More work in the yard

Before .................................................................... After

Adding a stone border to the front corner of the yard today helped tidy it up a bit. More plants to come.

Bees on the wisteria

These bees are gathering pollen from the wisteria on the front porch. It's at full bloom right now.

This must have looked cool from the plane

The moon was out early yesterday. While sitting on the front porch having a drink and people watching, I snapped this shot. I wonder what it looked like for the people looking out the windows of the plane.

'Seeing everything you lost'

Something funny for your Friday

The video quality isn't that great, but it's still funny....
UPDATED: Previous version was removed from YouTube (thanks for the heads up Kim and Victoria). This one is much higher quality and will probably stay available since Will Ferrell is one of the backers of this site.

Thursday Thing-along

Hot.

Way Back When-sday

It's going to be beach weather soon so I thought I'd post some photos from a 1971 vacation on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The description of the photo comes first by way of Mama and Daddy's writing on the back of the Polaroids. After the description is the photo it describes.

(From left: Stephen, me, Russell, Pops)

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(From left: me, Pops holding Russell, Stephen)

The birds and the bees

Caught this action while taking a break from yard work on Sunday.

Nice day for a drive

It was a nice day here Sunday so I set my camera up in the corner of the front yard to record all the traffic coming in and out of town -- mainly to go to one of the waterfront restaurants and bars down on the C&D Canal. The camera is facing back toward the house (on the left) and facing into town. This is about 15 minutes of traffic sped up to 1 minute, 35 seconds.

Taking it easy

Maybelline stares down at me from one of the upstairs windows at the front of the house. She was stretched out in the window enjoying the best spring day we've had so far.

Thinking .....

Like Rodin's statue, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and have not blogged as much as usual. These thoughts aren't bloggable in an open forum, sorry. But I hope to start adding some more insight to these posts. I know they've become rather perfunctory lately and I've hated that. I promise, they will get better.

Something funny for your 'Friday'

If you want to participate....

Virginia Tech family members across the country have united to declare this Friday, April 20, an "Orange and Maroon Effect" day to honor those killed in the tragic events on campus Monday, and to show support for Virginia Tech students, faculty, administrators, staff, alumni, and friends. "Orange and Maroon Effect" was born several years ago as an invitation to Tech fans to wear orange and maroon to Virginia Tech athletic events. We invite everyone from all over the country to be a part of the Virginia Tech family this Friday, to wear orange and maroon to support the families of those who were lost, and to support the school and community we all love so much.

Thursday Thing-along

This is a nice version of this song....



..... and such an important message at this time.

Robert Palmer died in September 2003 at the age of 54. It was hard to believe his time came so young.

Robert Palmer on wikipedia.

Way Back When-sday

This is a picture of Russell (from left), me and Stephen before we left the house for my kindergarten graduation in 1972 in Grifton, N.C. I'm the one in the tie if you couldn't tell. I believe that tie was a clip on. I love the outfit Russell has on. The plaid in the design in the center of his shirt matches the plaid shorts. The writing on the back of the picture is our Pops'.

When you've got to go ...

... you've got to go. It doesn't matter if it's raining and windy and miserable.

Meltdown Monday

I'm posting this after first deadline at work. I had to come in to work tonight because of the Virginia Tech shootings and did not have time to post my usual Meltdown Monday with picture. I did weigh and did not lose any weight this week, but did not gain any either. That despite eating some bad for me stuff -- milk shakes, pudding, beer and cheese soup -- because of the three teeth I had pulled. So I'm stuck at 28 pounds lost since the start of the year. I need to focus more this week.

My progress:
Weight 01.01.07: 274 pounds
Weight 04.16.07: 246 pounds

Work prank

After deadline one night, Justin put Borat in his swimsuit as a screensaver on Dave's computer. This is Dave's reaction.

Tidying up just a bit

Say hello to a new Blog I Read and goodbye to another.

