Random Post

Long time, no write. Sorry folks. I have survived the Cicada invasion so far. I've had a handful of these creatures around my walkways and doorsteps but I haven't encountered the mass swarms buzzing around my head that I had previously concocted in my imagination. I still have all of my appendages and the cats have not had the opportunity to eat such a large and ugly insect. However, I did hear the creepy noise that they make just this past Monday. Remember those really bad late 60s sci-fi movies and the sound effect that the 'flying saucer' made? They sound just like that. Really weird. I will say that it has been a jovial topic of conversation at work. I'm still awaiting the grand finale of this bizarre mating season. It's not over yet I'm sure.

Good news: I got a B in my Anatomy and Physiology class!! Yea me!!! I knew I was doing pretty well, but not that well! Hey! I actually have a brain after all!! Hopefully I can keep it intact over the next couple of months before fall starts up again. I'll try my best not to kill too many of my brain cells in the meantime.

Other stuff. Sad to hear about all these monstrous storms and tornadoes out in the 'alley'. I know from experience how terrifying it can be. I sure as hell don't miss those days in Arkansas. When I was like two maybe three, we had six tornadoes in one day. The one that hit that night was the most destroying. It blew out some windows in our house, tore some shingles off and left alot of debris and baseball sized hail. Yes, baseball sized hail. Scary. Needless to say, I was terrified of storms for a long, long time. I still to this day get a little panicky when our storms get a little on the heavy side. But being here in the mountains that's a rarity thank God. Now, on the flip side I have seen some awesome photos on the internet of these storms building. I think the pictures are beautiful in a tragic sort of way. I don't know how to describe it without going into some sort of soliloquy to which I will spare you. I think Mother Nature is just astounding. Truly amazing. If I'm lucky I'll be able to post some of the pics I've seen.

Other stuff: I'm trying my best to quit smoking. I've been taking the Chantix which has been really cool. Most days I do pretty good. Right now, not so good. I did really well at work but now that I'm home it's free range. And for the most part it's the habit. I'm not really physically craving one, I just want it. I soo enjoy it still. That's the sad part. It's a wonderfully satisfying bad habit. Damn those tabacco companies. But it's a must. It's time to stop procrastinating, plus I'm having some oral surgery to remove what's belived to be an ossified fibroma from my gum line that I've had since childhood. My dentist always thought it was a calcium deposit of which is common but it's continued to grow as I've gotten older and has gotten bigger over the last couple of years. I had a more proper diagnosis yesterday with an oral surgeon. Time to chip away before it gets worse. Yuk. The healing process will go alot quicker if I was a non-smoker. This is something I really need to focus on and truly kick the habit. Plus save some money which of course will go to gas. (I'm leaving that topic alone.) This is my first effort ever. I think I'm doing pretty good for a first timer. If I could find a nice pair of man lips to plant my lips on instead of a cigarrette I think that would be just dandy. Wish me luck in that department.

On last thing: Look up 'an engineer's guide to cat's ' on youtube for a good laugh. This dude is so dry that you can't help but laugh. And the cat's did exactly what a cat should do. Act uninterested when the human owner is trying to be productive. Truly worth the six minutes of watching.

Anyway, that's about it folks. Hope all is well in your corner's of the world! elizinashe

Just Call Me Tippi

The Cicada's are coming...a looming mother nature cycle that is due to happen any day now. Eww...I'm really not looking forward to this. Truly, it is a wonder of nature and how all living things work. These locust-like bugs have been burrowing in the ground for 17 years now and are on their way to above ground, shedding their shells( let's get naked!) feeding off the trees, which help the trees stay healthy somehow, mating ( yea, sex!) and laying their eggs which make their way back to the ground. It also gives the birds and other creatures something to eat and those who don't get eaten die anyway. Weird, huh?

So how do they know when the 17 year mark is here? Who sets the alarm? What do they do in a leap year? Does that throw their timing off? Are they hibernating all that time? Do they have a life underground? Is this a slow larvae-to-bug growth process that takes the full 17 years? How do they survive in the ground that long? Do any of them get claustrophobic? So many questions...such an odd process...

I do agree that it is pretty cool, however I am not looking forward to having a bunch of bugs flying around in my yard hanging out in the trees making that 'whrring' noise and dropping dead all over the place leaving the way from my car to my door a 'crunchy footpath". EWWW!! I have this bloated vision of an Alfred Hitchcock film about the coming of the cicadas. Swarms and swarms of bugs buzzing around landing on my shoulders as I make a mad dash to my car for safety with a tennis racket in hand to defend myself, bugs shells all over the ground, birds pecking away at these 'things' as they suck the marrow out of the trees, bugs eggs peppering the ground as they try to burrow for the next 17 years, bugs accidentally flying into the house with the cats hunting this new and bizarre prey and then puking up the half of the bug that they did eat and leaving the other half still alive twitching on my floor...it just gives me the heebie jeebies... I just know that my yard is going to be one of those yards who get these damn things. I swear I saw one earlier today on my steps as I was taking out my Goodwill stuff to the car....ewww!!! I wish I could afford to go to the beach for a couple of weeks once they pop up out of the ground. I'd much rather hear the sound of the ocean for a couple of weeks. Wouldn't you? Feeling buggy...elizinashe

P.S. EEWWW!!!!