My sister is headed to Dallas to stay with our brother. He's going to call me when he hears from her or when she arrives. It is a 5 hour trip under the most favorable conditions.

I've been trying to call and the lines have been busy.

Walter bought some supplies and will get some more later today. It is projected that we will get 75 mph winds.

I look out my office window and see blue sky and sunny weather. The high temperature is going to be 101F.

We will be moving computers to an interior office before leaving.

The buildings on campus are solid. The third floor will be covering their equipment because the roof leaks and the basement will move theirs to "higher ground"

The waiting is making me anxious.

Thanks to Rita, my workplace will be closed on Friday.

I'm suppossed to take in an additional foster dog from the Houston SPCA. I haven't heard anything yet. It is taking hours to get out of the Houston area.

I hope my sister and her boys decide to come up and crash at my place. According to the projected path my area will get some nasty weather but not nearly as nasty as the coast. At the very least, I'm sure she will go to our aunt's house. I'm expecting a call in the morning.

I hope my mother, aunt and uncle change their minds about riding Rita out. They are 70 miles inland but this is a category 5. In 1983 they got hit pretty hard by Alicia and she was a category 3. At least my mother will be at her sister's house rather than her mobile home.

It is the waiting that is bothering me.

Walter stocked up on some supplies and will get some more tomorrow.

I'm going to attempt an extremely early run on Friday morning. If I had to go to work Friday, I would not consider it but since Texas A&M will be closed, I can suck it up and then go home, shower and go back to bed. 5:00 AM! Whew!

To anyone who says this is yet another punishment from God, please shut up. Houston has a gay community but it also has Joel Osteen. This is going to hit the righteous and unrighteous.

Despite some of my doubts and jokes I do believe in the power of prayer and positive thoughts. Please send some to Texas.

Thank you.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
best goods families portray
Neal N. Church (funny!)
There's Nothing Like a Hot Oil Penny Stock
Realize total and absolute power and domination in bed with your partner (Once you achieve that then take on the world!)
complete stocks bodyguard
Damien H. Ash
To make textile product for you to save your cost. (Small Q'ty is OK)(all)
To make various parts for you to save your cost. (Small Q'ty is OK)(all)
The perfect companion for your digital camera. (Great now my stuff is receiving dating site spam!)
Morsel C. Elopements
Linda, Does a 6 Figure Income Scare You?
A wife drinking piss inn this movie from Bra
Virgin mantrap for serious people
Imagine your neighbor family having sex altogether in a quiet summer evening.
every one is going for this now chartreuse

Thanks to Cox I had to update this morning rather than last night.

A Dish Network salesman was cruising our neighborhood saying that Cox was going all digital and would not make equipment available to those with analog equipment to view the digital content.

Walter had more questions for the saleman and he wanted me there as well. The salesman said he would return. He never did. I guess the saleman did not feel like answering questions.

Salesmen hate Walter because he asks questions and can do math. The credit card telemarketers really hate him and his ability to do math.

On the other hand, I'm not as incredulous and can be too polite in turning people away. That is why the Jehovah's Witnesses keep coming back. The Watchtower makes a fine bird cage liner but there has to be a better way to obtain copies. The Watchtower is just the right size for Salvador's cage.

I do have a certain admiration for Jehovah's Witnesses. They persist in going door to door and are still nice to people who are not at their best. I've answered the door many times wearing droopy boxer shorts and a t-shirt and my hair a mess. Once, I noticed that I was scratching an itch located on a body part that I would not scratch in public. I was in my house - scratching in inappropriate places is one of the privileges of being in your own space. The JWs were on the porch, they were not yet in my space. They were only taking my time. The JW's just talked, smiled, offered to pray for me and resupplied Salvador with bird cage liner.

The JWs persist in this door to door thing despite some of the ruder tactics people use to get rid of them - perhaps it is not so much as service to their God but something they do for their own amusement. Maybe their worship services consist of sharing the funny things they saw and heard while canvassing neighborhoods.

Do Jehovah's Witnesses have some kind of JW radar? Has a Jehovah's Witness ever knocked on the door of another Jehovah's Witness? Do the Jehohavah's Witnesses ever knock on the door of Mormans or is there some kind of professional courtesy at work here?

Surely, Google can help me find the answers to these questions. Maybe even a JW with a sense of humor. I've met several JWs in a non-door to door context and they all have been quite nice and possess a sense of humor about their religion.

Being able to laugh at your own religion without condemnation is a hallmark of a "good" religion.

I look different. After church I was going to have the oil in my car changed and get a haircut. Maybe even do something about the gray. The oil change place was closed so I got a color and a cut.

Hair coloring is not as an exact science as I thought. My hair is now a dark coppery brown. It does not match the color sample the stylist showed me. The color sample that she claimed most closely matched my actual non-gray hair color. Perhaps the lighting was poor or she was color blind or both. My hair has never been a coppery dark brown. I have ample photographic evidence.

It will take some time getting used to it. Next time I should plan further ahead and bring a photo of myself with my natural hair color.

I did want to experiment with a darker tone when I was ready. I guess I'm ready now.

Walter reacted well to the color.

I need to post a picture.

This week's book:

Sugar Buzz: Your Ticket to Happiness

This week I ran 17.19 miles, burned 2,172.8 calories and weigh 163 pounds.

Monday I ran 5K in 37:01, Wednesday I ran 4 miles in 46:23, Thursday I ran 5K in 34:57 and Saturday I ran 6 miles in 1:19:00

Tuesday I did 100 Hindu Squats, 19 Hindu Push-ups and held a Back Bridge with hand support for 20 seonds. Friday I did 188 Hindu Squats, 19 Hindu Push-ups and held a Back Bridge with hand support for 40 seconds. Friday's workout I really got into a meditative zone. Moving the stretching before the calisthenics helped.

Lola ran with me on the 6 mile run. She did quite well. She rested for about 20 minutes in the car, while I took a shower at the gym then we went to training and she ran and played as if she had not run 6 miles. She runs slow but so do I. I need to work on a better watering method for her. She won't be accompanying me on too many more long runs because of the distance and time it takes me to run would conflict with dog training. I'll have Walter drop her off at training and the Woodstock folks can take her to adoption when the mileage increases to that point.

My right calf is sore. Maybe I can talk Walter into giving me a leg massage tonight.

Lola and I will sleep well tonight.

Boy, I'm getting things done early. I went to bed at 9:30 last night. It looks like I'll be doing the same tonight.

I woke up at midnight to pee, otherwise I got a good night's sleep.

Now, I need to learn not to hit the snooze button so many times. For the past two weeks I've hit it two times. This morning I hit the button three times. I'm trying to get it down to one hit. I need that nine minutes to transistion from sleep to awake so unless I'm on fire I will not get up immediately after the alarm goes off.

Spam Zen koans:
bentham
ursuline
chancy
follow

I've got my spine. I've got my Orange Crush.

Ha!

Walter cleaned the kitchen and washed the clothes. The kitchen looks great.

Spam Zen koans:
chew bran
found a better solution injudicious
equipotent

I got everything done and still can go to bed early!

Hooray Beer!

This week I ran 17.31 miles, burned 2,220.1 calories and weigh 163.3 pounds.

I started running with Gold's Gym Marathon training. This is in preparation for the Austin Marathon on February 19. Two days before my 37th birthday.

I ran 5K in 32:50, 5 miles in 51:48 and 59:00. I forgot to record my time for Monday's 5K.

I really need to pay more attention to what I eat.

Lola has achieved her Level One Manners Training. She can sit, lay down, shake and is housebroken and controllable on a leash. She also comes when called. If you live within an 1 hour drive of Bryan/ College Station, Lola can be adopted via woodstocktexas.org

This week's book:

The Book of Sick

I'm going to do the Sunday Crossword at the Houston Chronicle website then it is bedtime. I like living on the edge.

The team from church that drove the U-Haul to Baton Rouge arrived back in College Station yesterday safe and sound. The trip was longer than they anticipated because of road construction and police.

According to reports the collection point in Baton Rouge was very grateful for the items. They had a warehouse full of clothes and very little else. It took 8 people 2-1/2 hours to unload the truck. The supplies were going to a suburb south of Baton Rouge. A decent amount of cash was also left in Baton Rouge.

The truck was left at a Baton Rouge U-Haul facility per the instructions of U-Haul in College Station. The U-Haul in Louisiana was glad to take the truck. They have none.

I need to get the two-way radios that the team borrowed.

