debunk, debunk Folks really need to research more.

French toast was most likely not invented by a Joseph French of Albany, New York, in 1724. I do not see and I cannot find any evidence supporting the claims on behalf of Mr. French, though plenty of people are willing to give him credit.

In addition, the Oxford English Dictionary has a citation for French toast under the entry for "French," some 64 years before Mr. French of Albany supposedly coined the term. It appears to be the same food, even if the recipe varies a bit (mainly by the absence of eggs and the soaking after toasting rather than before).

From the OED, second edition:

"1660 R. MAY Accomplisht Cook VI. 162 French Toasts. Cut French Bread, and toast it in pretty thick toasts on a clean gridiron, and serve them steeped in claret, sack, or any wine, with sugar and juyce of orange."

Most of the entries found on the Internet and in news articles (such as here and here) stem from a single unverified source, a source without attributions, notes, bibliography or any other supporting documents.

Tsk Tsk. For what it's worth, I'd always thought French toast was simply toasted French bread.

Shots taken from the Number 60 bus heading North in Fort Lauderdale. I'm not sure if these are suited for UD, so I'm just keeping them here.









1. What does your first name mean?
The Guardian/ Protector

2. What does your middle name mean?
(At/Of) the Priest's House/Altar

3. What about the last name?
(On/Of) the Mountain

4. If you were to put the meanings of your names together, what would it say?
The Guardian of the Altar on the Mountain

5. If you'd been the opposite sex, what would your parents have named you?
I have no idea. I suspect something not outrageous of the time, though. Perhaps Diane or Virginia?


Going to a movie with Dan this afternoon. It'll be a welcome diversion. I've not seen anything in a theatre in quite a span. Let's see what's playing.

Things that Dan and I could agree on seeing are -

Old School (Dan's most likely Choice), Daredevil, Willard (My most likely choice), Shanghai knights, Tears of the sun.

I'm feeling like I'll bend in Dan's direction and go see old School. (Willard may be a bit icky for him.) And I could use a few no-brainer laughs. Hopefully it'll be playing at a decent time. I know he's going dancing with his wife tonight.

Getting together at 1:30, so I should hop into a pair of pants and get ready for the goofing off.

Until later, dear journal!

Old School was cute, very predictable. I'd not have chosen it for myself, but it was fun enough with a buddy. The movies all started at 3/3:30ish, and that was the earliest, and thus the winner. Don't bother running to see it... it is exactly what you'd think it is. Weird cameos, a strange, almost cameo appearance by Craig Kilbourne. The coming attractions had really bad, easily mockable films... you could see where the studio guys said... “Five words for a new hit!” umm... “Black comedian runs for prez!” um... “SNL skit stretched 2 hours!” no fair! That’s all of ‘em!

Before catching the flick, we went to the bar upstairs and had a beer with a basket of fries. The fries were sub-par, but the beers quite good. Our server was just friendly and attentive enough. Not a smotherer nor gone AWOL. The weather is getting warmer and warmer.... fortunately there's a light rain to break it up.

Lightened my mood a bit... got a chance to lend a sympathetic ear to Dan's woes, and bend his to mine.

Home now, and I'm feeling ok. Not up, and not down... very muted. I feel quiet, though I want to talk. I want the thoughts in my head to restructure, work together, rather than bouncing at a low hum.

It's good nap weather.

3/14/03
Assorted Piccies taken on morning back road walk to work.

Primarily for urban decay, behind a cut for friend's list friendliness

As always, alt text on the pictures, hover mouse for a line or two about the place. Taken in downtown fort lauderdale, florida, usa, behind a parking garage.



















This morning, my mind is filled with thoughts of her. Not content to reside in my heart and bring me joy in that way, my thinking surrounds her, as she swims through my thoughts like a mermaid in a clear blue lagoon. She gives me fever.

