn't get a magnifying glass in every box...but you knew you had a chance!!!! And if you were lucky enough to get one, every kid in the neighborhood came around so you could all burn ants with it.

I guess there is a silver lining in all this--there's now no chance PETA will be bothering little kids about killing bugs.

[Shrek] Fake Outrage Is Far More Comedy Than Letterman Intended

2009-06-16T11:07:00.000-04:00

Comedians tell jokes. Sometimes the jokes are funny, sometimes they aren't, and sometimes people aren't smart enough to get the joke. And often times the people that don't get the joke never realize the joke is on them.

I'm sure everyone has heard, or at least heard about, the joke Letterman told about Sarah Palin's daughter attending the Yankees game. "One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game, during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.", was what Letterman said.

Letterman has since acknowledging the joke was "ugly," "cheap," and "in poor taste", and has apologized. In my opinion, along with it being those three things it was one thing that's far worse for a comedian--not very funny. It doesn't matter the age of Palin's children, nor which one went to the game, the joke doesn't really work.

But the fake outrage that has followed is high comedy indeed.

"I think that calling the former vice presidential candidate a slut or saying that her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez, I think everyone can agree that’s over the line," Washington Examiner correspondent Byron York told FOX News’ Greta Von Susteren. I don't know much about York, but those comments seem spot on to me.

"Letterman jokes about Palin's daughter. Way over the line. If it were my daughters I'd be furious. He should seriously apologize." Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill agreed, speaking out against Letterman on her Twitter page. I don't know much about Senator McCaskill either, but this seems spot on too.

So there are folks that seem to get it was just a joke that went bad, and have taken a reasonable stance about it. But there are some others...

"Acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone's daughter, contributes to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others," is Palin's comment. She added later, "It’s no wonder girls have such low self-esteem in America when a comedian can make a remark like this".

Really? I guess there are no billboards, magazines, or television in Alaska. Because if there were Palin would see that adding any comedian to the list of reasons why girls have low self-esteem is ludicrous.

Fox news and CNN are full of conservative talking heads, all trying to top each other, continuing the trend of pretending to be outraged over something most folks don't care one iota about. And I'm not the only one noticing the fake outrage makes these folks look silly

Mark McKinnon, a former campaign adviser to John McCain and George W. Bush said, "If the right goes after Letterman, they make him look big and themselves small." McKinnon added, "It's win-win for Letterman."

From Republican media consultant Fred Davis, a chief ad-maker for the McCain campaign: "I think it's a mistake too many conservatives are making right now. They are trying to find anything to attack." Davis may have had the best take on this, saying "Letterman apologized. He said it was over the line. He is a funny guy, and his job is to do sarcastic humor. That's his thing."

As I told my conservative friends in March, learn which battles to fight. This wasn't one that needed fighting, and you had no chance of winning it no matter what you did.

[Fiona] Holding On

2009-06-05T18:24:00.000-04:00

The hardest thing to do is hold on. Be patient,wait,relax. I can not tell you the number of times in a week let alone in a single day just how many times dear Shrek tells me to relax. Shrek is more impatient than I am truth be told. His impatience is with other people; mine is with myself. I want to be happy NOW. I want what I want NOW. I pace, I get antsy, I whine. I am a pain in the ass.

I went shopping today for a dress. I worked myself into a lather. I couldn't find anything that fit me in an attractive way. Also I am in a strange age bracket. Most of the dresses I looked at need to be worn by young, hard bodies not a middle-aged cute woman trying to look pretty. As I went from store to store my impatience with the process and myself grew and grew.

I hate being between a rock and a hard place. It makes me feel like I can't win. No matter where I run I am right there. I can not get away from myself.

[Shrek] Time for a vacation

2009-05-31T14:28:00.000-04:00

It took until May 31st, but I'm finally finished with hockey stuff for this season. Don't get me wrong, Worcester's extended play-off run was a great thing, but it's nice that I can finally take some time not involving hockey. The plan is, at least for now, to do nothing hockey related until Labor Day (excluding Booster Club stuff and a Sharks sidewalk sale later in June). This will be the first summer I've taken off from hockey since before the IceCats left town in 2005.