A screen shot of the Bush Administration disaster list (from The Daily Show):

For those with poor vision, the list:
Major Disasters of the Bush Administration
Abu Graib (check), Bin Laden (check), Chalabi (check), Deficit (check), Enron (check), Failure to find WMDs (check), Halliburton (check), Iraq (check), John Bolton (check), Katrina (check), Locusts, Mars attacks, North Korea, Osama and Jenna, Pregnancy: Osama and Jenna, Queer revolt, Rodents of unusual size, Syrian War, Tigers, Unicyclists - Nuclear, Voldemort, WWIII, X-Rated tape: Osama and Jenna, Yam shortage, Zero people left on Earth

This list is a parody of the list of hurricane names that the National Hurricane Center releases before each hurricane season. Here is the 2005 list (Atlantic):
Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Dennis, Emily, Franklin, Gert, Harvey, Irene, Jose, Katrina, Lee, Maria, Nate, Ophelia, Philippe, Rita, Stan, Tammy, Vince, Wilma

Ophelia is spinning around off the east coast of the United States. Katrina will be retired.

For more information check out http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml

Walter could be used in 2010 (Atlantic) and Linda could be used for a Eastern North Pacific name in 2009.

I'm waiting for a hurricane Dakota, Destiny, Madison or Sheniqua. Jesse Jackson would get his panties in a bunch over that last one.

Yesterday afternoon, I volunteered at church to man the donation point for Katrina victims.

The truck is going to Baton Rouge. I don't feel like working right now because the logistics are kind of up in the air. This is distracting. Later this afternoon, I will be taking the truck to U-Haul to be checked out and see if it is worthy to drive 375 miles. There might be some extra unloading and reloading.

I'm actually taking the afternoon off but I'll be even busier between a meeting and dealing with this truck.

When I was a part-time retail slave I thought nothing about taking long road trips with minimal planning. Of course none of these road trips involved 2 tons of relief supplies. One road trip did involve me sleeping in the open bed of a pick up truck while it sped up Interstate 35. I was younger and felt much less mortal.

Walter met a couple from New Orleans, while he was at work. They are staying in some of the long-term housing. They said that they were overwhelmed by the generosity of the people of Texas. The couple are musicians and are looking to replace some equipment. This couple apparently is one of the better off people from New Orleans, they offered some money to the people providing the housing but it was refused.

Similar sentiments have been expressed about Texas' generosity and hospitality in the newspapers and other media.

Several refugees have decided to call Bryan/ College Station their new home.

One of the cool side effects of our church's work with the Salvation Army/ United Way is the mention of our church on mainstream radio and television. I was thrilled to hear the name of my church on a radio station that I actually listen to. There are many people who need to hear the Unitarian-Universalist message who do not listen to public/ community radio. They need to know we are here.

In my church when the subject of radio advertising comes up - it is always let's advertise on KAMU/ KEOS. Yeah, the cost is small and it targets the kind of people who might like our message but our church has preached to what we percieve as our choir but yet they don't come or they visit once and are never seen again. I say, lets spend some extra money and get our message out to more people. We need to stop making assumptions about who would enjoy our church and who wouldn't.

People in our church do feel a bit isolated from the rest of the community because their beliefs are a bit out of the mainstream of our community. We connect to each other but in a lot of ways we have isolated ourselves from the community at large. I'm hoping this Salvation Army/ United Way project will be the first of many events that connects us to the larger community and spreads goodwill about the Unitarian Universalist Church.

Update: a new team has been assembled to take the truck to Baton Rouge. Walter will provide them with two-way radios for the trip. Some members of the church has generously chipped in for gas.

Right now, I'm unusually tired. I went grocery shopping while tired, sweaty, crampy and hungry. I've dealt with 3/4 of the list. I'm going to bed early and will see the truck off in the morning.

The state of Texas has taken in nearly a 1/4 million Hurricane Katrina refugees. Our, Governor Rick Perry (Aggie and possessor of the finest head of hair among the governors of all 50 states, Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories) has declared that Texas shelters are near full capacity and has started airlifting people to other states.

Governor Perry (well-coifed Aggie) has busted the myth circulating among those opposed to population control that the entire world's population can live in the state of Texas.

Texas is nearly full. We cannot house the entire world's population. Use condoms.

In case, you are skeptical of the fineness of the locks of the Governor of Texas, take a gander at the photo I've posted. Do a Google image search and you will find that our Governor is always well-coifed regardless of the situation.

I challenge residents of other U.S. states, Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories to attempt to prove that the Governor of the great state of Texas is not the most well-coifed Governor from among the 50 states, Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories.

Texas may rank at the bottom in many respects but damn, our Governor has great hair.

This week I ran 20.25 miles, burned 2382.5 calories and weigh 163.2 pounds. So far this year, I have ran 527.19 miles and burned 65,390.5 calories.

Tomorrow afternoon, I'm volunteering at the Salvation Army's collection center that has been set up at church. There might be a road trip. I had no idea that being able to drive a standard transmission was such a valuable skill.

One of the TV stations talked about our collection on the 10:00 news. There was a brief clip of me talking about our mission and how this ties into it. I attempted to tie this to our first UU principle because that was the first thing that came to mind when asked. It came off well, I think.

I have a deep voice.

I'm tall, I have a deep voice and I'm married to a man named Walter. Holy crap! I'm Maude! Thankfully, my life is nothing like a Norman Lear sitcom. Otherwise, I would have to kill myself or others. I could not take all the shouting. I would do whatever was necessary to stop the shouting.

I'm an INFP (Meyers-Briggs personality type) and this type wants a kinder and gentler world and will kill if necessary to make that happen.

To close this entry - this week's book:


The Red King (Star Trek Titan Series), Vol. 2

I'm eagerly anticipating Sept. 27 - the day when this book hits the shelves.

To those who are claiming that Katrina is a message and/or punishment from God because of the sins of the Gulf Coast, kindly SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Do you think God, the creator of all things, is not capable of performing surgical strikes? Man has weapons capable of destroying my house without destroying my neighbors.

There is talk about a festival, that was going to take place this week in New Orleans, celebrating homosexuality and how God sent the hurricane to put a stop to it. I think God is capable of telling time. If He wanted to send a message I think He would have sent the hurricane during the actual festival. This week not last week. God works in mysterious ways, I guess.

Men have signed treaties against corporate punishment and retribution (i.e. punishing the whole population of a place for the actions of a few). Man has declared it a "war crime". Check the Geneva Convention. Do you believe that a compassionate God is a war criminal? In the Old Testament, when God destroyed places He spared the righteous.

Of course, God is above men and should not be judged by men's standards even if God, according to some of his believers, is not capable of doing things that his creation has mastered. I believe God is the best in us not the worst.

It is human nature to want an explanation for things but there is no reason that Katrina landed where it did. Just weather conditions and dumb luck. The suffering in the aftermath is man's fault.

So please STFU and help and uplift your fellow human and stop draining marshes. God put them there for a reason.

-------------------------------------

"Past the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the
beaten. And seeing them, he cried, 'Great God, how is it that a loving
creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?' God said, I
did do something. I made you."
- Sufi Teaching

Walked 3,664 steps/ 2.74 kilometers.

Bryan - College Station is hosting a fair number of Katrina refugees. There are three shelters and several collection points. The Unitarian-Universalist Church will be one of the collection points Saturday - Monday.

Our schools, charities and social services are dealing with evacuees.

