Hey Freak!

So yeah, I took another little break. Next time I take a break, just assume that whatever temp job I had ended, and I'm concentrating on trying to get a permanent job. With benefits.

I had an interview last week, but I still haven't heard back from the company. Bastards.

So anyway... some randomness:

I was in the shower washing my legs when I noticed a hair on my foot. On the top. Like, right under where shoelaces would be if I was wearing a shoe. Now, I'm sure lots of people have hair there, but I'm a pretty hairless guy. I barely have arm hair. I don't get hair in most places that other people do. I certainly shouldn't have hair on the tops of my feet, much less just one hair on the top of my right foot.

I also have a stray hair on one of my shoulders (I've seen it before, but can't seem to locate it now). I don't even know which shoulder it's on; I just know I've seen it before. One hair, all by itself, in the middle of nowhere. Isn't it funny how that happens? I mean, what made that one hair "graduate" from just being regular bodyhair fuzz to full-blown hair? Did someone spill some Rogaine on me there or something?

Back in college, I had a friend... he had hairy arms. And one day, he's all "Check this out." He runs his finger across his arm hairs, and then exclaims "There it is!" And he pulls on this one, single, long-ass hair. Like, four inches longer than any of his other arm hairs. I guess, being a hairy guy, he didn't have strays; instead he had super-long hairs to stand out. Now, I personally have never found a super-long hair like that on me, but I think I've talked to other people that have (as you can imagine, it's not something that comes up in conversation all that often).

So, I'm curious. Where are your stray hairs?

OK. I haven't had a Hostess treat in quite some time, but once in a while, I'll get a little hankering for a ding dong or ho-ho (yes, I'm sure this post will be filled with innuendo, much as Hostess treats are filled with cream). I was never ever ever big on twinkies, and Suzy-Q's are good, but can be a bit messy sometimes. And the sno-balls? I dunno... there's something about them that's never appealed to me.

Anyway, my question for you is... today, if someone forced to eat a Hostess treat, what would you eat? A standard cupcake? A choco-dile? One of the previously mentioned treats?

Another question, just because I'm curious...

What's the deepest you've ever searched on Google?

You know... say you're looking up something on Google, you hit search, check a few links on the first page, but didn't really find what you were looking for, so you look on the 2nd page of returned searches. Still nothing, so you look on the 3rd. The 4th. You're getting annoyed, because you think you should have found [whatever] by now. You keep clicking the next page, then the next, and... eventually you find yourself on page 47 of returned searches.

Have you ever gotten that far before giving up?

Honestly, I don't know exactly how far I've gone, but I'm pretty sure I've at least gotten into the 40's. How about you?

When it's hot out, how do you describe it?

"Hotter than Hell." That's pretty typical. But there are some good ones out there.

"Hotter than Hell hit with a hammer." (this is what Joelle says)

"Hotter than Hell on high." (crediting Kathy for this one)

Me? My most oft used phrase? "Man, it's hotter than a nun's dream."

Your turn. What's your phrase?

What do salmon do when they're out in the ocean?

No, it's not a joke. I really would like to know. You always hear about how salmon find the river where they were born and then swim upstream to spawn and then die... but you never hear about what they do when they're out in the ocean, maturing. Like, you never see or hear about them as either predator or prey on them Discovery Channel-like shows.

So, I'm asking you. What do salmon do when they're out in the ocean? Do you know?

Or, at the very least, have you wondered?

So, Mac was talking about the high school dropout rate and its possible causes. It's a complicated issue, and it's probably got a billion different things contributing, so there's not one "clear" cause.

Me? I think that one of the biggest causes is (and I am by no means an authority - this is just my opinion)... by societal standards, being smart just isn't "cool." Yeah, I've said that many times before, but it's pretty true, isn't it? Well, I'm speaking from just my experience, so maybe people will disagree. I hope people disagree. Because, yeah, I see nothing wrong with being smart.

So, my question.