You'd think there being no team here in the summer of 2005 would have meant not doing anything hockey related, but in actuality it was like I had a second 40 hour a week job trying to get a team to move to Worcester.

I'm looking forward to reading the several stacks of paperbacks I have collected over the past few months, and I have to make a run to That's Entertainment soon to pick up some stuff they've been holding aside for me for, well, quite a while. I've also got a couple projects I'm thinking of starting, but perhaps thinking about excuses not to do them will be easier.

Unfortunately, this summer's movies look like a lot of garbage. Fiona and I have already seen Star Trek (it was great, and we highly recommend it), and Fiona will want to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince so we'll no doubt catch that. We're thinking about catching State of Play at the West Boylston Cinema (our favorite second run movie place), but our schedules don't really mesh for when it's playing, so that may not happen. The rest of the summer movie releases look like crap.

But I'm sure I'll find something to keep me busy...

[Fiona] Queries

2009-05-21T19:17:00.000-04:00

Questions...everyone who inhabits this planet has questions. Here's a few of mine, where are the answers? Who has them? and why won't they enlighten me?

[Shrek] Learn Something New Every Day

2009-04-26T18:14:00.000-04:00

One of my goals in life is to learn something new every day. There is an adage that says "all knowledge is worth knowing", and I firmly believe that's true. Sure, some of the stuff we learn is worthless unless we're playing Trivial Pursuit, but in general having a wide base of knowledge is a good thing. For me, learning something new when you least expect it is the best...and that's what happened to Fiona and I Friday afternoon.

We were heading out to the Super Walmart in Leicester after work when our "low fuel" light came on. We were planning on stopping for gas anyway, but the idiot light served as a good reminder for us to not forget. As we pulled into the gas station, we saw a man filling what looked to be milk cans with gas. It turns out the man was an inspector for Irving Oil (the company who owned the gas station), measuring the pumps to make sure they were dispensing the correct amount of gas.

We've all seen the stickers on the pumps certifying they pump the correct amounts, but who here has ever seen someone actually checking them? It seems Irving Oil checks every pump once a quarter, while the state only checks once a year.

It turns out there's more than one test. First they check to make sure it pumps exactly one gallon by, you guessed it, filling it to a line in the can at one gallon. That part seemed obvious enough. But then they weigh it, and depending on the temperature and humidity (I'm pretty sure he said humidity), it has to match what the chart says it should weight, within 2 grams. Then on top of that, they do it again, this time using a two gallon measurement. They do that for every octane the fuel pump dispenses.

Fiona asked the guy why hardly anyone ever sees this being done, and he replied that it's usually done on Sunday mornings when traffic is light, but because the weather was going to be so nice he wanted to get the job done as early as possible so he could enjoy the weekend with his family.

So the next time you're out on an early Sunday morning, take a peak at your local filling station to see of you spot the guy with the milk cans. At least you'll know what he's doing. Oh, and how often to pumps fail the measuring test? According to the guy, unless they're tampered with, just about never.

So I guess that's two things I learned on Friday.

[Fiona] Love is...

2009-04-06T16:07:00.000-04:00

I started taking my Dad to church on Sundays sometime in September of 2008. He was just in car accident and was a little unsteady on his feet. I told myself that I was doing it for his own good and for my peace of mind. My pops worked a physically demanding job his whole life. Needless to say that now in his "leisure" years he is often in pain from arthritis and old injuries.

Isn't aging grand?

In the beginning I would drop him off at the church steps and then go run errands. Slowly something started to change. I found myself thinking that I should go with him. One day my Dad stumbled coming down the steps so the very next Sunday I started going to church with my dad. I am a lifelong non-practicing Catholic. It is not something I am proud of. It is just that the Church has never really spoken for me or the things that I believe in.