A year ago today - thoughts of my sweetheart again! Roman tub, dreams of owning a pet grooming store, insurance woes, and palm doodles

Two years ago - Happy b'day kundalinidreams (no longer ljing), Dkmfkmkglklkgbkvbkbv, looking for a job as demagogue...(I'll still take it, if anyone's wanting), happy unbirthday to me, uck!, edit this page (now dead), a private post to my sweetheart alone, a timeline of Scotto history, veggie lo mein, muppet trivia, and Rolf singing you and I and George.


Just chillin’ tonight. Got the unreal server working... played Kev & the Finn briefly, and also Riker and Sappho briefly, too. Riker's the one to beat.

Rockford files are on, and I'm relaxin' with the little orange mess-maker. I've got some salt-vinegar chips on the way; bro is making a 7-11 run. He had a good day at work, and he seems to really be on top of his game. It'd be just perfecto if my sweetie was curled up with me, and all the fur-kids were near and content, too.

Got a lot of positive comments about the pictures in urban decay, and in my own journal, too. I want a yucca/joshua tree like the one near the fire station.

Since 9/1/2002, I've gained 49 readers and lost 45. (not all 45 are members of that list of 49) I've had a pretty constant number of readers for the last 2 years and some odd months.

3/13/03
The Head of Baphomet is not the animate remains of a son of Yog Sothoh.

Yahoo mail has been terribly slow these last two days. I hope that whatever is causing the sluggishness gets ironed out quickly.

We got Sappho and Kev's machine's set up for the LAN party... it looks like Unreal Tournament and Monster Truck Madness at the moment. I think Riker is going to be the one to beat, as he's the guy with the UT training there. I hope we get to play some capture the flag and team action, though free-for-all is a lot of fun, too.

Newt in a fit of spaz-running decided to kick over his bowl of foodies... the spray was beautiful. the bits practically hung in the air for a second. I would love to have gotten one of those gap commercial style "computer generated orbit the stuff stuck in space" shots of it.

I'm going to take the good camera with me today and try to get some urban decay shots on the way to work.

I should get hopping if I want to take a little time to do so. Until later, dear journal.

Ah, today is a good day.

I may have a programming job at Bellsouth. That’d be great…a career with something of a future.

Got DG's package in the mail...made good time! Sent on the 11th. Cool Robot and tooth stickers on the outside.

My birthday / victory CD

Stevie Wonder - I Believe
Missy Elliot f. Ludacris - Gossip Folks
Nate Dogg & Snoop Dogg and some other dude(s) I think - Never Leave Me Alone
The Clash - Lost in the Supermarket
Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies - Uptown Girl
Wesley Willis - Taste a Panda's Ass
Rocket From the Crypt - This Way Out
That Mos Def/Nate Dogg/Pharoh thingy - Oh No
Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows
The theme from Sealab 2021
Wesley Willis - Eat That Mule Shit
Cut Chemist meets Shortkut - Flight of the Bumblebee
Jay-Z - Big Pimpin
LA Style - James Brown is Dead
Eddie Murphy and Rick James - Party All The Time
I have no idea who the artist is - Double Dutch Bus
Sash - ECUADOR! (Best song EVER)
Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies - Rocketman
Tupac - Hail Mary
MC Pee Pants/Aqua Teen Hunger Force/Carl - I Want Candy
Foxy Brown - Hot Spot
Added bonus stuff-

• A Korean(?) scotch-brite anti-bacterial scrubbing sponge


• Very groovy Spanish apple stickers, suitable for grading papers. including Fantastico, bravo, fabuloso, sensacional, bien hecho and esta bien.


• a "Scotto rules" hospital-bar bracelet, in blue


• a winner medal and red white and blue ribbon!


• nifty-keeno spongebob in his krusty krabs uniform, including spatula and krabby patty


• three toy airplanes of the cardboard variety with legends of peace and doves and a cow.)


• a row of rainbow circle Jesus-fish stickers


• a fistful of laffy taffy cherry and strawberry


• 2 lemon/chili powders


• a happy-face noisemaker clapper thingie (Newt is non-afraid, nor drawn to the sound.)


• many shiny kindergarten stars of assorted colors... silver, gold, green, blue and red.