Here is an article I read about in another forum. It is a non-hysterical criticism of the handling of the situation in New Orleans.

http://www.slate.com/id/2125494/nav/tap2/

The Bush administration has been staggeringly ineffectual in its response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in New Orleans. Its failures are painful evidence of how far we have to go in developing the capability to respond rapidly to a mass-casualty disaster. The president's statement this afternoon set the tone. Rather than direct the U.S. military to immediately assist the thousands of people without food or water in the city center, Bush assured the nation that expected gasoline shortages would be temporary and that his father and former President Clinton were ready to pass the tin can to ensure private-sector support for rebuilding New Orleans. As people began dying around the Convention Center, and Mayor RayNagin resorted to issuing a pathetic SOS over CNN, Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff spoke empathetically of the suffering of the people in NewOrleans. But somehow he seemed proud that 72 hours after the hurricane hit, only 2,800 National Guardsmen had come to the city. The number is about to reach12,000 by tomorrow. That is awfully late for the people stranded there. Yet Lt.Gen. Russel Honoré, who is commanding the military component of Washington's response, pleaded for patience from the people of New Orleans, promising that the U.S. Army was "building the capability" to help them. Building the capability? How is it possible that with the fourth anniversary of 9/11 almost upon us, the federal government doesn't have in hand the capability to prepare for and then manage a large urban disaster, natural or man-made? Interms of the challenge to government, there is little difference between aterrorist attack that wounds many people and renders a significant portion of acity uninhabitable, and the fallout this week from the failure of one of NewOrleans' major levees. Indeed, a terrorist could have chosen a levee for histarget. Or a dirty-bomb attack in New Orleans could have caused the same sort offorced evacuation we are seeing and the widespread sickness that is likely to follow. Chertoff's Department of Homeland Security demonstrated today that it couldorganize an impressive press conference in Washington, lining up everyparticipating civilian or military service from the Coast Guard to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to promise its cooperation. But on the ground inLouisiana, where it counts, DHS is turning out to be the sum of its inefficient parts. The department looks like what its biggest critics predicted: a new level of bureaucracy grafted onto a collection of largely ineffectual under-agencies. What has DHS been doing if not readying itself and its subcomponents for a likely disaster? The collapse of a New Orleans levee has long led a list ofworst-case urban crisis scenarios. The dots had already been connected. Over the last century, New Orleans has sunk 3 feet deeper below sea level. With each inch, pressure grows along the levees. Meanwhile the loss of wetlands and the shrinking of the Gulf Coast's barrier islands have reduced the natural protection from hurricane winds. The weakness of the levees was underscored in a 2002 wide-ranging exploration of New Orleans' hurricane vulnerability by the New Orleans Times-Picayune, one of many grimly vindicated Cassandras. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, which built the levees and continues to manage them, told the paper then that there was little threat of a levee's collapse. But the corps admitted that its estimates were 40 years old and that no one had bothered to update them. The response to Katrina thus far indicates two flaws in the Bush administration's thinking about homeland security. The federal government hasn't learned how to plan for a tragedy that demands putting a city on sustained life-support, as opposed to a one-moment-in-time attack that requires recovering the dead and injured from debris and then quickly rebuilding. And DHS appears unwilling to plan for the early use of the U.S. military to cope with a civilian tragedy. Presidential administrations have perennially underestimated the difficulty of the latter task. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy's top aide, Kenneth O'Donnell, thought it would be easy to deploy troops rapidly to defend James Meredith when he was attacked by segregationists while trying to enroll as the University of Mississippi's first black student. "If the President of theUnited States calls up and says, 'Get your ass down there,' " O'Donnell said, "I would think they'd be on a fucking plane in about five minutes." Kennedy made that call. But then, in spite of O'Donnell's prediction, he watched infrustration as the army dithered for hours before deploying to Oxford, Miss. The Kennedy administration thus learned that the army must be told in advance what to do. As a matter of law and preference, the military does little training for domestic missions. It balks and mutters about posse comitatus, the legal principle that prohibits the use of the army for law enforcement, and leaves the hard work for the National Guard and state and local authorities. This has made sense most of the time. But in an era when we are supposed to be better prepared for an urban disaster, the tradition of allowing local and state authorities to be overwhelmed before the federal government and military step in should have been rethought. Located only three hours from New Orleans is Fort Polk, home of the 4th Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, a light infantry unit with about 3,000 soldiers. Also at Fort Polk is the Joint Readiness Training Center, which prepares military units to respond rapidly to crises abroad. The 4th Brigade has been training for duty in Afghanistan. Why was it also not ready to take on a local disaster scenario in hurricane season? Or at the least, once the National Hurricane Center predicted that the eye of Katrina would come close to NewOrleans, couldn't DHS have deployed the military to help shore up the levees? And in the event of a WMD attack, when there would likely be no warning at all, what is DHS's contingency plan for moving into position the army or the marines to restore order and sustain life? In the wake of Katrina and the breached levee, the answer seems to be not much of one. In the wake of 9/11, that is worse than incomprehensible. It is unforgivable.

Walked 5,881 steps/ 4.41 kilometers yesterday.

Moderated a rather lengthy meeting last night. It ended a bit earlier than scheduled. A lot of information was shared at this meeting. I hope the participants found it useful.

Finished a large copy job. I was feeling rather grumpy about the whole thing because it took three days and created a bit of frustration because of time and equipment malfunctions. Nothing is in optimal working order after running three hours straight.

Anyway, I count it as a blessing (not because I deserve it for any particular reason - just lucky) that I have a home and a job and a city. A natural disaster on the order of Katrina certainly puts things in perspective. My concerns are quite petty in comparison.

Here is a blog from a NO resident http://gutterboylive.livejournal.com/
I know him from a newsgroup that I spent too much time in.

The son and his family of a couple whose house I'm watching will be taking refuge in the house. They do not know if their home still exists.

I'm not sure how I would handle having my life disrupted for several weeks.

The fundies are blaming it on the gays. The anti-abortion people are blaming it on the number of abortion clinics in New Orleans and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is blaming Haley Barbour's role in convincing President Bush to not sign the Kyoto Protocol for the amount of damage Mississippi received.

This has been all over the internet: http://www.wonkette.com/politics//finding-versus-looting-123124.php
White people find, black people loot.

Thoughts and prayers to the people suffering through this.

Walked 9,619 steps/ 7.21 kilometers

Today was the first day of class. I got to work early because I thought there was an 8:00 am class in my classroom. There is brand new equipment in the classroom but it was not fully functioning until about 5:00 pm. The new equipment looks cool and I can't wait to try it out tomorrow.

It was a busy day.

I miscalculated my marathon training time. I am four weeks behind schedule. I'll be increasing my long runs a bit more quickly to compensate.

This week's book:

It's Science With Dr. Radium (Dr. Radium Collection Series)

I was reading the customer reviews of Star Trek Titan: Taking Wing at the Barnes and Noble website. There were two reviewers that objected to the presence of gay characters in the book. Actually, only one strongly objected the other one cannot spell very well or really believes that there is no place for "guy characters in Star Trek". Isn't homophobic Trekkie a bit of an oxymoron? How can anyone watch 5 different Star Trek TV series, 9 movies, read countless novels and comic books and miss the central point of tolerance and appreciation for those who are different?

Homophobic Trekkie - now that is irony.

This week I ran 17.63 miles, burned 2,187 calories and weigh 163.2 pounds. I think my father-in-law broke the scale. My increased consumption of Dairy Queen Blizzards have nothing to do with my weight gain.

Monday - 5K - 34:50
Wednesday - 4 miles - 48:43
Friday - 5K - 33:42
Saturday - 6.3 miles - 1:00:29. That time includes traffic stops.

I miscalulated distance and turned around at the wrong place. I was attempting to run 7 miles. I ran in the late morning again. It did not affect me like last week but my performance is extremely compromised by the heat. I will not run before 10:00 am until it becomes cooler. I had every intention of getting out of bed this morning and running but it did not work out. If I can't get my butt out of bed maybe I should wait until after 6:00pm to run. That would make things a bit difficult for the extremely long runs but hopefully the weather will be cooler by the time I get to those.

Friday I walked 9,380 steps/ 7.03 kilometers.

Lola was well behaved at adoption today. She is a great dog and is a great ambassador for all Pit Bulls. With some training she would make a great therapy dog.

I'm going to a church board retreat tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

Walked 4,713 steps/ 3.53 kilometers.

Had another short and efficient meeting.

TRANSPORTATION FUTURISTICS
What will transportation be like in the future? The
transportation galleries feature futuristic art, drawings
of inventions that could be the way that transportation
will go in, you guessed it, the future.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/news_events/exhibits/futuristics/index.html

I like the "futuristic" art.

I want my flying car and personal jet pack!

Walked 11,924 steps/ 8.94 kilometers yesterday.

The meeting went well.

Walked 4,611 steps/ 3.45 kilometers.

Walked 11,254 steps/ 8.44 kilometers.

I have a very long meeting tomorrow. It is an exit interview. At least there will be pizza.

Spam Zen koans:
Get a natural advantage (as opposed to artificial?)
Unsecured loans are there when you need it (How about free money? Why isn't it there when I need it?)
roofing nails
Good for you (Thanks!)
We may be looking someone like you (What a waste of plastic surgery)
this is not a spam email or an advert its a request for help (If you have to say it is not spam, then it is spam)
Waiting for your responce and remain blessed.
No think it ban (No kill I)
Read carefully (Always good advice)

This week I ran 17.35 miles, burned 2,187.6 calories and weigh 160.8 pounds.
I ran 5K on Monday at 35:28 and on Friday at 34:15.

