Postpone your love bomb's explode

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It is always a little scary to go dumpster-diving into your e-mail account's spam folder. But sometimes you are missing a message someone swears they sent you ... so there you are. Time to lift the lid and start digging through the garbage.

Image source: stumptownpanda via flickr dot com

I would not be so upset with spam in general if they would not get so personal ...why they gotta bring my wife into it..??

"Your wife need attention? Solve all the problems with IT"

What..?!? This 'businessman' has been hacking her e-mails to her friends or eavesdropping on water-cooler conversations with her friends at work..?? How come I gotta here this from you..??


Other peeps think my girlfriends are suffering...

"You want to impress your girlfriend tonight?"

Another perv wonders the same thing in an earlier e-mail.


While many just keep it uncomplicated, not worrying whether my love is a wife or a girlfriend. But somehow they all know I need to make her happier:

"Make your hammering fantastic 8N907"
"Hey, are you the guy who cannot make love?"
"Make sure that you made your woman happy tonight"
"Give your lady crazy enjoyment"
"For those who want to satisfy their women"


And hey . . .when they start pointing out my possible ...'shortcomings':

"Worried that tiny size will get you down?"
"The longer your tool is, the longer your fun in bed lasts"
"Do you want enlarge yours penis?"
"Make it reach your knee"
"Natural large hose maker"
"Wanna get a larger boner?"
"Power up your package"
"Put on inches instantly"
"Easiest way to gain mass"
"Be happy with measurements"

. . .well hey, that is the last straw, you bastards..!!


Geezus. Why doncha just come over and kick sand in my face..?? After all this you want me to click your e-mail open and read your message, eager to 'turn (my) bedroom life into a volcano of pleasure' by sending my money to you..?!?

Fat chance. Which just happens to be my wife's answer to my desire to 'put (my) doughnut in her oven tonight.'


Anyway, my thanks to Adger, Anibal, Antoinette, Aldridge, Alain, Adan, Adolf, Alair, Adlai, Alic, Alastair, Alfy, Alfonso, Adair, Aditya, Al (Al Davis for crying out loud..!!) Albie, Abram (you all noticing a pattern here..??) and all the rest.


Now get the hell out of my e-mail account..!!


...tom...
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Chillin' with the lettuce ladies...

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I am sure you all have your own ideas about the actions and goals of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Myself, I enjoy the meat thing: steaks, grilled hamburgers and brats, sausage pizza. All the stuff that is surely killing me. Here in Iowa, where the hogs outnumber the people, the meat-eaters definitely outnumber the vegans and vegetarian.


Today, two young PETA representatives were in town doing their part to raise awareness of the rights of farm animals. I think all the meat-lovers in Central Iowa embraced them. The animal rights ideas I mean.

To call attention to their ideas they dressed in 'lettuce wraps' (essentially a bikini with a wrap skirt) and stood on a downtown corner in Des Moines to hand out free 'tofurkey' and lettuce sandwiches. This on a day when the January temperatures in Iowa were in the twenties and the windchill temps in the teens.




From the pics here you can easily see why this 'event' caught my eye.







Unfortunately, I was not able to get downtown and grab my free, and surely tasty, 'tofurkey' sandwich. Yum.


Here is the link to a short video by the local newspaper and an mp3 link to a local talk show that had the young ladies on as guests. You can imagine the friendly reception they got from the livestock farmers of Central Iowa.


I applaud the young ladies efforts and beliefs. Not sure they or their organization are getting to the real truth of animal farming or accomplishing anything substantive . . .but such is the American way.


...tom...
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Sexy panda..!!

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Shamelessly stolen, err ...borrowed from car54 ...err Colloquy ...err Stacy.
(Damn, this girl has a real identity crisis..!!)


Some Barry White would have really 'sexed' this one up...





I feel almost silly for labeling this one 'Nature'... This video almost perfectly defines my sense of humor ... yes, it is dark and awfully silly in here.


...tom...
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Quadrantid this..!!

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While the Perseid and Leonid meteor showers seem to get all the publicity, there are a few others that make regular visits to North America.

