2006-07-25

A really quite long post intended to last my well beloved readers a long long long time

.

This post is intended to last the casual reader a long time, it being a post of many parts, which parts may be read separately and commented upon without reading the entire post. Because of its length, it is preceded by this table of contents, enabling you to easily pick up where you left off:

Table of Contents


Apologium
Explanatorium
Svithe: My sense of entitlement
The ultimate copout:
On dancing, stretching, and taking it in the nose like a man
Frightening my students
Guess I'll go eat worms
Bigbrothermobile
That box
Redeeming Sting
Interesting
Cc
Monday, Monday
Yawning
Only the lonely
INTERMISSION
A great mystery
Tutorial
Worthiness
No bad language zone
Better versions?
Amira post
Right now: 8000
jonhedermovie VS jonhedermovie
Singalong Sophomores
Closing Comments




Apologium

There was some confusion with my last post, people thinking I was announcing a return to onlineness. Such is not the case. In fact, I am likely still weeks away from having internet at home. I am deeply sorry for the ensuing heartache and confusion.

Explanatorium

This lengthy post is intended to last a long long long time (see title). It is created in the spirit of my one-hundredth post, in which I posted all my unfinished posts. Below will follow all my unfinished posts since that time (with commentary) which may be perused at your leisure.


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First, as an apology to Master Fob who was disappointed by my lack of a svithe last Sunday, this jem:


Svithe: My sense of entitlement

April 23, 2006


.

taped glasses, ripped and repaired shite shirt, rundown trailer

expecting wealth and comfort

The world owes me a living

Laziness and unwillingness to work

Link to http://singingcicada.blogspot.com/2006/04/new-generation-of-thieves.html (though only jerky and cookies and floss.....)


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


added to my discomfort with being put in positions where I am expected to be the example

Commentary:

This would have been awesome. There's a great post in there somewhere. But I didn't get it prepped enough to finish on the road and ended up posting this svithe instead.

Speaking of copout posts...:


The ultimate copout:

July 5, 2006


.


Commentary:

Or how about this one?


On dancing, stretching, and taking it in the nose like a man

April 7, 2006


.

If

Commentary:

Nice, huh?


Frightening my students

September 26, 2005


.

In order to teach literary ideas, I have tried incorporating some songs this past week. Songs by King Missile, Beautiful South, Marcy Playground, and Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband. Songs with a high potential to offend and thus, I hope, grab students' attention. Songs that include some of the following lyrics:

Love is beautiful
Like the sunshine
And the dancing wind
Love is not ugly
Like puss
And lice
And tobacco snot
Love is beautiful

The perfect kiss is dry as sand and doesn't take your breath
The perfect kiss is with the boy that you've just stabbed to death

And all the whores on Blecker Street
They wear the blissful grin
Caused by the drugs they take
To relieve them of their sins

the best looking girls I see are driving in the fast lane
because I don’t find out that they’re obsessive, psychotic insane
the best looking girls I see,
oh my yes
because I don’t have to deal
with their PMS

(I hope I don't get fired.)

Commentary:

(Maybe this is why things worked out as they did....)


Guess I'll go eat worms

March 7, 2006


.

The equation of life is peculiar. Right now, my family is happy and comfortable and we love each other. This is most important. Second most important in my personal hierarchy is my writing career. I sold a story last month (read it here) and I have a book that might finally be plodding its way to publication. (Rule #44: NEver hold your breath.) The only things that are bad are these:

Our apartment's not as nice as we thought.

My job is hell. Not the kids per se, just the whole package.

Commentary:

Another high point as a high school teacher. I think I never finished fleshing this one out because one of my colleagues learned of my blog and I wasn't so sure I wanted him finding sentiments like this.


Bigbrothermobile

November 28, 2005


.

Because of Cicada's fascinating post on the subject, I am finally going to get around to commenting on the information blogpatrol has been feeding me on you, my precious readers.

First up, I think I changed the name of my blog just in time--someone came here looking for naked women from tehachapi and I don't want people thinking I run that kind of show.

Next, it seems that more people are, today, reading the Fobcave than Cicada Song because many, many more people have followed Master Fob's link than Cicada's.

Commentary:

I can blame my never finishing this post on Blogpatrol's lousy health since November 2005. It's nice to know not everything's my fault....


That box

December 28, 2005


.

