Blue Moon

Tonight is a Blue Moon.

What are you going to do? You all know the saying: "Once in a blue moon..."

Do y'all believe that the moon affects people? Has anyone noticed this?

Have a great weekend y'all... and go enjoy the 2nd full moon in August!

Me? I might go out howling...
*wink wink*

Fire ants

I hate bugs.

Even the thought of some bug crawling on me gives me the heebeegeebees.

I don't even like looking at a picture of insects. EW. Even typing these words make me itch all over...

But still I like camping... go figure.

Sunday evening as we're pulling up camp and getting ready to head back to a reality that didn't involve a relaxing beach... I found an insect. Several insects. A whole nest in fact.... of fire ants.

I knelt in the long grass for about 10 seconds or so and that's all it took for me to be stung 17 times! 17 TIMES!!

My left knee is still itching like mad and is driving me crazy! Aarrggghhhh... (and that's not a pirate talking,  but an anguished cry of pain!)

I think I need a pair of mittens to wear so I don't scratch absentmindedly.

Wait... do you scratch an itch or itch a scratch?

Jimmas weekend

Six hours of driving on Friday gave me time to think. I reflected on my life and my place in it.

As soon as I got there we packed up my friends trailer and headed to Port Aransas, TX. Packed it mainly with some adult beverages and plenty of Lambic; it is the official drink of Jimmas you know....

Saturday morning the guys got up early and went on a deep sea fishing trip. Someone got a little seasick from all the Lambic... but we had a great time. My friend caught a shark!

Back on land and back on the beach we played in the waves some more... then showered before we set out for a ride on a sailboat for a sunset tour. We watched dolphins playing the water and quite a few came up near the boat.

Sunday we spent most of the day on the beach; looking for shells, playing in the surf or resting in the shade with a drink and talking.

Yesterday we tried as best we could to recover from the odd sunburns that the 110 block missed. We just relaxed and had a marathon on the 5th season on Tru Blood!

I'll be headed out in a few minutes back to Dallas. Some more time to reflect on life... to contemplate on  how rich I am to have such great friends and a really great life.

I hope y'all had a great weekend.

And Happy Jimmas to me.
I'm just saying I'm 50+ now... no more counting years!

Just random stuff from Jim

Remember this post from a few weeks ago?

Well... the president was not voted out... but last week she resigned. YAYZ!

So guess who is running to be on the board again? Why do I do stuff like this? Especially since I'm not a planner or organizer... I'm a follower: a lemming and a sheep... bbaaaaa! Maybe I'll be the secretary. I could wear a revealing blouse and learn shorthand.

By the way... is shorthand still used??


In other news... I'm getting ready to drive south for Jimmas weekend. I'll probably end up driving back on Jimmas Day. I've decided that Lambic is the official drink! Frozen grapes are the official food of Jimmas too.

By the way.. frozen grapes make good ice cubes too.

That is all. kthanksbye

I Got the Blues

A coworker gave me a finger puppet of Brahma, a Hindu diety.

I brought the Smurfs out to sit on my desk too... it's kinda like "Blue Man Group"

One week to Jimmas by the way...

Weekend Adventures

With only about a week left until Jimmas I decided to have a low-key weekend.

I was trying to figure out how RunKeeper worked and I think I figured it out. Since my bike is still in the shop I've been running. I have a 2 mile route; it's great because I don't have to cross any major roads and can keep a good pace going. The area where I live in Dallas is not on the flat prairie, there are several hills to climb. Miss RunKeeper tells me how I'm doing during the run too. I like that.

Dallas finally got some rain on Saturday so I headed up to soak this tired old body, that has been running up and down hills, in the hot waters of King Spa. And no... I didn't do anything inappropriate nor did I see any bad-boy behavior. It was very nice to relax in the hot waters and soothe my sore legs and body.

Sunday the sun was out and the temps were about 20 degrees cooler than the average temperature for mid-August. I got in another 2 mile run and then relaxed by the pool. Well... maybe a little too much relaxing by the pool as I got sun burnt. The rest of the day was spent doing chores and watching TV while applying plenty of aloe. 

OK. Stop yawning and wake up...! How was your weekend? 

Self Audit

Damien over at 2 Cents Down Under recently did a post about a Self Audit his psychologist made him do. It's a very interesting exercise: You choose 10 positives - 10 negatives - three things to work on - and then a final word you would hope others perceive you as. He challenged other bloggers to do this too.

