docoflove1974

Ooops, missed this one! Happy belated birthday, Crispina!

May Day...not a holiday here so much in the United States, but perhaps now that will change. My day started out a jubilant one just on general principle. I knew that I didn't have anything to do, and therefore I planned on going to the beach for a much needed respite. It was a gloriously sunny day here, and while it was still springlike and cool in the air temperature, the ocean salt air and the sun at my back made for a wonderful and tranquil day. I came back home a bit early to take in a couple of hockey playoff games (natch, the Sharks won ), and I had my notes all ready for what I was going to put in my next blog entry: thoughts that bubbled up as I watched the waves crashing along Pescadero State Beach, which happens to be my favorite. I follow President Obama on Twitter, mostly because he'll give a heads-up on some interesting tidbits that the news sources will 'scoop' shortly thereafter. At 8pm Pacific Daylight Time, he tweeted that he was about to address the nation, and I very honestly didn't think much about it. Shortly thereafter, I saw a tweet from ABC News, that Osama Bin Laden was dead, and that the President was about to address the nation. Um, what? Come again? Osama Bin Laden, that sonuvabitch who has directly or indirectly killed thousands of people around the world? He's dead? Really??? Details are coming in through the news, and the tweets have been wonderful to read. Some have been smart-ass in nature, which I personally love. Others are more reverent, more subdued, and thankful for the thousands who had tracked this unholy man, and many of them lost their lives in doing so. The ones who are particularly annoying to me right now are those who are being overly cautious, pointing out that there will be retaliatory attacks and those who are insistent that we should never let our guard down...as if reminding us that cutting the head off the hydra will just create 2 new ones. Look, I know that there will be retaliatory attacks--I even said it in my post on P.Clod's post--and to think that they won't happen is foolish. There will also be more Al-Qaeda activity...the #2 guy is still out there. But this is truly a time for the world to rejoice, that justice did prevail. And the first person that I wanted to reach out to when I heard the news? An ex-boyfriend...the one that I talked to as I watched the second plane slam into the Tower on September 11th. I don't have his number or his email, and I don't know where he is right now. Yet for some reason that's the first person that I wanted to talk to...the person who I shared that stunned moment with almost 10 years ago. An hour after the announcement hit the airwaves, there are crowds of people coming to the White House, which they're showing on the news. People are singing the national anthem, chanting "USA!", and coming together as one. I wonder if the politicians will do so, too, and get stuff done in the government in a bi-partisan manner. Nah, that's too much to ask.

Oof, quite a few to put on the wish list there...definitely the Ancient Literacy will be purchased shortly!

Nooo...that they're 72 virgin hags who reek to high hell. You know, the ones that even Satan won't touch. I can't help but reflect on the thousands who have died around the world, both those who sought him out and those who were completely innocent and suffered due to attacks attributed to him or his cause. i know these attacks won't cease immediately, and I'm sure that there will be retaliatory strikes by blind eejit followers of his, but I do hope that this horrible chapter of human history is ended shortly.

Ugh...really? I mean, yes, I saw that I was a victim of this, too...and I simply deleted the post. But why are we getting spammers in the blogs in the first place? Are the bots out there to destroy us?

Yeah, that makes me nervous, GPM. I mean, we've beaten Detroit in the past, and we can do it again, but they are so incredibly tough. I think on Friday night I'll watch the game at one of my favorite breweries/restaurants in San Jose (Gordon Biersch), just to take it all in.

Ursus, that article reminds me of others that I have read over the years, that many Brits are kind of tired of the royal family's not-so-newsworthy status. Melvadius...cha, dude...everyone must know what the PM is wearing! It's totally news, bro!

Ah...if that's the case, then neither Mt. Ham or Mt. Tam, nor Mt. Diablo, would qualify; people bike up the mountains frequently, thinking that the Tour of California is a minor version of the Tour de France. Either way, the concept of reading a map, even online, has escaped many youth here...and being the kid who had the atlas in her bedroom growing up, and therefore studied it heartily, this makes me feel heartbroken.

Isn't that par for the course? Unless they medicate him, that is...or stick him in the Tower.