• and a swell valentine in old-school style with a little girl in a cauldron "I’m in a stew over you! (Hooray! Cannibal Valentines!)

while waiting /on the bus

3/13/03 8:12 pm

fluffy thick clouds in the dark high above, filled with sparks of bright blue-white light flashing like living veins, circled like frontier wagons around a clear spot containing the moon directly above.

It's like being in the eye of a hurricane, without any rain scent or prevailing winds beforehand. Patches of sky to the north are pink, not sure if it's reflected sunlight or bouncing from the city.

3/13/03 8:28 pm

my mind has a mariachi band playing inside, sans the vocals.

3/13/03 8:30 pm

quick head count-front to back
driver-

• white male, mid-late 40s

passengers -

• black woman upper 20s professionally dressed on cellular phone


• black woman low 20s casually dressed talking in ASL with


• black man 18ish in striped polo shirt


• Hispanic man mid 30s sleeping, dry cleaners uniform


• myself


• black middle-aged mother with 12ish child, both eating vanilla pudding snacks in casual wear


• older white 50s? In headphones and sullen face


• black teen in wifebeater and neck scar tapping foot to an internal beat

back row-

• four rowdy, dusky teens discussing something happily in an unknown Slavic tongue... Russian ?

total -15

3/12/03
Argh! Mucho spam after posting my resume to a few job sites. No, I don't want to get rich quick selling bogus real estate. No, I don't want to be a part of a pyramid scam (or multi-level marketing, if you prefer) I don't want to sell life insurance. Don't pretend to offer me a job selling life insurance in order to get me to buy life insurance. I don't want to sell *ANYTHING*. I don't want to buy *ANYTHING*. I want to use the skills that I have to make the world a better place, and to turn a profit while doing so, preferably.

So many scammers out there. So many dirtbags.

Ah well, nature of the beast. I have a gig coming up, it'll keep the rain off my head, help people in need, and give me the opportunity to use my abilities in a productive way. I'll also have time to seek other opportunities in the meantime.

Troublesome dreams last night. I didn't like 'em one bit. Very unhappy things.

Today is a new day, and that sad stuff can stay purged from my system in a private entry.

Off to the salt mines, dear journal. Don't forget to smile at the passing cars.

3/12/03 11:51 am

took a slow walk in the sun to the station... It is mighty warm out today.

Wandered an alternate route...along back roads. Note to self, bring the good camera for shots to submit to urban decay community. Especially behind the parking garage on 3rd and 2nd. Building with all paint peeling.

3/12/03 8:11 pm

Waiting for the ride home... A pity the palm cam takes such poor low light pictures. Some interesting points of view can be had via such a thin device. Best shots are taken of front-lit subjects.

3/12/03 8:22 pm

The bus reeks of ammonia (urine?) and fish. I can't pick out a culprit, if there is a single source. Best guess is the scruffy-looking guy near the front, but there are folks sitting next to him, despite the aroma. The guy is wearing a greasy baseball cap and bandana combo over heavily matted dreadlocks. The shirt looks clean enough, though. Judging by the filthy pants and backpack, the shirt must be a new acquisition.

3/12/03 8:34 pm

dirty guy off the bus... The scent remains. I hope I don't smell this way by the time I get home! Either way, a scalding shower is in order once I get home. I'm not sure how the driver tolerates it. I *do* know it is not on my seat.

3/12/03 8:41 pm

scent fading or nose adapting. Hard to determine. How does Daredevil cope with all the stink of Manhattan? It'd be nice to be able to fine-tune senses to focus/ignore what's wanted.

Spring Break is starting.

Pasty-skinned young adults with a penchant for beer and the beginnings of a sunburn are slowly beginning to populate my city. It will get thicker, until after Easter.

Los Olas is going to be hopping, even if it's not the big spot anymore. (Daytona and such are still the big places, I think. not the Strip like in the 80s and before)

First year I've actually *lived* so close. It should be interesting to see what, if any, changes take place.

Fresh from my hot shower, no stinky scent on my person or clothes. Thank goodness.

3/11/03
Aww... got to play with the baby before I took my shower this morning. He followed me into the tub, but this time, instead of going behind the curtain, where it's safe and dry, he balled up at the end of the tub. Who can resist playing with a marmalade-colored kitty that's being so sweet? So, much horseplay commenced.

