A Toast: Here's to You Kiddo!

Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these
- Susan B. Anthony

Well, the weekend is upon us once more and this weekend is a very special one indeed. My girl, Elle Boogie, will be celebrating her birthday so I want to take some time out and give props to this fine speciman of a woman!

Happy Birthday to you, indeed a long and cherished day on our annual calendar, one to be remembered and celebrated, one that I look forward to every year, one to reinforce our friendship. Happy birthday most distinguished Elle and may this day find you in wholesome laughter, and that you are surrounded by all the people that you love and in turn all the people that love you.

I am humbled to call you my friend because you are indeed a rare person of fiery/passionate presence and I am honored to acknowledge my unconditional friendship to you, on this day and the many days, months and years to come. I look forward to our moments of growth together and our moments of mischief but most of all I look forward to your unconditional friendship. Happy birthday from a cherished friend for another great year past and for an even greater year to come. Never a dull moment... and plenty of good times :-)

The Only Constant is Change

~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Heart, We Will Forget Him
- Emily Dickinson -

Heart, we will forget him,
You and I, tonight!
You must forget the warmth he gave,
I will forget the light.

When you have done pray tell me,
Then I, my thoughts, will dim.
Haste! ‘lest while you’re lagging
I may remember him!
~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~

Milestone Anniversary
The year sure has gone by fast. One day I had someone in my life, I blinked, it was over, and now I'm looking back on how things have transpired since then. I'm definitely not the same person I was one year ago. I've had many life experiences since the ex and I believe I'm a better person. Yes, I'm still a work-in-progress - we all are. But I know I'm striving toward the person I want to be and I'm learning lessons along the way. I'm glad to have made the mistakes I did along my journey. Funny thing about life is we can keep making the same mistakes until we finally, finally, learn our lesson and make things right. You can either end up in an endless cycle of mistakes or break free, learn, and move on. I wish the ex much love and happiness in his life. Strange, how people can end up in relationships after not believing they could find another. But yet, after one year I cannot stick with one person. I'm glad that I had one love so that I'm not hungry to find the next best thing or find someone to add meaning to my life. Perhaps I'm not destined to be with one person forever... or perhaps I choose not to be. Perhaps, perhaps, smerhaps :)

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When We Two Are Parted
- Lord Byron -

When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted,
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning
Sank chill on my brow
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame:
I hear thy name spoken,
And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,
A knell to mine ear;
A shudder comes o'er me
Why wert thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee too well:
Long, long shall I rue thee
Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met
In silence I grieve
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?
With silence and tears.
~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~

Why Movie Stars Shouldn't Become Politicians...

Saw this headline in my daily New York Times delivery:

With his frustration mounting over his inability to muscle a budget through the Legislature, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called his Democratic opponents "girlie men."

Hi, My Name is Frank... So that's what I be
In a way, it is good that I've let my mental self cool down a bit before posting, but then again... the fiery/passionate posts seem to be the most interesting to look back on.  After attending a company meeting today, I was filled with one too many abstract thoughts to handle.  In order to reach the calm state that I currently find myself in, it took:  2 beers, 2 bottles of water, a walk in the foothills with my crack dog Blue, and a conversation with Katy Kat.  On the drive to the A.P. to pick my mom up and while I was meandering in the foothills, endless thoughts kept running through my mind.  I understand the G.O.B. network... I know it exists... I see it from the outside... I know I can never be a part of it... I don't want to be a part of it... and yet, I am its pawn.  That's what it all boiled down to.  I see things take place in the corporate world that leave me dumbfounded and yet as time goes on, I'm becoming less and less surprised by the events which take place.  I've learned to accept things as they are.  The important thing is that I stay true to myself and not let myself be changed in order to fit someone's opinion of who I should be and what I should be doing.  I will not demean myself by stooping to the level of ass-kissing.  I believe this activity should be soley reserved for private, playful moments in the bedroom with a lover.  The only brown noses that should exist belong on cute little animals, not people.  Yes, that is all I have to say about that. 
[Do not count the number of times the word 'thing' appears in the previous post... I could not think of a better word to express my feelings.  Feel free to leave a comment with a better word to substitute for 'thing' :-)]