Kosmo, that would be a great tradition! I'd love to do something like that! (And Melvadius, don't be such a crotchety crankypants...relax, enjoy, and have one on me) Last night I was watching BBC America, and evidently they're going to show everything live, starting at 3am Eastern time. Holy cripes...first, that's noteworthy simply because BBCA is showing something live...that never happens. But that means that things start here in sunny California at midnight...nope, I can think of a myriad of other things I'd like to watch Friday night at midnight.

LOL Too true, GoC! Yesterday I woke up extremely early to get the bread baked for the Easter picnic, knowing full well that I'd be taking naps while the dough went through it's various proofs. My cat was questioning my moves the entire morning, including the fact that she wouldn't curl up with me on the floor while I took my first nap. She expected me to play, naturally.

I think that's the problem...when we're little girls, all of us around the world wanted to be princesses of some kind or other. Most of us grow up and realize that being the queen of our little corner of the world (even if it's just my apartment, so to speak) is fine enough. But I think that explains the entire wedding industry, at least here in the States (and, I suspect, much of the world)...it's our day to be a princess. Meh...no thanks. I'm already the benign dictator of my classrooms, and the mistress of my cat (or so I think)...hell, my name means 'princess'...what more do I want?

Easter is a time of year when families comes together to eat. At least, that's what I always figured. I mean, we woke up to chocolate in the shape of gold coins, little egg-shaped chocolates, and other surprises that the Easter Bunny would leave for us while we slept. After going to Mass (perhaps the only time we went to Mass on Sunday instead of Saturday evening) when we actually had to wear really, really good clothes, we'd pose for pictures in the garden before a big brunch. Oh, and magically the Easter Bunny would pass by a second time while we were at Church, because there would be eggs strewn all over the garden and we'd all have chocolates in egg form from the local chocolatier. After goofing off all afternoon, there'd be some sort of dinner with many members of the Italian-side of the family, with a full multi-course Italian meal: appetizers, antipasto, pasta, and the entr

It makes you wonder about the state of the society with comments like that, doesn't it? I'd like to sit here and tell you that the college-aged youth of Northern California are above such uneducated comments. Sadly, a group of my students decided to tell me that the hills nearby (which are about 1000-1300 feet high) are mountains, and are as high as our local Mt. Hamilton (4196 feet) or Mt. Diablo (3849 feet), and are as high as the Sierra Nevada to the east. The next sound was the smacking of my forehead against the whiteboard. I then suggested that they go to Google Earth and look at the topography of the area...they still couldn't discern that our hills (which is really what they are) weren't all that mountainous or all that high...at least, not for around here. To them, if something isn't flat, it's a mountain. I suggested that they needed to understand the English language a bit better...and to go on a hike.

Hmmm...see, if you were a young se

Indeed, GPM! And I can happily report that Mr. Sunshine has made himself available frequently in the last 2 weeks. Sure, it's been a bit cold here on some of those days, but at least with the sun shining you can get through everything. And, yes, the last 2 weeks have been much easier. Although right now I'm grading midterms, which my students bombed to hell. Not making for a happy professor *grrrrrrrrrr*