I ran 6 miles on Saturday in 1 hour and 20 minutes. It was early afternoon and hot. It was very stupid to run at that time. I got a sunburn on the base of my neck and a headache. I drank a lot of water and Gatorade but it must not have been enough to prevent the headache. I'll get my butt out of bed next Saturday and run in the morning.

A damn rash has flared up on my arms and legs again. I'll put some Cortaid on it so that I won't scratch all my skin off while I sleep. Ah, the joy of waking up with blood on the sheets and under my fingernails and explaining to people what happened to my arms and legs. People look at me funny when I say I did this in my sleep. I have self control when awake but sleeping is a different matter.

Yes, I'm a weirdo that scratches herself bloody while she sleeps.

It is too hot to wear long pants while running. Especially since this is a heat related rash.

This week's book:

Van Helsing's Night Off

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
Relax, you're in the Bahamas (How did they know that is where my mind was?)
I need a good person (We all do.)
Become the man that women desire (Isn't Cary Grant dead? Why would I want to be Cary Grant?)
Of fill do arc freeload
A accept on quits
her complain on overcharge
In spell he formal
Linda Causey enlarge girth and length (No thank you!)
IT'S SO SIMPLE
Of lose on frigid
Assertive and strong
Rock solid

Walked 5,945 steps/ 4.45 kilometers.

Lola is coming back. The person who adopted her decided that she was not ready for a dog.

A very interesting site: http://postsecret.blogspot.com/
PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail-in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
On open is grizzle conceal
For say in lengthways yang

Walked 12,000 steps/ 9.00 kilometers.

I received my Matt Furey Inner Circle CDs and newsletter. It is a sample. I was sent two months of CDs instead of one. I can't wait to check them out.

My neck hurts when I move it a certain way.

So stop moving it that way.

But it is the way to be able to check for oncoming traffic.

Well then do like everyone else in this town. Drive by faith. Just pull out and trust God to handle the rest. What do you think all those fish emblems are for?

I once saw a bumper sticker that asked, "How would Jesus drive?" This led me to ask, "Why do people assume that Jesus would be a good driver?"

Healing the sick, walking on water and feeding 5,000 people is impressive but operating a motor vehicle is different.

Walked 4,265 steps/ 3.19 kilometers.

Lola made herself at home. She jumped on to her new owner's couch and got comfortable. It looks like she found a good home.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
It doesn't hurt to check Theodore
you study at concernedly blackthorn
on go at vindication guesswork

Walked 11,332 steps/ 8.49 kilometers.

My father-in-law starts his new job tomorrow.

Lola goes to her forever home tomorrow. She has been the best foster dog so far.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
casserole portend
sack defuse
No trees were harmed in the making of this floor.
on fill to inferential
on have of scrappy
The use to unshod

This week I ran 16.89 miles, burned 2,116.6 calories and weigh 161.7 pounds.

This week's book:

Nodwick Chronicles II: Of Gods and Henchmen

There are a lot of nerds at church.

Walked 9,944 steps/ 7.45 kilometers. Ran 5K in 34:50. I received the information I need early and accomplished everything today. Even made the copies early.

A nice relaxing evening for me.

Walked 4,114 steps/ 3.08 kilometers.

Salvador needs his own blog.

Walked 10,933 steps/ 8.19 kilometers.

I should not have eaten that second serving of taco pie.

Avoid the seconds and I might lose a couple of pounds.

Start where I am at.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
Don't go round the bend
Summer time means no cellulite
was reply he bluecoat

Walked 5,013 steps/ 3.75 kilometers.

What am I running for?

Walked 11,103 steps/ 8.32 kilometers. Ran 5K in 36:10.

I will update the cartoon tonight. A thunderstorm came through while I was working on the newsletter. I got that out just in time.

Yes, I have surge protection and battery back-up but I still prefer to avoid the risks of a lightning strike.

Lola has been adopted but she will not be going to her forever home until the 20th.

I received a great e-mail that made me realize that my attempts at comedy are worth doing.

This week I ran 19.83 miles, burned 2,484.9 calories and weigh 160.8 pounds. So far this year I have ran 455.07 miles and burned 56,517.2 calories.

Lola is now completely clean. She smells nice too.

I have started training for the Miracle Match Marathon in Waco. It is on October 23rd. I think I will take advantage of the tax free weekend next week to purchase some new running shoes.

I posted a multi-panel cartoon. It has been two weeks since the last one. I don't have a story in mind so it is hard to draw the multi-panel toons. I need to put in some serious writing time.

I considered myself blessed to know some very amazing people. On the surface they seem quite ordinary but when faced with difficulties they are amazing.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
Being Alone must suck
plaintiff knox
Our God is able
second notification Bradley
your private invitation Lenora
chaucer
elmer
your private invitiation Alan
Is try of promote

I did not realize that I had so many identities.

I did not update last night because of an electrical storm. I've received a jolt through my keyboard once - that is enough for a lifetime. No rain - just lightning.

Lola overturned a container of old motor oil. Walter cleaned up the spill because he has expertise in that area. I cleaned up Lola. Some parts of her body are still discolored. I will clean her some more tonight. Hopefully, there will not be an electrical storm rushing things. Lola tolerates bathing very well. She is a very sweet and goofy dog.

Here is a column that portrays a ray of hope within the Republican party:

Who We Are
By Bob Herbert
The New York Times

You won't find many people willing to accuse John McCain, John Warner or Lindsey Graham of being soft on terrorism. But the three Republican senators are giving the White House fits with their attempt to get legislation approved that would expressly prohibit cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody.

There was a dramatic encounter during the floor debate last week when Senator Jeff Sessions, a Republican from Alabama, spoke out against the legislation, saying there was no need for it because, as he put it, the detainees are not prisoners of war, "they are terrorists."

Senator McCain, of Arizona, argued that the debate "is not about who they are. It's about who we are." Americans, said Mr. McCain, "hold ourselves" to a higher standard.

The stakes in this confrontation are high. Senators McCain, Warner and Graham are all influential members of the Armed Services Committee (Senator Warner is the chairman), and
they have introduced the legislation in the form of amendments to the nearly half-trillion-dollar Pentagon authorization bill for fiscal 2006.

That such an initiative would come from high-ranking, hawkish Republicans is extraordinary, and the White House is not happy about it. In addition to prohibiting cruel and degrading treatment, the legislation would restrict military interrogation techniques to those authorized in a new Army field manual.

The senators seemed clearly to have been moved by the dismay expressed by current and former members of the military over the lack of uniform standards for the treatment of
detainees. Many have argued that the lack of standards and clear guidance from the highest levels of government have led inexorably to abuses.

Senator McCain has been the point person on the legislative amendments, and his office has released a letter from more than a dozen retired officers, including generals, admirals and former prisoners of war, offering support for his effort to establish standards designed to rein in the abusive treatment of prisoners.

The letter said, in part, "The abuse of prisoners hurts America's cause in the war on terror, endangers U.S. service members who might be captured by the enemy, and is anathema to the values Americans have held dear for generations." Senator Graham, who is from South Carolina, successfully sought the declassification and release of memos from current high-ranking military lawyers who were critical of the legal interpretations by the Bush administration that led to the harsh interrogation policy at Guantánamo. One of the memos, from Maj. Gen. Jack Rives, deputy judge advocate general of the Air Force, said, "Several of the more extreme interrogation techniques, on their face, amount to violations of domestic criminal law" as well as military law.

The White House has fought intensely, but so far unsuccessfully, against this revolt in the usually steadfast Republican ranks. Vice President Dick Cheney, in a meeting with Senators Warner, McCain and Graham, said the legislation would interfere with President Bush's ability to fight terrorism. He was not able to change their minds.

Unable to fend off the amendments, the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, put off further consideration of the defense bill until September. Senator McCain and his allies will try to build further support for the amendments during that period. The White House has threatened to veto the defense bill if the amendments are approved.

We should take a moment, however this debate turns out, to applaud the effort by three Republican senators to stand up to the White House and insist that the United States not
just fight harder than its enemies, but also stand taller. No one should be surprised that these voices of reason are coming from men experienced in the ways of war. Senator McCain was a POW for five years in Vietnam. Senator Graham spent many years as an Air Force lawyer. And Senator Warner is a veteran of World War II and Korea.

A few days ago I spoke with John Hutson, a former admiral who is now president of the Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, N.H. He was one of the signers of the letter to Senator McCain. He stressed that this is a very big issue for the country. If the United States fails to get its act
together with regard to the humane treatment of detainees, he said, we will "have changed the DNA of what it means to be an American."

---------------------------
The opposition is coming from those who claim to hold a "culture of life" sacred. I guess that proves that the "culture of life" is only for the unborn and vegetative white women. The rest of us can go to hell.

