David's EGO gallops past...

MY FAITHFUL READERS:

Current Country Totals
From 9 Dec 2008 to 1 Jul 2009

United States (US) 1,025
United Kingdom (GB) 9
India (IN) 7
Canada (CA) 7
Japan (JP) 7
Germany (DE) 6
Sweden (SE) 4
Spain (ES) 4
Argentina (AR) 4
Australia (AU) 3
Italy (IT) 3
France (FR) 3
China (CN) 3
Brazil (BR) 3
Chile (CL) 3
Netherlands (NL) 3
Colombia (CO) 3
Finland (FI) 2
Norway (NO) 2
Singapore (SG) 2
Romania (RO) 2
Poland (PL) 2
Malaysia (MY) 2
Czech Republic (CZ) 1
Bulgaria (BG) 1
Austria (AT) 1
Nepal (NP) 1
Venezuela (VE) 1
Philippines (PH) 1
Indonesia (ID) 1
South Africa (ZA) 1
Mexico (MX) 1
Vietnam (VN) 1
Egypt (EG) 1
Greece (GR) 1
New Zealand (NZ) 1
United Arab Emirates (AE) 1
Hong Kong (HK) 1
Portugal (PT) 1

Weirdly enough I'm most pleased with the hit from Bulgaria...

(and as far as Blog Readership goes, mine is tiny)

David<~~~~~~~~EGOmaniac!

I LOVE...

THE WATCHMEN!

Rorschach's Journal: Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save Us!"...

...and I'll look down, and whisper, "No".

Dave Gibbons (ILLUSTRATOR)

Dr. Manhattan

Rorschach

Ozymandias

Nite Owl

The Comedian

Alan Moore (CREATOR)

David gets Political

OK, just in case you haven't figured it out. Republican Politicians are pushing the special interests of the Big Business Health Insurance Industry. If the Big Business Health Insurance Industry thought that our President's Health System Reforms would save them money they would support our President. Since they believe that our President's Health System Reforms will reduce their profits they are pushing their Republican Politicians out into the Media to shepard their special interests and to try and derail our President's Health System Reforms. This is AMERICA, and profits are OK with me. This is AMERICA, and I'm going to speak out and voice my opinion. When the Greed of the Big Business Health Insurance Industry is counter productive to the well being of the vast majority of the AMERICAN People I have a problem with the special interests and their Republican Politicians. I remember what my Grandmother Mama Smith once said (and I paraphrase), "The Republicans take care of The Rich and the Democrats take care of The People." Never a truer word was said...

downstream

sing a song of sixpence a pocketful of rye ashes ashes we all fall down when i'm tired i play 'eyegames' i use an imaginary line drawn from my eyes to trace the geometric shapes that occur nearby a door frame a window the outline where the walls meet the ceiling tiles on the bathroom floor it calms me but if someone sees me doing it i tend to look a little bit crazy i don't move my head just my eyes yea i know it does look crazy when i was a kid i was convinced that our pomeranian dog prince could talk when i would talk to him he would tilt his head and look at me i would say to prince it's ok i won't tell anyone you can talk to me when i was a kid i thought that my aunt mary was lucille ball and my uncle darrell was jethro from the beverly hillbillies in college i once concentrated at my tv set and the picture got fuzzy and jumped back and forth a bit so i kept trying it and got the same results over and over again i called mary my fiance at the time to watch the tv screen and tell me if anything happened so i concentrated and mary told me that the tv screen changed i was ecstatic i could mentally affect the material world so i did it over and over again reveling in my mutant abilities when i thought of something i tried my ability on a bookcase and it got fuzzy and jumped back and forth damn when i was concentrating i was making my eyes go unfocused i was not a mutant i called mary back into the room and asked her why she said that the tv screen changed and she told me that it was obvious that it was important to me so she just went along with my delusion i'm watching penn and tellers bullshit they are shooting holes in the twenty twelve apocalypse theories i love these two guys they cut me up i need a diagram of the universe with an arrow pointing to my location with the caption you are here so if i lose my keys after my alien abduction i can find my way home i remember watching a tv show back in the seventies about ufo's and their theory was that if someone saw something in the sky and you didn't know what it was that meant that it had to be an alien at work we sell a magazine called skeptic and in the last issue they faked ufo's and documented their efforts and then counted how many people then assumed that they saw aliens and what media outlets picked up the story that is funny makes me laugh know what else makes me laugh watching videos of kids skateboarding and breaking their bones trying difficult tricks i also like watching cops makes me feel superior no matter how my day went or how i feel my day is going better than the white trash being chewed on by the police dog when someone says come out or i'll send in the dog i advise you to come out don't drink don't smoke what do you do laugh kookaburras laugh how gay your life must be i would like i would like i would like to keep some finches but i have no desire to clean another enclosure so no birds for me it's time to go to sleep because i'm done typing now stream of conscious gets boring after a while sorry that you read this all the way to the end...