Here is my contribution:

10 Positive Traits of Me:

1. Caring
2. Kindness
3. Fairness
4. Accepting
5. Adventurous
6. Listener
7. Creative
8. Affectionate
9. Passionate
10. Loyal to friends

10 Negative Traits of Me:

1. Highly critical of myself
2. Critical of others sometimes
3. Unforgiving
4. Some OCD traits
5. Not letting people get too close to me
6. Laziness
7. Moody
8. Not very trusting of others
9. Holding a grudge
10. Not very communicative sometimes

3 Things To Work On:

1. Not being so harsh on myself
2. To not be so obsessive about things that don't matter
3. Be more optimistic

One Word I Would Hope Others Would Use For Me:
Passionate

What are yours?

Why I really don't want to workout today

1. I feel like being a slug and really lazy right now.

2. It's Friday and it's been a long week.

3. I've worked out Monday through Thursday already.

4. I want a free evening to just go home and do nothing.

5. I want an adult beverage.

6. Maybe even several adult beverages.

7. Hopefully someone on Grindr or Scruff won't think I look like item #1 of my list.

8. Because I just don't want to!



But... I want to look good at the beach for Jimmas. Maybe I can at least do some cardio.

TMI Thursday - Books

I thought I'd take Sean up on his TMI Thursday challenge this week.

BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS

1. eBooks or real books? If an eBook: Kindle, Nok or other? Real books. A close friend of mine has a Kindle and loves it. If I get a eReader I want one that is back lit so I can read in dim light.

2. Which book are  you currently reading? Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon. The second book in the Outlander Series

3. How many books have you read in 2012? How has reading blogs, FB, and/or tweeting affected your book reading? If I counted right I've read 6.5 books in 2012. There was one book that I stopped reading because I was just bored with it and didn't care what happened to the characters or the plot. I find that when I am really enjoying a book a lot I spend less time on the computer and the iPrecious.

  4. What genre(s) of book do you enjoy reading? Historical fiction and novels, some sci-fi. I do not like instructional books or biographies.

5. Have you read the Kama Sutra or The Joy of Sex? Helpful? I've only looked at the pictures... never really read either of them. And not really that helpful. Now if I was "reading" one of them with someone else and we could try out some things then they might be helpful. *wink wink*

Bonus
What was the first erotic novel you read that matched your sexual orientation? I don't like erotic novels. But... I have actually found a historical fiction author who has a series of books about a gay character. The Lord John series by Diana Gabaldon. Her books could be considered lust & thrust romance novels.

LOL

I think I need one of these new t-shirts.

And why does this happen...??

15 Days till Jimmas

Jimmas 5.0 in 2011

It's beginning to look a lot like Jimmas,

Every where you go...

 Yes... It's that time of year again; the Jimmas season is upon us!

(Does anyone not know what Jimmas is yet BTW?)

I have made plans to go to the beach again like last year. My friends and I will be camping on the beach in Port Aransas, TX. Woohoo!

That's the best way to celebrate Jimmas, IMHO!

Saturday adventures

The weather was in the upper 80s yesterday morning so I packed the bike up and got out on one of the off-road bike trails. It was a great ride and as I came around a corner, there was a bobcat in the middle of the trail less than 10 feet in front of me! We locked eyes for a moment before he bounded away into the brush. I knew there were reports of some in the 12 acres of this nature preserve, but this was the first time I've seen one.

This isn't my photo, but this is what it looked like.

I laid by the pool for a bit after the ride and then headed out to see a movie. A friend told me that Moonrise Kingdom was good so I went to see that. It was a quirky fun movie. I recommend it if y'all haven't seen it yet.

I also finished reading my book: The Singing Sword by Jack Whyte. Loved it!! The Camulod Series by Jack Whyte are of 4th and 5th century Briton. There are six more books in the series and the next two should arrive from Amazon this week. I read the first book and this one in a row but now I think I need to switch the era. I have a book that is set in the late 1990s or one from 18th century Scotland. I like to switch things up so I don't get overloaded from one era. 

I've not been watching much of the Olympics, but I will be watching the closing ceremonies tonight. 

Hope y'all have a great rest of the weekend!

Modeling

I was really excited about this new shirt that was being made for me. It was purplish and had some unique added features, kinda like the English Laundry shirts have; extra material sewn in and darts and pleats in weird places. But the shirt looked great when I put it on. I really liked it.

