What 2009 taught

Half the world is in 2010, now. As 2009 wanes, I remembered I'd posted the following on Facebook:

"We are 14 days into 2009. A scant 2 weeks (and not a paycheck, yet!) and I have become educated.

#1 - NEVER wash your comforters at the laundromat during the coldest week of winter. They take 2 hours to dry each (even at home) so...thank goodness for backup blankies. Granted, I HAD to do it but maybe the weekend would've been a better idea.

#2 - McDonald's avoidance is a good thing, and really, not that hard to do. OK, I am NOT giving up Mac's forever! That's impossible, they're everywhere, same as Starbucks, only McD's started this in the 50's.

#3 - Tuna and baked beans should have pop tops. If the soup companies and Chef Boyardee can do it, so can Bush's and Bumblebee. C'mon, people! This way I won't have to drag my ONE canopener to work and back and then be upset at home when I realize I've left it at work over the weekend.

#4 - You know it when your cats feel better. They go back to their old routines, ALWAYS, and don't sleep so much. I know, cats are supposed to sleep, right? but I know they still have routines

#5 - A box of 10 oz. Wheat thins will stay fresh and crispy at least 2 weeks if you keep the inner bag folded down."

. . . and to add to the list . . .

#6 - I DO know what to do when I unexpectedly hit a patch of ice while driving. On December 24, 2009 I successfully did NOT stomp on the brakes, turned the wheel the direction of my spin and once on dry road hit the brakes, thus not crashing into the jersey wall. And I got the car started once I remembered to put it in park.

#7 - Three is more than enough cats. Between the litterpans and the puking, trust me.

#8 - I'm not too old for tae kwon do. Big misconception on my part, so glad I returned to it.

#9 - It's good to spend time with your family when you can. Life really isn't all that busy. You can get there and visit. Just do it.

#10 - A monopod is a good thing, really. I've been converted and intend to stay so. They're versatile, and, you never know till you try just HOW good a picture you will get. Thanks to Jim, my buddy.

In closing I must say, the 3 0z. Bumblebee brand tuna cans ARE pop tops and are great for lunch! Thank you, Bumblebee! Happy New Year, everyone. 2010 is here!

No Car Wash

Okay, I get it, I really do. I know machines don't care, and that they're just doing what they're told to do by humans. So, Monday it is, I am standing at the gas pump. Slide card. Tell pump to use credit.

"Do you want a car wash?"

REALLY? It's only 50 degrees below crazy-cold out. I'm SURE there are people either stupid enough or vain enough to NEED their car washed on a day like today, but I am not one of them.

"No."

Begin to pump fuel. I am sure at this point, if the pump had knees, it would've even tried to get down on them and plead with me. Thank goodness they don't. Really, fuel station owners, use your common sense. I know a gas station and car wash go hand in hand in warmer months but in winter, at least the official months of December through March, turn off that stupid message. I know you can! FTW, do it!

Christmas Fun

Merry Christmas! Happy new year!

The baby Jesus is here, and so, we celebrated on December 25. There were frothers and toe socks, M&Ms and videos given, as well as video games, card games, and one week long cruise. Lots of smiles went around the tree. I am specially fond of my Happy Birthday gift card to Target. Mom was quick to point out that it means Happy Birthday, Jesus. I accept that, as my birthday has past. Also to be enjoyed are those toe socks. These events being only from Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day there was TV, nephew time, good food and the white elephant exchange. I am going to enjoy my specialty popcorn with spray butter and seasonings. The hot cocoa package I brought went to my brother and his frother. Most excellent!

There is one thing only I do not look forward to...Un-Christmas-ing! I will put it off, as long as I can.

Gummy Taste

On a completely random note, I have a blog tonight about gummy bears. It sounds crazy, but there's a lot of candy around Christmas, so maybe not too crazy. All I can say is, they all taste the same. Yes, the bears are different colors...green, red, clear. They all have that sweet, yummy taste. What truly matters with the things is freshness. If they are too hard, they are intolerable for eating. Softer is better. Then you only have to chew a couple times and swallow that yummy sweetness. Still, they all taste the same. Why that is? I don't know. It doesn't affect me, as I still purchase the sweet treat. So.....

Here's wishing everyone g-bears in their stockings!

Christmas movies

It is that time of year when I fire up my DVD player and watch endless rounds of A Christmas Carol. Yesterday, for the first time, I watched Love Actually. It was pretty good. Better as a date movie than a watch-alone, though. Kinda depressing that way. It's meant to be funny. Some of it is and some of it is a let down. My least favorite was Bill the singer. It was a very entertaining way to see how the Christmas spirit can infect us all, no matter our occupations.