I may never resolve all of the issues that I have with the church as an entity but for now I think I get why it is such a big draw for my Dad. There is love. It exists quietly and waits patiently. The parish priest, the deacons and the sister genuinely love their flock. I see it. In the way they greet those that come to Mass and in the questions they ask about your loved ones. I look forward to taking my dad to church. Love is...right where it has always been waiting for you to find it.

I love my dad. It is my job alone to make sure he is ok. I take him to the doctor, to the bank and pretty much eveywhere and everything else he has to do. He is memory challenged and so he is in need of my involvment. I think we make a good team. Sometimes we argue. We are both stubborn. I would do anything for him. He has done so much for me in the course of my life.

[Shrek] Some eBay Tips For Sellers

2009-04-06T15:17:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been surfing eBay to fill in some holes in my bookshelf. I hate to read a series out of order so if I'm missing a book or two from a series I prefer to grab them at Annie's Book Swap or eBay.

One thing I've also been doing is going through the wholesale lots on eBay to grab whole series from authors I like. In doing so, I see a lot of things sellers are doing wrong in that category. Even though I doubt any of those sellers will read this, I feel compelled to offer them some advice.

1) Look to see what everyone else is selling.
The number of sellers listing the same things are pretty high, and it's funny to see a bunch of sellers staring their lots at a low price and another couple starting nearly identical lots for five to ten times more. Unless you've got something different, don't expect to make a fortune selling book lots.

2) If you have romance books to sell, save your time and throw them away.
Don't take my word for it, use the search function. People that read romance books must not know how to use the internet, because the vast majority of lots don't get bids. Yours won't either, trust me.

3) Learn your genres
Science fiction and horror/suspense are not the same thing. Political thrillers and war novels aren't the same thing either. Don't put them together and expect bids. And another thing you shouldn't mix together: male and female writers of any genre. Lots of readers have a preference for one or the other. Mixing them, unless you find the right reader, reduces the number of bidders you get.

4) List the books in the lot, and have a picture of the covers
And don't do just one or the other unless you have no choice. I have a list of books I'm looking for, and if you don't list the books in the lot I can't decide if I'm going to bid or not. Having a picture of the covers helps for the folks that are more visual.

5) Multiples of the same book is a no-no
Listing a lot of four of the same book is dumb, even if it's a book people might care about. Listing a lot of four of the same book that no one cares about is just a waste of time and money.

6) Don't bother listing your book as "HTF"
When there were thirty listed in the last month, and a hundred available in the eBay stores, "hard to find" seems like a silly thing to say. Plus if it's a paperback released in the last ten years, it ain't "HTF" under any definition of the phrase.

There's a ton more stuff I could list, but as I have to snipe an auction in 3 minutes I'll have to leave it at this...for now.

[Shrek] I Couldn't Care Less

2009-03-22T07:55:00.000-04:00

Lots of people totally mangle the English language when they speak. Part of it is laziness, part of is regional dialect, and I'm sure there's a small amount of wanting to sound more educated/intelligent than they really are. When I hear someone butchering the language I usually just smile inside and don't correct the person. I couldn't care less how someone speaks, only that they can clearly communicate what they are trying to say.

What I could care less about is writers, especially professionals, that can't spend just a few precious seconds making sure they're using their idioms correctly. If you're going to spend time putting thought to words, how about trying to express yourself in a manner that makes at least a little sense.

Do you see what I did there, or could you care less?

[Shrek] One Year; Ten Thousand Pages

2009-03-20T10:57:00.000-04:00

I have recently accepted a wager that I could read 10,000 pages worth of novels, biographies, etc. It's not a significant amount of money, and it all goes to charity, but seeing as I was planning on reading at least a little this year it seemed like a pretty easy bet to make. The person I'm wagering says it's not possible considering the schedule I keep. He should have taken a closer look at the math:

10,000 pages / 365 days = 28 pages per day.

I read more than that now.

