Around and Around

Do you sometimes feel like you are going in circles?  Does around and around seem familiar?  You know they say everything is cyclical. What made me start thinking about this is how texting and IMs are starting to change our language.  We are using short cuts more and more. I get it. It takes too long to spell everything out when you're texting so we have invented new words with less letters.

If this keeps up, we will have returned to where we started.  Just using grunts and other sounds to communicate instead of having conversations using lots of words.  In some cases this might not be too bad.  I know there are some people I had rather grunt at than having a involved conversation.  Think of it, the next time some dippy politician comes on your tv or radio, he can just grunt a few times and its over with.  Personally I think the impact would be pretty much the same.

Some of the things that have been shorten bug me though.  Have a good day has been shortened to Have a good un'.  What the hell does that mean?  Have a good day, or life or morning. That I understand.  But un'... sorry, don't have a clue.

Why shorten fabulous to fab and supercalifragilistic to super.  Maybe that's not a good example.   I heard a dj on the radio who instead of saying The Goo Goo Dolls, say The Goo.  How dumb is that.  I'm pretty sure if The Goo Goo Dolls wanted to be called The Goo, that's what they would have named themselves.

Here is a new read I just finished.  Elysiana by Chris Knopf.

It's set on a little island town off of the New Jersey shore in the summer of 1969.  The author interweaves a number of wacky characters into a funny, poignant, interesting story.

Stay tuned for future adventures.

Signs of Life

I was originally going to call this post, Things I Don't Understand but because there are so many things I don't understand, I knew there wasn't room in this column and it would probably mean me having to get up before noon to try to cover them all.

But what triggered this line of thought was seeing a electronic sign on the freeway yesterday saying Ozone Warning.  I kept a keen lookout all day because I didn't want any mean ole ozone getting me.  But the more I thought about it, isn't the Ozone layer is suppose to be a  good thing?  People are always talking about how bad the hole in the Ozone layer is, so why is there a Ozone warning..  Make up your mind.  Is it good or bad?

It seems to be alot like the Terror Alert Warnings from the Homeland Security people, whoever the hell they are. Did you know there are actually five colors used in the system. Green is Low risk, (Have a Great Day) Blue is General risk(Have a Good Day) Yellow is Significant risk(Go to work, come home, get in bed) Orange is High risk(Stay home, get under bed,get religious), and Red is Severe risk(Kiss your ass good bye).  Yellow is the status quo because Green and Blue have never been used. What really  pisses  me off about that, is those are my two favorite colors.  Oh well.

 There is no published criteria for the threat levels to change.  The Homeland Security folks say that providing detailed current intelligence would endanger their ability to gather similar information in the future.  Ok so they are making the threat level public but not telling us why. What are we suppose to do when they decide to make a color change?  Is there some manual on this that I missed somewhere?  Do we all become University of Texas Alumni and drink only orange juice on Orange day or walk around with the red ass on Red day.  Maybe the agenda is simply to be able say after something happens, "Hey don't blame us, we said it was Red day."

This somehow reminds me of being in a small classroom in Olney, Texas during the 1950's and having to get under my desk ever so often.  Even in my small undeveloped nine year old brain, I was pretty sure that desk wasn't going to protect my butt from an atomic bomb.

Stay tuned for future adventures.

Just Clowning Around

National Clown week always brings back memories.  When I was little, I ran away from the circus and joined a family.

I actually don't like clowns.  I don't find them funny and I think they are creepy, however, I have to admit to being the class clown most of high school.  It's not as easy a job as you might think.  I hated wearing that big red nose and those giant shoes were really a drag when it came to getting around in a crowed hallway.  Plus nobody ever wanted to ride in my car because it was too little. 

In my day, the world famous clowns were Clairabell, Bozo and Emmit Kelly.  Now they are Rush Slimeball, Bill O'Really, and Glen(I-can-cry-on-cue)Beck. I will say they do remind me of the old guys, they're not funny either; just creepy. 

I never was in a circus but through the years I have certainly  had to work with a number clowns.  The art of clowning goes back to 2500BC.  Through out history most cultures have had clowns.  Today we refer to them as Congress.  I hear Judy Collins in the background which means its time for me to go put on my make up and fill up my squirting flower.

Here is a good read for you to check out.  L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker.  Parker is one the best crime writers I've come across lately.

Right On or is it Write On?

It was only a few years ago that I began calling myself a writer even though writing has always been a big part of my life.  I mean I have been written up, written about, written off, written to, written on, written back, just to name a few.  The ironic thing about me being a writer is that my handwriting is so bad.  My penmanship is horrible.  I would have made a great doctor. Even I can't read it.  

 What saved me happened by accident.  In 1959 as a junior in high school, my best friend and I took typing class on a lark.  We were the only guys in the class.  It was great.  That is why we took it.  We were the only guys in the class.

