My Sick Mind

I didn't, until I happened to notice an announcement on the Blogger home page. It takes some manipulation, but it works. I tried it a few times before I got something I liked. Usually, it came out too wide, and ran off the right side margin. Click here or just go to "Layout" and edit your page elements, specifically the Header. Just what I need - something else to fiddle around with.

After 8 years of summers at school, I'm trying to motivate myself to get the camera equipment out again. It's been on and off since I started school, and now that many evenings are free, I really have only my own sloth to blame. These are all scans of either transparencies or negatives that I have taken over the past 5 to 10 years. These were all taken with either my Nikon 6006 or N70. I still cannot afford a digital camera, so I'll be on the film medium for the time being. I'm feeling a little word-constipated, so I picked some pictures off my computer and posted them for you. This is at Arches National Park in Utah. I was there in 1998 with my trademark over-polarized sky. There are some better than this, but I shot 58 rolls of print film in two weeks and never had them scanned. This is part of the only roll of transparency film I shot. I was afraid I'd screw up the photos, and figured it may be a once in a lifetime trip, so I shot all print film, which is more fo...

My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. - Gerald R. Ford, August 9, 1974 Television has answered the call, and has created yet another celebrity in a nation where there are so few of them that people will spend countless hours in front of the TV and countless dollars on the telephone voting to decide. Supposedly, the votes were counted and we were led to believe that the nationwide call narrowed the field down to a high-school kid and another guy with skunk-streaked hair and a gimmick. America has settled for the 17-year old, and they seemingly could not be happier. I, on the other hand, bewail the sorry state of entertainment that allows hard working entertainers to wallow in anonymity while a kid who shows up for a TV program is instantly gratified. "It turned out pretty cool," she said. No kidding, kid. What American Idol does, in the final analysis is prove that there is indeed no accounting for tastes. There is, however, accounting for the dollars that...

Somehow, the topic of Automotive Family Trees came up over on Firestarter5 ’s blog. We got to commenting on his VW diesel maintenance and it got out of hand. He asked us to list every P.O.S. we have owned - as well as the good ones. Kimmyk is supposed to join in the fun, so check her out. Here is my list of lifetime vehicles, which is fairly short considering I am almost 50 . Most people have probably owned more vehicles than I, but I take pretty good care of them, and I hate to waste all that routine maintenance so that some kid can beat the crap out of it. As requested, I went to great lengths to find photos of the model and where possible, I got the matching color and body style as well, and I'm only missing one. With the exception of the first, they were all purchased new. 1972 Chevy Vega. My Sainted mother matched my $600 savings and we purchased this green hatchback in 1975 so that I could drive myself back and forth to my first job. It served its purpose, even though; at t...

We need to be sure to choose our heroes wisely. We call them heroes, even though some of them merely throw a ball or run really fast. As heroes go, that would seem to be the minimum requirement. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 we were scolded for calling athletes and entertainers "heroes" because they don't do much other than read what they are told or run where they are told. Those who run into places from which others run are truly heroes. For those of us who follow sports closely, it should come as only a minor surprise to find that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is something of a dirtbag, and what better follow-up to Monday's post about child abuse and Tuesday's post about my favorite pro athletes than this interesting tidbit about a slice of his personal life that has thankfully leaked out. If you or a loved one has one of those red #7 jerseys, they make excellent packing material. To wit: SURRY COUNTY, Va. —...

There is something in my makeup that keeps me from getting all worked up over plans or things that I want to do, but in this case, the weird geek in me is jumping up and down - on the inside. I don't know if the ad on the tournament web site is guilty of hyperbole or merely stating fact, but perhaps history is a bit overstated in this case. Nevertheless, I have purchased a grounds pass for the week of June 4th to roam the historic Bulle Rock golf course in Havre deGrace , Maryland to watch the best golfers in the world (no debates, please) compete in the McDonald's LPGA Championship. I'm getting hungry. By the way, I'd like to find Havre and smack him for naming a town whose name is so difficult to say. A week's pass cost $55, and it allows me to go to the practice round on Wednesday and any of the four days of competition. I'll be blog-posting all week, so be prepared for LPGA overload, you lucky people. Of course, I plan on following Paula Creamer for most...

"High-heeled shoes and make-up don't belong on no baby child." - Don "D.C." Curry At first, I wasn't sure if I was still hung-over from Saturday's festivities , but it was late afternoon on Sunday, so any lingering effects of Belgian Beer Poisoning would have been long gone by then. So, I sat up and paid close attention because I figured if I was going to be repulsed by something, it would be worthwhile if I knew precisely why I was being repulsed. There it was, on VH1: VH1 News Presents: Little Beauties, The Ultimate Kiddie Queen Showdown , live from Gatlinburg, Tennessee (a town that would appear to be custom made for such nonsense). The International Total Miss Contest , featuring 6 year-old girls made up like circus clowns, replete with enough Aqua Net to stop a train. At first, I thought I was watching some "Little People" beauty contest - women who were just kind of short - but no, these were children. Six years old, made up, hair-sprayed...

If I had a tongue like that, I'd never leave the house. As it was, I had trouble leaving today after a Saturday night of bar-hopping in the city. A giant self-guided walking circle of self destruction with 3 bike-riding buddies that began at Monk's for beer and dinner, moved on to Bob and Barbara's for some local jazz and culminated at Doc Watson's for - well - I don't remember. I'm a dangerous drinker when I'm not driving. I think psychologically I figure that as long as I'm being picked up and dumped off without using my car keys, I can test my limits, and they were tested. All arrived home safely, though, and I imagine by now my friends are arranging my intervention . I think I was still legally intoxicated when I woke up at 9 this morning. Good times. I'm not watching either the NHL Hockey playoffs or the NBA basketball playoffs, but I understand something strange happened on Saturday. NBC bailed out of the Ottawa-Buffalo game a 5pm on Saturd...