I wonder if he's gaining weight, or maybe it's just him spreading on the flat tub bottom?

Little Newton-Cat
Whirling striped dervish leaps up
Dancing like a fool

Well, off to pee in a cup. Later on, Dear journal.

Well, Peeing in the cup went well enough. There was a cup. I peed in it. Not much to say there. I did see Jim Woodward or the old Atari computer club at the test center... not much to say, just pleasantries. He was looking for a gig as a manager trainee at Subway. Haven't seen him since '89 or so. The years have not been kind.... I'd guess that he's 40, but he looks perhaps 50. It got gray and rainy midday. You can tell by looking at the sky in the pictures from today below. The pictures were all taken along the walk from commercial and 441 to Quest Diagnostics, the place that wanted my urine.







From when I was waiting for the bus, earlier today -

Quest Diagnostics
4467 n state road 7
bus 55 to commercial
get off at 441
left to first light
plaza on right

It's rather educational to stand at a bus stop near a busy intersection, watching all the cars go by... glimpsing the passengers' faces, especially when they slow to a stop sign. There are so many visages of grim determination. When I see someone bopping to music, there is a little burst of joy in my heart. I like to see folks having a good time. I'm happy that those I care for most are the car-singing sort.

3/10/03
I got a gig with TAG... Just have to go pee in a bottle tomorrow morning. I'll be starting there The Monday after my last Friday at my current gig. (3/31 is the new start date). Not bad, a way to keep some pocket change until I get slid into a more comfy position. There are a gazillion tech support and sales gigs out there, but I really prefer to program and work inside an industry with decent pay. Despite my usually gentle nature and ability to schmooze, my tolerance for evil and mean spirited folks is really minimal. Looks like Mr. Oracle is the way to go!

I'm still really disappointed in Nordis's level of professionalism regarding calling me back.

So many Miami positions require you to be bilingual! I'm amazed that a non-public interaction post would require such stuff.

That's a price of the melting pot. Folks that don't want to learn English start a business, it becomes a success, and potential employees have to bow to that person's desires.

Lovely walk home from the terminal tonight. Warmish, but comfortable.

Thought about walking with my sweetheart under the dim city lights, through the part of town that's safe, yet unattended at that time of the evening. From federal all the way to twelfth there's a movie-set aspect of walking home. It can be odd, walking through an area that has so much activity until about six pm two hours or so after the fact. You can still sort of feel that folks were inside and outside recently, but they've all departed for regions west. It's not spooky like three blocks in, though those three blocks are also safe... just no street lamps to keep things visible. Something special and private that I'd like to share with her... walking, holding hands, and feeling like we're the only two people on the planet, at least for a little bit. We can accomplish that indoors, certainly.. but outside, in a city... it's different. I look forward to doing that very thing... hopefully sometime soon.

3/9/03
Went to laundry with bro this morning. we got to talk and hang out a bit which was nice.

Newt, as always, loves the fresh clothes and warm play areas that they have become.

I'm thinking special thoughts for those I care about. I have a lot of love in my heart for them, though I've been more quiet abut it than usual.

Is it ghoulish of me to want to set up a "when the war starts" pool?

Justice in Guatemala Can Be Gasoline and a Match - a screaming mob of 2,000 people grabbed two pickpocket suspects, tied their hands, dragged them to the outskirts of town, drenched them in gasoline and burned them alive.

A little melancholy tonight. Sunday. Quiet. Peace and wistfulness are alternating a lot.

Thinking about a real lack of ethics I've seen lately. I guess there's little room for it in industries or people with very little interest beyond the next dollar coming in.. That makes me sort of unhappy, but I do understand that most places like that won't last too long if the folks with ethics are shown to be the stronger overall.

Something that brings me confused happiness is birds with arms.

Something on A&E about Mormon polygamy that confuses me. Why are all the husbands so far longhaired, bearded, heavy guys?

In order to lighten my mood...pictures are better than words because some words are big and hard to understand



Must dance with red-furred Libra!