Word of Advice...
Here's a brief word of advice... if a co-worker suggests that you should "meet" his/her relative (it could be any form - son, daughter, brother, etc.), JUST SAY NO!!!  I cannot exclaim loud enough the importance of saying "NO" in situations like this.  Be polite in your answer and remember, you don't have to go into details.  I prefer not to delve further in this topic for fear of self-incrimination...  oh wait, I mean I had a friend who found themself in this type of situation and it didn't turn out well, so I felt I should warn others out there.  Yeah, that's what I really meant to say :-)

Pictures Galore!
This evening will be a reunion with my most esteemed, fellow Jellystone campers.  The menu will consist of chicken fajitas (same as our first camp night meal) and I'm in charge of bringing the barley pops.  I'm debating about bringing Bud Light - to totally relive the camping meal - or upgrading to some primo beer.  We shall see...

Randomness
So... yeah... it's been some time since the last post.  I was wondering if there were some statistics regarding the rate of blogging and its correlation with the seasons.  Since it's summertime, I wonder if people are blogging more/less/or the same.  I believe that is another study that should be thoroughly investigated!
 
Currently, I'm down with being random and this post is a definite reflection of those feelings.
 
Match.com... The Saga Continues
So I was perusing Match.com last night to see if there were any chickees that I knew.  I ran across the following summary and realized how important it is for people to spellcheck.  The spelling error (which I graciously bolded in black), could cost this girl many future dates - I guess if the guy is intelligent enough to catch the mistake.  If not, then I guess the two would deserve each other.  Damn, that sure sounds brash but I'm just being honest :-)
 
Quote
"I love a challengeI am outgoing, ampitious, fun, friendly, enthusiastic. I have an awesome personality and I love to play sports, ride horses, and go..."
 
If this girl has pit issues, I wouldn't want to be near her when the weather is as hot as it has been.
 
New Icons = Fun for Everyone! 
One of my esteemed co-workers - Mix Masta Mike - sent me this link to create my own icon.  The resulting pict can be saved and used as a MSN IM or Yahoo Instant Messenger account pict.
 
Fun New Icon Site:   http://illustmaker.abi-station.com/index_en.shtml

The Avalanches
I got a wonderful phone call today from our local RecEx.  I'd forgotten that I had them order The Avalanches' - Since I Left You cd.  It came in today!!!  Hooray for me because I get to listen to some awesome tuneage this evening.  Monday night I had gotten The Pixies - Greatest Hits album (don't worry Elle, I've got your copy burned, ready, and waiting).  I love getting new music :-)

Jellystone, Jellystone
Ah, yes... the sweet resolve of mini-camping vacations! I returned last night from a wonderful excursion with great friends. The visited areas: as much of Yellowstone as possible and a bit of Jackson Hole. I can honestly (and sadly) say that I have not ever travelled east of Idaho Falls. Yes boys and girls, this is indeed a sad admission. But slowly, I am making up for my shortcomings ;-) The scenery was gorgeous, the wildlife abundant, and the natural phenomena left me amazed. This little trip included: P. Golf, his little lady "Tiny Tot" and Hot Tottie. Throughout our stay, we saw many elk (male/female), a brown bear and her two cubs, a grizzly bear, bison (not buffalo) galore; but alas, no moose. [Sniff, Sniff]. Ah well, you can't have it all! The only shortcoming of this trip was that my dear, sweet, darling Blue could not come along. But he was well taken care of by his precious Aunty Elle and Unky J. Blue mentioned that Unky J proved to be a very good male figure for him to be influenced by. He really appreciated the walks with Unky J and the rub-a-dub lovin' he received from Aunty Elle. So I guess I don't feel too bad for leaving him behind! BTW - thanks Elle & J!!! You guys are the best :-) I plan to add many pictures to my gallery once they get developed and after our official picture exchange this weekend. One more thing to mention... I'm a real trooper; I drank Bud Light during the whole trip except for when we stopped by the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. One thing about Bud Light, I can drink an ass-load without getting a buzz. Does that mean I have a very high tolerance (no, I'm not an alky) or does it mean that the BL is total wimp-ass beer and should not be ingested by anyone? I believe intense research should be conducted concerning this topic. The government should expend MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of our tax dollars to find the answer to this question. Who cares about funding schools!?! Children are our future; yeah right! We shouldn't invest in them! Dammit - the smart ass took over my PC again. Best to keep that one in check :)