Have you ever pretended to be dumber than you were, just so you could fit in?

OK, just a few thoughts that are currently swimming around in my head...

• Election season is over (for the most part, barring challenges and recounts). Do you know what that means? No more fucking political ads. And thank heavens for that. Now, TV stations will be able to resume over-playing their "normal" ads - the ones for all the different perscription drugs.



• Yesterday, I drove by a brush fire on the way to work. It was no biggie - put out and cleaned up within a few hours. But I managed to snap this picture with my camera phone. The only reason I mention it is because I took that picture with my piddly little 2 year old camera phone, and it actually turned out pretty cool anyway.



• I think that qualifies as one of those "life's little victories." That's why I'm bragging about it. It's all about appreciating the unexpected good things in life, yanno?



• Oh! Speaking of unexpected good things... remember how I said that I lost all my AVN pictures for this year, due to a computer crash (and subsequent re-formatting of my hard drive)? And that I bought a data recovery program to hopefully get those pics back, but it didn't work? Well, last night it dawned on me to use the recovery program on the camera's memory card - and I was able to recover about half of my pictures. Sure, I didn't get 'em all, but I got some, and that's better than nothing. I'll be putting them up soon.

One more thing... a survey-ish question that I've been meaning to post. One of those things "just out of curiousity."

What's the most amount of cash you've ever held in your hand/on your person? It doesn't have to be your own cash.

Me? The most I've ever held in my hand is $3,300. I was in Vegas, and I went to the craps table with $100 bucks. 8 hours later, I was up $3,200. It was a fluke table - I had never seen a table so hot for so long. I couldn't make a wrong bet, it was so good. Actually, at one point, I was up over $4k, but lost some before calling it a night.

8 hours of gambling? Yeah, insane, I know. But gamblers will know and understand... you do not leave a hot table, regardless of the game. It's just like a winning streak in sports - you don't fuck with the winning streak.

Anyways. So, what's the most cash you've ever held in your hand?

OK. Paper cuts. What's the worst place (on the body) to get one? What's the worst place you've had one?

Me?

Worst place so far... on the inside of my right index finger, first joint up, opposite the knuckle. You know, right at that place where bending constantly occurs, just to make sure that it takes an extra long time to heal. And yes, I'm right handed.

OK, so I was trying to remember all the really stupid childhood taunts we used to say as kids. No shit, Sherlock. No doy. Sit and spin (it's an insult... kinda like "Sit on it, Potsy!"). I know you are, but what am I? Dillhole/dillweed. Whatever, Stu (Stu was short for Mr. Stu Pidass). Up your nose with a rubber hose. (OK, maybe I got that one from the sweathogs)

Damn. I had a billion of these in my head just a second ago, but no, as soon as I try to blog this, *poof* they're all gone. Execpt for "no doy." That ever happen to you? You're trying to think of something, and then something else, but you can't get the first something out of your head, so therefore, you'll never think of something else? I hate that. Damned no doy.

Anyway.

Help me out, here. What were some of the stupid childhood taunts you used to use?

update: Remember this? "Smooth move, Ex-Lax!"

another update: One of my all-time faves: "Face!"

OK, have you heard about this new supplement Cholest-Off? You take it, you burn the bad cholesterol, yadda yadda yadda. I'm sure it's a great product.

But what I'm most concerned with, is...

Well...

I make no secret that I do a lot of silly things. Things that defy logic. Nothing major, but still... Spock wouldn't approve of these things.

For example...

If I'm on vacation... say I'm in Vegas. I'm in my hotel room, getting ready to go out. Before I walk out the door, I make the requisite check of all things needed (this gets done anytime I head out the door, whether I'm at home, work, whatever). Wallet? Check. Phone? Check. Keys?

Wait, what do I need my keys for? I won't be driving. I'm nowhere near home. Why do I need to have my keys? Yeah, I don't know, either, but I'll still take 'em with me. Mostly because, if I don't, I'll be checking my pockets the entire night, thinking "OH SHIT WHERE ARE MY KEYS?!?!?"