3/8/03
Pictures from today's travels.











Ok... Where's my web page... more to the point, Newtcam? It's been down since last night.

I can tell it's still down, because I don't have my delightful background installed on the LJ page.

Today shall be a day of rest, though I'm planning on spending 8 hours of it doing little chores here and around the place.

Not too interested in LJ lately.. my mind hasn't been one of journaling. My creative juices need a shot of B12.

I want to do something self-indulgent today.. eat fatty food, spend the day playing arcade games or the like... I doubt it'll happen to the degree I want, but it's entertaining for me to think about.

Maybe just writing about the history channel is enough self-indulgence?

oh, man.. apparently my scottobear.com email has been down since last night, as has my website. I honestly hope that if any email was sent to those addresses was lost that it can be restored... I've got about a gazillion resumes out there with that addy on it. It's supposed to be back up and fixed within the hour, though, so I'm going to hope for the best.

Stupid errors... bah.

scottobear.com email is back up. good thing, though I missed a couple of decent mails from last night I'd have preferred to have acted on then.

ah well, all better now.

3/7/03
Newt woke me at about 6am this morn... just as well, since I had my alarm set for 6:30. This way, I had time to play with the little boy in the morning before having to whirlwind out of the house for work. I'm so glad that Newtie's around to wake up to... I can't even be mad that I was awakened early. (I prefer a little roughhousing to get the morning started.)

Went to Pinnacle... They wanted an original Social security card, a copy just would not do, despite my other identification papers on hand. Ok..it would've been nice to know that before coming all the way to Cypress Creek.

Ugh, a bug.

Sooo... off to the Social Security office I went... I'll have a new card (with my old number) in about two weeks, but in the meantime, I have piece of paper that tells folks that "Why Yes, this hairy beast is who he says he is!" on official-looking letterhead.

I go back to Pinnacle Monday, 10am.

Made it to work on time, surprisingly. Also a shock, Kev is here! I thought he was going to take a sick day today, but he's out of luck. Apparently, he's too needed here by the gimme-gimme chupacabra & co.

Finn gave me a lead to a possible new gig, at Countywide. Nice to get the assist, certainly.

Looks like there's going to be a LAN party at work after regular hours (or during my normal hours) on the 21st. Sappho, Riker, Kev, The Finn,The Clark-bar, and Maybe Island boy will be coming in at about 6pm to play some multi-player games.. looks like it'll be an assortment... shoot-'em up and racing, mostly. (Just as well... I don't know how well folks would deal with Civ2 or AOE... the games are fun, but take a while.) If I'm still there at the time, I'll play along, too.

"I want rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers and Methodists!"

-Hedley Lamarr, Blazing Saddles, Recruitment Flyer

I think I could qualify as a desperado, or play the part of a thug.

(Why is it I can recite that from memory, but I can't remember what year my mom was born in unless I count on my fingers?)

3/6/03
When I woke up, the words to Bobby Pickett's "King Kong" (not the one by Abba), oddly melded with Alley Oop (by Gary Paxton).

Can't seem to locate the Proper Kong Lyrics online.. Perhaps I'll break out the record and transcribe them to the Internet for posterity.

Of course, there's always my favorite Bert Convy Tune...

We were out of school
With nothing to do
So we jumped in my car
And we went to the zoo
Having lots of fun
Just a-walkin’ around
Looking in the cages
When I heard a funny sound
Somebody yelled
And one began to shout
I turned around
And my eyes bugged out

He’s out of his cage
He’s on a rampage
Swingin’ his arms all over the place
Fiery red eyes and a big ugly face
Chip-chip-chip-chip-chip-chip-chip
Go-ril-la

He climbed on a bus
And he rode downtown
Stopping all the traffic
For miles around
He heard some music coming
From a record shop
Jumped off the bus
And he started to bop

He’s out of his cage
He’s on a rampage
Swingin’ his arms all over the place
Dancin’ rock ‘n’ roll with a grin on his face
Chip-chip-chip-chip-chip-chip-chip
Go-ril-la

He heard some music coming
From a record shop
He jumped off the bus
And he started to bop
He stopped his dancing
And looked up in the sky
A flying purple people eater
Was flying by
He reached up and grabbed him
And he ate him whole

A gorilla!