I was reflecting yesterday that I have not seen most Christmas movies all the way through. I did see Home Alone and A Christmas Story, Will Farrell in Elf, and some of the Bass/Rankin ones. Not Holiday Inn, Miracle on 42nd Street or It's a Wonderful Life, though. It's more specifically the classics. I will have to see if I can correct that this year. I mean, I am decorating for once, why not throw in some movies, too?

First Snow of December

I awoke to snow pelting down this morning. We had maybe an inch that stuck to the ground by the time all was said and done. It even started to melt. Many of my friends wanted more snow on the ground. People seemed to have a Christmas/Holiday mood. This happened for me, as well. I haven't pulled out my artifical 6 foot tree in so long, I thought it was only a 4 foot tree. It is out and up now, thanks to a little thing called snow.

Martial Arts Thing

In class, 1 practice drill was a double round kick. You kick once, don't put your foot down then kick again, higher. After that we donned sparring gear. Now, granted, the guy I sparred tonight is younger and smaller than me. We had 3 90 second rounds. Toward the last 10 sec. of the 2nd round, I decided to try the double round and it worked! I connected and was shocked.

Slowly, I make my way to full blue belt.

John

I was thinking today how more than a couple of my favorite sci-fi TV shows involve a character named John.

There is Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation (French for John-Luke of course)

John J. Sheridan, Babylon 5

John Druitt, Sanctuary

John Sheppard, Stargate: Atlantis

John, V the original 80s version (Visitor Supreme Commander)

and if it counts:

"Jon"athan Jack O'Neill, Stargate:SG-1

"Jon"athan Archer, Star Trek: Enterprise

I'm just sayin'. I like it. There's a pattern there. I guess I have good TV show judgment. LOL

Happy Tuesday to all!

A piccie from my ride home this eve...

One small thing

It's the end of the month. I hoped to have more posts.

I will try to post one small thing that happened on a daily basis. Today it will be a relaxation kinda thing. I was worked up over going back to work today since I had 4 in a row off. That hasn't happened to me on Thanksgiving since time immemorial.

The relaxation was getting home for a few minutes before class. I had a yogurt. I had apple pie with whip cream about half an hour after that. There was time for the cats and birds and time to get changed and read. The last day of November, 2009, was a good thing.



from the painted bridge at Carroll Creek:

Objectionable leading man

Recently, I shared the joy of Stargate: Atlantis with my father. We're both avid sci-fi fans. I am the more picky, a show has to really jive with me for me to watch it. Atlantis is 5 seasons long. After getting Season 1 back, my dad mentioned to me that he did not like the character of John Sheppard at first. To be fair, I thought the Sheppard character was written too much like Jack O'Neill, of the original Stargate: SG-1. Dad agreed with that and went on to state he didn't like John's hair. He thought it should have been a crew cut, or buzz cut, not the length the actor wore it on the show. Joe Flanigan, who portrayed Sheppard, has cowlicks. That kinda struck me funny. I mean, it's a TV character, not a military man. Also, since the show takes place in another galaxy (Pegasus), The characters tended to bend the rules a little on military standards.

This made me wonder, would Dad's "military look" rule apply to other sci-fi characters? What about Han Solo, William Riker and Jean-Luc Picard? I put the question to Dad. I was able to breathe a sigh of relief about all 3 of my characters. They are okay. I had to ask, "What about Commander Riker? He was shaving, then he had a beard for 6 seasons." Dad told me it was okay. He thought Riker was fine with or without a beard. Bit of a double standard to me, I love John Sheppard and his cowlicks (and by extension, Joe Flanigan, hee hee).

Off to watch more of my new favorite, current show, Sanctuary. Dad can't complain about my favorite guy, Druitt. He's bald and cleanshaven. Although, Bigfoot might throw Dad for a loop. Both are portrayed by Christopher Heyerdahl. If I do inquire of Dad, I will update in another post.

Oh, happy, belated American Thanksgiving, everyone! I had it all, rolls, turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, and piiiiieeeeee!

My artistry

Today is a special day for me, martial arts-wise. First, I received my green belt/blue stripe in tae kwon do. The test was last Saturday. When one passes the test, the new belt is donned at the next class attended.

I also made the giant leap into Kum do by purchasing my uniform and 2 swords -- One is for sparring purposes, the other for everything else. Kum do is the Korean style of Ken do, the japanses sword fighting art. I am excited. The next fun thing to do will be to purchase the Kum do sparring gear. It goes for a pretty penny and may be a few months into the future. For now, it is learning from square one--what to do and how to behave.

For tae kwon do, it is more kicks, a new, challenging form and a further fall into the martial arts I love.

How far have I come? White belt, White belt yellow stripe, yellow belt, yellow belt green stripe, green belt. Now green belt blue stripe.

Hail to the Veterans!

Due to real life and being sick, I have been away from my blog. However, Veterans Day is today.

