Writing

I've been contemplating writing a short story lately. I've been reading a whole mess of werewolf stories lately and it's somewhat inspired me to write my own. Back in high school, so many years ago, I took creative writing classes a couple times in a row, I loved writing stories. It was just fun, creating a fantasy world where anything can happen. Themes and atmospheres, plot twists and crescendos, it's good to read stories that draw you in to them, and I'm betting it's just as good to write those stories, too (if not therapeutic).

The fall of Pluto

No, I'm not talking about the Disney mutt, I'm talking about the ninth planet in our solar system. The International Astronomical Union recently held an international convention to define, among other things, what makes a planet a planet.

So why did Pluto get demoted to it's new title of 'dwarf planet'?? (Isn't this going to piss off some of our wee little dwarf people??) Well, it's orbit is not on the same elliptic as the rest of the planets, it's orbit crosses Neptune's orbit, and it's smaller than some of the objects in the Kuiper belt.

I understand the need to have a common definition of what qualifies a heavenly object as a planet, but should we accept what a bunch of scientists tell us just because they want to create a definition? I grew up believing...no, knowing... that Pluto is a planet and I'm not ready to give up that belief yet just because some scientists decided to change their minds.

Viva la Pluto!

Questions...

Change all of the answers so that they apply to you. Then, blog it.
The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about your friends. It is fun and easy.

Here are my answers:

1. First name? Frederick (Rick)

2. Were you named after anyone? My Dad (I was born on his birthday, if I hadn't been, my name would be John)

3. Do you wish on stars? Does wishing they'd smack into something count?

4. When did you last cry? When my Uncle passed away about 2 years ago, before that was when mom went in the hospital for a heart attack... that was the emotional ones... my eyes teared up once when I kicked the wall of my apt. when I was asleep dreaming that I was kicking a giant crab that was trying to eat me. - that hurt.

5. Do you like your handwriting? Sure!

6. What is your favorite lunch meat? Smoked Turkey or Peppered Corned Beef (They're both really good)

7. What is your birth date? July 11, 1973 (Yes, yes, let the 7-11 jokes begin)

8. What is your most favorite album/CD? Ministry - Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste

9. Favorite Jewelry not counting wedding/engagement ring and why? My Celtic Cross with inlaid emerald ring.... because it's nice

10. Do you have a journal? Do blogs count?

11. Do you use sarcasm a lot? SUUUURRREEEEE, I use sarcasm alot

12. What are your nicknames? Have to ask my friends that, I don't call myself by my nicknames, nor do I remember them

13. Would you bungee jump? No and hell no, tie a rope around your feet and jump off a bridge?? I'm crazy, not stupid.

14. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Nope, laziness for the win

15. Do you think that you are strong? Strong in Mind, Strong in Body, Strong in Heart, Still working on the Spirit thing though

16. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Mint Chocolate Chip by Breyers (Cookies and Cream is a close second)

17. Shoe Size? 11 or 12

18. Red or pink? Green, you 2-color gimp

19. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? I tend to start a project and never finish it... really annoys me about myself, also I tend to get into dark little moods, though I'm working ont that (see #20)

20. What do you like most about yourself? My sense of loyalty, I try to be light hearted as much as possible - life is too short, ya know?

21.Do you want everyone you send this to send it back? Well, it's being blogged, so hopefully they'll blog it too

22. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Green pants, Brown shoes (earth colors!)

23. What are you listening to right now? I'm not listening to anything right now, but the last music I listened to was the Stones

24. Last thing you ate? Poptart, Orange juice, and Coffee

25. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Clear

26. What is the weather like now ? It's rainy and why do you care?

27. Last person you talked to on the phone? Some idiot who wanted to know how my Cingular service was doing...

28. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? From a distance - her body... Up close - her eyes (and if she's wearing any scent)

29. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? I'd like to be able to cause demensia in people :) (According to Los, I already do)

30 Favorite Drink? Coffee with Irish Cream creamer in AM, Iced tea with lemon in the PM, Alcoholic - Long Island Iced Tea, Strawberry Daquiri, Kahlua, Hard Cider

32. Hair Color? Brown with bits of grey

33. Eye Color? Green with flecks of yellow

34. Do you wear contacts? Nope

35. Favorite Food? Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Steamed Crabs, Snow Crabs, King Crabs, Shrimp, Lobster, Tilapia, Corn on the cob, Ribs, Lasagna, Triscuits!