The first step in becoming a terrorist yourself is to no longer recognize the humanity of your perceived enemy. Once that is done suicide bombing, torture and other acts of brutality are no problem to perform.

I pray that when Senator Jeff Sessions prays to his God that his God will grant him the wisdom to understand that as Americans we should hold ourselves to a higher standard and strive to meet and at our very best exceed that standard.

Yes, the people being detained may be terrorists but they are also humans and we should treat them as such. Perhaps they do not deserve to be treated humanely but that is not a determination for us to make. We should do the right thing and give our soldiers the guidance necessary to do the right thing.

Confession time: I worked on Pat Robertson's presidential campaign in 1988.

The journey from Evangelical Christian to Unitarian - Universalist is not as interesting as it appears on the surface. I hold no malice toward Evangelicals but I think the rank and file Evangelical needs to speak up when one of the leaders does something very un-Christ-like. A loving brother or sister corrects another if they are straying from the path.

From: http://tinyurl.com/7aujx (Americans United for the Separation of Church and State)

TV Preacher Prays For More Vacancies On U.S. Supreme Court
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
Robertson Seems To View God As 'Divine Hit Man,' Says Americans United's Lynn

TV preacher Pat Robertson is so eager to see the Supreme Court overturn decisions upholding civil liberties that he’s praying for God to create more vacancies on the high court.
Speaking on his nationally broadcast “700 Club” program Aug. 2, Robertson blasted the court for “egregious decisions that have taken us far away from the Constitution.” Among the rulings under fire from Robertson were Roe v. Wade, rulings on the “the so-called separation of church and state,” decisions protecting the civil rights of gay people and the ruling barring the death penalty for juveniles.

The Virginia Beach-based televangelist later launched into a prayer asking God for swift confirmation of Bush nominee John G. Roberts and more vacancies on the high court so that new justice can “dramatically change” judicial policy.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, criticized Robertson’s actions.

“Robertson and other Religious Right leaders are so desperate to take over the Supreme Court that they’re trying to move heaven and earth,” Lynn said. “They’re even trying to enlist God in their nefarious court-packing scheme.

“Robertson seems to view God as a divine hit man, taking out justices or anyone else who gets in the way of the Religious Right agenda,” said Lynn. “I think most Americans don’t like to see God dragged into this kind of divisive and demagogic politics.”

In the “700 Club” broadcast, Robertson laid out a religious political agenda for controlling the high court. He urged viewers to participate in “Operation Supreme Court Freedom,” a month-long prayer project intended to beseech God to replace current justices with “righteous judges.”
“Well, the time has come for somebody who says we’re not going to legislate from the bench, we’re going to abide by the Constitution,” Robertson said. “So the president has put forth one person, but there needs to be a couple more.”

Robertson then prayed: “Father, Lord, the government is in your hand, the rulers are in your hand. This great and mighty nation, Lord, stands as a beacon of hope to so many oppressed people. But Lord, if our foundations are crumbling, then this great beacon won’t stand for long. And we pray, Lord, that this one key area of our government might be dramatically changed, that we might see people who respect the Constitution and who respect the fundamental law of the land.

“Lord, give us righteous judges who will not try to legislate and dominate this society,” he continued. “Take control, Lord! We ask for additional vacancies on the court, and we ask for additional fine people like John Roberts. Lord, speed this hearing process; may there be no rancor. May the Senate comport itself as it should, and may we see peace, harmony and a rapid confirmation process. Do miracles, Lord. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Lynn noted that Robertson has a history of controversial activity, whether it’s commanding hurricanes to go out to sea or smiting communities that incur his wrath. He once speculated that Orlando might be hit by a meteor for allowing gay flags to be flown on city streets.

------------------------------------

It would be sort of funny if God answered Rev. Robertson's prayer by killing Justices Scalia and Thomas. I suppose the additional vacancies can happen through retirement.

I took Monday off. I needed to rest.

Went shopping, bought some clothes. I don't enjoy clothes shopping. I enjoyed the company but not the shopping.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
The put of superior man
grace singlehanded

The sea of negativity is up to my ankles.

This week I ran 18.33 miles, burned 2,261.8 calories and weigh 160.4 pounds.

This week's book:

The Land of Nod Treasury

As remedy for the sorry state of radio in Bryan/ College Station, I bought a CD of Ray Charles' greatest hits. Now my drive time will be less frustrating.

I have a new foster dog. A pit bull named Lola. She is real sweet but has major issues with cats. You can see her picture at http://www.woodstocktexas.org

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
Go watch do languor

Nothing. I have nothing to write. Nothing interesting to write.

VidSense is a bit of a disappointment. It can't be a daily video clip if the clip does not change daily. The thing is in beta right now. Maybe it will improve.

I'm hitting the sack.

I'm settled in my new office. I have some space for more furniture. Now, I can do some other work.

I need to scan some slides and make prints of an elderly member of the church. I think he might get a kick out of the photos. I will visit him tomorrow after work.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
Or smoke go economical
Be stand to arise disappointed
Is smoke on demilitarize

I haven't been wearing my pedometer this week.

Been changing offices the past two days at work. My stuff is in my new office but it is not in any kind of order. I'll be arranging tommorrow. I'll also be throwing a lot of stuff away.

I shall brace myself for the comments. Yes, that set of shelves looks like it was designed to have a door. I know I can unscrew the metal things. The desk is very nice. No I did not repaint. The room did not need it.

For a moment today, I regretted my lack of extended interaction with my co-workers. I don't know why it bothered me today.

At least I get to wear t-shirts and jeans.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
Octopuses J. Diss
I read at yoga partizan
He accept do oligarch
To live on quackery clamour
Be see by moresque
On close of whys

Salvador's cage has been moved to the office. He is doing his "this cage is not going to cover itself" chirp. He gets very cranky if he is forced to stay up too much past his bedtime.

There is nothing more dangerous in the morning than a cranky cockatiel.

More poetry from Salvador, the cockatiel:

Kwzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxx
Zaaaaxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxaxg

This week I ran 11.52 miles, burned 1,407.9 calories and weigh 160.8 pounds.

This week's book:

Sky Ape: All the Heroes

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
so eat so dignity northeasterly
The rain a pinpoint
Of dance at operational

A Perfect World now has daily videos.

Walked 10,386 steps/ 7.78 kilometers.

My father-in-law got a job. We celebrated and went out to Denny's to eat. Not too fancy but at least it was quiet. It was nice to enjoy dinner without having to shout.

Tomorrow I go to Houston to celebrate my father's birthday.

If only my cartoons were drawn half as well and were half as funny. I am jealous of those who are more skilled. It stems from frustration with the fact that I don't see my work improving despite all the drawing and writing that I do. Maybe I should take some classes. Maybe I need to get out of my head for awhile and look around. Maybe I need a real vacation. Maybe I need a change of scenery. Maybe I need to stop beginning sentences with the word maybe.

Here is a better comic strip than I can draw or write:
http://cheston.com/pbf/archive.html

The one titled "Mittens" is one of the funniest things I have read in a while. Real laugh out loud funny. Don't have anything in your mouth while looking at this - otherwise your keyboard could get quite messy.

Walked 5,987 steps/ 4.49 kilometers.

Brenna is settling in to her new home.

An interesting website to check out:

Square America
A gallery of vintage snapshots & vernacular photography
(Updated Daily)

http://www.squareamerica.com/index.htm

Square America is a site dedicated to preserving and displaying vintage snapshots from the first 3/4s of the 20th Century. Not only do these photographs contain a wealth of primary source information on how life was lived they also constitute a shadow history of photography, one too often ignored by museums and art galleries. Or at least that what I tell people- more accurately, the site is a catalog of my obsession with vintage photographs. For the last eight years or so I've spent countless hours digging through boxes of old snapshots at flea markets (mostly here in Chicago and in NYC) and too much money buying photos on eBay. The site is my attempt to create some kind of organizational framework, however idiosyncratic, for the sprawling mess my collecting has created. More importantly, now that the site is up I can tell people that I'm a curator rather than a collector.

Read all about James Doohan:
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/12920.html

Walked 10,642 steps/ 7.98 kilometers.

Beam me up!

Walked 7,704 steps/ 5.77 kilometers.

Brenna might be going to her forever home on Thursday.

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

Walked 10,965 steps/ 8.22 kilometers.

The man in the gabardine suit is a spy. His bowtie is really a camera.

Which Sci-Fi/ Fantasy Character are you?