(Echoed out like the end of Tequila)

current mood: "'Twas Beauty that Killed the Beast at Last" I heard Bob Armstrong say
current music: King Kong, King Kong, the white man done you wrong...

3/5/03
Via The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1953-2002 (according to Sci Fi Book Club)

I've put a 0 to 4 Star rating beside the ones I've read, according to the amount of enjoyment I got from them. One star is worth an eyeball, anything with 2 stars is good, 3 very good, and four is "What? You haven't read it? Hop to it!" I imagine many folks will disagree with me on a few of my feelings, so I'm going to stress that it's simply my opinion.

Your Mileage may vary... as might mine in current time. (I've not read some of them in over two decades.)

1 The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien ****
2 The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov **
3 Dune, Frank Herbert 0
4 Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein **
5 A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin ****
6 Neuromancer, William Gibson 0
7 Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke *
8 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick ** (Blade Runner, the movie, was far better.)
9 The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley *
10 Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury **** (Bradbury can do no wrong, as far as I've seen)
11 The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe 0
12 A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. ***
13 The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov **
14 Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15 Cities in Flight, James Blish
16 The Color of Magic, Terry Pratchett **
17 Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison **
18 Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison ***
19 The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester **
20 Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany *
21 Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey *
22 Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card ***
23 The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson * (very nearly a 0)
24 The Forever War, Joe Haldeman **
25 Gateway, Frederik Pohl 0
26 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling ***
27 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams ****
28 I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29 Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice **
30 The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin *** (redundant with the earthsea above, though)
31 Little, Big, John Crowley
32 Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny **
33 The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick ***
34 Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement **** (The short story)
35 More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon **
36 The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith (a real mix and match. a bunch of short stories, some good, some not so much. No rating.)
37 On the Beach, Nevil Shute ***
38 Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke ***
39 Ringworld, Larry Niven 0 (So much potential... great author, idea, horrid book.)
40 Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41 The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien * (I know... sacrilege. Full of great stuff, but it's very slow going)
42 Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut **
43 Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson **
44 Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45 The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46 Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein ***
47 Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock **
48 The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks 0
49 Timescape, Gregory Benford *
50 To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer ****

And to play the meme card, and complete the SF dork entry, (in all honesty, I was borderline 10/11 on all the answers. I suspect more questions might be needed to get a better reading)

Star Trek Personality Test --
Myers-Briggs would say that you are an ENFP (Extrovert, Intuitive, Feeler, Perceiver). In Star Trek language, you share a basic personality configuration with James Kirk and Julian Bashir.


People like you are generally great problem-solvers. You're highly innovative, creative and unique. You're optimistic by nature, which may make others believe you're naive, but actually you're full of energy, very clever, and determined not to be stopped. You're outgoing, curious, and extremely playful. Others are sometimes taken aback by your enthusiasm, but it keeps you going after others have dropped.

You're deeply caring, sensitive and gentle, which, combined with your need to solve problems, may make you a little too eager to give others advice. You also process information very quickly, which may make others believe you're not listening to them. Before you share your feelings, you have to have time to process them.

You're adaptive and resourceful, but sometimes highly disorganized. You dream of having the perfect assistant. You respond best to people who encourage your unique viewpoints and insights, help you maintain harmony, and want to play and explore with you. You don't respond well when you're overwhelmed with details or when you're in a rigid situation.

Your primary goal in life is freedom to see possibilities, make connections, and be with a variety of people. Your reward is having spontaneous adventures.

Good careers for your type include being an advertising account executive, starship captain, career counselor, developer of educational software, actor, graphics designer, corporate team trainer, psychologist, inventor, medical pioneer, and child welfare counselor.

Pick up line for Island boy to use next route out- "Does my tongue taste funny?"

Discovered this morning that I do a really good rendition of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" when singing in the shower.