The rules are simple, I can only read books that I would have read if I weren't involved in a bet, and magazines and newspapers don't count; it's only about books. So everyone can follow along, I've listed the books I've already read and the total number of pages. Check back fairly often for updates.

Since I was adding stuff to the layout, I finally got around to adding a couple more links the the list. The first is a list of book reviews The Outlaw Josie is doing as part of a project called "Cannonball Read", which is an attempt to read 100 books in a year and write reviews for each one. The second is a blog based on David Lynch's fiction.

[Fiona] OMG Facebook

2009-03-18T20:55:00.000-04:00

Okay so I am a weenie. I should know better. The true definiton of stupid...doing the same thing over and over hoping for a different outcome when there is only one solution. I could not get out of high school fast enough. Small town girl, small time world. I wanted bigger and better. I wanted to be accepted for who I knew I was. Kids can be so unkind. Put you in a box and glue the lid down.

What the hell was I thinking when I joined Facebook. On the surface it seemed harmless. A person sends out a few be my friend requests to relatives and some kids from back in the day who "got" you. The next thing you know people you don't remember find you. Or better yet the ones who still want to step on your neck find you,try to throw you back in the box and glue the lid back on.

It took me almost all of my adult days to come into myself. To like me. I will never know why I didn't measure up in their eyes. Why I wasn't good enough for them. For real it doesn't even matter. In spite of their best efforts I survived. They don't even know what they missed.

Surprise! I am not the same girl from high school and then again in some ways yes, I am the same girl. Today I was pleasantly rewarded with the company of someone from my past. Someone who "got me" even back then. We reconnected through the courtesy of Facebook and made plans to meet for coffee and chat and catch up. I will wholeheartedly admit I was beyond nervous. Twenty plus years has a way of changing people. I know I have changed.

We met at Friendly's in the town we grew up in. I felt like that gunslinger you see in bad westerns walking into a saloon. I just wasn't sure what to expect. What was I going to say. I don't remember all the things we talked about. I can tell you we laughed and almost cried and I know from my side of the table I saw that same friend from days gone by who still "gets" me. Sometimes it is difficult to articulate to someone what they mean to you or how they have affected your life. I just want to say thank you for being the great person you have always been.

[Shrek] A Message For My Conservative Friends

2009-03-18T16:53:00.000-04:00

OK folks, this message is really just for my friends who are on the "right" of the political center line. I didn't think I'd need to make a post like this, but recent talk radio comments and political blogs have shown to me that you conservatives need some helpful advice:

Learn which battles to fight.

Remember how silly the liberals looked when they fought every single battle they could find while the previous administration was in the White House, no matter how dumb or trivial it was? That's how silly you look now.

What's raised the ire of the conservatives here in the Commonwealth lately is our governor, Deval Patrick, going on vacation to the Caribbean and taking his State Police body guards with him. The State Police body guards are, not shockingly, paid with tax dollars, and many folks think we shouldn't be wasting tax dollars on protection for our traveling governor.

Well, our two previous governors, both Republicans, also had State Police protection when they traveled. Was money being wasted in those cases, especially when one of those two was running for President and was spending lots of time in New Hampshire and Iowa?

No one will find it odd that these folks that are complaining are saying that the issue they now have is that in our current economic situation we should be cutting all wasteful spending in light of all the projected drops in revenue for the state.

The obvious conclusion is they think wasting money when there isn't an economic crisis is OK.

So you see, not exactly the point people are trying to make.

Listen, if people want to give Governor Patrick crap because he gave State Senator Marian Walsh a $175,000-a-year job as an assistant director at a state bonding authority, a position that had sat vacant for more than a dozen years, I'll stand with you.

If people want to give Governor Patrick crap because he wants to add 19 cents per gallon to the current gas tax, making it the highest in the nation, I'll stand with you.

If people want to give Governor Patrick crap because he wants to raise the tolls on the Mass Pike...well, sorry, you're on your own there. I don't use the Pike, so that's a battle I'm not going to fight.

See, it's a lesson I've already learned.