Here's one more thing I don't like about tv: sometimes it is actually good.

Perhaps if tv was uniformly abysmal, I wouldn't mind having it in the house--after all, why would anyone turn on something that was guaranteed to be bad? But I think it is the recognized chance that with one more click Adult Swim might come on that makes television so dangerous.

Someone here at the residence of the Brass Clan received Firefly for Christmas and we have watched several of the episodes. (For those who, like me before Sunday, are not in the know, Firefly came to Fox three years ago where it was neglected and died. Once dead, a fan cult built up around it leading to that Serenity movie that came out a couple months ago.)

Commentary:

I let this one sit too long and every other blogger in creation took my delay as permission to write their own post on Firefly which made my post nothing more than a redundancy. So I abandoned it. Alas.

Let's do a couple on music now:


Redeeming Sting

March 16, 2006


.

jrhigh only bands knew
singles album lame
don't like
harmonicist's album
nice work if you can get it
etc

CHANGEDATE

Commentary:

Cryptic, isn't it! I honestly don't remember why I decided to redeem Sting on Thmusings (unless it was his pleading, but I'm not usually swayed by such pathetic displays). Maybe I just wanted to write about Sting's rendition of the Gershwins' "Nice Work if You Can Get It," which I love. Don't know.


Interesting

May 8, 2006


.

I'm playing Radiohead's OK Computer in my car right now and although I find Thom Yorke's voice kind of annoying, I like the album a lot. It's interesting.

Before OK Computer, I had a Shane Jackman album in


Commentary:

Our Utah trip had, among other benefits, the happy result of us buying cds, among which are the two mentioned in this post. The gist of the post was that I like my music interesting. Since writing this post, I've gotten over Mr Yorke's voice and have become a much more avid Radiohead fan. Anyone got the solo album?

For those with good memories, that Utah trip ended with a bang, and I started this post to talk about it:


Cc

February 6, 2006


.

Perhaps you have heard or perhaps you have not, but I led my dear family into danger this afternoon in an aborted attempt to flee the City of Sin.

Perhaps my being damned to this place is a result of my writing two cop-out svithes in a row. Perhaps it is a punishment for skipping church today. Perhaps it i


Commentary:

Ended midword! Oh my!


Monday, Monday

February 6, 2006


.

Without meaning to, I have discovered (or rediscovered) a certain, ah, prolixity of mine.

No, let me start over.

I am prolix. Or tend in that direction. Or something.

I have been making a real effort to speak more simply to my students lately. Not because I think it's good for them (though it likely is) and not because I don't like being told I'm the smartest teacher (because I really don't mind) but because for all my trying to place the right word in the right place, I may not thus be a better communicator.

Commentary:

Being the teacher with the largest vocabulary was all well and good, but sometime I just wanted my students to understand what the heck I was saying.

It could be a challenge.


Yawning

April 12, 2006


.

Hi, I--oh, excuse me (yawn....) I--


Commentary:

I later worked this out better here, in a post I am particularly proud of. (I may pick funny things to be proud of.) On the same day, I also attempted the next one.


Only the lonely

April 12, 2006


It can only get worse.

I've been thinking about my once-single self a bit lately. Not a lot, but enough to justify a post, so long as I have an amusing picture to accompany it.


Commentary:

I start posting on singledom, then I think better of it. This happens with some regularity.








>--------------------INTERMISSION--------------------<


Those of you who simply could not stop reading, may want to consider stopping here and leaving the rest for another day. Remember, updates to Thmusings will be irregular in the coming weeks.


>--------------------ENDERMISSION--------------------<





A great mystery

January 26, 2006


.
 
If this post shows up (I'm emailing it to Blogger), then hello. I haven't been able to leave comments all day and now I can't even see my blog--or anyone else's--or blogger.com. I haven't received any comments since this morning either which may mean this is true for everyone.
 
If so, nevermind that hello....
 
And I'll leave that Silver Spoon comment for Cicada some other time....



Commentary:

Since Blogger was screwing up, I tried emailing a post, but emailed posts only end up as drafts, not actual posts, which raises the question: What's the point?


Tutorial

March 16, 2006


.

CAHGNEDATE

explain cutelink method with screenshots


Commentary:

I assume I forgot about this when I wrote this post instead, four days later. I obviously need a secretary. Any takers?


Worthiness

May 20, 2006


.