I'll give you three guesses as to what movie I just finished watching...

(and the first two guesses don't count)

David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ARteest!

The Sheryl Crow/Elvis Costello Concert was a lot of fun...

One of the best things about the Concert was that it was free. One of the worst things about the Concert was that it was free. OK, this next part is not designed to make me look like a reasonable person, or a nice non-judgemental guy. The two Losers that sat next to Tif & I drove me nuts. Loser #1 sat directly next to me. Skinny Diabetic Drunk Chain Smoking guy that kept begging cookies off of the lady behind us because his sugar was low. He took off his flip flops and used them as an ashtray (because that is where I'd keep my burning ciggerette and it is the most logical place to put out your butts). Loser #2 sat on the other side of Loser #1. Fat Balding With A Long Ponytail Drunk Chain Smoking Brother to Loser #1. When he left to get something for his brother to eat he stumbled right past his brother, someone had to catch him to let him know that he missed his seating spot.
Other than that, it was a fun Concert. The heat toned down later on in the evening. I need a lens for my camera so I can take better pictures. I couldn't zoom in close enough to see Sheryl's or Elvis' face while they were on stage. Sherly did a great job, she is a very good performer. So I bought The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow CD at work yesterday to listen to before the Concert. Did I mention that I buy a lot of Music. Once I got home and was looking through my CD's for my Elvis Costello Greatest Hits I found the first copy of The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow CD that I had purchased and then forgot. So Tif got a new CD. Elvis only sang two of his songs (Pump It Up and Peace, Love & Understanding). That sucked, I was really looking forward to listening to Elvis more...


Kay Sir rah Sir rah..................(I'm multilingual)


David<~~~~~~~~~~gearing up to attend tonight's Muny performance of Meet Me In St. Louis!

Tif & I are heading to Columbia Missouri to see the Fireworks at the Stadium.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Elvis Costello and Sheryl Crow are singing for FREE underneath the STL Arch on July 11th!

Sheryl Crow is a Bootheel native and I love her music...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY-W7EA8uB0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCBUzzBm4cg





ELVIS COSTELLO ROCKS MY SOCKS OFF!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j7JFP6ZOCI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8aN0zB8Qf8









David<~~~~~~~~~probably has to work next Saturday!

I will go back to Ireland

I just woke up and am sitting here flipping through the TV channels, here is what I have watched so far...





Today Show


That Thing You Do


Michael


A Tree Grows in Brooklyn


Lord Of The Flies


WALL-E


Bring It On


Dan In Real Life


Rick Steves' Europe: South Ireland







That is a pretty good example of how my mind works...