[Shrek] John Stewart Is Teh Awesome!

2009-03-07T15:43:00.000-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

[Shrek] Why I Love Hockey

2009-03-02T08:55:00.000-05:00

People ask why I love hockey, and sometimes it's hard to answer that question without sounding like a raving lunatic. But I will do my best here...

People generally see hockey as grown men beating the crap out of each other, and every once in awhile trying to score a goal to win a game. While fighting is a part of the sport, it almost always isn't an expression of violence, but an expression of their passion for the sport and the intensity of the competition.

Hockey is the fastest and most violent of the major sports, but it can also be the most beautiful to watch.

But, yes...as I have mentioned above passions do occasionally spill over. And those passions never run higher than when representing your country. So I now present to you the coolest hockey story I have read in a long while. It's a story about the US Sledge Hockey team at the Hockey Canada Cup.

There is a video after the text.

Canadian victory over U.S. includes line brawl

VANCOUVER - They may be missing legs to amputation or birth defects. Some are paraplegics or have other lower-body afflictions that have rendered their legs useless.

But they never said they were choirboys. And their fists still work - as a crowd of 1,200 learned Wednesday night.

An emotion-charged Canada-U.S. sledge hockey game at UBC Arena featured a line brawl with 1.7 seconds remaining after Canadian goaltender Paul Rosen was rammed by American Taylor Chace after he froze the puck.

"I just thought he was going to peel off a little and I would just kill the clock," said the feisty, 48-year-old Rosen after Canada's 2-1 win in round- robin play of the Hockey Canada Cup.

"Once I looked up and realized how close he was," added Rosen with a wry smile, "(well) I love physical hockey."

Captain Jean Labonte immediately came to Rosen's defence and pretty soon all the players on the ice were in a big scrum, some clearly throwing punches with their gloves still on.

"Very nice guy. Dear friend of mine," Rosen, tongue firmly planted in his cheek, said of Chace. "Going out for Christmas dinner."

Two Canadians - forwards Billy Bridges and Greg Westlake - were landing punches, but were only assessed roughing and misconduct penalties, while Chace got a double minor and a misconduct. American Andy Yohe was inexplicably not penalized, although he did come in from behind on Bridges at one point with his fists flailing.

Under IIHF rules, players assessed fighting majors are suspended for the next game and one Team Canada official figured referee Derek Berkebile of the U. S. was showing a bit of leniency in not handing out any majors.

After the final second ticked off the clock - and Canadian defenceman Ray Grassi tried to get at an American as the buzzer went - Berkebile went to both teams separately and talked to them for about a minute before the teams, somewhat reluctantly it appeared, went through the traditional post-game handshake.

Bridges, who scored both Canadian goals in the first period, said Chace "two-handed" Rosen and "we've just got to protect our goalie."

"It was a good scrum," added Bridges, who said he didn't think the melee would sully the sport's image.

"We're fighting day and night to proclaim ourselves as a good sport. Obviously that doesn't define our sport, but it's a part of it. We play a physical game and we're very competitive and that's what it's all about."

Canada will play Japan in the final round-robin game Thursday. The Japanese are also 2-0 after beating Germany 4-1 on Wednesday

.

After watching that, how can you not be a fan?

[Fiona] Today is for Brenda

2009-02-06T17:52:00.000-05:00

Today...I used to dread the arrival of this day. Yes, this day, during this month for the past four years. Today is her birthday. Today I celebrate her. My kid sister, Brenda.

She died almost five years ago in a car accident. It has taken me a long time in my grief to get to this point but I think I finally understand. It is okay to let go of the pain and hold onto something worth having. It is more important to remember who she was. I am certain in my heart that someday we will be together again,laughing in the sun. I feel it in my very being.

Brenda had a huge capacity for love. She loved with her whole being and if you belonged to her there was no question over how she felt about you. She had a beautiful smile and a contagious laugh. She was fair of face with locks of flame. She was my best friend and my sister. The joy she gave me goes on and on.
Whenever I dream about her we are laughing, just happy to be.