First, the goodbye.
Big Dre has stopped blogging, pretty much. He had good ideas (some I may now steal) and plans for BigDre.com -- but not the time. If he gets his photo blog going, I'll link to it. Best of luck with it, Dre.

And now the hello.
The new blog I'm adding -- All Over the Bored -- is from Laurie Anne. You'll find diversity on her blog, from posts worrying about the health of her cat to posts about Wonder Woman's love life.Hmmmmmmm. Who didn't want to be tied up with that golden lasso? mmmmmmmm.
Now what was I talking about? Oh yeah. Laurie Anne's blog. Anyhow, one of her longer posts begins at a Mardi Gras party/dance at her 7-year-old son's school and ends with one of life's little moments worth noting. Click here to read it.
And for any of us who have quit smoking -- I'm 15 months and 14 days cigarette free now -- these thoughts creep in every now and then. Even if we know we will never smoke again.

Check out Laurie Anne's full blog here and a link is now over to the right under Blogs I Read. Keep up the interesting posts, Laurie Anne.

Something funny for your Friday

Paraskevidekatriaphobia

That big word up there in the headline means fear of Friday the 13th. Guess what today is -- Friday the 13th of April. Now I was born on a Friday the 13th -- May 13, 1966 -- so I tend to think good things happen on these days. But many people think Friday the 13th is unlucky.

Send a Friday the 13th greeting card.

The Friday the 13th films have been successful by playing off people's fears.

Easter at Mama and Daddy's

A few days late, but this is a peek at my nephew and one of my nieces and how they spent part of Easter at my parents. It was also a good opportunity for Stephen and Susan to bring some clothes to wash -- their house was still without electricity because of the power. I took the opportunity to take a pair of my jeans to Mama so she could patch a hole in the crotch that had grown larger with recent wearings. I don't know how that happened....

Thursday Thing-along

This is the description with the video on YouTube:

Young@Heart sing 'Fix You' by Coldplay.
This is from a documentary shown on Channel 4 in the UK called 'Young@Heart'; the name of the New England octogenarian chorus line. The performer here is Fred Knittle, who suffers from congestive heart failure. This song was intended to be a duet between Fred and another chorus member, Bob Salvini. Sadly, Bob died of a heart attack and it was left to Fred to carry the song on his own. If I'm correct, the people you see crying at 01:13 are Bob's family. The lady you occasionally see mouthing the lyrics in the audience is Fred's wife.
There were some very touching scenes where we see Fred rehearsing alone soon after Bob's death. It was an incredible film.

The current performers in Young@Heart range in age from 71 to 93. Here is more information on the Young@Heart chorus.

Here is Coldplay's version of Fix You. I think I actually like the Young@Heart version better.

Wayback When-sday

This is a picture from 1971 of (from left) Stephen, Daddy, Russell and me on one of the cannons at Fort Macon on the Outer Banks of North Carolina near Atlantic Beach. When we go back to the Outer Banks in the summer for vacations, we still go to Fort Macon.

Here is Fort Macon on wikipedia.

Meltdown Monday

Not much of a weight loss this week -- about one pound -- but it wasn't a gain. We'll see how things go this week as I make an effort to exercise more.

My progress:
Weight 01.01.07: 274 pounds
Weight 04.09.07: 246 pounds

Pass me the tapioca ....

Today was the trip to the oral surgeon to have three teeth removed -- two wisdom teeth and one piece of crap tooth. See the original post here.

I'll post my Meltdown Monday later today. I need to go pop a pain pill first.

Work continues

Jay and Ric showed up to help Stephen clear away debris after the fire. Besides family, Stephen and Susan have truly been blessed with the help of good friends and neighbors (like Jack and his family) during this time. Jack's girls even went out and bought Trevor and Emily new bikes because their bikes were destroyed in the fire. Every time I go by to drop off something or help in some way, Jack has been there helping. We can all only hope in our times of need to have friends and neighbors like those helping Stephen and Susan.

