I pick up my new perscription Ray-Ban sunglasses today...

Or rather I pick up my old Ray-Ban sunglasses with my new perscriptions installed.   Tiffany took a picture of me in my new gear and sent it to me 2 hours ago.  As soon as it comes through I'll add it to this post...

David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~stylin' and smilin'

New day New tires New glasses

I have to have my eyes checked regularly due to my Diabetes.  Yesterday my Eye Doc was surprised at how much my eye glasses prescription had changed.  It was really noticeable during the eye exam.  Good news is that there is still no sign of any Diabetic eye damage.  I purchased new frames to go with my Progressive lenses (yes I'm olde), and had the shop pop new lenses into my Ray Ban Sunglasses (the frames were still fine).  So I'm hunky dory in relation to my eye glasses.  A bit ago I purchased a pair of Pince Nez spectacles to go with my older costumes.  I may take them down and have actual prescription lenses put in so I can see while wearing them, I know, I'm so particular.  I'll take a picture of my new glasses when they arrive in about a week.  To tide all my faithful readers over, here is a stock photo of my spectacles...



(these are worn with my "Buttermilk Dave" and "Excused Duty" costumes)

I also purchased two new back tires, they were sorrily needed and the weird noise from the previously non-balanced tire is completely gone, yay me!  I should have had them rotate the front tires backwards and put the new ones on the front.  Lesson learned...

David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~NERD!

Meramec Greenway - Oh How I Love Thee

When I ride I follow the Meramec River on the bike trails.  They are all paved and in pretty good condition (unless they are covered by flood mud).  "The Powers That Be" are connecting all the individual bike trails into a web of paved trails that will become the Meramec Greenway.  You will be able to completely circle St. Louis and ride all the way around just on the Greenway.  Today Tiffany walked 1/3 of my normal bike route and I ended up biking the same route twice (4.5 miles).  It was nice exercising with the girlfriend.  On a daily basis I get to see deer, frogs, cardinals, meadowlarks, bluebirds and various other wild birds.  The worst hazard I have come across is trying NOT to inhale the floating cottonwood seeds, they tickle going up your nose.  At the moment 1/3 of my usual bike route hasn't been cleared of mud from the last flood.  Of course this section is my favorite part to bike, it reminds me of Ft. Riley, KS.  This part of the trail is maintained by the City of Kirkwood and they are failing in their duties.  Two other smaller cities they have parts of the trial within their boundaries have done a better job clearing the mud and branches off of the trail and the parking lots.  Kirkwood can kiss my shiny heiney.  Even when I'm tired or not feeling like biking, as soon as I feel the wind in my face all is forgotten and I'm loving life.  Today I averaged 7 miles per hour, not one of my better days, but it was fun.  As soon as the Meramec River is down some I hope for a nice big thunderstorm to wash the trails clean of dirt/mud/leaves and small branches.  I've decided to replace my $200 Schwinn with a $500 Worksman bicycle.  After delivery charges it'll be a six hundred bike.  I'm going with the Retro Cruiser and will supplement the factory features with a set of flashing pedals and winged reflective hubcaps.  I'm not going to trick out the new bike like my first one but it will have spoke lights and a head light and tail light of some sort.  Here is a picture of the mentioned bike...

Pretty cool huh?  I've already named the bike and I don't even own it yet.  I am going to stick to a bell instead of a horn.  Horns are funny but WAY too obnoxious for polite usage.  Zoom Zoom...

David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~loves riding his bike!

(and the bike will be called RAMBLER)

