A free thinker in the Heartland...

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Still Not Back

Hello everybody! I am still around, but still not back. It would be a long boring story to explain the "why" so I will spare you the details. It really just boils down to dealing with things and making changes which feel uncomfortable yet necessary. Thanks for the positive comments and support, it really means a lot to me. If you need blogging goodness, just click thru my blogroll... they are all great sites.


Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Under The Weather

I am sorry for the lack of posts lately, I just haven't felt all that great lately. For the time being, I am just lurking the sites in my blogroll and trying to shake this mood that I am in.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope to return soon.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Yet Another Meme

Katie suggested I fill this meme out, so here is more boring info about yours truly...

1. Name a book that you want to share so much that you keep giving away copies:

Hmm... tough question. I usually get books after others have suggested, it just seems the natural order of things. I can tell you the book experience I wish I could have shared with more people. I like a few of the books Stephen King has wrote, and in 1996 (thanks for knowing the year Wikipedia!) I heard he was going to release a novel in serial form called The Green Mile. I was intrigued, and bought the first volume. Altogether the novel would be in six parts, with each thin volume being released in paperback one month after the other. If you have seen the movie, you know it was an even better book... and actually it was a masterpiece in serial form. Each volume built upon the last, while having their own little buildup and climax in the short volume. I guess I wish more people could experience a book in serial form... now I know why King was a fan of them and why he wanted to do one. I guess maybe the Harry Potter series is similar, but much larger books and much longer wait times.

Name a piece of music that changed the way you listen to music:

Hmm... I dunno if I am that deep of a musical person to actually answer this one. I would say that the album Core by Stone Temple Pilots changed my view of music. It was the first cassette (that is what we used back then in olden times) that I listened to and enjoyed the entire album... over and over. Before then, I would really just listen to a song or two and really didn't care for the rest of the album, and after I noticed the groups that had the talent to put out whole albums and those that only had a couple hits in them.

Name a movie you can watch again and again without fatigue:

Oh this is easy. I have several, but off the top of my head I would name two (because they are on TV all the time right now.) First is Regarding Henry. The whole movie just works. I like how Harrison Ford plays Henry... the way his character changes, works through adversity, how his family becomes closer through it all. If it is playing, I end up watching it till the end.

Second is The Shawshank Redemption. How can you not like the movie? Tim Robbins played Andy perfectly, and Morgan Freeman won an Oscar. If it is on, I end up watching it till the end too... even suffering thru commercials!

Name a performer for whom you suspend of all disbelief:

Of all disbelief? That sounds funny... anyway another tough one. I will say Garth Brooks. A friend in high school got me into him (during my country years), and I got into his music. Now most people love him, but then he came out with a strange pop album.... The Life of Chris Gaines. Even his diehard fans HATED this album... but ya know what? I liked it. It wasn't his regular schtick... but it was good. I liked it, no matter what his other fans or the critics said.

Name a work of art you'd like to lie with:

Oh if only I remembered that art class I liked better! I guess I have always been intrigued with Las Meninas by Velazquez.


I like how this is a painting of the perspective of the subject... and you can almost imagine that you are the one being captured by Velazquez in the portrait. I also just like boroque art. Now I am no art snob... I just remember enough from a class I once had to say I have a favorite. :)

Name a work of fiction which has penetrated your real life:

Hmm... ok it really isn't fiction in print form, but I will say The Daily Show/Colbert Report. They take real news, and make it funny. I really can't miss an episode, and I miss them when they go on vacation. Real news can be too depressing so we all should laugh at the world when we can.

Name a punch line that always makes you laugh:

Oh any punch line that I recognize makes me laugh... be it from the Office ("that's what she said"), or Office Space ("I believe you have my stapler...") or Monty Python and the Holy Grail ("Help! Help! I'm being repressed! ") or Airplane ("Surely you can't be serious." "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley") or Spaceballs ("I am surrounded by assholes!") and I could go on, and on, and on...

