Let’s get the outfit out of the way. Most of this was purchased last spring break in Washington DC. In the picture I am standing on a chair putting up some decorations or something, for an ausstand (going away party) at the office. The skirt is VERY short. I sort of have to think about leaning back a bit when I stand. I also where “tennis underwear”, ruffles and all, over my regular underwear. The dog collar from Coach really makes the outfit though. We didn’t tell the sales people what we were going to be using it for when we bought it. They didn’t ask either.

I’m putting together a new page. It is going to be called “These are a few of my favorite things…”. My plan is to try and use the song and sort of mangle it for my favorite things. I’m making a list of what I want on it. I’m going to use icons instead of words. The icons will link to someone else’s page that is either, one of my favorite things, has my favorite thing on it, or represents my favorite thing. If you have a favorite thing you would like me to add, drop me a note.

Going to have a Ladies Poker Night again soon. Hopefully this time I will have my act together and will get pictures of the girls and get it up on the web. I know I have been a slacker.

For some reason I thought of this today…when I was in High School and worked at McD’s occasionally a customer would tell me to keep the change. It was usually only a penny or so (think $.99 Big Macs). These customers seemed to feel quite smug gracing me with this small token of appreciation so I would usually respond with “Oh thank-you, thank-you so much, now little Johnny can have that operational he has been needing” accompanied with much sniffing and dabbing of eyes. At that point some customers would stomp away, obviously in disgust at my unappreciative reaction. Others laughed. None of them ever took the penny back though.

Now for my insight on the terrorist act that occurred in the US this week. Certainly it is an abomination. It is disgusting and hardly seems like God, Allah or Buddha would find it very pleasing. I got an email from a friend this week who called religion an evil thing. I disagree. It is not religion that is perverted but those humans that attempt to interpret the scriptures of said religion. No matter whether anyone says God, Allah or Buddha is speaking through, channeling through or has possessed their “holy man (or woman)”, their “holy man (or woman)” is still human. Fallible. I sure wish God/Allah/Buddha would come down and set things straight. Of course that brings up the whole ‘would we listen to God/Allah/Buddha if he/she came back’ argument and I don’t really feel like arguing. Can’t win.

The bonding and community support that is going on in the US right now is wonderful. Everyone is trying to help. Being old and pessimistic though, I wonder about 6 months from now. How will people react when the government has to dip into social security, or we have to give back our tax rebates, because the large appropriations bills that have been granted in the wake of the violence? Will retired folks on fixed incomes in Arizona start to resent the rich folks in NYC getting all sorts of money to rebuild Manhattan? I have to honestly say it is more depressing to me that it takes such a horrible despicable act to get Americans to help each other. How about the poor kids in the inner-cities who’s schools are falling apart, who’s text books are out of date and thus inaccurate? Why haven’t we helped them? Granted I should give more of my income away to charity, but I do give and I do help, in peace time and not so peaceful time. Let’s take this opportunity to look around and do something about what we see, and I don’t mean do something about anti-American groups, I mean do something about America. If you want to hear more, drop me a line. I have plenty of ideas of things we could do right here in our own country.

Regardless of all that, Dave Barry wrote an excellent column about the attack, called ‘Just for being Americans’, its people and where we are right now. You should all read it. Have I mentioned I want to be Dave Berry? He gets to write columns, and get paid, for whatever he is thinking about. Sure he has to write books to, something I am not interested in. But the hopelessly vain individual in me wants my columns of musings to be read by thousands (and edited for spelling and grammar by an editor).

Got the scoop on the Naked Guys. If you go back teir picture on the Leeds page and take the link, you can have the scoop too. Or you can tqake the link to the Warning page directly above. The price is seeing them totally naked though. (not you Indra and Miles! ask your mom)