The Internet has truly evolved... from BBS’ 15 years ago, to totally interactive information firehose (if you have high-speed internet, otherwise, you just have a waterhose :->)today ... anything that you could possibly be interested in, there is a corner of the Internet dedicated to it.

This means that if you are not careful, you can easily drown in all the information that is presented. This is especially dangerous for people like me, who love to read, and read fast. Log on to find out the answer to *one* question, and, before you know it, several hours have passed, and you haven’t eaten, or gone to the bathroom. I know that I personally have ended internet sessions feeling like I ate too much at the all you can eat buffet (except that this buffet is information, not food).

Is there a twelve-step program for information junkies? I don’t know, but I’m sure that the answer is on the web someplace...

One of my favorite science blogs, Bad Astronomy Blog, has posted here that astronomers have actually observed the exact moment when a star exploded. Read all about it, geeks! (It's really, really cool!!)

From Bad Astronomy Blog:

The Quick Version

NGC 2770 is a galaxy at the relatively close distance of 84 million light years away. On January 9, 2008, a massive star in it exploded, and instead of finding out days or weeks later, astronomers caught it in the act, right at the moment, in flagrante delicto.

Read the rest here.

This grill replaces our old gas grill, which will, with a little engineering, be converted to a charcoal grill. Just in time for Memorial Day!

Cute joke:

A married couple in their early 60s was celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary in a quiet, romantic little restaurant.

Suddenly, a tiny yet beautiful fairy appeared on their table saying, 'For being such an exemplary married couple and for being loving to each other for all this time, I will grant you each a wish.'

'Oh, I want to travel around the world with my darling husband' said the wife.

The fairy waved her magic wand and - poof! - two tickets for the Queen Mary II appeared in her hands.

The husband thought for a moment: 'Well, this is all very romantic, but an opportunity like this will never come again. I'm sorry my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me."

The wife, and the fairy, were deeply disappointed, but - a wish is a wish.

So the fairy waved her magic wand and - poof! - the husband became 92 years old.

The moral of this story:
Men who are ungrateful b*stards should remember fairies are female.

A friend that I sent this joke to replied, "No the moral is men who are ungrateful b*stards should choose their words more carefully."

Proposal via video game

Awwwww!! How sweet!!

Think about this:
Doctors:
(A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000.
(B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are 120,000.
(Calculation) Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171
Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of Health Human Services.

Now think about this:
Guns:
(A) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000. (Yes, that's 80 million..)
(B) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500.
(Calculation) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is .000188
Statistics courtesy of FBI

So, statistically, doctors are approximately
9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.

Remember, 'Guns don't kill people, doctors do.'

FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT
ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.

Please alert your friends to this alarming threat.
We must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!!!!

Out of concern for the public at large, I withheld the statistics on lawyers for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical attention.

1- Never give money.

2 - Never lend money.

3 - Do not cosign loans.

4 - Do not get a cellphone for someone.

5 - Do not add someone to your cellphone account.

6 - If someone is in jail, and has no money for bail, do not bail them out; they stay in jail.

7 - If their Mama won’t give, lend, cosign, get, bail out, or add someone to their account, neither should you. Mama knows best.

8 - A loan that’s not in writing is always a gift.

9 - ‘God bless the child that’s got his own.’ Make certain that’s you!

Have I missed any?

My long-repressed love of musicals is coming out at long last... my latest adventure in memorizing?

Oliver (the old movie)

Nothing is as funny as listening to a whole chorus of children sing about ‘gruel’ when you’re serving oatmeal for breakfast...

“Every day we say a prayer; will they change the bill of fare?
Still we got the same old gruuuueeeel!”

Or, when someone is happy, the notes of ‘Who Will Buy’ ring throughout the house. Goes to show, that as sad as most of that movie was, there were still parts that were funny and happy.

We’re currently working on the song ‘DoReMi’, from the ST:DS9 episode, “Chrysalis”. Pretty complex. It’s a quartet, improvising melodies with musical scales. Trying to figure out who is singing what is the greatest challenge. If anyone knows where I can find a copy of the lyrics, give a shout out, ok?

The dull green of the evergreen trees is gradually being replaced by the faint, blushing greens of new growth. There are tiny little newborn leaves on trees everywhere, and dogwoods and cherry trees are blooming.

Even the grass has returned. In the field next door, the children return from their explorations with their arms full of wildflowers to gift me, with declarations of their love.

The felines are not immune to the change of season, either. My alpha cat has given birth to 4 kittens, each one with a distinct personality, if not coloring, and Mama Cat has successfully put the fear of God into Sam, the puppy, so that he knows that the cats are his betters, lol!

Next month, baby chickens arrive here... I’m still trying to locate the plans for the chicken coop, so I’ll have to do a search for it online, and then spend time picking up materials, and picking my neighbors’ brains about how to take care of them.

I’m a never-ending source of amusement to my country friends, mainly because I’m a total tenderfoot about this type of stuff, and ask ‘interesting’ questions like, “Can you put a harness on a pig to make him easier to handle when you are moving him?” Country folk, try answering that one with a straight face... that’s how I asked it (and why can’t you, really?)...

This is also the time of year that I lose my mind and buy plants like they are being given away. Why I do this, I don’t know, because I have what is quaintly known as a ‘black thumb’. I have killed all kinds of plants, even the ones that are allegedly impervious to black thumb. (Yes, even a snake plant). So you know that me buying a plant is tantamount to a death sentence on said plant.

But, hope springs eternal, and every spring, I buy plants, and grill the sellers about how to take care of them, and examine them carefully, because they need to be in the best health...

And I take them home to die.

Sigh.

But, I’m getting better... The wandering jew that I bought last year is still alive, and my eldest has started another few plants from the cuttings. I have two aloe plants that I was given that are still going strong, and, the crown jewel in my arboretum, an african violet that I had to repot, because it outgrew its original one.

Yes, I said african violet. Who knew?
Apparently, african violets ‘thrive on neglect’, as one acquaintance put it... if you water them when the soil is bone dry, keep it in indirect sun, and leave it alone, it will grow, thrive, and reproduce (mine has done all three). I have had this african violet for over 4 (!!) years, and it’s still going strong. Recommended for black thumbs everywhere, lol!!

The perfect setup

Neat, tidy, beautiful in its simplicity. WANT!!