Speaking of love, here’s some doodles drawn thinking about my sweetheart:



Swinging by Pinnacle Friday morning at 9am. We'll see what they have to offer. Upside, they're on Cypress Creek, about a half-mile south of Kev and the gang, which means visits and lunches and stuff might be possible.

Only a week or two behind on this one...

Prof. Dave Farber sent an e-mail to his Interesting People list about how under Code Orange it is, apparently, illegal to take photos of transit facilities. http://www.interesting-people.org/ At a faculty meeting at Bryn Mawr College, the attendees were informed that a student from Haverford College was arrested for taking photographs of trains in Philadelphia. The student was detained and questioned for a few hours and eventually released. http://lists.elistx.com/archives/interesting-people/200302/msg00118.html

This struck a chord with me, as I like taking little travel pictures, many of which might take place in a bus, or at the station. I'm especially prone to take shots with my palmtop "spycam", though the pictures from that are weak, at best.

Fortunately, Farber also posted an item from a Portland, Ore. attorney who has posted a briefing paper about what your rights are as a photographer. http://www.krages.com/ThePhotographersRight.pdf

3/4/03
DNA pioneer James Watson says that stupidity is a genetic disease that can -- and should -- be cured.

The New Scientist has the story.

Personally, I really doubt if that's the case, but it's an interesting idea. I'd wonder what traits (if any) would be suppressed at the cost of intelligence.

I find myself craving a potpie for lunch. I can't recall the last time that I had one... Boston Market had some really tasty veggie potpies that smelled far more palatable thank their chicken. By the way... Regarding their creamed spinach... Just say no. The Parmesan creamed spinach is one of the worst vegetable side dishes ever seen. It's got two-thirds of a day's fat. You'd have to eat an order of meatloaf & gravy plus an order of ham and cinnamon apples to do as much damage to your heart. I don't foresee myself ever having even a veggie potpie again, knowing how evil they are, nutritionally. If I ever go to the big BM again.... (I can't get enough of food places that sound like taking a poop or a disease) I'll get the dill new potatoes and herbed sweet corn, with a side of BBq Beans, just for the confirmation of BM. With some cornbread. Yum, good ol' cornbread.

P U L P - I T: modernized pulp fiction art - a most excellent website! Original and brilliant. I'm adding this to my daily round.

Hmm.. I lost a large entry last night, due to a spontaneous reboot. Well, if the fates don't want me to post my deep insights about McMillan and Wife vs. Columbo, then so be it.



Ah well... it's about that time of day again, Dear Journal. I'll see you on the flipside. Don't take any candy from strangers.

Home again, Home again... and all that jiggety jazz.

Too tired to make leeks, though I took a leak as soon as I got in. It's going to be a Nuke yourself somethin' from the freezer night. Veggie riblets look pretty good to me. They seem remarkably similar to the ol' McRib that came out a while back. Gotta admire any info about them that mentions that they're Bone free (As free as the wind blows)

Kev is as sick as the proverbial dog, and will be staying home tomorrow. Chupa caused him no end of pointless stress over 40 miserable faulty records, stopping him from making any sort of escape today. Tomorrow, while the boss is away, the Scotto will play, actively seeking work, and deciding on what the final way to go is. Nordis-man just is invisible to me... No answers to my voice or e-mails. I wonder if he's out sick or something, as Tuan even says that he can't get through to him. (That's reassuring, as I would not want to think that he's just dodging me.) Either way, I'm not going to be where I am now in 2 weeks... that much is assured. Taught Sappho how to knife-fight, should she need to. The Flick/slash/stab maneuver. handy handy.

Know what makes my day? Getting Maryland state quarters in my change. Makes me smile, it does.

Got bored, wondered who invented the fork. Found this place: The History of Eating Utensils. Kitchen Forks go back to the time of the Greeks, and had two times to help the cutting and serving of meat. Spoons have been used as eating utensils since Paleolithic times. It is most likely that prehistoric peoples used shells or chips of wood as spoons. Knives are totally old school. Prehistoric. Chopsticks were developed about 5,000 years ago in China. It is likely that people cooked their food in large pots which held heat for a long time, and hasty eaters then broke twigs off trees to retrieve the food. Travel Cutlery History of the Spork is quite dubious at best...a descendant of the runcible spoon.