I think what I like about writing is that I am facinated by words.  I love how words and phrases come and go in our culture.  One of my favorite words is Cool.  I've used it forever.  It is an effortless word to say and fits in any conversation.  Just change the tone or inflection to fit the situation.  The word Sweet sorta took its place a few years ago but thankfully did not  last.  I still hear it occasionally but not like in it's heyday.

Right On and Far Out had pretty good runs too.  I use to say Right Off and Far On just to see if anyone noticed but they didn't.  But then again alot of people don't notice what I say.  Heavy is another word that thankfully has gone back to simply describing weight.  I'm not sure where Dude came from but I don't hear it as much anymore and it seems to stay within a certain age group. I have to admit I am partial to Dudette.

Between texting, email, IMs and blogging, oral conversation in the world is pretty much becoming limited to the jerks who always sit behind me at the movies.

I have a two more good reads to recommend.. They are two really well written spy novels.   The Faithful Spy  by Alex Berenson.   and Critical Space by Greg Rucka 



Stay tuned for future adventures.

How Fast Are We Moving

It feels like the older I get, the slower I move but everything else around me seems to be speeding up.  We now know the Universe is expanding instead of contracting and it is speeding up rather than slowing as first believed.  It seems all our technology is geared toward speed.  When I first started thinking about this I did a little research into how fast some of this technology developed.  I thought the phone was a good place to start because here was something that has been around for a long time with out much change, then suddenly the changes were taking place daily. 

Alexander Graham Bell spoke the first words " Mr. Watson come here.  I want to see you." into a phone in 1876.  The first voice mail started in 1984.  According to my calculations, if Mr Watson hadn't been there, Alexander would have had to wait 108 years to leave a message.  Also in the first 84 years of the phone, only three upgrades were introduced.  Rotary dialing, then touch-tone and color.  The first cell phone call was made in 1973 yet cell phone service didn't begin until 1981.  That was a long to time to be on hold.  I know the feeling.

I don't why it is that we just can't get things fast enough.    I know people who stand in front of their microwave and holler "Hurry up."  We complain loudly about how slow our computer is working completely forgetting how long it took to find information or research something just a few years ago. I am also guilty of some of this behavior but I am trying my best to make changes in this area. I'm not sure what we are rushing headlong into but we are so obsessed with the end of the trip that we don't seem to care about the ride.  And I truly believe the ride is what it's all about.

A couple more good reads for you to check out.  Typhoon by Robin White is a post-Cold war story about a Russian ballistic-missile submarine and a American attack boat.  It is a page turner all the way.      



Also The Dakota Cipher by William Dietrich.  This is another fun read in the Ethan Gage series.



 Stay tuned for future adventures.

Technoloy or Tech not me

A few weeks ago I told ya'll I had some computer problems and how it upset me.  I am trying to do better.  I haven't had the urge to pick up my computer and throw it in the street in a quite a while.  Trust me, I don't want to go back to the #3 pencil and Big Chief tablet or manual typewriter.  I really don't want to have anything to do with anything that has the word manual associated with it.

The real problem I have with my computer is with the operator, the Captain of the ship, the man behind the wheel, the...ok you get it.  Me...I'm the biggest problem connected with my computer.   Here is an example of my computer prowess. If you will look to your right, just under the baby(cute isn't he) you will see my picture(cute aren't I) and below that, my Fabulous Followers.  If you look closely at the picture at the far right of the top row, you will see that my twin brother is a follower.  Of course I don't have a twin brother.  I was simply trying to email back to a new reader when I somehow managed to click on whatever and now I'm following myself.


So I am going to continue to muddle through as best I can.  I know the genie is out of the bottle, we can't put the toothpaste back in the tube now and I'm fine with that.  Technology is here and will continue to pick up speed  I'm just not really convinced that it is making our lives easier.


 I've got a new read to pass along to you.   Wrongful Death by Robert Dugoni.  This is a real page turner that will keep you up until the wee hours until you finish it.

Time and Time Again

Well there is daytime, night time, summer time, winter time, daylight savings time and on time.  Too little time, too much time and out of time.  Time in and time out, times up and time to come in.  Let's not forget down time, over time, time to go and time to leave.


Then there is slow time and fast times, time is money and times awasting.  Anybody remember Twine time, or Crying Time Again, Time of the Season, or This Could Be The Last Time?  How about there is no time like the present, times like this, dinner time, nap time and personal time.

Not to mention good times and bad times, and seems like old times.  There is Mountain time, Miller time and just plain ole time for a cold one.  Of course there is news time, prime time, New York Times and time for a word from our sponsor.  And the all important full time, half time and quarter time.  Did I say break time, past time and there is a time and place for everything.   Oops, I almost forgot my time, your time, our time and real time.

But anytime I hear "Hey kids, what time is it?"(I'm showing my age here or I should say my time on the planet so far) it's Howdy Doody Time.

Before my time is up I want to recommend a good read, Hot Springs by Stephen Hunter.  

This is the first one and still my all time favorite in the Earl, Bob Lee Swagger series.  This the one that started it all.