This winter I decided on my own that I needed to stop being angry and hurt over her death. She is gone but lives on; in my heart, in my memories and in the memories of the people she knew and loved. I was truly blessed to have her in my life for as long as I did. She helped me to become the person I am. She taught me so much: not to be afraid, to be patient, to have compassion, things too numerous to list here.

I miss her still. I think I always will.

LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE words she tried to live by, actions she tried to teach me. For her I will carry on.

[Shrek] One Toke Over The Line

2009-02-04T11:33:00.000-05:00

Apparently the world is about to come to an end. Yep, it seems that something so grotesque has happened that civilization as we know it is about to cease to exist, to be replaced by lawlessness and anarchy.

Michael Phelps got caught smoking weed.

OH NO, WHAT WILL WE EVER DO!?!?!?!?!

I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to go about my life like it never happened. I personally don't care he was smoking weed. He's a 23 year old that has won 14 Olympic gold medals, is an 18 time World Champion, and has broken world records 32 times and is currently the holder of seven world records.

Sounds like a damn troublemaker to me.

I understand the argument "pot is illegal", but let's be honest here; marijuana is only illegal because the government can't figure out a way to tax it. Tobacco is legal because it can't easily be grown in vast quantities at home, and is easily taxed at distribution points. The same is true with alcohol, tough to make large quantities in, and is also easily taxed at manufacturers.

Marijuana, on the other hand, is easily grown in just about any environment which makes collecting taxes on it near impossible. In fact, nearly half of all states have laws that tax the sale of pot, and have used those laws to charge folks caught with large amounts of weed with tax evasion. If they could find a way to actually collect that tax, trust me, it would be legal.

I'm also laughing at the folks that say Phelps should be charged. There is a sheriff in South Carolina, who I won't name but will refer to as "Attention Whore", that is saying he "would file charges against Phelps if he determines the swimmer smoked marijuana in (his) county."

Based on a picture? Really? How many prosecutions happen in that county based on pictures on Myspace, Facebook, et al? There are lots of pictures of under-aged drinking on those type of sites, so there must be someone from Richland County--where the Phelps picture was allegedly taken--going through them trying to find evidence of other crimes they can prosecute, right?

Ladies and Gentleman, your tax dollars in action.

I'm also not very happy with folks that claim this will somehow hurt children because Phelps is supposed to be a role model for them. Supposed to be a role model? Here's an idea, why don't you parent your kids correctly and you be their role model? Talk to your kids about what you believe is right or wrong, and don't rely on some athlete or celebrity to fill a gap in your child's life that you should be filling.

Of course, if you actually took some responsibility over your children you'd have no one to blame if they turned out to be an axe murderer, child molester, or worse, a pot smoking Olympic champion.

[Shrek] Give Me That Cup Of Fat, Hold The Caffeine

2009-01-28T07:05:00.000-05:00

I just saw this news story while making my normal morning "internet rounds" seeing what important things are happening here on planet Earth.

Starbucks Stops Brewing Decaf After Noon
(CBS) Starbucks customers who are used to getting their decaf grande mochachino after lunch will have to wait a little longer than usual to get their fix.

Caffeine-free coffee will be made-to-order only after noon, which should add about four minutes to the wait time, according to an e-mail statement from the company issued Tuesday.

"For many of our stores, the demand for decaf is greatly reduced in the afternoon," the company said in the statement. "With our current standard of continually brewing decaf after 12 p.m. regardless of demand, we have seen a high amount of waste."

Bloomberg reports that the world's largest coffee chain is cutting off the decaf after noon in an effort to save $400 million in the next eight months.

Something confuses me here...why the hell would you order a decaf at Starbucks anyway?

If you're ordering a Venti "Mint Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino blended creme with Chocolate Whipped Cream", a 680 calorie monstrosity that has more fat than a Quarter Pounder with cheese, more cholesterol than an order of six piece chicken McNuggets, and contains about a quarter of the recommended maximum amount of sodium a person should intake, is caffeine really the problem?

