Giving the world a hand since February 3rd, 2002. "If you're gonna dine with them cannibals, sooner or later, darling, you're gonna get eaten."




Comments by YACCS

 
About Me (as inspired by Shell)

1. I am the oldest of three (one bro, one sis)
2. My father is the youngest of seven
3. Our family reunions are huge
4. I hate wearing any jewelry around my neck
5. I don't even like wearing turtleneck sweaters
6. There are only two kinds of rings I will ever wear in my life
7. One is a Drum Corps International Championship ring (which I won in 1992)
8. The other is a wedding ring
9. Emotionally, I want kids someday
10. Intellectually, I know I am sooooo not ready to have them
11. I have had my heart broken four times, but I have only truly been in Love once
12. I have often thought of becoming an author
13. I haven't because I don't have the attention span for it (what can I say, I'm a Gemini)
14. I have few close friends, but I would happily, with a smile, take a bullet for any one of them
15. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve
16. I lose my shirt a lot
17. I was a rabid baseball fan up until the last player's strike
18. I haven't watched a MLB game since
19. I am now a rabid hockey fan
20. There aren't many other hockey fans in Iowa
21. I am a cat person, even though I am allergic to almost anything with fur
22. Without my contacts or glasses, I have 20/400 vision
23. No, my glasses do not look like Coke bottles. Not anymore...
24. I am a nightowl
25. I have been a nightowl since I was three years old
26. I can conduct a band/drum corps and tune a drum, but have not had formal training in either task
27. I hate winter
28. I have a very high tolerance for heat
29. I still don't know what I wanna be when I grow up
30. I have never given birth, but I have had a kidney stone, which is as close as men can come
31. I own four pairs of shoes
32. The combined ages of those shoes is 22 years
33. I have seen Frank Sinatra in concert
34. I'm not sure if I believe in reincarnation, but if I did, my previous life was as a marine killed in WW2 during the battle for Guadalcanal
35. My favorite pun: "I have trouble telling Martin Sheen from Charlie Sheen. I guess it's true....if you've Sheen one, you've Sheen 'em all..."
36. I made up that pun off the top of my head in the lunchroom in HS while talking to my close friend Holly
37. I hate weddings
38. I never cry at funerals
39. There are three things I want to do before I die
40. I have done one of them
41. My favorite movie is "Apocalypse Now"
42. I don't think I photograph well
43. I have hated every picture taken of me except for one
44. I really like to sail, but haven't had access to a boat for a few years
45. I dislike organized religion
46. I have seen Niagara Falls
47. It was overrated
48. Coming up with a hundred of these suckers is harder than it appears
49. I taught myself to swim when I was younger
50. No, I'm not a good swimmer
51. Guilty pleasure: the Elvis movie "Viva Las Vegas"
52. I am not a Libertarian, but am a libertarian
53. I am a card-carrying Democrat, but I would've voted for McCain in the last election
54. I am a "news junkie"
55. I hate yardwork, mainly because I'm allergic to grass & ragweed pollen
56. I dream every night, but rarely remember my dreams
57. I can see myself day-by-day turning into my Dad
58. Christmas & Valentine's Day irritate me because they specify a certain time of the year for you to act a certain way, when you should be acting that way all year round
59. I am usually in the process of reading several different books at the same time
60. I would like to spend several months just wandering around Europe
61. I like to people watch
62. I sleep on one side of the bed
63. There are few things more romantic than snuggling on a rainy Sunday morning
64. I am not religious, but I do believe I have a "guardian angel"
65. One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen was the sun rising over a fog-filled valley as I was driving through the mountains in central Tennessee
66. I don't miss practicing my instrument, but I do miss performing in front of a crowd
67. I've only flown in a plane twice
68. Neither time was a pleasant experience
69. I can read the same book several times over the years and get something new out of the reading each time, not because the book has changed, but because I have changed since I last read it
70. I've read Lord of the Rings seven times
71. I love being kissed on the nape of my neck
72. I believe in the death penalty, but not in the way it's currently being sentenced
73. I'd like to live in Texas one day
74. Ditto for Washington D.C., Seattle, and San Francisco
75. I've been to Mardi Gras
76. One of my goals at Mardi Gras was to stay drunk for 12 hours
77. I made it 14
78. It is virtually impossible to offend me
79. I have double-jointed thumbs
80. Turning 30 really upset me
81. I faint or become light-headed every time I have blood drawn
82. I've had a lot of blood drawn in the past two years
83. I'm convinced that my last words on Earth will be "What bus?", or something equally stupid
84. When I die, I don't want to be buried or cremated
85. I want to have my coffin packed full of explosives and, in an elaborate ceremony, my body blown up, leaving nothing behind but a crater
86. I am deathly afraid of hospitals
87. I love chocolate licorice
88. I can listen to any type of music except country
89. My Dad has played bass in a country band for the last 30+ years
90. I once owned a 1973 VW SuperBeetle (baby blue)
91. I want to learn to play hockey before I get too old to enjoy it
92. I only snore when I sleep on my back
93. I hate sleeping on my back
94. Most embarassing CD that I own: Duran Duran's Greatest Hits
95. I am very stubborn
96. I don't understand racism, as there are so many better reasons to hate people on an individual basis
97. I consider myself to be an "ethical hedonist"
98. I have a very vivid imagination
99. I'm imagining you right now
100. Without pants

