Echo of an Echo

Let me just echo the girls for a moment. Now, they get all the hot sex, all the blog traffic, all the fun fundy trolls… well basically they each have more blogging mojo in their fictional little fingers than I have in my whole body.

But for all both of you out there who read my blog (one of whom is the subject of this post, so I guess this is just for one of you), I just want to take a sec to plug Robyn’s book. It really is good, and the girls and I have had some rather lively discussions about it.

Ok, actually, they’ve had some lively discussions about it, and they pretty much tell me to shut up, sit down, and read it. Then they call me The Meat-Sack, which I think they overheard while I was watching Men In Black once.

They think that’s funny.

At least they only call me that in private. I get to be The Boy in public.

Of course I do what I’m told. I ain’t arguing with Kate, she’ll kick my crippled ass.

Come to think of it, my other semi-regular reader reads the girls’ blogs more frequently than mine anyway, so I guess this is just for those of you who may have accidently tripped and fell down here.

Hey, don’t laugh! Like two people a day wind up here accidentally. I’m famous, I tell ya!

Anyway, here’s what Kate had to say about it, and here’s what Janie had to say about it.

I’ll just ditto them, and recommend it highly. It ain’t your normal “guy fare”, but go read it anyway. And hey, there’s at least one explosion!

I’m really grooving to the whole serial novel approach, with the tension just keeping you checking back like ten times a day hoping for the next chapter.

Maryann, a really good online serial novel by Robyn, of Just Sayin’.

My Stringed Babies

I can’t play anymore, because of my neck, but I can’t let them go, either.

So they deplorably collect dust in my home.

😦

Gone To California

I was thinking about some of my family members who have died, and what we have to remember them.

(Mousing over the pictures will tell you who they are.)

Aunt Helen and I share a morbid little joke about dying. It’s funny how in my family, nobody “dies”. They don’t “pass on” or “pass away”. They just “go”.

“What’s she going to do when her mother goes?”

“When Uncle Ed went, Auntie Jo was a wreck.”

Y’know, that sort of thing. Everybody just “goes”.

Do Yourself A Favor

Go over to Pharyngula, and read No Regrets Like Christmas Regrets

I’m not even sure what to say about this. A masterful example of literary excellence. This is without a doubt the single most moving piece of self-reflection I have read in a very long time.

Woe be unto him who, like me, assumed that P.Z. Myers’ only writing gift was the sledgehammer of in-your-face piss-off-I-am-not-amused ranting.

I admit it. It brought more than one tear to my eyes. It cut very close to the bone, my father being a carpenter and my having made a similar careless remark in my youth, with similar results.

I also share the nagging guilt for that thoughtlessly cruel remark, though my father is still alive.

Kudos, Dr. Myers.  I doubt I could have ever expressed myself nearly as well as you have here.   You have “waxed damned near poetic”, to borrow Janie’s phrase.

Hey Look! I’m a millionaire!

Got this in my inbox yesterday morning….

Dear Lou FCD,

I am Barrister Abraham Matthew, a solicitor at law, personal attorney to Mr.Morgan FCD,a national Of your country, who worked with Shell Development Company in Republic of Togo. Here in after shall be referred to as my client .On the 11th of sep. 2001, my client ,his wife and their only daugther unfortunately lost there lives in World trade center bombing and since then I have made several enquiries to your embassy here to locate any of my client extended relatives,this has also proved unsuccessful.

After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name to locate any of his relatives hence I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the fund valued at US$10.5 million left behind by my client before it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by the Security Company in Lome/Togo where this huge amount was deposited in a trunk box under the coverage of family valuables. The said security company has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have this box confiscated within the next twenty one official working days as they don’t know the content of the box.

Since I have been unsuccessfully in locating the relatives for over 2 years now,I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased,so that the proceedings of this box can be transfer to you.Therefore, on receipt of your positive response, we shall then discuss the sharing ratio and modalities for transfers as I have every necessary information and legal documents needed to back you up for claim.

All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through. I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.Please get in touch with me through this email: abrahammatthew1@hotmail.com for more details.

Thanks
Barr Abraham Matthew(Esq)

Yeah, I’ll get right on that.

My Coolest Christmas Present

Well, it wasn’t as big as Big Dumb Chimp’s 40″ LCD TV, but it was cooler.

Mostly I think my family was tired of seeing the Marshall jacket I’ve been wearing for ten long years. I bought it when I was a student there.

I haven’t seen the movie yet (I plan to, of course), but I’m guessing the movie is the only reason my wife and daughter only had to drive to Greenville to find one. It’s not easy to find much college stuff near here, and even less so stuff from small colleges in West Virginia.

Gotta love ’em for going the extra mile buncha miles.

It’s A Bit Long Winded, But…

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Milord Sir Lord Louis the Pertinacious of Buzzing St Helens Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Thanks to Matt from Pooflingers, and JanieBelle and Kate.