Another long absence. I know, I've missed you guys, too. Well, honestly, for the entire month of March I was so damned busy that I didn't miss anyone...that requires down time, a luxury that I had none of. The biggest issue lately has been getting colleagues to finish their work. The problem of this situation--mine being uncommon--is that my colleagues had very valid excuses for not getting their part of the projects in question done. One colleague had a family emergency--one of her teenaged sons suddenly had stroke-like symptoms, and after a myriad of doctor appointments the diagnosis was that the poor kid suffers from migraines, which are induced by stress. What stress, you might ask? Oh, the kind of stress that results in parents who are bitterly divorced, with one parent (my colleague) providing the discipline and guidance of a good parent, while the other (her ex-husband) not giving a flip about being a parent, and who instead would rather bicker about how much money he has to pay in child support and pretend that getting a job is the worst punishment that could be extolled upon him. So between visits to the doctors, the psychiatrist, and the courts, she's been burning the proverbial midnight oil to get things done...and I think she just caught up a few days ago. Another colleague is suffering from an unknown illness...and while she hasn't missed any teaching days, she's had to back out of some committee work in order to get her health in order. And since it's a digestion problem, well, you can imagine that her energy level isn't what it usually is. The third colleague is also a local politician, and is heavy into the budget of the city. Of course, if you get into such an arena, you should accept the fact that you have to balance the rest of your life accordingly, and he does. Regardless, it meant that his part of the data wasn't in to me when I needed it. So...all this swirling around my head, plus my private courses taking more of my time than I thought they would...oh, and 6 straight weeks of rain (ok, ok, the sun did come out for, like, 4 days in that stretch...so sue me), I was a right grouch. It was all I could do to just get my 40 winks in a night, with my mind whirling and deadlines approaching. Finally, everything finished up the very last week of March. Even Mother Nature started to cooperate, and the weather cleared up right as I entered into Spring Break. And the timing couldn't have been better; a week with no work, no projects, and sunshine! Sure, it was also cold and windy, but who cares! Spring was here! This week, I've been enjoying my 'normal' work load. Outside of one minor project in a couple of weeks, I'm done with special jobs, have most all of my major work projects done (just one more midterm to create, and then it's all grading from there). Even this weekend, I did a large chunk of my grading earlier in the week, and now just have a small stack of midterms to plow through. Looks like the rip-roaring rapids have slowed to a calm stream. Hmmm...maybe I'll go to the beach after all. Edited to add: Despite the title of the blog, the real song in my head right now is the following, based on the absolutely gorgeous spring day that we had here:

Dang it, I got lured in here by the promise of the fruity language, only to be horns-waggled. I demand my time back *harrumph* All kidding aside, it galls me how businesses conduct themselves. "But we're well respected, and we do the best job." While that may be true, it doesn't give you license to charge 300% more than Joe Blow, who does just as great a job, but doesn't have the bloated marketing budget. The one that's killing me right now: I'm on a very fixed budget, but I love going to a baseball game. The local San Francisco Giants won the World Series in November...you may have heard of the news. Regardless, the bleacher seats--which are meant to be the cheap seats--are $35 a piece on the weekends, $28 during the week. Whaaaaat??? The other Bay Area team, the Oakland Athletics, have their bleachers for around $15 a seat. And in June, when I go to Cincinnati, I plan on going to a Reds game...for $7 a seat. So what gives the Giants the right to charge an exorbitant amount of cash? Well, they have a newer stadium, a highly sought-after stadium (it is said it's the prettiest views of any major league stadium), consistently have high attendance, and are now the home to the World Champions. What evs.

Nooooooooo...corn dogs are the greatest inventions, ever! Take a hot dog, push a stick half-way through it lengthwise, dunk it in cornbread batter, and deep fry it! With some good yellow mustard, it is a real treat. Dammit, now I'm hungry. PS: recommendation for the poor schmuck: jump off the Brooklyn Bridge...oh, wait, that's not very nice... *evil grin*

I'm all for the following: 1) Wild, passionate sex (who isn't?) 2) Publishing Caldrail somehow...there's untapped talent there. 3) Wild, passionate sex (oooh, now I'm sounding desperate...) 4) Wine (there, that evens things out a bit) Honestly, I keep my blog for myself; should anyone be so gracious as to read it, wonderful. Admittedly, the last couple of months I haven't been as active--this is due to work--but time is freeing up, and I want to get back to consistent writing. That being said, if the 'powers that be' wish to bestow a prize to a blogger for the fun of it, hey, wonderful; I seriously doubt that the recipient will complain. As for the prize, a Kindle is cool...but perhaps a more open-ended gift (certificate?) would be better? With that, time to catch up on blogs Todo bem!

Happy birthday, GPM! Hope you have a most wonderful day!

LOL Hope you have a great day, Bryaxis! Happy birthday!

The Romanization of Central Spain one sounds intriguing to me...Hispania holds a particular note of interest to me, and I don't know much about pre-Roman elements. Might have to get that one!

Indeed! Happy birthday, MPC...hope you have a most wonderful day!

Yeah, one of the best *looks down at signature*