My blog is worth like a billion dollars or something. Beat that.




My blog is worth like a billion dollars or something.




Commentary:

Ha ha ha! I forgot all about these! I should still do something with them!


No bad language zone

June 13, 2006


.

(xx)x


Commentary:

Ha ha! I like this one too! But since I never posted it, I have to assume that it was not originally intended to be one of my miniposts but something more in depth and this was merely placeholder to remind me to write the post. Alas that I know not what that post was.


Better versions?

June 30, 2006


.This doctored photo is further proof that I, Theric, am awesome.

Should've known not to use Photoshop for that job. Too smart. Paint worked better.


Commentary:

After writing my post on Jane Austen, I decided to improve her portrait and uploaded the pictures to this pseudopost. But before I could switch to a better picture, Master Fob had commented and my personal rule is no revision once the first comment has been made. Too bad. But at least now you can see what might have been.

By the way, the Uncyclopedia article linked to was even worse before I did a spot of revison. It's still not that great though. One of you true fans should make it actually funny.


Amira post

June 7, 2006


.

http://foxyj.blogspot.com/2006/04/reviews.html

http://www.asiamex.com/proddetail.cfm?CFID=447999&CFTOKEN=683248&ItemID=490&CategoryID=28&SubCatID=47

http://grocerythai.com/catalog/images/83015.jpg

http://grocerythai.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/315

Held onto for about six weeks?

Ate today, June 7, 2006.

In my pocket that whole time.

Never did share with my beloved wife....

Don't usually like hard candy.

"tamarind"

Oh wow. It is so good....

Looks like a condom?!?! http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/tamarind.html

Wow. It is NOT pleasant looing.... http://www.suanwang.com/Tamarind/tamarind.html


Commentary:

Again, to Utah. We went to lunch with Master Fob, Foxy J and S-Boogie at Thai Chili Gardens. Where the bills were paid was a recepticle of hard candy, Amiras. And they were freaking delicious. My word were they good. Tamarind flavored. And truly delicious. I carried my last piece with me for weeks so I could write a live post as I ate it, but I only sort of accomplished that.

And it's the tamarind fruit, not the candy with the unpleasant appearance, by the way.


Right now: 8000

July 1, 2006


.

Check it out.

I'm catching up.



Crap. Already past.


Commentary:

He who snoozes, loses.

Besides, SiteMeter is a ways behind my true numbers.

Plus, I got kinda alotta grief for a similar post I had written shortly before. So screw you guys.


jonhedermovie VS jonhedermovie

July 12, 2006


.

Benchwarmers v ND

not too disparaging to people whoe film literacy is such that they lump the two together except to call them idiots

respect for characters


Commentary:

You'll note I started this one our last day online. We had seen Benchwarmers at the dollar theater the night before and I was steaming with anger at the existance of such a terrible movie.

The post was to be about my hatred toward anyone who would lump crap like The Benchwarmers with a great film like Napoleon Dynamite by calling them both "stupid movies" or some similar appellation, and to explain just what it was that made Nappy D so great--namely its love for the characters.

I will never watch Benchwarmers again so I will never be angry enough again to write this post.

But the most frightening thing is that as time goes on, I am remebering parts of it and thinking, "Hey Funny!" This worries me.


Singalong Sophomores

June 10, 2006


.

“To Zion”
Lauryn Hill featuring Carlos Santana


Folsom Prison Blues
Johnny Cash


Què Onda Guero
Beck


Eleanor Rigby
The Beatles


Karma Police

Radiohead


Mungo City

Spacehog


Sleep to Dream
Fiona Apple


Hyper-Ballad
björk


Ana Ng

They Might Be Giants


April Come She Will
Simon & Garfunkel


King Missile - The Dishwasher

Trigger Happy Jack
Poe


Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Billy Joel


PJ Harvey - Down By The Water

100 Million Little Bombs
Buddy Miller


“We Don't Stop”
Michael Franti and Spearhead featuring The Gift of Gab


Everything For Free
K's Choice


America

Bree Sharp


Traveling Song lyrics
Moonpools & Caterpillars


Mr Zebra
Tori Amos


U2 - Numb

Jude You Mama You


Commentary

I decided a long, long time ago to incorporate popular music in to my first year of English classes (why not, right?) and some mention of that has come before, but the big thrust was a packet of lyrics and questions I compiled of the music listed in this unfinished post. I intended to tell you all about my students' strage and unpredicable tastes (hatehatehate the Moonps, dig Billy Joel) and the many things I learned of from and about them as a result of this unit.