Current Country Totals


Journal Visits From
10 Dec 2009 to 28 Apr 2011

United States (US) 1,456

United Kingdom (GB) 63

Canada (CA) 33

Australia (AU) 25

Germany (DE) 18

Netherlands (NL) 14

Italy (IT) 13

Spain (ES) 8

France (FR) 7

Poland (PL) 6

Brazil (BR) 6

Sweden (SE) 6

Ireland (IE) 6

Croatia (HR) 5

Japan (JP) 5

Malaysia (MY) 5

Finland (FI) 4

Norway (NO) 4

Saudi Arabia (SA) 4

Thailand (TH) 4

New Zealand (NZ) 3

Belgium (BE) 3

Denmark (DK) 3

Czech Republic (CZ) 3

Portugal (PT) 3

Greece (GR) 3

Indonesia (ID) 3

India (IN) 3

Turkey (TR) 3

Austria (AT) 2

Peru (PE) 2

Mexico (MX) 2

Lithuania (LT) 2

Philippines (PH) 2

Hungary (HU) 2

Ukraine (UA) 2

Taiwan (TW) 2

South Africa (ZA) 2

Georgia (GE) 2

Korea, Republic of (KR) 2

Jordan (JO) 2

Romania (RO) 2

Pakistan (PK) 2

Iceland (IS) 1

Chile (CL) 1

Russian Federation (RU) 1

Faroe Islands (FO) 1

Hong Kong (HK) 1

Bulgaria (BG) 1

Iran, Islamic Republic of (IR) 1

Tunisia (TN) 1

Montenegro (ME) 1

Slovenia (SI) 1

El Salvador (SV) 1

Switzerland (CH) 1

Singapore (SG) 1

BIRTHER=RACIST

I've been watching CNN a lot lately and really getting fired up as The Donald attacks the President.  Not for one second do I believe that The Donald believes anything he is saying.  He is cynically playing to the lunatic fringe (re: THE BIRTHERS) of the GOP in an attempt to gather up their support prior to his Presidential Run announcement.  But it is dangerous to ally yourself with the racist BIRTHERS (whose main chant seems to be: "Obama's middle name is Hussain so he can't be an American and Hawaii isn't a State anyway") and not be painted with the same Racist paintbrush.  The Donald has painted himself into a corner and even if he shouts down the questions of the reporters, the American Public can happily answer the questions about his behaviour that The Donald doesn't want to address.  The Donald is a bad joke who's punchline can only be: Trump/Palin in 2012.  And I'm laughing and laughing and laughing...

David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~watching the GOP implode!

(My Apt. is completely clean
and ready for my Mom's visit)

TEJAS was fun...

Tiffany and I had a blast in TX.  San Antonio was beautiful (if a bit crowded on Spring Break).  Loved the Alamo, the Riverwalk, the Marketplace, the Mall.  Not so much the Zoo, it was old school with animals behind bars and in non educations enclosures.  We also spent a day in Waco and went to the Dr. Pepper Museum (everyone should go see this world class site), the Waco Zoo (wonderful boutique Zoo), and on the way home we stopped back at the Dr. Pepper Museum to dine at their Soda Foutain.  Helping Mom move from the Ranch to Town kicked my keister.  She downsized from 5 bedroom to 3 bedroom and I love her new place.  The new owners of the Ranch seem nice and I hope they appreciate the beautiful Ranch House my Father designed.  Lately I've been cleaning my apartment with help from Tiffany, I know right?  Let's all sing together from the FIDDLER ON THE ROOF songbook:  "Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles..."!

I'm BACK! Back in the New York Groove...

flee, FLEE for your very lives...

Today is the day...

On the road again

Goin' places that I've never been

Seein' things that I may never see again

And I can't wait to get on the road again

On the road again

Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway

We're the best of friends

Insisting that the world keep turning our way and our way

David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Gypsy!

Tomorrow we ride the Mother Road and brave the new gas prices...

Tif is stressed out and I'm almost done with laundry and packing.  I still have to clean the car, clean the dog kennel, clean the dog, and pack the car.  Wish me luck...

I'm going to tell a story on my little brother...

I love my brother Mark.  I don't say that enough but I do.  Today is a big day in my brother's life and I couldn't be prouder of him.  But first I want to tell a story on my little brother.  I'm not sure of the date but this conversation took place either at the end of Mark's college years or shortly there after.  Mom was driving the car, I was in the passenger seat and Mark was in the back seat.  Mark had scooted up and was sitting in the middle of the back seat so he could be in the conversation.  I have not idea what we were originally talking about, but the conversation went something like this:  ME talking to MARK, "blah blah blah I was named after Dad and you were named after Mom." MARK, "No I wasn't." ME, "What?  Dad is Jerry Austin Smith and I'm David Austin Smith, Mom is Martha Ann Smith and you're Mark Andrew Smith.  You are named after Mom." MARK, "No I wasn't." MOM, "Yes you were."  ME, "Bwhahahahahhahhahaahah."  Today is the day that my brother Mark is being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army.  So not only is Mark named after Mom but he is now officially LTC Mark Andrew Smith.  I love you Mark, and I could not be prouder!

David<~~~~~~~~Mark's older brother!