Ceaselessly struggling for a well-deserved redemption, you carefully arrange your alliances and energies.

There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom.

This week's book:

Patrick The Wolf , Volume 2

I LOVE TATER TOTS!

This week I ran 18.45 miles, burned 2,239.2 calories and weigh 159.8 pounds.

Brenna is a Petco. Four people filled out adoption applications for her while I was there. She barks at other dogs, especially dogs much bigger than her. I'm sure she has calmed down. I will pick her up at 5:00. Because of all the excitement, she will be very tired when she gets home.

I'm going to take a shower so I don't offend the dogs with my stinkiness when I pick up Brenna.

Walked 11,139 steps/ 8.35 kilometers.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
become and larger man...
Help Actualise it
three is never a crowd
Which say in clearence axolotl
No borrow it razor

Brenna will be at Petco in College Station from 11:00 to 5:00.

Brenna is receiving inquiries from outside of Texas. She is becoming quite the celebrity. Woodstock is mapping where her inquiries are coming from and they think she might get inquiries from all 50 states. You would think nobody has ever seen a French Bulldog before.

This is the last photo I have of here from this set. I will take some more pictures this weekend.

You can read more about Brenna at woodstocktexas.org

Walked 5,832 steps/ 4.37 kilometers.

Walked 11,799 steps/ 8.84 kilometers yesterday.

I'm running out of pictures of Brenna. I need to take some more.

I'm picking up a new car tomorrow. A 2000 Saturn.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
As Salaam Alaiykum, In the name of Allah
why did Ebony go back
Vinyls Q. Strictest
An count on listener exclaim
Linda holeable

Brenna is recovering very well. She is more energetic.















It is hard to capture an energetic animal on camera.

Walked 9,264 steps/ 6.94 kilometers.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
Go rain or league nightshirt
Causey embarrass
He accept of unification
Is dance a syndrome

Another picture of Brenna, the recovering from her surgery, French Bulldog:















Walked 6,441 steps/ 4.83 kilometers.

Ate dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. It was good food.

I'm going to bed.

Here's Brenna!














This week's book:


DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe

Check it out! Another picture of Brenna.















She is finally interested in hard food. She had a good time at Starbucks. I enjoyed some iced tea and got a little drawing done. Next week she will be spayed and will get to hang out inside of Petco. Assuming that she is not adopted by then. She has been a great first foster.

This week I ran 17.76 miles, burned 2,193.8 calories and weigh 159.5 pounds.

Goofy spam:
You have feelings of guilt and embarrasment ni
But sign be diploma
Junior L. Helms
Oh, you are not able to control your feelings!

I'm service leader tomorrow so I need to prepare my script.

Another photo of Brenna:















Smile for the camera!

Walked 9,231 steps/ 6.42 kilometers Thursday, walked 13,347 steps/ 10.01 kilometers today.

I don't care about Naomi Judd.

Goofy spam names and Zen Koans:
The wait an nation
you hurt jail rolling
how came Chester is acting that way
damp sake
gloss cast
Is leave do inspire sporadic
croupier dumpty
Is can go salesman often
Get in before it takes on

Somebody is offering, via e-mail, free horny young lesbians. Free lesbians are not as free as advertised. There is food, water, shelter, health care, time and the expense of doing the responsible thing - spaying. Don't want to contribute to the lesbian over population problem. They are cute when they are young but lesbian ownership is a lifetime committment. Someday that lesbian will not be so horny or young. Will you still love your lesbian once the cuteness wears off? One should think about these things before answering that ad for free horny young lesbians.

No update last night because of a thunderstorm. We needed the rain.

There is a large tree branch in the front yard and our mailbox is down.

Brenna will be going to adoption for a short time. Since she is in heat, she won't be going into Petco. She might drive other dogs crazy. People are coming to see her so I will be with her at the nearby Starbucks and anyone who wants to see her will be directed over there. Fortunately, I will only be there from 11:00 am - noon. I don't think I can handle sitting outside of Starbucks for 6 hours - in July - in Texas. Especially, since I am not a coffee drinker.

I bought a diaper for Brenna. She has to wear that while she is at Starbucks. The diaper does not fit well because the designed is based upon a dog with a tail. Brenna does not have much of a tail.

She will get spayed next week and after that dog diapers will no longer be necessary.

I'll update the cartoon tonight.

Walked 10,804 steps/ 8.10 kilometers.

Another picture of Brenna:














She had her rabies shot today, so she will be able to go to the adoptions at Petco this Saturday. Adoption is on Saturdays, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm at the Petco in College Station, Texas. Brenna has already received several inquiries and there are people driving in to see her Saturday.

Also found out that she is in heat. She cannot be spayed until she is out of heat.

She loves basking in her container of water.

Brenna, the French Bulldog:















She is available for adoption via woodstocktexas.org

Who can resist that face?

This week's book:

2000 Year Old Man Goes to School

Walked 8,938 steps/ 6.70 kilometers.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
Go reply it wend
Is finish or singly showplace
An see a restoration
Or count in disconsolate cannibalize
Osceola D. Resend
do accept by omen basketball

Religion is like a smile on a dog.

Thursday I walked 7,076 steps/ 5.30 kilometers. Friday I walked 14,419 steps/ 10.31 kilometers.

This week I ran 16.44 miles, burned 2,038.9 calories and weigh 160.7 pounds. So far this year I have run 369.18 miles and burned 45,929.6 calories.

Brenna is doing well. She tested negative for heartworms and got her Frontline and de-worming and other treatments. I will have to make an appointment for rabies and spaying. She did okay at puppy class.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
do sleep so illustrative libretto
And sleep is yogi
I worry the render
It think is general
Pogo B. Caloric
durer Linda soap
her explain go glare exogamy

Interesting column by David Broder at WashingtonPost.com.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/29/AR2005062902587.html


THE PRICE OF PUBLIC TV'S WIN
The victory that public television won last week when the House restored the committee-mandated 25 percent cut in its funds came at a price. That price will be paid, as is so often the case in today's Washington, by the people who depend on government help for essential health care and education and job-training services.

Walked 11,332 steps/ 8.49 kilometers.

Brenna is doing well. I will be taking her to work on Friday. She shows very little interest in Salvador. She tries to interact with Gigi, my father-in-law's blind and deaf 18 year old toy poodle, with little success.

I need to take some pictures. I need to get her a toy.

Where does the time go?

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
Linda bebop
hebe Linda Causey clergymen
Pancras Bellamy
into some clever
But drive it exalt boo

Walked 8,383 steps/ 6.28 kilometers.

My father-in-law arrived safely.

The foster dog is a female French Bulldog named Brenna. She is real sweet and is laying under my desk at the moment.

I'll post pictures soon.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
Have leave my repository frivolity
bruegel Linda Causey corrugate
on see at spartan
connect with and
controllable mind
you put to uncolored racket
Causey consanguine
My stand he cowling
Platen B. Saroyan

Walked 12,432 steps/ 9.32 kilometers.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
My stand he cowling
Platen B. Saroyan
Absolutely nothing to regret

My father-in-law is coming to live with us for a while.

Tommorrow I pick up my first foster dog.

This week's book:


The Superhero Handbook

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
It sing or launch
He hear be shot
Amado H. Lifetime
My eat he multitudinous
It write of rushlight diminutive

I did a bad thing today.

I bought some sushi from the grocery store. I went home and put the sushi on a plate, along with the ginger, soy sauce and wasabi. Before preparing lunch I let Salvador out of his cage. He flew to the counter and started chatting to his true love, the toaster. Sal did not appreciate me preparing my lunch on the same counter. He was curious and sniffed my lunch but then went back to the toaster.

I got a bit of wasabi on my finger so I put that finger toward Salvador. He bit it and got a taste of wasabi. He shook his head several times, then rubbed his tongue on the counter and huddled by the toaster.

That was mean but I did it two more times. Now Sal won't let me pet him. After the third time I gave him a taste of wasabi, he ran away when I offered to pet him. Hopefully, he will have forgiven me by tomorrow.

I know it was mean but it was still funny.

Right now Salvador is playing around in a cubby hole.

This week I ran 17.21 miles, burned 2,085.5 calories and weigh 159 pounds.

Yesterday I walked 13,167 steps/ 9.87 kilometers.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
Great Sex Pills cutoff
curia consternate
kuhn aural
so fly by stoppage sake
so type as czech spotter
it have no comeback mildly
A cancel so macadam
Is clean on rumpus buttonhook
And run or gigantic kuomintang
being
ahmadinejad
Disguise F. What
He buy be love
A shut he unity

I like the rush I get when eating wasabi. Yow!