My dad served 20 years in the U. S. Navy. When he retired, he was a Chief Petty Officer. It’s a non-commissioned position. I was fairly young when he retired, so all I remember of the ceremony is sitting in a cafeteria like room on a plastic chair and listening to some officer go on about the ones who were retiring. Oh yea, there was cake, afterward.


Dad’s always been humble about his service. He does not think it is a big deal. Was just doing a job. He did more than that, I say. He protected the freedom of every family in the U. S., he protected our rights and our livelihoods. Dad shipped out twice that I know of. Once when we lived in Morocco (I being born there) and again in the 1980s, to Lebanon. He was in Beirut when the suicide bomber drove a truck into a building during breakfast. When he got back to North Carolina, my baby brother didn’t recognize Dad. He cried when Dad held him. The rest of us didn’t know what to expect, even though we had kept in touch with audio tapes and he sent us post cards.


Myself, I did not enter the Armed Forces. I respect all who have. I have friends who are still in, or in the Reserves.



Hats off to you today, Dad! And cousin Butchie! And to all of our service members, commissioned and non-coms, alike!

Contentment

I am flying by the seat of my keyboard tonight. As I look around my living room, I realize how content one can be, without that much involved.

My cat, Frankie, made me think of this topic. Earlier, he climbed up on the couch, over my shoulder and plopped down to sleep on my legs while I play on the computer. Of course, he let me rub and pet him, but he is content even to sleep. On me or on any human of the house.

I am happy not to work the 2nd job tonight. It was good to exercise at tae kwon do,come home and *boom* do nothing else. I did play an episode of Stargate: Atlantis. It's been over for a few minutes, but it was nice, to sit and mess around on the comp. Also,I let Snap out of his cage to play for a couple hours.

Snap is content preening, *peeping* a bit, and sitting on his cage, sometimes flapping his wings or nibbling at a toy from above. He loves me to kiss his beak and will give me a peck, too.

I must pet the cat. Tonight, my wish to all is contentment.

A bee photo from Labor Day. The bee seems content.

Flower

Today's post will be just a photograph. A closed hibiscus bloom after a rainshower in August.

Stuff in my head

He was killed by food
that's what his tombstone read
Go ahead and stuff your face
That's what mama said
And you'll be killed by food, too.

That is the kind of stranger stuff that floats through my head. Not attached to anything. It's just there. That one made me laugh. It relates to my mom always reminding me to chew my food. Once the first line came to me, I sorta connected the dots of the 2 thoughts. Non sequiturs becoming sequiturs.

Birthday Birdies

I was to devote this post to something else tonight. Then I remembered. Snap and Peanut turned 3 on October 1st! I forgot till this morning. Happy birthday, little Quaker Parrots! And thank you for not having the birdie version of terrible two's. May you not have terrible 3's, either.



Quaker Parrots are also called Monk Parakeets, or just Quakers. The way they shake their heads is a form of greeting within the quaker parrot community. They're originally from South America but migrated to the States many years ago. They're illegal in some states, such as Pennsylvania. Some places see them as a negative species of bird, even an invader, and they are at times as despised as pigeons or crows. There are different subspecies that have been bred in the U.S. Among them are blues, cinammons and yellows. Quakers are capable of speech, but human words are more likely in a 1 bird household, which mine is not.



Here's 3 pix of the THE birds! 1st we have Peanut:



Then we have Snap:


Peanut on (L) and Snap on (R)-- happy birdies and good birdies, too.

Star Trek in My Life

Star Trek. It’s in my blood, and the other half of the reason it is in my blog title. My mother is a diehard classic, William Shatner Star Trek fan. She loves Spock the most. I grew up on the rerun of the 3 seasons. At this moment, I can’t remember all the old episodes, but I have my favorites. My father wasn’t a huge fan, at the time, but he loves Star Wars and other science fiction shows. Mom also likes Twilight Zone.

In the fall of 1987, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry gave us Star Trek: The Next Generation. That incarnation of Trek is the one that sticks with me the most, and it’s my favorite. Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes portrayed Capt. Picard and Cmdr. Riker, respectively. Two great looking men portraying two of my favorite heroes. As a teenager, nothing in my life could be better. The stories always had me captivated.

After Next Gen came Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I believe DS9 is my father’s favorite version of Trek. We became more familiar with the Ferengi through Quark, and we also knew the Cardassians and Bajorans better, along with the Founders and a new enemy, the Dominion.

Star Trek: Voyager was a show I stuck with for the first 3 seasons and then lost interest. I saw some Season 5 episodes and liked them, and then saw some Season 7 episodes and liked those better. In Season 5-7 was the Tom/B’lanna relationship and the Borg, Seven of Nine. Chakotay always sounded like he had marbles in his cheeks, and Capt. Janeway and her husky whispers hinted at a Capt./Commander relationship that really wasn’t there. Still, it was funny to think about. I wrote my own tongue-in-cheek ending for the series.