Or, this one. I talked to some people about this yesterday, so I know I'm not the only person who does this. OK, you know that Cheap Trick song "The Flame"? Wherever you go, I'll be with you. Whatever you do, I'll be with you... GAH. *hurl* I hate hate hate that song.

That said, it's on my iPod. And it comes up every once in a while. And I make sure to skip it the second it comes on.

The question is... why don't I just delete it? Why bother with leaving it on and skipping it every time? Honestly... I just don't know. I really should delete it, but... I just haven't gotten around to it. I mean, really... do you folks have songs on your [media player] that you leave on there, despite the fact that you don't like the song, and that you make sure to skip that fucker ASAP whenever it comes on? No? OK, then it's just me.

Hey, don't laugh. I'm not the only person who does silly things like that. I know Michele, when she's driving in parking garages, will "duck" when she drives under beams. As if the beam can penetrate the roof of her car, and is gonna smack her in the forehead. (I only remember that she does this because... I do it too)

Oh! One more. I like to tempt fate, but just a little. [warning: huge run-on sentence ahead] You see, I have this kinda "phobia" that, when I'm walking along outside, in like, a parking lot or something, and I walk near a grate, I totally fear accidentally dropping my car keys down the grate, and then having to find someone to open the sewer so I can go down there and look for them. Because, that'd really suck, yanno?

Now, given that I have this "phobia," you'd think that I'd avoid walking near grates. And you'd think that I'd leave my keys in my pocket, to make sure I don't lose my grip on them and drop them. But no. I seriously will have my keys in my hand, and will walk within dropping range, or even over grates that I see.

Get it? Tempting fate. I don't know why I do that, but I do it. Almost sub-consciously.

Got anything really silly that you do that you'd like to confess? Please do.

Because... well, I don't want to be the only dumbass around here.

Online, you can tell a lot about someone's personality. A lot of times, people will post pictures of their face so you can see what they look like.

But one thing you can't really tell, and you don't hear a lot of people asking...

How tall are you?

Me? I'm pretty short for a dude. 5'6", to be exact. A lot of people already know that, but I'm sure there will be some people who are surprised by that. Or, didn't even think about it. That's why I'm curious - I usually don't think about it, either. Well, until now.

So. How tall are you?

Just a reminder - Blogathon 2006 is this weekend, so we're coming up on your last chance to sponsor Stale Betty and the Mil Wives (really, that sounds like a band name. When do y'all go on tour?). Or, if that's not your thing, there will be people blogging for many different charities.

I guess this would also be a good time to remind people that, even if you can't give money, you can do other things (and I don't mean just for the blogathon charities). You can donate time. You can donate blood. And really, how many of us have at least a garbage bag full of old clothes that we'll probably never wear? You know, the clothes that you might might might wear if you have nothing else clean. Throw 'em all in a bag and donate (or sell) those.

Everybody can do a little something for someone else, and every little bit helps. So... what's stopping you?

What do you think about unicorns?

Seriously. I want to know.

What, you don't think unicorns exist? Well, shoot. Maybe these people believe.

Hey, look! A unicorn!

It's that time of year again. Blogathon is coming.

This year, I'll be sponsoring the group of military wives who'll be blogging over at Stale Betty:

Yes. Once again, I must ask you all for your money so that together we can help our military men, women and families. We will be blogging every 30 minutes for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund which just recently began construction on a 65,000 square foot state-of-the-art physical rehabilitation center and advanced training skills center at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam in San Antonio, TX. For those of you unfamiliar with BAMC, it is known for having one of the best burn units in the country. It was already a top of the line hospital but with the added rehab center, it’s going to be even more beneficial to the men and women returning from war with severe burns, amputations and other life-changing injuries. Funding for the construction has been met but donations are still needed to purchase medical equipment and supplies. Any small bit helps. Sign up to sponsor us.

There you go. Real support of the troops. Sign me up.