I never did get around to it.

Also long, long ago, I asked Master Fob to put together a list of classroom-worthy lyrics from that hiphop-slash-rap stuff he listens to, which he did with rapidity and thoroughness, and which I took months and months and months to finally use. Bonus points to those who can determine which two tracks came from him. It should be obvious.


Closing Comments:

Oh how I miss you! How I wish I had more than offal to offer! Too bad!

2006-07-22

Because you exist, and I exist, and that feels good

.

I happen to have found a mystic portal to our friend the Internet!

So here's a big shoutout to all you till I find my way back again!

Hey!

I said, Hey!

I can't heeeaaarrr you!

Hey!

Sheez, don't you all know how to do this? When I shout "Hey," you shout "Hey" back, okay?

Hey!


Crimenently....

2006-07-12

one last post: FUNERAL PYRE

.

In Memoriam: MSH



My straw hat downgraded significantly beyond when these pictures were taken and, indeed, was replaced a few weeks ago.

My straw hat, in other words, is deceased.

This is a new experience for me. Usually I leave my hats on public transit or in a fabric store--I have never worn one out. So I wasn't sure what to do with it. But we are moving, and it couldn't come with us.

So last night, when we headed out into the desert to burn a bag of receipts and credit card statements, we brought friend hat with us.

I said a few words, then we sent it to haberdasherheaven.

Goodbye, friend hat.

Adieu.

2006-07-11

Goodbye, Gruel World!

Mmm! A river of gruel!.

So tomorrow we will unplug our cable and take our modem to Adelphia and then we will step backwards into the prior century as we travel northward without benefit of our blogging buddies. When we will rejoin you in the present is uncertain. Especially if we first get wiped out by the Hayward quake. In which case we will be dead. 'Twas nice to know ya.

We have been packing and taping and stacking and lying around recuperating.

We have sold our fridge our tv and our dresser.

We have vacuum-packed our memory-foam mattress pad into a space one-eighth its normal size.

We are headed out to the desert tonight to ritualistically burn old bills and other falderal.

The toilets are clean, resulting in daily crises of conscience.

We have no tv.

We have no fridge.

We have no tv.

We have no fridge.

Therefore gruel

and boredom

and gruel

and boredom

then death by earthquake

surrounded by cardboard.

.

I love moving!

Yay! Moving!

2006-07-10

Will we have internet tomorrow?

.

I don't know. It's hard to say.

Makes me wonder if I should write a post....

2006-07-09

Svithing religious complexity

Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!.

Religion is a funny thing, don't you think? All this "faith" stuff, for instance. What's that all about? Live my life according to rules whose foundations are invisible? Talk about whack!

But lots of people do it, myself included, so there must be something to it.

So we make a decision based on criteria that are personal to the point of being inexplicable and then we live our lives, having made that decision and sticking to it.

Without going into the inexplicable and personal reasons, I have chosen to be a Mormon. What it means to be a Mormon is what I am thinking about today, in large part due to Master Fob's excellent svithe last week. Excellent except for dredging up that old raisin thing again (the jerk). Anyway, it was on obedience and you should read it.

Master Fob's argument is a strong one: religious followers should filter the teachings of their religious leaders through their own faith and prayer-relationships with Almighty. Brigham Young would agree with him. And so do I. But while agreeing with him, I reserve the right to disagree with him.

Here's the thing: I (for instance) have chosen to be a Mormon and among the tenets that acceptance implies is this: I accept that God has chosen folk to be his spokesfolk upon this earth and to give me information I need to be a better Christian. Now, I feel strongly that, yes, I should pray and discover for myself whether this doctrine of leadership be true, but once I've accepted it, the list of things I need to pray about has been vastly simplified. Since God and I have already sat down and agreed that Mr Hinckley is God's prophet, when Mr Hinckley speaks in his official capacity, I don't see an intellectual crisis in accepting what he says as the mind and will of the Lord without rehashing the prophet policy with deity.