Cox sucks. Cox internet. The damn high speed connection has been crawling at night or only one of us can get online.

Time to call Cox and remind them that we are paying for two IPs. Periodically, Cox forgets and only allots one IP and we call tech support and they look at our account and discover, "wow, you are paying for two IPs".

Yes, yes we are. So why can't both of us get online.

Because, we at Cox internet are absolute morons and as stupid people it is our duty to inconvenience the customers from time to time. Especially loyal customers who have been paying for two IPs for over six years. Actually, the truth is we at Cox internet are terribly lonely and from time to time screw things up just so that you will call and we gain the privilege of hearing your lovely voice. The slight southern drawl is a real turn on. Anyhow, since you have graced our lives with your voice, your second IP is now up and as an apology for our screw up we will alter your bill to reflect the days that you only had one IP. Oh and please come by our offices between 8:00 am and 10:00 pm and give each of us the bitch slapping we so richly deserve.

[REALITY!]

Sorry, I drifted off to fantasy land.

Actually what happens is that one of us calls. Tech support discovers that we are paying for two IPs and does whatever is necessary to get the second IP back. The tech is informed that both of our computers now have access. He is thanked and the call is ended. Repeat every 9 - 12 months.

Our bill is never altered to reflect the lack of service but as middle class Americans we have been conditioned to accept regular [insert vulgar and violent sexual imagery here] from corporations and government. It is the price we pay for the privilege of living in the United States. It is reflection of God's blessings that me and family do not get ass-raped as often and as hard as other people whom God, for whatever reason, does not seem care about as much.

---------------------------

My god, it is amazing what not being able to access the internet inspires. Irritation at a slow/ non-existent internet connection to cynicism about a fundamental belief held by many Americans.

This thing has taken a good portion of my life. Not necessarily a bad thing, just an observation.

The boring bit: walked 7,903 steps/ 5.92 kilometers.

Walked 10,200 steps/ 7.65 kilometers.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
And clean at recognition harassment
know what kind
Of fill is noteriety
stingy goddess
bittersweet Causey chili
Tinkered O. Grubbiest

Walked 8,867 steps/ 6.65 kilometers.

Damn, my FTP connection is running slow. I've made tea, talked to my father-in-law, took out my contacts and the darn thing is still uploading. All connections have been slow tonight. High speed, indeed.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
alison Linda
Agar Hashemi ra be Ahmadinejad tarjih midahid:
That reply do effendi grandfather
by know so formica
Confidential fashion store nautilus

I received this e-mail from a clueless person:
I have a Lady Kenmore Heavy Duty Dryer and the plastic vent that stores the lint is broken. Can I order a replacement part?

I only have a website mocking the 1971 Sears Catalog. I know it is number 2 on Google but upon visiting the website it should be very clear that I do not sell Sears products.

My damn file still isn't finished uploading!

Walked 10,345 steps/ 7.75 kilometers.

More from Salvador:
.322222222222222222222222222222
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222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222
22222222222222222222222w3a3333
333333333333333333333333333333
333333333333333333-
1333333333333333334333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333334qew433
3333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
333333333333333333333wss3333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333
333333333333333333333w333333333
33333333334eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee35rrrr
ttvc.k.jjjjjjjhggggggggggggggggggggggggg
ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
gggggggggggggggggggggggggggg6

He also opened the help file and search and replace.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
his study a future
overwhelmingly important statement
Have need so powerful yam
his draw do fitting cramp
an take of dude

This week's book:

Patrick the Wolf Boy, Volume 3

This is what happens when a cockatiel runs amok on your keyboard, with a word document open, while you are away:

.m;6444422222222222222222222222222222222222222
2222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
2222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
2222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
2222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
2222222222222222222222222222222` mmfx dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd
dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd22
222222223`5555555555555455FD66Y733333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
3333333333333333333333333333333333333333RBKILL

Walter added the KILL to mess with me. The rest was typed by Salvador. Sal managed to engage the Caps Lock.

Salvador likes the number 3.

3 is the magic number.

This week I ran 9.35 miles, burned 1,156.3 calories and weigh 157.8 pounds.

I did not run today because I was visiting my father for Father's Day. He informed me that he came across my blog while doing a Google search on my great(2) grandfather. It is number two after MSN movies: biographies of George Custer and Richard Simmons. I was surprised but not too distressed since I try to keep the promise of this blog's second tagline (The world's most boring blog) and avoid writing negative things about my family. I really don't have anything negative to write about my family even if I was inclined to do so. Compared to the trainwrecks I have read about on the internet - they are great. Actually, they are great without the comparison.

If I wanted to write a blog griping about my family I would do it over at My Space or Xanga and pretend to be 16 years old. I would also make up another family.

I couldn't pull off the act because I've replaced most of my memories of 16 with useless pop culture trivia and keyboard shortcuts. All that is left is embarrassment about my younger self.

I love my family, especially my sister Sheeniqua.

A couple of nights ago, I was checking where my visitors were coming from and who is using my clip art and cartoons and found that My Space is being invaded by "old people". Or at least old by My Space standards. 28 is quite elderly over at My Space.

Actually, I think it would be more fun writing a blog at My Space posing as an 80 year old woman. Have Glen Miller as my background music and pictures of Cary Grant, Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart decorating my blog. Write a few rants to rattle the kids.

I do have plenty of better things to do in my real life than to set up a pretend life.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
Confidence is back (2)
Be moeen ray bedah...
Not allow be wifely mineral
capetown Causey
civil Linda Causey eyed
Linda, Stop Working So Hard (4)
As open be cardsharp phallic
As need do operate

I'm going to take the advice of my spam and go relax on the couch.

Walked 12,615 steps/ 9.46 kilometers.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
Make this email make a difference for you boat
Suprise for your woman...
kay Linda pow
visceral
Linda penultimate
Odis F. Khan - detach Linda dnieper
Linda Causey corcoran
Linda Causey episodic
glean
Drily P. Bifocals
on borrow it court spent
With have a western
textron Linda
Great Sex Pills archangel
look through the letter - more pleasure
Great Sex Pills poach
bohr
Intimacy is a vital part of any union.
My cancel in commonplace herbaceous
Be smoke an hove
He learn a hasty
infancy Causey boyar
Is worry to attune salacity
Of comb in spasm
it live so dutiful
United lac States
was work in convalescent

My deleted items folder is empty.

Walked 5,617 steps/ 4.21 kilometers.

Went to a very enjoyable and productive meeting. I hope the rest of my meetings are like this.

Walked 11,226 steps/ 8.41 kilometers.

People from Woodstock visited the house. We signed the paperwork and now we wait for a foster dog. This should be exciting.

Got most of my information transfered from the IIIe to the Zire. I haven't installed the software for the Zire yet. I hope to be able to simply transfer the rest of the information electronically.

I like the Zire.

Now I have to get something for Walter for Father's Day. The gift will be from Salvador.

Walked 7,109 steps/ 5.33 kilometers.

The church board meeting went well. A lot was accomplished and there was cheesecake.

Walter bought me a new Palm Zire. I can draw. Now I just have to transfer the information from my IIIe to the Zire. This should be interesting.

Walked 9,941 steps/ 7.45 kilometers.

I am attempting to cut out caffeine after 6:00 pm. Hopefully, this will help me sleep better. It has been two days since I decided to do this.

Goofy spam names and Zen koans:
rectangular Linda Causey shipyard
so bring my suicide labor
A Moral Jones - Citizens declare WAR on Porn being delivered to children, and were going to WIN
everyday Causey
pay attention to the message - longer longer longer
her try by thermosetting
Veronica said leave tomorrow
Linda Causey taxiway
Or tell the bass

*YAWN*

This week's book:


Gutsman

Spam Zen koans:
As swim no cardsharp secondary
hop California born and raised, Cami is an excellent pole smoker.
analytic Linda Causey armpit

This week I ran 16.38 miles, burned 2,020.2 calories and weigh 157.8 pounds.

Salvador has been in an exceptionally bitchy mood today. He has done nothing but scream. He screams in his cage. He screams outside of his cage. He screams on his box. He preens a little then he screams some more. Look at him and he screams. Ignore him and he screams.

Walter has come home. Sal has stopped screaming. He is now exploring a shelf where is not suppossed to be. At least he is quiet.

Spam Zen koans:
No start so showpiece
As in use verisimilitude bamboozle

Now I will get my freak on.

Walked 12,785 steps/ 9.58 kilometers.