When I return to Ireland I would like to do a Castle Tour








My Family took a trip to the UK after Mary and I ended our engagement, and Mark divorced from his first wife. I think my Parents were trying to distract us. We were in Dublin and were supposed to be meeting some friends of my Parents for Dinner later in the day. Our tour stayed 2 days in Dublin so we had some time to walk around and see things. So after an afternoon of wandering around we were heading back to The Gresham, the Hotel where we were staying. Mom and Mark were way ahead of Dad and I because we were strolling VERY slowly talking about History or Politics or something. As we passed a restaurant an Irish Lady hearing us speak asked my Dad if we were American. My Father being as polite as he always was answered, "Yes I am". She then proceeds to launch into this 5 minute long rant about how her father was really JFK and the CIA was out to kill her. She had this whole fantasy built up in her head and Dad kept nodding at her and being polite and I'm standing there thinking how the heck am I going to get us away from this Crazy Irish Lady. Out of the corner of my eye I see a man leave the restaurant we were standing in front of and zip behind the woman and come in behind Dad WAY TO CLOSE. So I think, this woman is part of a pickpocket team and her job is to distract us while her male partner assaults my Dad and takes his wallet. I switch my weight to my back foot and I start cocking my arm back to punch this guy in his face. From behind he takes my Dad by both of this shoulders and puts his face right next to my Dad's face. But then he does something that pickpockets don't usually do, he winks at me. So I don't hit him. Dad turns to look at him and laughs and luckily I didn't punch him, this is my Dad's friend Jerry Carson that we were going to meet later for Dinner. Jerry looks at the Crazy Irish Lady and says "Excuse me" and whisks my Dad and I into the restaurant where he and his wife were having lunch waiting for the time to come see us at the Hotel. He introduces me to his wife (Carmen I think) and as we chat he looks at me and asks, "You were going to hit me weren't you?" "Yes I was", I replied. That is how I met the Carsons of Belfast. ::shrugs:: We all caught up to Mom and Mark and ate Dinner that evening together and the next day the Carsons took us on a walking tour of Dublin to see the sights. It was a LONG walk that drug on and on a little bit too long. During the walk I'm taking pictures of things I like. Mom and Carmen are up front and Dad and Jerry are walking behind Mark and I when I notice a little detail on the bottom of a lamp post on the curb. The lamp post was old fashioned looking, cast iron, and had been painted over and over again to keep it looking good. At the bottom of this pitch black lamp post was the colorful coat of arms of the City of Dublin. So I squat down and try to get close enough to the coat of arms to make it fill the view finder of my camera. I'm trying to keep my balance, center the picture, keep my hands from shaking and take this picture. This was before digital cameras so I'm sweating all the details because I can't just take 30 pictures and later pick the best one. I'm finally satisfied and I'm taking the picture when Mark sticks his hand into the picture and I end up taking a picture of the peace sign. Not even looking up I snap "Asshole", then look up from my camera to glare at my brother only to discover my Dad passing me instead & grinning his head off. Great, I just cussed my Dad. The morning we left Dublin I saw the Crazy Irish Lady pass by on a commuter bus, I guess she was trying to throw off CIA pursuit...


There are lots of stories about my Dad, telling them make me feel close to him...

TOMBSTONE is my favorite Cowboy Movie...

Some quotes from the movie...

Johnny Tyler ~ "I swear, it's like I'm playin' cards with my brother's kids or somethin'. You nerve-wrackin' sons-a-bitches. "

Doc Holliday ~ "You're no daisy! You're no daisy at all. Poor soul, you were just too high strung."

Turkey Creek Jack Johnson ~ "Nobody move!"
Doc Holliday ~ "Nonsense. By all means, move."

Texas Jack ~ "You ever seen somethin' like that before?"
Turkey Creek Jack Johnson ~ "Hell, I never even heard of something like that."

Sherman McMasters ~ "Where is he?"
Doc Holliday ~ "Down by the creek, walking on water."

Doc Holliday ~ "It appears my hypocrisy knows no bounds."

Wyatt Earp to Ringo ~ "He's drunk."
Doc Holliday ~ "In vino veritas." (translation: In wine is truth)
Johnny Ringo to Doc Holliday ~ "Age quod agis." (translation: Do what you do)
Doc Holliday to Ringo ~ "Credat Judaeus apella, non ego." (translation: The Jew Apella may believe it, not I)
Johnny Ringo to Doc Holliday while patting his gun ~ "Eventus stultorum magister." (translation: Events are the teachers of fools)
Doc Holliday smiling at Ringo ~ "In pace requiescat." (translation: Rest in peace)
Fred White ~ "Come on boys. We don't want any trouble in here. Not in any language."
Doc Holliday ~ "Evidently Mr. Ringo's an educated man. Now I really hate him."

Wyatt Earp ~ "Are you gonna do something? Or just stand there and bleed?"