One is the Quadrantid meteor shower that peaks in January. Somehow it does not seem especially enticing to be out in the elements in the middle of winter. But that does not stop some fools from staying up to nearly dawn and driving miles out into the frozen countryside to view a meteor shower in Iowa.

My daughter had seen an online article about the Quadrantid meteor showers that occurred last night and decided that she wanted to 'go see them'.

Okay . . ..

Image source: Spaceweather dot com

These showers are actually expected to be one of the best displays of this year, 2009. While some sources cite meteor rates of up to a hundred per hour for the Quadrantids, we saw nothing near that rate earlier this morning. Though we did see several that looked like this shot by another viewer of this morning's shower:

Image source: Jodie Reynolds via Spaceweather dot com

It was very peaceful out in the Iowa countryside, far away from the nearest farmstead or highway. That it was as cold as a walk-in refrigerator and the wind blew like a dervish was just a minor inconvenience.


So if you get a chance to go sit in the dark and cold with your daughter in the middle of winter ... go for it. What is the saying..?? Oh yeah . . .priceless..!!


...tom...

Good things in small packages...

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Sometimes good (and hot..!!) things come in small packages...

























A picture of a seasonal decoration in our house: some glass bulbs, tinsel ...in a woven basket.






























Candles on my kids birthday cakes. Twins, boy/girl, turning 21 ...lots of candles..!!




























Unwrapping presents, reading cards; where did my little babies go..?!?

























...tom...
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Sunday, Icy Sunday...

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Actually, the ice was deposited about 24 hours ago, but it was still hanging around this morning. Luckily I did not have to scrape any windshields or do any driving so it was a minor inconvenience for me. Though the weekend guests (wife's sister and family) did stay an extra day.

No major power outages that I am aware of, perhaps typical Iowa winter weather, looking at the big picture.



This was the view looking out the north-facing window of our living room. Shadow of the house, animated Christmas deer, crabapple tree, driveway, street, yellow house opposite ours ...all combine to make a very abstract image. Looks very cool (if only to me) at the larger image, just click on it.










Our picnic table also has some nice seasonal decoration hanging on it...

















Finally, a view up between the main branches of the silver maple in our backyard. It is terribly out of focus, but that seems to emphasize the ice on the high branches. The overall effect reminds me of a particular artist; I will let you make your own connection.


It also looks, if only to me, like some weird astronomy image...













Hey, ya never know what you are gonna get when you live in the Midwest, in Iowa. Tomorrow it could be in the 50s again (as it was the day before this ice-storm) and the plants might wanna start pushing up out of the ground.

Thank god for the variety of life wherever it is found.


...tom...
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Saying goodbye always feels so wrong...

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In my first month of blogging I posted about a website, Mixwit dot com, that allowed users to create their own 'mixtapes' of songs. Songs that when all perfectly selected, matched, and sequenced by a listener meant something special to them, something the creator would want to share with others.

They even went so far as to use images of the old cassette tape to visualize the mixtape format.





Recently they announced in emails to users and on their website:

We regret to announce that Mixwit is shutting down before the end of the year. Our thanks go out to everyone for your participation and amazing creativity.

We’ve put a year of work into Mixwit so this choice wasn’t taken lightly. I won’t go into the details of our situation but state simply that we boldly marched into in a position best described as "between rock and a hard place." We’re very grateful to be have been part of the mixtape revival of ‘08 and are satisfied to be able to to bow out while things are still good.

As expressed elsewhere, it seems to be yet another instance of the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA, acting to hinder innovation in the delivery of online music. Damn them to hell.


It is sad to lose an 'always there for ya' and talented friend. That is how I will feel when Mixwit finally say goodbye.


...tom...
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I hope the Iraqis realize... Part 2

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It is always nice to see ones thoughts confirmed by another. Especially one whose work is found worthy of national distribution.

Mark Hemingway, a staff writer for National Review, seconded my thoughts on the progress of true freedom in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein so long ago:

With the hurling of shoes at Bush, the relationship between the people and their government has moved in the span of five years from a murderous tyranny, through armed resistance to a temporary occupation, to symbolic acts not any more threatening than you’d find in an unhappy marriage.

It ain’t pretty, but it’s progress.

Exactly.


Link: Free Two Shoes


...tom...
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