I don't remember much about the pants... except that they were stylish and looked great too.

Then I really started to get excited that I would get to walk the runway... on TV! Project Runway... I was one of their male models! OMG!!

The excitement was mounting backstage as we started to get ready. The next thing I know I was hearing the song "Save a horse, ride a cowboy" playing loudly. It was annoying too... Why is this song so annoying right now?

Oh yea... it's the song set for my alarm.

DAMN! I was only dreaming....

Thank you Prince Ambien... LOL

Deep historical thoughts

I am currently reading the second book in The Camulod Series by Jack Whyte. This is about the end of the Roman occupation in Britain leading up to the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the round table.

There are 8 books in the series and I think they're great! The concept of the books is one that makes me think.

Throughout history there has always been someone invading someone elses lands and property. Some group of people thinking that they know better than their neighbors or some religious group that forces their beliefs on "the heathens". People fight back in defense of their rights or property.. sometimes they win, sometimes they lose.

This shows me that life isn't always fair. But what is it that drives people to force themselves on someone else? I guess we have been trying to figure that out for centuries!

I think it's greed. Or a sense of "we're better then you."

Why can't we all just get along? Or is this just a flaw that we all have to live with in each other?

Political Stuff

Is it just me, or does it seem like there is less and less religious tolerance these days? The Christians hate the gays and the atheists... well, really anyone who isn't Christian.


People claim the whole Chick-fil-H8 issue is about freedom of speech, but I kinda think it's over-hyped on both sides. And why has this grabbed the attention of the whole country?


Happy late birthday to the President. He's only 24 days older than me.

Is there anyone else who can hardly wait for the middle of November to get here, when the elections are over?

'Nuf said

I saw this today and knew it would make a good blog post.

Sometimes I'm beset with guilt over this. I have let people walk out of my life and have wondered if I should feel guilty or happy about it.

I think the key is to take it for what it was... the timing wasn't right... the balance of life felt off.. I didn't feel like I was respected... whatever the reason was "I" need to let it go.

This is true too... there are many people in my life that treat me well! And I love them for it!

Friday night bike adventure

I've been biking a lot more in the evenings. Especially after I found some great lights for the bike so that I'll be seen by motorists in late dusk and early darkness.

One night last week I got home at 8:30 and then looked at the temperature: 106! At 8:30PM! Anyway... I digress.

So on Friday night I decided to ride a new route. The off-road trails are about 5 miles from my home; I could ride up there, do 1 or 2 of the 6 loops on the trail and then head back home.

All was going fine... the trail was fun, I did the 2 loops and it was about 8:20 by the time I headed home. Then I tried to change gears. This is when something broke. DAMN!

A few weeks ago I ran over a twig in the road and it got lodged in the chain and derailed me. I turned the bike over and and got everything working again. Well, that must have loosened something on the back gears to now cause this breakdown.

Why is it that something breaks like this when I'm the farthest point from home? There was no fixing it this time either.

After walking the bike up to the top of a slight rise in the terrain I decided it would probably be faster to use the wheels and broken bike as some sort of scooter to get home faster. Walking 5 miles would take me much longer.

One does not notice slight hills in a road until you're on a bike that doesn't work. I just had to keep on foot on the pedal and push with my other foot. I'd trade off legs every now and again to not tire one leg out too much. This was a workout!

I was home a few minutes after 9 exhausted and tired. I'll take it up to a shop today.

Fun, fun...!

Freedom of Speech

I saw this on Facebook and thought I'd share.

So many people have made the Chick-fil-H8 issue about "freedom of speech" that I can't help posting this as my "freedom of speech' also!

Happy Lughnasadh!

To all my Pagan and Wiccan friends and those who follow the changing of the seasons...

Happy Lughnasadh! Blessed be! 

Pagan Wheel of the Year

It's the cross-quarter day; the mid point between the Solstice and the Equinox. The beginning of the harvest festivals when the gardens and fields are full. Celebrate the sun and the bounty of the earth today!

Today is also the beginning of the month and time for my monthly Tarot Card.

Ace of Wands reversed

Well... I could be feeling block in my creativity or inspiration. I could feel like life is barren too. But there will be good things and happiness all around me, even when I cannot or will not allow myself to see it. I guess it's a warning to not be so negative or let blocks or obstacles prevent me from something great.