Turkey Creek Jack Johnson ~ "Why you doin' this, Doc?"
Doc Holliday ~ "Because Wyatt Earp is my friend."
Turkey Creek Jack Johnson "Friend? Hell, I got lots of friends."
Doc Holliday "...I don't."

Going into work early to pick up some books for a special order for a Teacher

I'm driving all over town this morning to pick up enough books to fill a HUGE special order for a Teacher. We have a Summer Reading program where if you read enough books you get a book for free. Two Teachers are using our program to motivate their Summer School Students to read more. One of the books 15 kids chose as their book is out of stock so I scoured the District and found enough for those kids. 15 out of 173 books is not that big of a deal but I didn't want to have to tell the Teacher to have her students chose a different book, so I'm mobile...


David<~~~~~~~~bragging not complaining!

Every day has the potential to be better than the one before...

...and I seriousily hope today is better than yesterday!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYZ78FXTdiY&feature=topvideos

David<~~~~~~~sick of being SICK!

(one of my claims to fame is that Fergie once sweated on me)

In my head, I think I'm a combination of these three characters...

DUCKIE


FARMER TED



FERRIS BUELLER




(But in my defense, I never did wear a vest)





David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~child of the 80's















(and in my head I am always dancing)

from our trip to England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland...

I love Games Workshop and Forgeworld...

Seriousily...

If they are able to prove the existence of God it will have something to do with peanut encrusted caramel covered apples...

(I'm just saying)


David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~even ate the stem!

(it was caramel covered and so fair game)

Snooky likes what I eat better...

I was going to be one of those dog owners that never fed table scraps to their dog (strike one). I was going to be one of those dog owners that never puts clothes on their dog (strike two). In my defense, Boston's do get cold in the Winter, and the red 'hoodie' that had AMERICA printed on the back really looks good on her. I was going to be one of those dog owners that never talks baby talk to their dog..."Who's a good girl?" "Who's a good girl" "Snook-Snook that's who!" "Yes that's you, Snooky-Wooky Doo!" (OK I made up that last part, but reality is pretty close). I am so sedate compared to the life Snooky led in TX. We go on walks but Snooky is used to MUCH more fun and I feel bad. This is my excuse for wanting another dog. I would love to have a French Bulldog or another Boston. Snooky LOVES dogs and people. Since I can't buy a person for her to play with (silly laws), I should be the responsible dog owner and buy her a dog to play with. ::sly grin:: If I get a boy dog I will name him Spartacus. If I get another girl dog I will name her Scout. I'm not planning anything drastic soon but I am always on the look out...

(When Snooky jumps up on the sofa to come see me she always drapes herself across my chest and smells my breath, she's convinced that I eat better things than she does)


David<~~~~~~~does buy dog treats for his dog!

Did I ever mention that my Dad was mentioned in a Tom Clancy book?

The name of the book is INTO THE STORM (A Study In Command) written with Gen. Fred Franks Jr. (Ret). Page 227, 6th paragraph down, second line and it reads: "On 6 December, Franks made a three-day return trip to Saudi Arabia with Corps staff Don Holder and 3rd AD chief Jerry Smith to personally greet the first arriving units from the 2nd ACR." I have it marked with a bookmark and it sits on my self with my other Military books. I once googled my Dad's name and I discovered he had been quoted in the NYT, here is the link to that article...

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/18/world/mideast-tensions-troops-in-germany-pack-up-kit-bags-and-tanks.html


Dad didn't remember talking to the reporter, I sent him the link about a year ago when I found it...