36. Last Movie You Watched? Unfortunately, Pearl Harbor... and it was complete ASS

37. Favorite Day of the Year? The days of the year that have a full moon

38. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? Both!

39. Summer or winter? Winter! (Screw this hot weather shit)

40. Hugs Or Kisses? Both!

41. What Is Your Favorite Dessert? Blueberry Pie, Lemon Merangue Pie, Apple Pie, I like pie

42. Who is Most Likely To Respond? Everybody, if they know what's good for them

43. Who Is Least Likely To Respond? See #42

44. What Books Are You Reading? Elementary Algebra, but not because I want to

45. What's On Your Mouse Pad? Trackball, baby! Mice are for SISSIES.

46. What Did You Watch Last night on TV? Um... something on the history channel involving Islam, Saladin, their contributions to civilization, and the crusades

47. Favorite Smells? Coffee, Egyptian Musk, Sandalwood, Coffee, Lilacs, Honeysuckle, Coffee

48. Favorite Sounds? Wind blowing through the trees, rain on the pavement, thunder, crashing waves of the ocean

49. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Stones (I think the Beatles are kinda boring)

50. What's the farthest you've been from home? Germany, I think, when I was 5. Is Austria further than Germany??

51. What's your major malfunction, Private Pyle? I used to be too trusting, now I'm too untrusting


Karl, Brian, Ken, and anyone else who reads this... YOU'RE TAGGED... comment and write your own please.

Jellyfish of DOOM!

There are... monsters... in the deep.
Creatures of immense strangeness that baffle the mind and fuel the imagination. Kraken, the giant squid. The Loch Ness monster. The narwhale (not really a monster, but strange nonetheless). The coelacanth, thought extinct for thousands of years... until one was caught off the coast of southern Africa.

Now, let me introduce to you to my monster. (Get your collective heads out of the gutter) I give to you, photographic proof of a monster that exists in the canals of Rehoboth Bay, DE. A creature of fierce girth (kinda like Los)... freakish appearance (kinda like Los again!)... and terrible jelliness.

I have named him JELLASAUR:

Yes, this foul denizen of the deep is a real jellyfish photographed off of the dock of my parents house about 2 months ago. (Why 2 months to post this?? A - I didn't have this blog then and B - I forgot I had the picture)

This thing of terrible form was/is? bigger than my head... about 12 inches from side to side and around 18 from top to bottom... and slimy.

And to think... it could be out there right now... waiting to feed upon your tasty land-lubbing flesh! JELLASAUR the MONSTROUS!

So run and hide in fear vertebrate mortals of the earth! The shadows of the black and engulfing seas have a new monster waiting to feed on your brain liquids. Run. Hide.

Memories...

This morning was beautiful... a nice coolness in the atmosphere, partially cloudy with the sun just peeking through, areas of light fog over the fields and waterways. It reminded me of when I was around 10 years old. Both happy and sad feelings.

When I was 10, my Pop and my Uncle used to take my cousin and I to this fishing camp in Mt. Airy, MD. I really loved that area, it was slightly mountainous, covered in trees, with veins of granite and marble sticking up all over the place. At this camp, they had various activities - learning to cast, fly fishing, fly tying, and identifying good fishing spots are a few that I remember. Well, this morning's weather reminded me of that camp since the weather there was very similar to this morning. That's good happy memories. Incidently, the fishing organization's name was The Brotherhood of the Junglecock. Yes, my cousin and I had tons of laughs at the name's expense.

Now the sad - both my cousin and uncle are on the 'other side'. My cousin died about 5 to 6 years ago of a heroin overdose - obviously my uncle was never the same after that. He was a drinker before that and upped the ante after that. My uncle died about 2 years ago of a heart attack - personally I think it was a broken heart.

I wish my cousin and I never grew distant after we stopped going to the camp. Maybe, just maybe, if we had stayed close, I could have affected his choices - made him rethink about using heroin, or kept him off it. 'What Ifs' are a bad way to think about things, but I know it well never leave me.