Getting ready for our TEXAS trip

Preparations for our TX trip:

1. Cleaning house
2. Wash clothes
3. Clean Snooky's kennel
4. Give Snooky a bath
5. Clean out car
6. Get oil change
7. Get tires balanced
8. Get a haircut hippy!
9. Pack clothes for trip
10. Purchase snacks
11. Pack sack lunches
12. Don't forget Tiffany!

SAN ANTONIO HERE WE COME!

I miss dancing at SHATTERED...

WEBSHOT PHOTO GALLERY

My Webshots Album almost got 1000 views this week.  Pretty nice if I do say so myself...

http://community.webshots.com/user/davidasinstl

It doesn't get better than this...

Come all you rambling boys of pleasure

And ladies of easy leisure

We must say Adios until we see

Almeria once again



More from the lads...

Check your wristwatches...

IT'S NERDTIME!

When I'm building an army in Warhammer 40K I try to make mine stand out.  My Imperial Guard Army is based on the British Colonial Army during the Zulu War, Lawrence of Arabia, & the Gurkas.  My Tyranid Army is based on HR Giger and a corrupted Inquisitor.  My Space Marine Army is based on the Mark 8 'Errant' Armor and references to my Father's military career.  When I needed Terminators of course I wanted to do something original.  I discovered the first three Terminator armor designs, picked my favorite and managed to scrounge together 5 for a small unit.  I never imagined that I'd ever be able to expand that number to a proper Terminator squad or have two Terminator squads.  Enter Ebay.  I have now acquired 7 additional original Terminators and am 3 away from a standard 10 man squad and a 5 man Terminator Assault Squad.  Here is the fist published picture of the Space Marine Terminators.  The design I picked is the top right one... 

Love you Ian...

DAVID<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Nerd!

New additions to my Madagascar Vivarium...

I went down to the pet shop to buy some of these:

Vampire Crab Geosesarma sp.

(but ended up with two of these)

Red Crab Geosesarma sp.

DAVID<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Nerd!

ha ha ha...

DEVIL INSIDE

Here comes the woman

With the look in her eye

Raised on leather

With flesh on her mind

Words as weapons sharper than knives

Makes you wonder how the other half die

Other half die

Here come the man

With the look in his eye

Fed on nothing

But full of pride

Look at them go

Look at them kick

Makes you wonder how the other half live

The devil inside

The devil inside

Every single one of us the devil inside

The devil inside

The devil inside

Every single one of us the devil inside

Here come the world

With the look in its eye

Future uncertain but certainly slight

Look at the faces

Listen to the bells

It's hard to believe we need a place called hell

My very first video on my YouTube Channel...

David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NERD!

GOOD NEWS.........BAD NEWS

• Good News!  I put Meramec Jack on the bike rack so I could go biking!
• Bad News...It snowed and the bike lock froze imprisoning my bike on the back of my car.
• Good News!  I bought some window de-icer to unfreeze my bike lock!
• Bad News...It was the wrong kind so I couldn't use it.
• Good News!  I washed the road salt and ice off of my bike daily!
• Bad News...My handle bars are rusting, do not buy a SCHWINN bicycle.
• Good News!  Some guy honked and gave my the thumbs up indicating he liked my bike!
• Bad News...It's still too cold and icy to ride my bike.
• Good News!  I just purchased a huge DING DONG bike bell for my bike!
• Bad News...I just purchased a huge DING DONG bike bell for my bike.
• Good News!  I bought lock de-icer and was able to free Meramac Jack!
• Bad News...My bike is now sitting idle in my living room.
• Good News!  Tomorrow is a new day!

DAVID<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Nerd!

SNOW DAY!

We received 1-2 inches of snow.  The weathermen predicted 2-6 inches.  Hmmmmm, it's almost like they have a financial incentive to overestimate bad weather...

DAVID<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Nerd!

Zorses, Zedonks and lily white Camels...

Zorses come from horses

and Zedonks wear stripity socks

for a mere six thousand dollars

you can own a camel that rocks

black and white and beige and black

when will it ever end?

to purchase a lily white Camel

to Seymore you'll have to send

so come with me or travel alone

we'll ride a mysterious steed

patience love and carrots

that's all you're gonna need...

David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~would love to own a Zoo!

WHAT TIME IS IT?

NERDTIME!

introducing the Leviation MORTIS, will make a wonderful KNIGHT TITAN for Warhammer 40K!

http://dreamforge-games.com/index.html