She said a good day ain’t got no rain. She said a bad day is when I lie in bed. And I think of things that might have been–Paul Simon I used to have this odd feeling-whenever I was nearly hit by a semi on the freeway or almost choked to death on a chicken bone or nearly fell into the Grand Canyon-that I could see into that other life that had just ended. I felt that I was somehow jumping from life to life at each death moment, and I often wished that these other slackers had done a…
Category: random thoughts
J. Michael Straczynski and Wonder Woman
For sci fi geeks like me, J. Michael Straczynski will always and forever be the man behind Babylon 5. Though he has moved well beyond the world of bozo haired aliens and space opera-the last time I heard his name he was proudly proclaiming that Changeling was a true story. The news today is that Wonder Woman has been given a makeover-again-and that she is ready to move into the 21th century. I like the new look, but then, I like the old look as well. Wonder Woman is like Superman, she is an icon of the comic book world-but…
Writing On The Fly
I’ve never been one of those writers who waits for inspiration. I’ve always been able to just sit down and start banging something out. It may not make much sense in the beginning, or the end, but at least I have written something. Writing does require that you make the time to sit down and write. I tend to like a block of time in the morning or late at night. And a few words jotted down during the day are not bad either. Of course, I often think that my dreams would make dead interesting stories or blog posts…
Mercury and Hummer Bite The Dust
I’ve always been one of those people that think of a car as a means of transportation-this may have something to do with the fact that I have never had the kind of money Jay Leno has to throw around on fancy cars. I am also pretty much completely baffled by those auto auctions where people spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for forty year old cars. that have been completely rebuilt and have next to nothing in common with the car that came off the line. So it makes sense that I would not be too upset about the…
Thinking about Window Treatments
Wilson: House is lying to you. Nora: I know. And so are you. It’s 2010, I mean… You know, nobody cares if you’re gay anymore. I mean, you don’t have to be in the closet. Wilson: I’m not, I… Look around you. Does this really look like a place gay men live? A-apart from the poster. Those stools are our only furniture. There are no window treatments. Nora: Well, my ex-boyfriend didn’t even know what window treatments were. I was at my Brother in Law’s the other day and he was complaining that his cheap plastic Venetian blinds were cheap…
Does Speaking Klingon Make You A Loser?
QaQ [duh]-Klingon for Well, duh from on online Klingon translation program. I found a wonderfully odd little book called In The Land of Invented Languages. It’s the story of about nine hundred made up languages and the sad fate that all of them have befallen. Well, all of them except Klingon. Of all the high ideals and noble goals of such silliness as Esperanto and Vela, whose inventors want nothing less than one spoken tongue for all mankind, Klingon is as close to a living language as any of them have come. Not to say that we will be seeing…
Space Shuttle Atlantis
After twenty-five years and 32 missions of heading out into the space around planet Earth, The Shuttle Atlantis has landed for the last time. The Shuttle Program is one of the many things that got it’s start with good old Tricky Dickie Nixon. There were a couple of disasters, but for the most part, the Shuttle Program was so successful that we all but ignored them. I didn’t even know the Atlantis had gone up again and here it is returning. Space Travel turned out to be kind of a bust-a lot harder than we thought it was going to…
Oklahoma Ren Fest
Gotta love a place with half nude women, bawdy songs, little children, juggling and josting, and more half nude women. It always surprises me that young women wearing a minimum of clothing are shocked when dirty old men such as myself look at them. I’ve always loved the combination of sprawling tattoos and a full Renaissance costume. The normal clothing optional aspect of most Ren Faires often makes people watching the best part-and Ren Faires do attract all kinds of people. The Oklahoma Ren Fest is in Muskogee, OK-which is about thirty minutes South of Tulsa. The motel I normally…
Me and The Violin
I was in the 5th grade when a group of musical instrument sellers descended upon our public school. We all stood in line and the Musical Experts looked at us appraisingly, examining the length of our arms and fingers, judging our native talent, and I am guessing, estimating the size of our parent’s wallets. “You have such nice long fingers.” The Woman told me with a serious smile. “You’d made a good violin player.” So I went home and told Mom that I would make a good violin player. Much to my surprise within a matter of days I was…
You Can’t Fight City Hall
Or The Neighborhood Association. Having to live with other people is never a good thing-having to follow their rules is worse. Few things are more annoying than being a plant lover in a community of plant haters. The only thing worse is living with people stuck in the 1950s who still think a Lawn and a perfectly trimmed hedge is the height of agricultural good taste. I have never been a big fan of the whole manicured lawn thing-which tends to bring up images of Edward Scissorhands and The Stepford Wives. There is something completely sterile and unnatural about having…