Very Interesting...
Well, the 4th was a pretty relaxed event with two of my fave girls: Elle Boogie and N-girl. Had some great bbq and then watched the fireworks. I'll have to say that this year's showcase had me on the verge of multiple seizures! There was too much going on at once and I wasn't sure where to look - talk about an overload of the senses. At one point, there were some bright flashes intermingled with the regular fireworks. We figured there was a secret message that was being relayed to us through the display of fireworks. Major conspiracy stuff!

Today was pretty mellow yellow. My mission to "de-whitetrash" my yard began today. It will be a slow process, but I'm tired of being embarrassed of my external digs. When I invite people over, I want to preface the invite with a - "Yeah, just make sure you come over when it's dark, because my dog only likes people when it's dark." But really, I don't want people to see how awful my yard looks! The lawn is basically fried because I can't water it due to the fact that my dear, sweet, darling Blue pulled out the main pipe which is needed for the semi-automatic sprinkler system. And for some crazy reason, it takes money to fix these things. BTW - the dude has been licking his ass for the past half hour and I'm totally grossed out. Anyway, back to the current dealio. So, I spent the rest of the day hangin' with my grandma and playing online.

So, ended up creating a profile on Match.com as myself and we'll see if anyone shows interest. Didn't post a pict because I wasn't sure. Did a search of male and female profiles and saw some people I knew. Kind of interesting... One major commonality for most of the profiles was - people saying, "I have a hard time talking about myself..." Or some other random corny stuff. I was pretty blunt: I like running, I like beer, I like music, but in a more creative way. We'll see if my profile will get "approved" and then I'll decide if I want to post a pict. I'm not into the idea of the whole "online dating" thing, but I'm curious. I think it's better to meet people in person, but hey, we're in the modern age right?!?

Restless Thinking
Lately, I've been thinking too much and analyzing things way too much! Just need to learn to relax, but it's hard! Horoscope today made me laugh aloud to myself:
You might find that you are second guessing yourself today. Voices in your head are louder than usual and it could be that you are the one who is putting the breaks on your own train. Intuitive ideas are trying to break through. See what you can do to slow down the chatter that insists on dictating a continuous narrative throughout your day. Do more feeling instead of thinking. Give your mind a break.

And onto last night's main events...

Napoleon is Dynamite!
Rode the girls down to the Flicks last night with Elle Boogie. We checked out Napoleon Dynamite a totally awesome movie! We laughed our butts off as the story of this true geek unfolded before us on-screen. The style brought back some memories and the sound track contained some fave 80s tracks. Definitely a must see!

And Then...
After the movie, we had to take care of Elle's fuse issue. About an hour later, we toasted sweet resolve with a Sparks. Great party starter drink and it was Elle's first time. Got her back for making me about wiz myself. We were chugging our warm Sparks and burping (politely of course) when I got a foamy one. I know it sounds weird, but about made Elle fall over with laughter!

When we finally hit the town on our bikes, we were in another one of our restless moods which turned us into bar hoppers... literally.

Too much Fun!
These two links were IM'd to me late this afternoon. Great way to end the week and start the weekend :)

Try to keep the Drunk Upright
Had to have a little explanation of how to play this "game," but once I got the hang of it, I had a blast...jk. It's fun, but I didn't wet myself with excitement - Keep the drunk upright so he can make it to the next pub!

I can pee better than any boy out there!
This was a pretty fun game... I finally know what it's like to pee upright and facing the toilet! And no, hovering over a nasty ass toilet does not count as peeing upright :) - I pee like a boy. Now, if they came up with a variation of this, it should be the option to write one's name in the snow. That's always been an area where the XY chromes will always have the upper hand - no pun intended.