On to #4

So now my Color Theory class has ended, I thoroughly enjoyed that class. I learned alot from it, with my favorite subject being color harmonies - how colors relate to each other on a color wheel. For instance, an analogous harmony is when a design uses colors that are next to each other on the wheel like blue-cyan-green.

But now that has ended, and I'm on to my fourth class - Elementary Algebra. Elementary because my algebra skills suck serious donkey dick. Heh, I read through this weeks course material already and subtracting signed numbers was already confusing the shit outta me. That's one of the most basic of algebraic bases! I'm doomed. Ah well, it's a necessary evil. I guess.

The Blood In My Veins

is boiling. BOILING!

The company I work for, once again, denied my tuition reimbursement. Today is going to be such an interesting day at work.

The first denial was to due to an incomplete application. No big deal, I completed the part that was missing and resubmitted it via fax.

*pause for two weeks*

The second denial arrives... my blood is beginning to simmer. It states that the program I'm taking requires the signature of the VP of Human Resources. Ok, let me explain why that's actually NOT needed. In the tuition reimbursement instructions, it states that a degree that is not science, business, or engineering related requires that signature. Yet, my degree is a Bachelor of Science. These people who work in the approval department have their heads so far up their asses they can see their teeth.

Whatever. I got the signature with the help of my manager and waited.

*pause for another two fucking weeks*

The third denial arrives... my blood is officially boiling now. It's like lava in my veins. Now they are saying that A - What I have submitted is not acceptable and B - School, Course, or Fee does not meet program guidelines. FUCKING BULLSHIT.

How the hell can the shit that I'm learning in class, which is the SAME SHIT that I do at work, not be acceptable?? And how the fuck can it not meet program guidelines??? I followed their fucking worthless instructions!

And these two-week pauses between submitting shit is stupid. Snail mail is the way of the dinosaurs. We got email now you fucking rejects, use it.

Death by Rabies

I found out today that my Uncle's Cousin died of rabies infection recently. What a horrible way to pass on, my heart goes out to his family, he was only 16 years old.

It seems a bat had gotten into his household and at some point he was bitten but never told anybody. Rabies has a 'days to months' eclipse period where it's not easily detectable, so he probably thought he was ok.

Here's a tidbit from the CDC:
The first symptoms of rabies may be nonspecific flu-like signs — malaise, fever, or headache, which may last for days. There may be discomfort or paresthesia at the site of exposure (bite), progressing within days to symptoms of cerebral dysfunction, anxiety, confusion, agitation, progressing to delirium, abnormal behavior, hallucinations, and insomnia. The acute period of disease typically ends after 2 to 10 days (6). Once clinical signs of rabies appear, the disease is nearly always fatal, and treatment is typically supportive. Disease prevention is entirely prophylactic and includes both passive antibody (immune globulin) and vaccine. Non-lethal exceptions are extremely rare. To date only six documented cases of human survival from clinical rabies have been reported and each included a history of either pre- or postexposure prophylaxis.

Tip of advice, folks - if you get bit by an animal, seek medical help immediately.
Get checked out for rabies.

Alarmist Mentality

Ok, so as probably everyone knows, a new terror plot was uncovered. Terrorists were planning on destroying U.S. bound planes over the Atlantic from England. The plot was in it's final stages, supposedly a 'dry run' was happening soon according to the news.

Yet, alot of the media out there is taking the approach that the attack was happening right now, as I write this. That you better run inside and hide because plane debris is going to be falling out of the sky at any second. The media is using alarmist tactics to get ratings, they're throwing a spin on the situation. One channel I was watching was naming the different cities the planes were bound for, each with the word 'Target' in front of the city. The cities were not targets! The planes were the targets! Do you see the spin?? The media is trying to raise stress and fear about an already terrible circumstance so they can keep you glued to their station.

It seems that legit news stations are turning more to yellow journalism than true journalism now. It doesn't matter whether the stories they report are completely honest and square, but whether they can get the ratings and keep the ratings. It's disgusting.

Dream Episode 1 - Aliens and Giant Crabs

Every so often I tend to have off-the-wall odd dreams. I think whenever I have these dreams, I'll document them here in my OHCF blog. Maybe it'll be good therapy for whatever my dream's trying to tell me. Or maybe they're just really neat short movies that play in my mind as entertainment to myself as I rest. Whatever the reason... enjoy!