Now, I suppose if he says something I have a hard time accepting I will of course have to return to my knees for a redo, because I don't believe in blinding myself in the name of faith. Faith isn't blindness; faith is seeing: If I have already been given faith, I will be able to push through the snowstorms of uncertainty--even if I only have enough understanding for faith to show me one footstep at a time. I believe that when I don't understand the specifics, my faith in larger principles will see me through. And modern revelation is a most vital principle.

Mmmmm....Marxism!Anyway, on to these coffee pictures.

I'm not interested in getting into the Word of Wisdom today, but I do think these pictures illustrate the nature of confusion and disagreement and getting along.

This Marxism coffee for instance. It's hard, but let's disregard how Marx would feel about being named after God's favored coffee and look instead at the type.

First: "Coffee 15%"

(Unfortunately, I can't type in Korean, so I'll just translate the part in the green ribbon.)

Second: "‹‹Now we're giving you two more packets, baby!››"

See. This is religious tolerance at it's finest. We may take away 85%, but if we always give back 200%, we'll all be okay.

The trick is to always give others more tolerance than you need in return.

Even when it comes to raisins, jerk.


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


Note:Lady Steed and I are moving this week to El Cerrito, California. Because of this, we will be short one internet connection for a period of time of an as-of-yet undetermined length. Thus, as I will have no internet connection, I will have nothing to svithe. Thus, svithing will be put on hold for some time.

I may still svithe. I may not. Until we're online again, no promises.

(end note)


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



Last week's svithe

2006-07-08

I like Swedish Fish

.

But, in Sweden, do they call Swedish Fish Swedish Fish?

Or do they just call them Fish?

So...is this a good thing or a bad thing?

.

INFORMAL POLL: (follow instructions and leave your answer in the comments)

Read the following quotation from the current issue of Rolling Stone:
    The Rogers Sisters sound like the B-52's and the Clash getting into a drunken brawl in a Detroit liquor store parking lot, then having group sex with Gang of Four and Le Tigre in a Chevy van.
Now, on a scale from one to ten, where one is the most insulted you have ever been and ten is the most complimented you have ever been, imagine that Rolling Stone was talking about your band rather than the Rogers Sisters:
    [Your band's name here] sound like the B-52's and the Clash getting into a drunken brawl in a Detroit liquor store parking lot, then having group sex with Gang of Four and Le Tigre in a Chevy van.
Discuss.

2006-07-06

The FOOD Series

.

Due to the sudden emergence of opinion that I am something of a poet, I wish now to buoy that opinion by showing off some hot new verse penned during PE today.

They are collected together under the name The FOOD Series.



--WARNING--
WITHIN THESE POEMS IS STRONG LANGUAGE
PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK




The FOOD Series



I Spilled Jello on My Shorts Last Night

I Have a Pizza in My Pocket

I Like Artichoke Hearts

My Milk Has rBST in It





link tutorial

2006-07-05

Funky Monkey High

.

Monkeys on my shoulders make me happy
Monkeys in my eyes can make me cry
Monkeys on the water look so lovely
Monkeys almost always make me high

.

Thank you, monkeys.

.

Aww.

.

Buy our car.

.

Please.

2006-07-03

Happy Independents Day!

The second day
of July, 1776
will be the most
memorable Epocha
in the History
of America.

----John Adams
letter to his wife Abigail
July 3, 1776


.

In honor of the most notable day in American History (second only to Coast Guard Day, August, 4, don't miss it), I'm going to wax statesmanlike and say both major parties are blowhard-heavy, vision-short, power-grubbing and none too fun at parties (including their own). Unfortunately, no third party is terribly exciting either. In fact, I have a hard time imagining belonging to any party currently living in these United States.

I wish we, as a people, took sufficient enough interest in our affairs that parties could not survive. Yes, granted, parties would likely grow out of big campaigns (eg, president) or in response to urgent issues (eg, the aluminum standard), but once the elections are over, in my world, said parties would dissolve and we would all be merely interested citizens holding intelligent discourse amongst ourselves.

This will never happen. Reason Number One: Far too few of us know enough to form sensible opinions about anything. Reason Number Two: Far too few of us care. Reason Number Three: Far too many of us are willing to be led about by madmen and loudmouths.

But in the Thutopia, these things are not true. We all care. We are all reasonably informed. Any one of us would be willing to serve a term if it seemed proper. And any one of us would be gracious in defeat, allowing that likely the public knew best.

Oh.

And in the Thutopia, everybody celebrates Coast Guard Day sincerely and in the way it was meant to be celebrated:

Buying me presents.