Now for comedians... I guess it would have to be Bill Engvall's schtick of "here's your sign". If you are unaware of the joke, Bill thinks we should give stupid people signs so we know to avoid them. For example:

I pulled into a service station with a flat tire. The attendant looked at the car, and looked at me, and said, "Tire go flat?" I said, "Nope, I was driving around, and the other three just swelled right up on me. Here's your sign."

Well that does it for me... if you feel like doing the meme, leave me a comment and where I can check out your list. :)

UPDATE: Wow, I didn't even know you could post without a title... weird. So this post has been edited to have the title I originally gave it but someone somewhere in the Matrix choose to remove it when I posted.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Videos to watch while I am out...

I am a busy bee this week, so no time to post good stuff. So here are two videos that cracked me up...



Monday, January 08, 2007

Today's Must Watch Video

Ok, real or fake? You decide!


Is It Just Me

Or does the front of this car...
FordFusion

look like it was designed by the guy who did this...
see me


Sunday, January 07, 2007

Watching Football

I have a problem, I have to watch football... and it is the playoffs. Did anyone watch the Cowboys/Seahawks game? WOW.

I shall return Monday... I think. :)

Friday, January 05, 2007

Today's Must Watch Video

How to treat telemarketers...

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Happy Blogiversary!!!

Left in Aboite is now a year old. Congrats to John for the goodness and the funnies over there! So if you could, stop by there and congratulate him! (And I would suggest making it a regular read, it is GOOD!)

Need A Good Laugh?

I am a fan of TBogg, and you probably know him too...

He now has a parody site... NO KIDDING! It is sad watching this AceBogg try to be funny...

And of course, a true parody isn't complete till he drags in the daughter of TBogg. Some conservatives are a class act unto themselves...

The Girl Who Will Never Grow Up

This is one of those stories where you step back and go, "Whoa...". It is titled perfectly, "Frozen in time, the girl who can never grow up."
The parents of a nine-year-old girl in a vegetative state because of a rare brain condition have decided on treatment to keep her a child for the rest of her life.

Three years ago, fearing that she would become too big to lift or move easily, they asked doctors to ensure she would stop growing.

The American girl, identified only as Ashley, has had a hysterectomy, surgery to prevent breast growth and high doses of oestrogen to keep her height to 4ft 5in. Her weight will remain at around five and a half stone. Her parents, who have another daughter and son, have explained the reasons for their decision on a website.

I just can't imagine... making such a decision or having to make a decision. God willing, I won't have to... but... my thoughts on this won't make me very popular though.
She is expected to have a normal lifespan.

Her parents remain adamant they made the right choice for their daughter.

She has static encephalopathy, a brain condition that means she cannot keep her head up, walk, talk or swallow food.

"Ashley has not shown material progress in her mental ability since she was three months of age," they wrote on the website.

"She is dependent on us in every way (including position change in bed), she can't hold a toy, and we're not sure she even recognises us."

They said their daughter is, however, alert and aware of her environment.

To me, I don't like this idea... And I declare this to be my asshole opinion that you can disregard. I don't really see a difference here in surgeries to stunt her development to "keep" her a child rather than just sawing her legs off to make her easier to move. One isn't better than the other option...

I know this won't be a popular opinion, but I just don't see why we can't let people die in peace. With the advances in medicine we now have, people who wouldn't live are now going to live full lives... giving us new ethical dilemmas. If we are prolonging human life merely because they are human, I don't understand allowing such radical medical treatments which is dehumanizing in nature.

In case you were curious, yes I don't have kids and yes I probably "don't understand." I do have loved ones, and have had to say my goodbyes to them over the years. As previously stated, just my asshole opinion.

You can visit her parent's site HERE

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

I Link, Therefore I Am

In the mood to debate Saddam's hanging with a good Catholic son from Alaska? Then go check out CJ. I myself, really don't care about the hanging. Lately, I am not much of a debater either. Just not in the mood...

How Much Did I Drink New Year's?

Lets just say I understand this guy...

Today's Must Watch Video

This. Cracked. Me. Up. Wait till you hear the middle guy laugh!


How Not To Countdown New Years

Oh Tara Reid... I feel for you. I thought I drank a lot on New Year's!