On the lighter side of Easter

Dumpster delivery

A full Dumpster gets taken away and another gets delivered during cleanup after the fire at Stephen and Susan's. More to come later in the weekend.

Here's a little Earth, Wind and FIRE to get you shaking your thing this weekend.

What a difference a few hands can make....

The picture at top is what the former enclosed garage and carport that burnt looks like after a day and a half of cleanup by Stephen, Susan, family, friends and neighbors. The small photo at right is what it looked like the day after the fire. Next up is working on clearing the carpets, etc. out of the part of the house that was damaged in the fire. The garage itself took two full large Dumpsters and the start of a third. Movies and more photos of the cleanup to come over the weekend.

The cleanup is beginning

In a few hours I'm headed to my brother's to help him clear some of the debris left from the fire, including items like the picture at right. It is a picture of what used to be a play castle for the kids. It's mostly a melted mess now. It was not in the fire but the intense heat melted 75 percent of the castle's walls. I've updated the earlier video post about the fire with a slideshow of photos of the damage. See that post and the slideshow here. I'll post pictures of the ongoing cleanup later.

A little something funny for your Friday

Here is Steven Wright's official site.
A page of Steven Wright quotes/jokes.

Thursday Thing-along

War, war is stupid ... and people are stupid ...



Here is the official Culture Club site.

Here is Boy George on wikipedia.

Surveying the damage

This video is long -- about 8 minutes -- but for friends and family who don't live in the area, it's an opportunity for them to see the damage done by the fire at the home of one of my brothers and his family. [Original post about the fire.] Stephen, Susan, the kids and dogs all escaped unharmed and for that I am thankful. I was standing with Stephen close to midnight after everyone left Monday night -- the night of the fire -- and he just looked at the debris and said, "Where do I even start? Where do I start." It must be such an overwhelming feeling. It's one of those things that you never think will happen to you or your family.

UPDATE: 04.06.07 I have added a slideshow of photos to go with the video.

Wayback When-sday

This picture of me (left) and Stephen is from February 1970. We have our footy pajamas on and we are sitting in the rocking chair holding our favorite stuffed "action figures." My "action figures" are a maniacal mouse and a ferocious dog. Stephen's "action figures" are a killer clown and a badass bunny rabbit. As the smiles on our faces show, we loved our poly-fill stuffed "action figures." On the back of the picture, Mama wrote a note saying she took this photo with her to the hospital when she gave birth to Russell so she could show all the nurses what "macho, manly handsome boys she had." OK. She wrote "pretty boys," I just interpreted it for her.

Looking for some adult-sized footy pajamas? Check here.

Structures can be repaired and rebuilt ...

A fire destroyed a detached garage at the house of one of my brothers' Monday night. It also damaged part of the house, a car and many other things. My brother, his wife, their two kids and two dogs all escaped unhurt -- and that's what matters. They were just sitting down for dinner when it happened. We rushed over so fast I forgot my camera. This is from my cellphone. At top is a short video of my brother walking through what was a garage. The photo at right is of Stephen with a flashlight and hose spraying a hot spot left by the firefighters as two of his neighbors watch. His neighbors were a big help, including getting plywood to board up some of the damaged areas. In the foreground is the burnt out back of their Suburban. The heat and flames torched it. But again, they all escaped unharmed.

Meltdown Monday

Better late than never. I usually post Meltdown Monday early in the morning, but things were a bit hectic today. I had a consultation with an oral surgeon this morning and go back one week from today to get three teeth extracted. Here's the original post on that. Anyhow, I lost close to two pounds this week bringing the total to 27 pounds. Still not exercising.

My progress:
Weight 01.01.07: 274 pounds
Weight 04.02.07: 247 pounds

Movie Mashup

I mashed together clips from 10 movies in under a minute. How many can you get? How many times did you watch it before you guessed?