being an adult sucks

Family, whether blood or choice, gather for events.
When you are all the same age -like school friends- you tend to mark the passing of major life changes around the same time as each other: several years of graduations, several years of weddings, several years of babies.
Tomorrow is the first funeral among my college friends (Kurt's doesn't really count because we were still so young).
Bruce lost his valiant fight against melanoma.
I certainly pray that this isn't the beginning of a trend,
but it is a mile marker.
We are middle-aged.
In our heads we are all still kids, but the truth is that disease is more likely to reach out, our bodies are more likely to betray us.
That's a fricking slap in the face.
In between doing 4 shows in Virginia today i traded calls and texts trying to arrange getting to the funeral in South Carolina tomorrow afternoon. The plans became more and more elaborate until i finally realized that for everything to come together, i wouldn't sleep for three nights. Not that i couldn't go three nights in a row, but mayhaps that it is a poor decision.
I want to see my friends, want to connect with them and share this loss. I want to hold Julie's hand, knowing that there is nothing in the world i can say to ease her pain, but BE there as a solid presence beside her.
Instead i am taking the safe option, the keep-myself-healthy option, the i'm-sure-that-i-will-regret-this-later-but-it-seems-wise-now option.
And that decision, more than any number of years, makes me feel old and i hate it.
Rest in Peace, Johara Trebb.
Your quick smile and easy humor made me feel safe when i was so far from home.

good work, people

And yet another February managed and survived and conquered.
I saw a lot of teamwork out there.
Everyone brought their A-game.
There was even some sunshine (though it goes without saying that i got sunburned, right?) and relaxation and Vikings.
A great effort put forth by all of us to plow through.
Rest up, people - only 360 days until February 1, 2013.
Until then, let's rejoice in the words of Robert Frost:

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life:

It goes on.

Gatorz

Do you enjoy wings?

Tasty, delicious wings?
Tasty, delicious wings slathered in yummy sauce?
Then you gotta go to Gatorz.

There is a location in Port Charlotte, FL and the new one in Ft Myers, FL where i went for dinner.
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays wings are 25 cents and you can get them in a bunch of sauces, naked or breaded, and drumettes only, whatever that other part is called only or mixed.
They are dang tasty. I tried both breaded and naked -enjoyed both- in Frank's sauce which is a mix of teriyaki and hot which was a sweet and spicy joy.
This place also has live music every night - score!
I suggest sitting outside by the Tiki Bar.

Hey Rea -

... know what you use to wrap burlap around viking's feet?

JUTE!

help a sister out, Frack

Okay J, i tried to do an image search to figure out what the cool big white bird with the grey head from the last post might be, but i kept finding things like this:

http://cs.birdwatchingdaily.com/brdcs/blogs/field_of_view/2009/10/09/scenes-from-necedah-and-the-international-crane-foundation.aspx

and pictures of ibis and Siberian cranes that are obviously not the right species.
Could you please tell us what kinda bird it was.
Thanks so much.

nature versus nurture

Today while out on a golf cart constitutional i had two very different experiences with some birds.
As i started out i noticed a large white bird by the water's edge.

It was too big and bulky to be a heron, plus it had a grey head - i had no idea what it might be, a crane of some sort mayhaps - so i got closer to investigate.

He didn't fly away, but he was unamused.
 Can you see the hairy eyeball he's giving me?
Click on the image and look at that glare: he is deciding whether to shriek a warning or just flat out go for my tasty, tasty eyes.

Needless to say, as soon as the picture snapped i backed away slowly.

A bit later i was tooling around by the other lake looking for alligators and noticed a duck swimming out in the water. In the land of cranes and herons and ibis, a duck kinda sticks out, especially cause it was of the notoriously ugly Muscovy variety (sorry Rea).
After thinking Look, it's one of Rea's ugly ducks; that's odd I went back to searching the shoreline for gator tracks. About 10 seconds later i saw movement from the corner of my eye:

Whoa! How did you get here so fast?
Duck dude saw me, swam to shore and waddled right up to the golf cart looking for treats. No fear at all. I explained that i did not have any duck treats; he just looked at me and shook his tail feathers. I mean he made such a rapid beeline to the golf cart that he was still dripping water. I went about my gator hunting business and he just hung by me unable to accept that i could possibly be at the lake without treats.
I think you can tell which bird must live here and which one was just passing through.

there's a frog in the kitchen

I was getting myself some breakfast when i noticed a frog hanging between the Venetian blinds and the glass over the sink.

It was posed so perfectly in mid-climb, with each foot on a different slat so that you could see its whole body stretched out that i thought it was one of those resin ones you can buy to put on your flower pots.







It wasn't.
Dad and I worked to get him into a container

and then i took him over to the woods by the lake since i wasn't sure if he'd prefer land or water.
As soon as i put him down in the grass he just froze, hyperventilating a bit to collect himself after the ordeal.
Pretty quickly, though, he recovered and went about his froggy way.

Change of scenery

I'm taking a few days of shore leave to sit by a lake on the lanae.
Mayhaps this will be a chance to catch up on blog posts.
You know, maybe.

Hey - stop laughing!

snort, snort, snortle

Geeky, science humor slays me -for obvious reasons.
The R&D team has been working on a science humor experience and i can't get this joke out of my head:

Two atoms are walking along when the first atom exclaims, I've been robbed; someone took one of my electrons.
The other atoms asks, Are you sure? and the first one replies, Yes, I'm positive.

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Honestly, it busts me up.
For the last week it has been playing in my head.
Sometimes i will be sitting in the van or reading a book or doing sudoku -minding my own business- and a little voice inside -with no warning- says Yes, i'm positive, sending me into a fit of giggles.
Then people look at me like i am deranged.
This is a problem.



Yes, i'm positive.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

you know you are surrounded by crazies when...

on the notice board by the staff elevator

... and the best part is that people are taking them.