Just A Tuesday

Part of the concept behind these pictures were I wanted them to be be candind- actors being themselves so I thought that idea was blown when these girls hammed it up but I realised that is exactly what they were doing- being themselves.



Lady troll.





The pyrate who had lunch with us.




The first time I saw the troll away from the bridge.



• US Marines in Marjah Afghanistan.
• The last time I was at The Ballpark I sat just to the right of where the firefighter was who was killed going for the ball Josh Hamilton threw into the stands. I could not even stand the thought of moving around that railing.  I jumped and grabbed him every time my eldest even leaned toward that railing. I literally drew up inside and held my breath and looked away when people I did not even know walked near that thing and had to pass each other. I cannot comprehend somebody falling over it while going for a stupid ball.
• NPRs left leaning light shines brightest when discussing gun control. They will have a Harvard professor in favor of gun control along with a Yalie of the same stripe in the same line up as a 250,000 dollar a year spokesperson for the gun control group du jour who will be followed by a woman whose 3 and a half year old triplets were killed by a gun and if any of this is balanced by a gun rights advocate, he will be somebody they obviously found talking to himself while masturbating and rubbing his own feces in his hair while standing in front of a gun store.
• One of our supervisors is a pretty lady who looks easily 10-15 years older when she is in a stressful period in her work life. When that time passes- a deadline is met or whatever, the years just as dramatically fall away.
• Lori, pics of the horse and falconer are on the way.
• A patient struck me as someone who might have been infected with TB by being some place she should not have been, for example a drug house. I'll even further guess she was not using but was hanging around people who did- probably a boyfriend. It doesn't matter where she got it really. I don't know of a cluster of drug resistant cases coming from a particular drug house etc. but I would like to know the truth- to know if my hunch is correct. 
• There is a big deal being made over a blog called Reasons My Son Is Crying. The author snaps a pic of his toddler crying, then as the title suggests lists the reason why he is crying. I literally do not know what people are thinking- whether he realizes it or not, he is molding that behavior and contributing to increasing it and he has made a monster that may follow and define that child for literally the rest of his life.

Wednesday's Digressions

From Enchanted Rock

It always catches my eye when I see a personal message or a person's address in a used book.

The most widely recognized military symbol in the world. 

My first memorable military job was driving a vehicle that any WWII era soldier would have recognized immediately. My career ended with one that had computer mapping and satellite tracking capabilities and that was twice the cost of nice houses I've lived in and provided as much protection as some WWII tanks. As I recall, the Jeep cost 13000 dollars. The Jeep motor probably generated 30-40 hp, the HMMWV about 200.

Bird carvings by Japanese internees during WWII.

This Japanese mortar was incorrectly called a knee mortar by our troops. The would capture one and a bunch of ammo and say, Hey, lets use this cool knee mortar to blast some Japs!  They would then place this bad boy on their thigh, fire it and promptly break their femur.

• Everlast White Trash Beautiful
• Funny Onion headline: DEA recruits Lil Wayne to use up all the drugs in Mexico.
• I'm tired of my aquarium and think I'll give it to my friend-girl.
• My goofy buddy recently taught Zachary to make realistic fart noises with his mouth. I'll admit though- I laughed so hard my face hurt.
• Our get tough on crime- lock 'em up and throw away the key attitude has already cost us terribly, but if this country fails it will need to be input into the equation for why.We have 2+ million people locked up. Probably the most egregious aspect of this is the numbers whose offenses are related to drugs or alcohol. This is about as sensible as locking up a cancer patient for their disease.
• In other headlines NASCAR racers at Talladega stop their cars mid race and walk off the premises stating,"This is just ridiculous."
• A big, scary homeless patient went berserk in the clinic recently. Predictably a supervisor trying to defuse the situation said, Here sir, lets step into Kevin's office and see if we can figure this out... Man, he would have been scary and crazy looking without being in an absolute rage. I don't get this way often but I felt small and powerless in his presence. I was aware that if he really did snap I would die or be hurt so bad I would wish I were- I was defenseless. That is not an awesome feeling.
• Jeff Corwin and Brady Barr's wildlife shows are the best. I hope they never stop doing what they do.
• As many people do after a visit to the hill country I fantasized what it would be like to live there. I looked up a property I remembered seeing a roadside sign for. It was 500 acres and the Pedernales River ran through it. The list price was 45 million dollars. Huh? I nearly fell over. A lottery winner still couldn't dream of having a place there these days, or the very least- they better dream small.