Thinking Of A Friend

Some of you may be familiar with our friend Amanda, from Imago Dei. Amanda is a real sweetheart, and we really enjoy talking with her about her thoughts on religion and morality.

She’s the sort of Christian that really emphasizes the best ideas of Jesus. Kindness, love, caring. She’s often attacked by the Fundy sort of troll, that has nothing better to do than spread hate and bile.

We feel that if more religious folks were like Amanda, there’d be a lot less animosity between believers and unbelievers, and the world would be a better place. She’s so damned nice, you just can’t help but want to hug her.

Just before going home for Christmas, Amanda had a conversation with one of her closest friends back home. Immediately following that conversation, her friend Chris was killed in a car wreck.

We would encourage all of you to stop by her blog and offer your condolences.

Our thoughts are with you Amanda, in your time of mourning.

Ouch, It Hurts

Well, the idea of having a broken hand was cool for my son…

For like two days.

Now, not so much. He’s really starting to feel the pain, and the doc has him on vicodin. Last night it was getting unbearably uncomfortable, and he tried to adjust the splint a little, and wound up making it more uncomfortable. He’s stuck with the splint for three weeks, and then has to spend three more weeks with his pinky taped to his ring finger.

Yesterday, he realized that he can’t play football at lunch, and that he can’t try out for the wrestling team just after Christmas break. He’s really bummed about that.

I keep asking him, “Well, did you learn anything, J.P.?”

At first, his mantra was, “Yeah, miss the studs.”

Now it’s, “yeah, don’t punch the wall.”

He can be taught!

Tripoli Six Sentenced To Death

I suppose we all knew this was going to happen. This is what happens when science and reality are beholden to politics.

Moving In

Janie did it, Kate’s gonna, so I decided to do it too.  Here I am at WordPress.

Nice place you folks got here.

My Son Breaks His Hand

And learns a valuable lesson. Don’t punch the wall.

Yep. All pissed at me for grounding him for not doing his homework (again), he took a couple good shots at his bedroom wall. Shoulda missed the studs, son.

I love him. Sometimes I just get frustrated with him, he gets frustrated with me, a lot of shouting goes on, he’s 12 and full of new manly hormones (he’s even got a mustache going! Shit, I was like 19 before I could grow one!).

We’re both doing the best we can to deal with the raging insanity that is the onset of pubescence, but it can be tough.

So we spent a couple hours at the E.R. last night. They put one of those splints on it that’s some sort of fiber. When it’s dry, it’s like the inside of a pillow. Then they wet it, wrap it on his arm, and when it dries it’s hard as concrete.

Now I’m waiting for the orthopedic doctor to call back, so we can squeeze him in for a cast.

(sigh)

We had a good time during our two hours at the E.R., though. ‘cept we didn’t get out of there until almost 1 AM. Lots of silly father/son humor. I think we both feel a lot better, but I wish it didn’t take a boxer’s fracture of his fifth metacarpal to accomplish that.

Vote For BadAstronomy!

Dr. BA needs your help to stop the invading squid horde! A vote for Dr. Phil Plait of BadAstronomy is a vote for kittens!

Well, I would have posted this anyway, but Kate has threatened to beat the crap out of me if I didn’t do it right away. I really like Kate, but she can be a bit pushy with that damned riding crop of hers.

(Ouch! Quit it!)

Anyway, Kate says that if you don’t go vote for the BA, I’m going to be subjected to unspecified torture and beating.

Please go vote for the BA! For my sake!

Janie Gets Picked Up

So this is pretty cool. Janie’s story, which you can read here at UDoJ on Blogger, or here at UDoJ on WordPress, has been picked up by the National Resource Defense Council. In fact, three of her blog posts are mentioned on that page.

Besides that one, there’s this one, and this one.

And if you check out that NRDC page, two of their top four (top five, now – one slipped a place) listings are Janie’s.

She’s got a ton more Blogging Mojo than I ever will, that’s for sure.

[UPDATE: She’s also been picked up by the San Francisco Schools Blog. Also cool!]

As Philly As Cheesesteak

Well this is dead on. I was born and raised just outside the city limits.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia   Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you’re not from Philadelphia, then you’re from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you’ve ever journeyed to some far off place where people don’t know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn’t have a clue what accent it was they heard.
The Midland
The Inland North
The South
The Northeast
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

STS Launch Holding

At T-5:00 for a weather evaluation….

Guess we’ll see about those crosswinds within the next few minutes.

Lou Went To Bob Jones

Continued from the UD thread at After the Bar Closes.

Specifically, page 292.

Does Shakespeare Have Feelings?

I mean obviously he can feel pain, and be happy or sad. But sometimes he’ll sit beside my chair and we’ll just look at each other. I wonder what he’s thinking when he looks at me. Anything? Friend? Master? Stupid Human that gets my food?

Sometimes I can really look through his eyes, back into his very being and see that we are friends.

Two Girls Puking

Yuck. Both my wife, and now my daughter, have some strange disease where they are spending their days and nights praying to the porcelain God.