(I won't even get into that whole "venti" thing. Just get over yourselves and call it a large like everyone else does).

For the record, I've only had Starbucks coffee twice. The first time it was terrible. The second time was because I couldn't believe how terrible it was the first time, thinking that perhaps it was just a bad pot. It wasn't. It sucks.

[Fiona] Old Eyebones

2009-01-20T21:27:00.000-05:00

Wow ! Another year begins. I am getting bifocals...crap. I have dreaded this moment. I knew that someday in my life the time would arrive when I would be on the other side of my youth. The decline begins. How's that for melodrama?

I was not overly surprised or disappointed when I went to my eye guy today. I have been having a difficult time focusing on small print for awhile and my eyebones have felt stressed and overworked. Just imagine if we could fix all of our problems with new glasses. The world really could be a happier place and that stupid phrase,"views the world through rose-colored glasses" might actually gain some true meaning.

Eyeglasses are stupidly expensive! Both hubby and I are getting new glasses. The company we work for offers reimbursement. Still, wow, what a chunk of change we are dropping. It has to be tough if everyone in a family needs glasses.

[Fiona] Oh And Did I Mention...

2009-01-16T16:26:00.000-05:00

that I am fearful of clowns? Yeah, well stop laughing I am not the only one and let's face it they are beyond spooky. Whenever I tell someone that I don't enjoy clowns I get asked pretty much the same thing. Really? Why not?

The medical term for it is coulrophobia. I don't accept that my phobia is an irrational fear. I don't like people in masks as a rule. Safe to bet I will never be a good bank robber; I couldn't handle the costuming. I just feel that when a person dons a mask or paints over their features that they are really trying to hide their true selves from you. It makes me feel uneasy. Like I can't trust them. I never liked trick or treat. I like the concept(well the candy, ok!?!); I don't enjoy the costumes. Odd because I like the macabre and I like to fancy myself a Goth chick from a way back.

I can remember being a small child in the beginning grades and crying that I didn't want candy. The whole concept of dressing up and begging for junk food from strangers scared the beejezus out of me even back then. I know my fear comes from a neighborhood kid jumping out at me dressed in full costume. I peed myself because I thought he/she was going to hurt me. I didn't like not knowing who my attacker was.

While I am on the subject of things that I don't enjoy let's spend a moment with dolls. They turn my stomach to knots...so lifelike and yet not real. I harbor this fear that they will come to life and want me to rescue them.

[Shrek] More Than Welcome?

2009-01-16T07:55:00.000-05:00

Just a few minutes ago a received an e-mail from a friend about a gathering we're planning in late February, asking if it was OK if another friend of the group joins us that evening. Without hesitation I replied that person was more than welcome to join us.

And as I sit here I'm wondering...what does "more than welcome" even mean?

I typed it automatically as I wanted to convey that person is welcomed to join us. But "more than welcome"? And exactly at what state does someone move from just being plain old "welcome" to "more than welcome"? Are some friends just "welcome" and others "more than welcome"? And how much more?

I know what "less than welcome" means: you're not invited.

But "more than welcome"? I guess I'll have to work on that.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

My previous post got a lot of talk on a couple of the message board forums I post on about which is better: older music or newer music. And it was the younger crowd that was the most vocal, saying "their music" was much better than what was put out before.

Being the voice of reason...(OK, I'll pause for a few seconds while you stop laughing)...To me it's not a question of better or worse, it's just that music evolves from one period to the next. And sometimes that evolution passes you by, moving in directions your personal tastes dislike.

One dim bulb mentioned that a group like The Beatles would never be able to make it in music today. Well, that's probably true, except for the fact that music is where it is today because of groups like The Beatles. When it comes to things artistic, what came before influences what comes after. Some things are crap and are usually quickly forgotten, while others stand out and influence the works of artists forever.

I'm just waiting for some group to claim Culture Club as their primary influence...