GO BIG BLUE

That was what was lettered across my baseball cap. Manhattan KS was the Indians and the team color was blue. I wore that cap everywhere. I was in Boy Scouts and I always helped out on the Scout Projects of the other Scouts in the Troop. In Manhattan KS if you weren't born there you were the 'new guy'. If your Dad was a Soldier you were looked down on. Manhattan KS is full of snobs (I suspect till this very day that is probably still true). At some point while working on the Scouting Project at Paul's house, someone (I believe it was Bruce) took my cap. Standard game of pick on 'The New Guy'. In all honesty, I was tired of taking their crap. Not understanding how vulnerable they were to retaliation I took Bruce's bike. "Give me back my cap". 'Give me back my bike first'. That was the general conversation (with a liberal dosage of cuss words, we WERE Boy Scouts after all and we all cussed). Impasse. David leaves with Bruce's Bike. Bruce is red faced mad. Peddle off, circle block. Come back to Paul's house. "Give me back my cap". 'Give me back my bike first'. Various threats, more cussing. Peddle off, circle block. Come back to Paul's house. "Give me back my cap". 'Give me back my bike first'. Specific threats to burn my cap. Specific threat to push Bruce's bike into oncoming traffic. Peddle off, circle block. Come back to Paul's house. They are dousing my cap with lighter fluid. Hopping mad I peddle off in search of a busy intersection. Dean follows me on his bike. How do you spell HYPOCRITE? D-E-A-N. Dean was the ringleader in orginally snatching my cap off of my head. 'David you can't push Bruce's bike into Traffic' 'Dave you have to be a better person' (did I mention that Dean later went on to be a Minister?) I come back to Paul's house, they light my cap on fire. I tear off so mad I can't even see straight. Long story short, I didn't push his bike in front of traffic. I wouldn't want to hurt someone or their car. And I wouldn't want to damage a bike that costs a lot more than a baseball cap. I bring the bike back and I get my baseball cap back. They are cussing a lot and they think they forced me to bring back the bike. My baseball cap has a hole burned thru the back of it and it smells like lighter fluid. I wore that cap everywhere until it wore out. I don't try and explain to them my reasons for not damaging the bike, they wouldn't understand. I see some of them online on Classmates.com and on Facebook. I don't contact them, and I don't answer their requests. They are not my friends. They are just people that I knew in High School and they taught me something about myself. It's OK to stand on your own, and always do the right thing, even if it's hard, and even if you're hopping mad...


David<~~~~~~~~~~~Army Brat!

A little comment on temper tantrums...

Yesterday I spent more time in Airports than most people spend in them all year long. Ate breakfast, lunch AND dinner in Airports. They had diverted 60+ Flights at the Killeen Airport and had cancelled MOST of the Flights at the Dallas Airport. I made it out of Killeen to Dallas on one of only two Flights that went that day (I am a LUCKY guy, and I have a secret weapon...TIF!). AnyWHO...arriving in Dallas I was reminded of how small people become when they are inconvenienced. I know some people missed work, vacations, weddings, anniversaries, the bedside of a sick relative, and other tragic personal events, and that is hard on people. BUT! I was embarrassed to be a Human Being yesterday watching all the Temper Tantrums people were throwing at ticket counters in the Airport. I wanted to walk up and straighten the little sailor hats they were wearing with their Little Lord Faulteroy outfits and hand them a lollipop. Cussing the rain makes you a fool, lots of fools in the Airport in Dallas yesterday. People were rescued by boats in Dallas due to the Thunderstorms. The Airport had put out COTS for travelers in the hallways! It was a sea of humanity at every Airport Gate. Every time I encountered an Airport worker behind the counter I reminded them of how many people they had helped today and thanked them for their hard work. Because I work in Management and have to handle large crowds in my job I sympathize with other people that have to work with logistics and make hard decisions like closing an Airport for half of a day and cancelling flights. Travel Workers of the World, I SALUTE YOU!

David<~~~~~~~~~~~~glad to be back in STL!

We Like To Party, We Like, WE LIKE TO PARTY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze72uyZfY5Q

I'm taking Tif to the Wentzville Ren Faire this Sunday

Geoff, Dawn and their two kids are going also. Should be fun...

Another Blast From The Past...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B9zHgutVrQ&feature=related

Mom & Dad are being honored at Ft. Hood next Wednesday

Mom & Dad have been picked to be "Good Neighbors" at Ft. Hood. Twice a year they pick a couple that goes above and beyond to support the Military and their Families at Ft. Hood. I am flying down to Texas to attend the 'Coat & Tie' Function with my Mom. I just read a newspaper article about my Father's death that I had missed before: http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/story.php?id=643

I miss my Dad...