I attempted to watch Star Trek: Enterprise. I failed. Scott Bakula was a good fit as Captain Archer, and I loved Connor Trinneer as Tripp Tucker, the engineer. T’pol was an interesting Vulcan. However, the plot wasn’t there and after season 1, I saw the final 2 episodes, which were passable.

I saw all the movies up until the last. Star Trek II and Star Trek: First Contact are my faves of the bunch. The new movie I completely passed on. They got it right at the series level with Next Gen. Stop the buck and go no further.

I have been to more than a handful of Star Trek Conventions in my life and enjoyed every one. I've met Bruce Boxleitner, Marc Singer, Nichelle Nichols, Marina Sirtis, Teryl Rothery, Amanda Tapping, Carmen Argenziano, Connor Trinneer and several others. The experience of a convention is fun, fun, fun. There is entertainment, dressing up if you want, autographing, photographing, and shopping. An art show and workshops, too.

My early introduction to Star Trek led me to love sci-fi in general and other shows, like V, Babylon 5, which my dad and I enjoyed together, Beauty and the Beast, which my mom, sister and I all watched, and Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis.

As to Trekker or Trekkie. Trekker seems a little more stuffy, but that’s okay. Please, call me either. I wear both titles as a badge of honor, along with my geek and nerd ribbons. Trek on, friends, trek on!

The Meaning of Trek

Today, a definition. Trek, from the title of my blog.


Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary, copyright 1984 by Houghton Mifflin Company, states: Trek v. To make a slow, arduous jouney or leg of a journey, esp. when slow and difficult.

The American Heritage dic-tion-ary/Third Edition, copyright 1994 by Houghton Mifflin Company, states: Trek v. To make a long, difficult journey.

Both list "trekker" as the noun form (something of dispute among Star Trek fans, as they've been called both trekkers and trekkies). More on THAT "trek" tomorrow.

I did not know or realize that Houghton published both dictionaries. I sort of idolized the American Heritage one since I was a child and used them in school. It became the shining standard and a favorite for me among all dictionaries.

Yes, I am an English nerd. I can say this with confidence. Point in case...the fact that I HAVE more than one dictionary and I loathe getting rid of ANY. One is truly just as good as another, and from this point on I will quote one or the other, not both.

The word "trek" has not changed in definition. I like the first definition best. It describes life, does it not? Life is slow, and difficult. It is ardous and repetitive some days. And day by day, we all trek along.


Today's photo is Cat #3 (but 2 in order of adoption). He is physically blind due to glaucoma, but still, he treks on, without hesitation. I give you: Vincent.

Gaming

I am a games addict. Okay, now I have to qualify that statement. I don't go for the shoot-em-up type games. Uh uh. But puzzle games, give me a Saturday with nothing to do and I can waste hours, EASY.

I am such an addict that even when one of my cats may clamor for attention, to the point of actually jumping up and rubbing on me and getting in my way, I shoo them off. I mean, most people would greet their pet, PET their pet and forget the game. I am so bad, I decide to ALLOW my cat 2 whole minutes before shooing her away.

I look forward to the bootup of my computer and find it difficult to wait for the game to load. Even to look at a clock and sit still for 2 minutes is agony some days.

Sometimes I go days without playing, but when I am in the zone, the cats better hope I fed 'em first.

It almost calls for an intervention, but, really, I can stop any time I want!

Magic, the much shoo'd cat

Hello out there

Hi, welcome to my blog. I have many goals. First up, this is a sort of diary. If something is on my mind, it may end up here. We are all trekking through life. No user manual, just doing the best we know how. I'm definitely not an expert. Just an amateur.



I am an amateur writer/author. There are several TV shows I write fanfiction for. Don't be surprised to see it. I love grammar and the English language. I review/edit all my e-mails and posts and even phone texts. I work for a living, to get the bills paid, which leaves only so much room for writing.



I am an amateur martial artist. Currently I am loving tae kwon do, and I look forward to adding kum do. Which only leaves so much room for writing.



For the last year, I've done a lot more with digital photography. I love it, too. Which,naturally, leaves only so much room for writing. And tae kwon do.



Here I may post a piece of writing, be it poetry, fanfic, or just a blog. Maybe a writing lesson. I may post a random photo. Possibly one of my cats or birds, nature, inside, outside, or friends and fam.



To my followers, I wave at you. *WAVE* Let's get trekking through life!



Heeeeeeere's Frankie!

Test

TEST BLOG -

Just to kick things off, I am writing a test blog. Ummm.. . ha ha. Amateur writer and can't think of anything to say/type. MWA HA HA HA HA HA!!