Goofy spam names:
Collied M. Mismanage
Malaysians P. Seraphim
Disenfranchised H. Markups
Geranium U. Reykjavik

I'm tired.

*YAWN*

Scored 51 points on this 80's music quiz.

Walked 8,454 steps/ 6.34 kilometers.

I successfully fried fish for dinner tonight. This was my first attempt. I used Zatarain's Southern Style Fish Fry as a breading.

There is still plenty of fish in the freezer. At least 5 more meals worth.

Glub glub.

Walked 9,798 steps/ 7.34 kilometers yesterday.

Watched "Big Fish" last night. It was a good movie. It is amazing that Englishmen, Albert Finney and Ewan MacGregor can do good southern accents but American Danny DeVito could not. Steve Buscemi was able to pull off a decent Alabama drawl.

I'll have to check the IMDB to find out more about the actress that looked like a young Jessica Lange and the actor that played Carl the giant.

Walter and I both noticed that Albert Finney, in this movie, looks a lot like William Shatner.

Before watching Big Fish, we were watching a special on Animal Planet about cartoon animals. Like every special about American animation this special went on and on about the cleverness and wit of the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.

News Flash: The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show is not that clever or witty. Maybe it was clever and witty compared to Hanna-Barbara's TV toons but that is not saying much.

It was poorly drawn. Why there are people still lifting up this waste of celluloid, I do not understand. Rocky and Bullwinkle does not reverberate through mass consciousness like the Looney Tunes or even Scooby Doo.

Who can sit through a Wagnerian opera or the Barber of Seville without suppressing the urge to sing along using the Bugs Bunny lyrics? Or watch Star Trek VI on TV and wonder if they are going to use the Scooby Doo ending?

It is not for lack of trying that I do not understand why Rocky and Bullwinkle is uplifted by certain people. I've made attempts to appreciate this cartoon at various stages in my life. Every time I come away thinking, "This is crap. What is the big deal?" It has nothing to do with dated references - I get the dated humor in Laugh In and Get Smart and still find it funny. I can get some of the even older references in WWII Looney Tunes and still find them amusing.

Maybe Rocky and Bullwinkle was something great in its period but unlike other cartoons cannot transcend it. Rocky and Bullwinkle must be one of those "you had to be there" cartoons. Unfortunately, a lot of people were there and they are making the rest of us suffer by going on and on about the so-called genius of this cartoon and failing to realize that while it was an enjoyable part of their childhood, it was a cheaply drawn diversion between commercials - hell - it had commercials right in the cartoon. Not everything from the Baby Boom childhood was great. Most of it was a crass attempt to sell things. Nothing magical. Just Madison Avenue.

Hong Kong Phooey was one of my favorite cartoons as a kid. Had a cool theme song, Scatman Crothers, a striped cat named Spot and some funny gags. It was a great part of my childhood and others my age enjoyed too. But it was also cheaply drawn and through an adult's eyes the gags are stupid. The show evokes happy memories and feelings and Sublime's version of the theme song is great but I have no illusions about Hong Kong Phooey. It was cheaply drawn diversion between commercials. Nothing more. I do not attempt convince others outside my age group and culture otherwise.

That trick never works.

Walked 7,071 steps/ 5.30 kilometers.

A shout out to Bozeman, Montana for having the most amusing police reports I've ever read.

http://www.math.montana.edu/~jobo/police/index.html

Cows at large. Scary stuff.

Walked 11,176 steps/ 8.38 kilometers.


The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

The Unitarian Jihad

On the way to church, yesterday, Walter and I listened to a preacher on the radio. The preacher bellowed that in his life he found that the good things that happened to him are because God is in his life and that the bad things that happened to him are because he was in his life. The preacher demanded an amen but did not receive one. I suppose even the excitement of the moment could not cloud the thinking of the congregation.

What kind of screwed up theology was the preacher preaching? Let God control your life and good things will happen - take control of your life and bad things will happen. Did this man stop and think just how fucked up that is before writing the sermon? In the preacher's defense, he did qualify that by referring to his own life. The preacher has had a truly blessed life so far if he is able to give credit to God for the good and blame himself for the bad. Maybe this man has not experienced anything truly horrible.

I pray that this preacher does not experience anything truly horrible. It might shake his faith or perhaps on the other side of the suffering he becomes a better minister but I do not want to wish suffering on anyone. That would be a bit presumptuous on my part anyway. The preacher might call the suffering part of God's plan (even though it is your fault for attempting to control your life). I suppose that is one way to avoid despair. Not too comforting.

What truly amazes me is that churches with preachers that preach the sort of theology that gives glory to God for the good and places blame for individual suffering on the individual are growing. Perhaps the whole thing is a bit more nuanced once one gets past the bellowing, charismatic preacher.

Church is about personal growth and community. Church should be the last place to find condemnation. There is no condemnation in the Unitarian - Universalist faith but yet it is not growing as fast as the religions that are more strident about the cause of personal suffering. I guess it is part of human nature to be challenged to face whatever demands life throws in our way. Even the artificial demands of dogma.

Contrary to popular belief, the creedless faith of Unitarian - Universalism does make demands of its adherents. Other religions have the advantage of clear, but sometimes confusing and contradictory, instructions in meeting the demands of faith and facing the questions of existence. Contradictions and confusion can be cleared through more prayer, more faith or just simply trusting God and stop thinking and asking questions. Unitarian - Universalism refuses to accept those prescriptions or the assumption that those prescriptions will work for everyone. The demanding part of Unitarian - Universalism is being able to accept the idea that your truth and spiritual path may not work for someone else and still be able to live in community with that person whose truth is quite different from your own. It is not as easy as it sounds given humanity's demand for conformity.

Here is the evangelism bit: visit http://www.uua.org to learn more about Unitarian - Universalism and why our faith's name is so damn long.

Yesterday walked 12,703 steps/ 9.52 kilometers.

This week ran 14.75 miles, burned 1,799.8 calories and weigh 159.5 pounds. So far this year have ran 309.8 miles.

I received my book and DVD from the Dallas White Rock Marathon. I flipped through the book but have not watched the DVD.

Walked 10,600 steps/ 7.95 kilometers.

About the mime cartoons: I don't know, I thought of several mime gags and decided to draw them all. Actually, there are only 4 mime gags for now.

When I was 9 years old, I wanted to be a mime when I grew up. It was the 1970's and mimes had their own TV show. The whole thing looked cool to me. That phase lasted 3 months.

What ever happened to Shields and Yarnell?

Walked 11,824 steps/ 8.86 kilometers.

I had a bit of free floating frustration today. It was stimulated by the revelation about Deep Throat and the Watergate flashbacks. I found it annoying that Watergate is revisited while greater crimes go virtually unreported. Crimes that do not require a Deep Throat to guide reporters.

I will be posting multi-panel comics as I finish them. I'm behind schedule on those. I've got one on the scanner and have started drawing another one.

I got a conversation started which lead to narrowing things down so that a decision can be made sooner.

Deep Throat has been revealed and the news is all about Watergate. The media wonders if another scandal on the magnitude of Watergate could happen again.

I had to laugh when that question came up. 1,600 and counting dead Americans and several thousand Iraqis killed based on lies. The justification for invading Iraq was based on lies. The US media does not question anything the administration says and when the falsehoods are exposed only offer weak apologies and empty promises to do better next time.

This is bigger than Watergate. Although, it is not quite as important as the results of the Michael Jackson trial.

The media will relive the glory of exposing Nixon's crimes 30 years ago while ignoring the greater crimes of the current president and his men.

This Watergate thing reminds me of the Unitarian - Universalist movement. Every Sunday near Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday UU ministers and publications talk about the participation of UUs in marches and those who have died for the cause in the 1960's. We celebrate the lives and sacrifices of those brave UUs. I am struck by their bravery but leave the service wondering what have we done since. Nobody talks about that. I'm afraid of the answer I might find.

Even my local church celebrates the brave acts of its members performed during the Vietnam War. I'm left to wonder about the relevance of our religious movement as a force for societal change when all we do is look at our past. I enjoy history as much as anyone but it is time to leave the battles of 1960's and 1970's.

I don't know. It just seems to me that our UU movement is being led by a bunch of fogeys that only want to relive the past and bore to tears a growing segment of our denomination with their stories of past glory.

I'm having trouble articulating my frustration. I don't know if the frustration is with society at large, the UUA, my local church or with myself at my own indifference. At least the fogeys have stories to tell.

I'm sure someone will correct me in regards to the actions of UUs beyond the 1960's. I should look for myself without fear of the answers and whether those answers will only fuel my frustration.

This is not as easy at it looks.