It's been a crazy couple weeks. I can't even begin to explain. I'll try posting more when I catch my breath.
I will mention that my narcissus in my garden are completelty confused as to what season it is as they recently decided to grow new shoots and even bloom. Bizarre.
Microsoft....almost as offensive to other nations of the world as say...George W. Bush! Amazing.
Here's one example:
"Microsoft has also managed to upset women and entire countries. A Spanish-language version of Windows XP, destined for Latin American markets, asked users to select their gender between "not specified," "male" or "bitch," because of an unfortunate error in translation."
BTW....I did order a new spiffy Dell last night since the deals over there were hard to resist...free shipping, free printer, free 2nd DVD drive (burner), no finance charges for a year, $225 worth of rebates, etc. I may not be heading back to school, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy Back-to-School princing. ;)
I should have the puter by the weekend. *g*
It's very bad when you delete certain cookies from your computer...say the one that holds your username and password for your movable type account. It took me quite a bit to remember the proper combo. Thankfully I figured it out. Was getting a little worried there because my brother set up the account initially, so I wasn't sure what he set my username and password as over a year ago.
Usually I'm more selective as to what I delete, but this time I just deleted them all. Boy, was that a questionable move on my part. LOL.
*Warning*--Don't read while eating!
Have you heard the story of a 600 pound woman [now scaled back to 480 lbs...the other 120 lbs must have been the couch. ;) ] who didn't move off her couch for so long she became attached to it? Yeah...not even to go to the bathroom or shower....ewwwwww.....It was estimated that she hadn't moved off the couch for 2 to 5 years!
This is truly a sick and sad story as rescue workers were forced to remove the sofa with her on it as her skin had become grafted to the fabric of the sofa. (Probably from having bed sores) And in the end, the woman died. Authorities are considering whether to file neglect charges against the man who cared for her.
You'd think after the first month of this the guy would have called authorities.....sheesh. How could he and children live in a house with such a stench? This one just boggles my mind on so many levels. And skeeves me out. Yuck.
[This entry is crossposted as a guest post at Pesky Apostrophe]
Last night a friend and I went to Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, Maryland to see one of my favorite artists, Sarah McLachlan in concert. With scattered strong thunderstorms forecast for the evening, I was really worried about whether having lawn seats for the show had been a wise idea. Fortunately, the storms rolled through by 4 pm and the rest of the evening was clear. And in Columbia, it hadn’t rained much, so the lawn was barely damp. We got there as the gates opened, so we were able to find fairly decent lawn seats with a good view of the screens and the stage below.
Before darkness set in, Butterfly Boucher (rhymes with voucher) opened for Sarah. She was pretty entertaining in spite of her simple poppish music. I’ve certainly seen worse opening acts, LOL.
By the time Sarah came on stage, the sun had set and dusk was setting in. The crowd was quite enthusiastic as she opened with a song off her new album. But I quickly was aghast at how thin Sarah had become and by the fact she didn’t sound so great for the first song or two. Fortunately, my apprehension eased a bit as her voice improved by the third song and by the fact she seemed more relaxed and into the performance. For two hours (including two encores) she performed material from her last three studio albums.
The mix of songs were great, and I did enjoy seeing her perform again, but all in all, I still come away with the impression that her voice had been much stronger during the summer of 1998 when I saw her perform for Lilith Fair. And all night I kept thinking that she is just way too thin now--much thinner than she was then. Almost sickly looking. Someone needs to tell that girl to eat. Maybe it’s much more grueling to be touring with a two-year old in tow. Or she has been ill recently. I dunno. But I felt sad to see her this way, no matter what the cause.
As for getting lawn seats again....sitting on chairs on the lawn was nice in that a cool breeze kept things pleasant, but having to deal with drunk, rude and/or disorderly youths roaming around in the dark lawn area during the performance did not thrill me to death. They didn’t give a shit that the rest of us paid money to watch a show. They were more interested in squeezing through the crowd to get closer or stumbling around drunk in search of more beer. One couple who were seated on a blanket next to us, ended up forced off their blanket because some drunk kids wandered onto their spot. The couple ended up standing. (Me, I would have told them to keep moving (in a more sassy way) , but these folks seemed unwilling to cause a confrontation.)