<-- Begin Dream Story -->
It begins where myself, Brian, and a third person (I'm not quite sure who, but I think it was Reverse) are standing in a basement. I believe the basement was of Brian's house, but then it seemed alot larger than his basement. It did have some of the same decorations... and a gazillion remote control devices.

Anyway, we three are all armed with shotguns, and there are aliens surrounding us. The aliens are very strange looking - they have very short bodies (about 2 feet tall) with long stalk like necks that reach up just below the ceiling and on the top of that stalk-neck is one large red eye. These things have a dark greenish appearance and short arms and legs - very squat, except for the necks. They were trying to get to us and we kept trying to shoot them, but they weren't dying until one of us shot one in the eye.

Brian and the third person made a dash for the stairs while I cleaned up on the aliens - eventually I came up the stairs but the door was locked. At the bottom of the stairs was a giant crab (about 5 feet wide) - looked like a cross between a blue crab and a mud crab. It slowly started ascending the stairs, snapping it's claws menacingly at me (I don't know how a 5 foot wide crab can fit up a 3 foot wide stairway... but it could! It was bending the laws of physics!).

At this point, I'm frantically banging on the door screaming for those guys to let me in - there was a giant crab coming and I was terrified it was going to eat me in revenge for all it's cousins that I have eaten! Finally, as it got within reach of me, I attempted to kick with my left foot with as much force as I could muster...

At this point, I woke up from a very loud thud, and terrible pain in my left foot.
Yes. You guessed it. As I went to kick the crab in my dream, I actually kicked from my bed straight into the wall. And it friggin hurt. Alot. I have a bruise on the top of my foot. (Luckily, I kicked with my foot outstretched - if it had been normal, I probably would have broken some toes).
<-- End Dream Story -->

So what's the moral of the story??
Don't eat Tostitos and salsa con queso near to bedtime.

Snakes on a plane? More like crap on a plane.

Ok, So I saw the preview for the upcoming movie, Snakes On A Plane.
Oh freaking come on! What the hell is Samuel L. Jackson doing even being associated with garbage like this?? The guys a good actor... he doesn't need to do this stupid crap. How the hell is this supposed to be a horror movie?? Snakes aren't scary. Period. They're just friggin little reptiles... they get loose, you squish them already. Sheeesh.

so I got to thinking about how to make this movie truly scary... maybe instead of snakes, something more devious... dreadful... dire... diabolocal... dastardly... and other 'D' words I can't think of right now. What about a plane full of Los's???
The horror!


(Click for a larger version!)

The travesty!

Hit and Run

<-- Begin Rant -->
To Whomever hit my car in the parking lot of my apartment complex:
KISS MY ASS.
Take some responsibility for your screw up. Show a little backbone, a little integrity. No wonder insurance rates are so friggin' high.
<-- End Rant -->

I needed to get that out of my head.

Heeeeeeey

So I decided to do a blog that isn't art-related... no haikus, no paintings, just me talking about whatever.

I've been reading alot recently about the whole 2012 'world-changes'. Most of the 2012 predictions are based off the fact that the Mayan calender ends on Dec. 21, 2012. Without getting too deep into to it, the Mayans were very advanced involving astronomy and time predictions. They had multiple calenders and their main calender supposedly ran in multiple cycles, each cycle lasting 13,000 years. It's interesting stuff.

Now there's also a whole mess of psychics, mediums, etc. that all believe 2012 is going to bring about great change. Yet, no one can seem to agree on what kind of change it is. I've read articles on people thinking that it could be catastropic world change like a meteor/comet striking the planet, nasty climate changes, a pole shift, global war, or even alien invasion. There has also been articles about less-violent changes like a sudden huge jump in human evolution, the world shifting into fourth dimension/density, or friendly alien contact.

Do I believe in this?? Not really sure. Do I hope something will happen? Absolutely. The world needs a wake up call. Something big, something to make people forget their differences. Global warming is defiantely happening, war and hate seem to be in a continuous cycle and I think the only way to break the cycle is for some huge, civilization altering event to happen.

2012... I'm waiting for you.