There are still 32 shopping days left.

After all, if we can't read newspapers and make America great, we can still make the world a better place.

Thutopia is now.

Buy presents.

Monday

.

Monday
MondayMonday
MondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMondayMonday
MondayMondayMonday
MondayMonday
Monday

2006-07-02

Svithing out salvation

fear, trembling

Wherefore, my beloved...
work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling.
----Philippians 2:12


.

I've been to Costco about a zillion times so far this year and they're still not carrying salvation.

I've checked Amazon. No luck.

So I asked Paul and he seems to think salvation requires work. And fear. And trembling.

Interesting.

So I have to work. And I take it from that "fear and trembling" bit that said work must be done under the auspices of somebody somewhat intimidating?

In my REB, this is how Paul is translated:

    You must work out your own salvation
    in fear and trembling;
    for it is God who works in you,
    inspiring both the will and the deed,
    for his own chosen purpose.
Let's forget all my joking and recognize that the reason we need to fear and tremble, the reason we need to be reverential, the reason we need to be humble and accepting, is because we are not doing the work of our salvation alone, but we have a partner--somebody named God--who is actually in charge and merely asking for our cooperation.

It seems a reasonable request.

No membership charges, always free shipping, good company.

Good deal.

Last week's svithe

2006-06-30

Meet Jane Austen

.This doctored photo is further proof that I, Theric, am awesome.

In my desperate search for shorts to wear at my new job, I compromised my standards and finally caught up with the now decade-old style of leggings with ginormous pockets. I quickly became enamored with said pockets when I learned I could keep my wallet, keys, eyedrops, chapstick, sunglasses case, miscellaneous papers, etc in them and not carry a bag with me.

After the first day on the job, I learned I would also need a book to help fill the hours.

I could fit a standard trade paperback but could not then button the pocket, and my ability to carry both a standard trade paperback and all my other paraphernalia was doubtful. What's a Theric to do?

Enter the Devil's Den. A while ago they were selling these small, well-made hardbacks of classic novels with ribbon bookmarks built in (perhaps they're still there). I picked up four of them, two of which were quite skinny.

I started with readingThe Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, a volume I had never read before. But I finished it yesterday. So...on to skinny book two....

Persuasion.

I should admit I have never gotten around to reading any Austen before. So I suppose it's time. And Persuasion was recently plugged on some blog (Nem's? Katya's? Can't remember; don't want to look and hap across spoilers.) in such a way as to make it quite appealing. So no problem! A perfect book to pick up!

Except....

For those of you not 100% vested in my life, let me remind you that I am now a Burly P.E. Guy. Coach Theric, they call me. (Coach Theric!) I'm not sure, but I don't think Jane Austen is really appropriate reading material for Burly P.E. Guys. (Coach Goat is reading Catch-22, for instance.)

But I took it today anyway.

And it's pretty good so far. I love Anne and want to strangle her sisters and have gotten over the heavy exposition and am certain the Captain feels the same way (as Anne, not about the exposition).

But I've lost all my P.E. cred.

Wuss Theric, they'll be calling me next week.

It's probably more accurate anyway.

2006-06-29

A time for outrage

.

Now the administration has taken things too far.

According to today's New York Times, acting only on evidence no greater than a single wire-tapped call and an extrapolation of their inadvertent involvement in drug smuggling, the White House has determined that puppies are a viable terror threat and is using such allegations to justify these recently uncovered behaviors:

George W. Bush: Calls puppies disrespectful names and threatens to make them an alternative fuel source.

Donald H. Rumsfeld: Yanks puppy tails. Plays fetch with puppies and WMDs.

Alberto Gonzales: Tries oral arguments out on puppies before appearing before the Supreme Court.

Condoleeza Rice : Bathes in the blood of puppies to maintain her healthful glow.

Former White House guard Steven Millhause is quoted as saying, "Puppies go in but they don't go out."

Now, I've thought long and hard about this, and I've finally come up with three valid uses for puppies (1, 2 and 3) but this stuff's beyond the pale.

Get involved. Write your congressman.

2006-06-28

Prolific

.