Know what I like about trees? They're bigger than me, and they listen without interrupting.

RIBLETS ARE GREAT!

The BBQ sauce is really good, and the entree texture is perfect.

I am going to buy these suckers frequently. A little heavy on the sodium...(30% per) but the rest is very healthy, too. Price was right... it was $2.50 for a package, and it gives two decent sized slabs of sauced-up yumminess.

Next go-round, instead of on the plate, it's going on a kaiser.

Man, that was good.

Newt is totally uninterested in the plate with the food on it. He is however enjoying my hair-tie. To each their own, I suppose.

I ate it with a fork, for those keeping score.

3/3/03
Is it morning again? I'm still snoozy even after the hot shower 'o doom.

Crispin Glover as Willard.... Well, there's a perfect creepy fit, as far as I'm concerned.

Hey, Neat! Someone else has subscribed to my site using bloglet! :) I'm now ranked #889 on the system there. :)

Via Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Term that Cracks me up is "Mysterious Repulsive Energy". That's an easy one... He works in the laser department. I haven't given him a nickname yet, but I shall, now. MRE. (or Just Murray for Ease of Use)

I was up quite late reading and relaxing... took me a while to unwind, and just enjoy the day.

Yikes... where does the time go? 11... must fly. Until later, dear journal.

3/2/03
Newt seems to be feeling much better. Hooray!

Noticing "Mass Action" functions for comments, now. Very interesting.

I'm digging the LJ toolbar (no scrolling friends ticker option) see more info at , here.

Newt at the vet a year ago



The only book which doesn't take place in Narnia at all, per se, you're the story of a voyage to find the end of the world and hopefully the Seven Lost Lords (remember Rhoop!). You contain some of the most unique people and places and beautiful descriptions of the whole series.


Find out which Chronicles of Narnia book you are.

Added 4 elements to the http://q20.net database. A superhero, a Minotaur, birkenstock sandals, noise pollution

A legitimate new virus out and about - Lovegate I recommend that you take a peek at the Snopes or Symantec site for more information before opening any attachments.

From the site -

There is a new Computer Virus out called "Lovgate.c". It affects users running Outlook, Outlook Express, and the following operating systems: Windows '95, '98, 'NT Windows '2000, Windows ME, and Windows XP. It is a mass mailing virus which comes packaged in your e-mail with the subject "I'll try to reply as soon as possible. Take a look to the attachment and send me your opinion!". DO NOT OPEN THIS MESSAGE! PLEASE DELETE IT!.

In addition to it's mass-mailing functionality, Lovgate spreads through Windows shares and can steal users' passwords. This virus copies itself to your Hard Drive (C:) and Shares in folders and sub-folders - if they are password protected the virus will try a combination of usernames and passwords to gain access.

CNN reports that Pioneer 10, the first space craft to venture out of our solar system and the one that sent back all of the wonderful photos of Jupiter, has sent its last signal. It is more than 7.6 billion miles from Earth and its 21-month mission has continued for almost 31 years.

I guess the next time we'll see it is in Star Trek V, being blown up by Captain Klaa for target practice.

That's the shape I think of when I envision a satellite, not the little ball sputnik

Balloon v1.0. Jim Meehan built and launched a high altitude balloon running Linux with wireless (packet radio) connectivity, GPS, and a digital camera. The Tech info is great, and the aerial photos are pretty keeno, too.



So which LOTR Man are you? Hmm??
made by Michelle at EmptySpace.


So which hobbit are you? Hmm??
made by Michelle at EmptySpace.


So which LOTR Villain are you? Hmm??
made by Michelle at EmptySpace.


So which LOTR woman are you? Hmm??
made by Michelle at EmptySpace.


Coolest Motorcycle Helmets, ever. I think the Hell's Angels should get some. I'm especially fond of the Prince Model.

Want to see what it's like to break a water balloon in low / no gravity?