All thoughts are mine, all typos are to be blamed on the secretarial pool.

so wrote Leper around about 1:45 PM

 
This is all Heinlein's fault!

I'm an avid reader. I have been since I was five years old. Most of the stuff I read now is science fiction. One of my favorite authors has always been Robert A. Heinlein. After first reading his stuff in Jr High, I wasn't able to get enough of it, until someone later on in HS turned me on to Harlan Ellison & H. Beam Piper (Steve? Stand up & take a bow. You did the trifecta & introduced me to all three writers!), which has become the current monkey on my back. (Why couldn't I become an avid fan of authors that are still in print?)

Now, Heinlein writes rather interesting female characters. They're always highly intelligent, independent-yet-wanting-someone-to-take-care-of-them, stubborn, emotional, practical, athletic, highly sexual, sarcastic, sweet, competent, caring, & very dirty minded. They make for interesting stories, with non-typical female role models/protagonists, in fantastic situations. The women, being more logical & practical, are usually the ones in charge, while the males (who are also highly intelligent) usually become their willing subjects....

Anyway, since my current location of residence has no cable tv & limited access to the internet, I've been reading quite a bit. The first book I pulled out of the many boxes of such was The Cat Who Walks Through Walls by Robert A. Heinlein. I hadn't read it in a couple of years, so I dug in. I got to about page 270, when I said to myself "Man, if only these women were real. These are exactly the types that I find really attractive..."

It was then it hit me, like a diamond-tipped bullet shot into my brain: no wonder you have problems finding a suitable woman, stupid! The ones you most desire exist only as fictional characters! All during Jr High & HS--you know, the formative years--I was unconsciously programming myself to seek out the Jabberwock/Bigfoot/Loch Ness Monster of mates. Imagine, me, fifteen years ago, sabotaging my future love life completely by accident! Who'd a thunk it?

Most women (hell, men, too!) I meet seem so...well...shallow. Only rarely do I meet someone that I find truly interesting (for myself, finding someone interesting is one of the highest compliments I can give). Usually, those interesting people go on to become good friends. Like Rice Crispies floating in a bowl of milk, interesting people tend to clump together. [Note: I am making the assumption that I, myself, am interesting. Since this is my rant, and my blog, I can makle my own proclamations as well. So sayeth Leper Messiah!]

Hmmm....I guess this means that Heinlein--and by association, Steve--is guilty of stunting my romantic growth.

You'll be hearing from my lawyer soon.
so wrote Leper around about 1:43 PM

 
Well, the move is done. I am safely (if rather messily) in Des Moines. I have no idea where several key items are (has anyone seen my alarm clock?), but I'm here. I also managed to fry my left arm by driving from Cedar Rapids to Des Moines with the window down. Very irritating.

I'm currently using a borrowed AOL dialup account for blogging. I'm constantly being reminded why I despise AOL so much. At least I can still blog. Not very often, but I'll do what I can.

Hopefully, this will lift me out of the funk I've been in for almost a year. A chance to start over, to make a new me, a better me. We can't forget our history, just outlive it.
I aim to live a long time.
so wrote Leper around about 5:32 PM