I’d definitely have to think twice before purchasing lawn seats again. But it may be that this will be the last season the Merriweather remains open. It seems that the people with homes neighboring the open air music venue want it closed because they find it too noisy and the traffic cumbersome. But my beef with that is....they knew that Merriweather was there when they bought their homes. The place has been around since the 60s. It’s not like they wouldn’t have known what they were getting into by buying a home next to a concert venue.
*sigh*
BTW... this review from a July concert seems to cover Sarah’s performance last night. It mentions her voice was an issue a month ago, as well.
And I must add that Sarah dedicated Building a Mystery to George W. *snicker* (Lyrics in extended text)
you come out at night
that’s when the energy comes
and the dark side’s light
and the vampires roam
you strut your rasta wear
and your suicide poem
and a cross from a faith
that died before Jesus came
you’re building a mystery
you live in a church
where you sleep with voodoo dolls
and you won’t give up the search
for the ghosts in the halls
you wear sandals in the snow
and a smile that won’t wash away
can you look out the window
without your shadow getting in the way
oh you’re so beautiful
with an edge and a charm
but so careful
when I’m in your arms
(chorus)
‘cause you’re working
building a mystery
holding on and holding it in
yeah you’re working
building a mystery
and choosing so carefully
you woke up screaming aloud
a prayer from your secret god
you feed off our fears
and hold back your tears
give us a tantrum
and a know it all grin
just when we need one
when the evening’s thin
oh you’re a beautiful
a beautiful fucked up man
you’re setting up your
razor wire shrine
It's really looking like I'm going to have to break down and buy a new puter. This weekend I had to update my antivirus software because I could no longer resubscribe to Norton's using their Internet Security 2001 software. After much wrangling, I've got it working with the 2004 version, but it has slowed down the speed of my puter significantly. They just keep making these programs bigger and bigger....arrrgghhh.
The reason I haven't bought a new puter yet is a) money, b) this one has served me so well, c) well, money, LOL. I know I need to purchase a new heat pump for the house this fall and could also use some new carpet by the spring. Putting out another $1000-$1500 for a new computer is just something I've been reluctant to do.
But on the flip side the nearly $2000 I spent in Jan 1999 has lasted me nearly 6 years. That's pretty damn good for a puter. ;) Hopefully my next one will last another 6 years. BTW ... my current puter is a Dell and my next one will be a Dell as well. ;)
A Must-read: the transcript of a talk by Scott Ritter, the former chief weapons inspector in Iraq for the United Nations.
It's very long, but important for every American voter to read. Do it now!
Today Mary Kay Letourneau has been released from jail. And of course the media is all over it. However the very last line of the article gets me annoyed: Fualaau's (her former student) phone number is unlisted.
How is that important to the story? Aww...the poor reporters couldn't call him and his family up and harrass them. If the whole ordeal hasn't been bad enough, like this guy really needs the media questioning his every thought and action.
Must be a slow news day. Or Bush needs some misdeed of his buried, so Murdoch and the boys are willing to assist, LOL.
I'm just so tired of the crap that poses as news.....
I've been trying to figure out what's wrong with my tomato plants, as they have started to develop spots on the leaves and eventually the leaves turn yellow then brown. Two of the plants have this problem badly, the others in a much more minor way. So far I'm still getting tomatoes, but the two more badly affected do have some less than perfect looking tomatoes.
I suspect the problem has to do with the high humidity and lots of rain we have had lately. Prior to this week the plants were looking great. In reading up on tomatoes I found it could be a mold, bacteria, or insect problem. I tend to suspect mold since I've had mold issues with other plants around my yard. *sigh*
Another plant affected by mold is my irises. They have been rotting at the base and I've heard I'm not the only one having issues with their irises. I just haven't bothered to try to find the fungicide meant specifically for them. Instead I sprayed them with the fungicide spray I used on my verbena. Hopefuully that will help.
And I think the Japanese beetles may finally be subsiding. They've been awful this year. (So much for all the talk of cicadas....who knew beetles would be the real problem, LOL.) I don't have any roses for them to eat, but they sure did a number on two of my azalea bushes along with the flowers on my verbena. Nature has not been too kind this year.....
I wish death on spammers. Or maybe just pain. After deleting 50 spam that were posted over the weekend, I have no patience for such scum of the earth. Feh.