I'm am not alone in my infrequent posting of late. Glancing at the list to the left suggests that half my blogging pals have also become more reticent of late. Therefore, as a public service to all of us, I present Thmazing's List of Ways to Be a Prolific Blogger:

Thmazing's List of Ways to Be a Prolific Blogger


1. Have no qualms.
    Qualms are kind of like morals in that they slow you down. Get rid of them!
2. Don't rely on sense.
    Simply put, if you have to make sense, you will not be prolific. Get over it.
3. Create crap.
    There are dozens of websites dedicated to helping you learn what sort of vegetable you are, which pirate you would like to make love to, and which screenwriter would best butcher your life. I admit I have not taken full advantage of these websites, but you should. You'll never have to think again, yet you will still be the most prolific blogger on the block.
4. Be shortwinded.
    Why tell a story in one post when you can serialize?
5. Steal.
    Copy and paste is a beautiful thing.
6. Make lists.
    I swear. Easiest road to prolificity ever.

The Sibs

.

Though my no means am I about to provide a Cicadian breakdown of my family, since they have started coming up, I feel I had better give them some blogonyms. Here we are:

1. Theric, m
2. Canary, f
3. Reb, m
4. Braj, m
5. Giggles, f
6. Wyote, m

Sibs, the blogosphere.

2006-06-27

Madness creeps

.

It sneaks along

it comes up

it taps your shoulder

then it runs away.

Madness creeps

It sneaks along

it comes up

it taps your shoulder

then it runs away.

Madness creeps

It sneaks along

it comes up

it taps your shoulder

then it runs away.

Madness creeps

It sneaks along

it comes up

it taps your shoulder

then it runs away.

Madness creeps

It sneaks along

it comes up

it taps your shoulder

then it runs away.

Madness creeps

It sneaks along

it comes up

it taps your shoulder

then it runs away.

And then it has you.

Madness creeps

2006-06-26

A visit to Vegas

.

In my mind, shallow thing that it is, we went to Vegas last week to visit Cousin Sbook and his dear wife Mrs. Sbook, but the truth is, I went to Vegas because I lost a bet. With traffic that is. My trip was the most recent in the series of disasters that began with a bruised thigh. Let's get that part of our trip out of the way first:
    We arrived in Vegas late Thursday night. I arose reasonably early the next morning and drove to the courthouse, a nice new building. I had to take off my belt when I went through security because, as they wrung from me during cross-examination, I am not an attorney.

    Parking had taken hideously longer. I spent, gosh, half an hour? driving around looking for a parking spot. I finally resigned myself to taking a two-hour spot, loading up the meter, and hoping it would be enough time and I could leave Vegas without an further ticket to add to my collection. Having made that decision I lucked out with a free two-hour spot, parked, crossed my fingers, walked to court.

    After passing though security, I was nearly immediately in the traffic portion of the building. I took a number from a lady who said, "This is a municipal one--they go quick. Hurry over to the windows." And she was right. Before I got five paces my number was called. I sat down, pled nolo contendere, paid $280, learned about traffic school, and was gone. I easy spent five times more time looking for parking.
Anyway, the Sbooks.

It is to my everlasting regret that we Thteeds did not whoosh over to the reasonably nearby Sbooks with greater frequency (eg, more than twice, say three times). Few indeed are the people I like more.

(And besides, we could have rendezvoused in December when Vegas does not burst thermometers at 117° [121° in Baker on our way home].)

I could go on and on about the Sbooks, starting with their excellent book collection (their library), the kangaroo paw on the wall you can make wishes on, their taste in films (can you say, "Y'know, for kids!"), their darling daughters, etc etc etc.

Granted, there are some mysteries remaining about them--what happened to their children's schwas, for instance--but these miss the point.

I suspect that family ties can bind our souls tighter than distance or time can ever undo. This theory is not born out with all my cousins, alas, but since Cousin Sbook became a military man, I have seen neither him nor his five times. However! I still consider it completely fair to call him one of my best friends.

Granted, we have a lot (a lot) in common. But I have much less in common with his sister and her husband, yet consider them top friends as well.

There is some complicated math going on here that I can't unravel, but though I may not be able to find my way backwards to the formula, the answer to the equation is clear: Family is forever. Not Vegas, not 117°, not driving reticence, not three years, not a thousand miles can diminish our relationship. They don't allow for much growth, to be sure, but Sbooks and Thteeds are a match all the same. Everytime we meet them I am reminded of this.

But I hate that I need such reminders.

I hereby resolve to remember.

(Don't let me forget.)