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22 febrero Oh MY!!01 enero Thoughts for this SeasonFirst of all, Happy New Year! It's 2008. It's the Chinese Year of the Rat (Brown Earth - Soil). Did you know that the Rat ranks #1 out of the 12 astrological animals in the Chinese calendar? I'm not a believer in astrology of any kind, but it's interesting to note anyway.
I'm sitting here watching the Tournament of Roses Parade - a favorite since I was a little grrrl. Someday, I will see it (and smell it) up close. :)
I spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years' Eve, and New Years' Day quietly. To be frank, I really haven't been trying at all - just spending time running at the local park, and seeing movies. Being quiet after a break-up/divorce is good - it's cleansing. I've been alone for a while, and started thinking how good I was getting at living alone. But, then I think that the longer and more happily I spend time alone, all I'll be getting good at is not being around others and sharing my life with someone. I recall how that 'ruined' my Mother. So, I joined eHarmony three days ago.
What with all the eHarmony rejection ads, I wasn't sure they'd let me into their 'group'. Well, they did. But I bristled at the requirement to pay $20/month just to meet folks, so I never paid. I don't like the proliferation of my personal 'spaces' (MySpace, MSN, BikerKiss, eHarmony), so as I always do, I put my simple addy to this site pointing back to my MSN blog, so interested folks can read my ramblings. I put it in the text box as bimotagrrrl.spaces.msn.com, thinking that the eHarmony wonks wouldn't capture it as an URL without the www or http (which as it turns out goes against their rules for membership -- they don't want anyone to 'meet' outside of their paid service). But they did, and so they removed my page, inviting me to reinstate it with no external links. Aaaah, well. I just don't think I'm ready for that kind of commitment. ;)
I'm very grateful for my little branch church. They've gone and elected me as Reader to conduct the Sunday and Wednesday services. How cool is that? :)
I'm proud of the New England Patriots for going 16-0. The best record in 88 years of the NFL. I'm also very proud of my First Love - the Dallas Cowboys. They already are Division leaders and have acquired homefield advantage. Don't hate me because they're "America's Team". :P
When I get my next job, I'm going to book myself a vacation to either Orlando (can you say, Disney World?!!) or Cancun. I'm also going to replace my HD Fat Boy that I had to sell before I left Seattle.
I saw Charlie Wilson's War. I believe this to be the first politically-based movie dealing with current war topics which I actually agree with, and which seems to be rather Conservative. This movie actually makes a point of explaning carefully why we cannot simply Cut and Run out of countries which we enter and help. It's about Afganistan, but there are so many parallels with Iraq. All I know is that I no longer hear Democrats suggesting that, if elected, they will pull all our troops out immediately. I very much appreciated the Zen wisdom at the end as well, which well describes the challenges of international politics and how there are times when the enemy of our enemy is our friend; but then who over time may become our enemy as well:
It's a good movie. Go see it.
I have a lot to be grateful for. I also have a neat adventure awaiting me, since I remain under the tender loving care of my Father.
Much Love to you All and Perspero Ano!
26 diciembre The Holiday HawkI I just wanted to disclose that I believe in the Holiday Hawk.
I remain unconvinced about the Seasonal Squirrel, however.
12 noviembre Thoughts this Holiday SeasonWelcome to the Holiday Season, 2007!
I've been away for a bit. I had a blast at Halloween - decorating the house, giving away the BIG candy bars from Costco. Not the 'fun size'. Not the 'bite size'. Nooooo -- the full size candy bars. I had scary music coming from the garage, creepy tombstones in the yard, spider webs everywhere with bloody body parts hanging in the webs, and a cauldron bubbling over spreading fog all over the front porch. I even had two huge scary eyes hung in two windows on the side of the house facing the neighborhood. They made it look like a huge cat was living in the house! LOL! Shawn came over. He donned a Jigsaw mask (you know, from the SAW movies?) and after the youngster pushed the doorbell, he'd throw the door open and roar at them. Then, while they were jumping back with a horrified look on their face and screaming, I'd come to the door and calm them down and offer them candy and we'd all smile and laugh. All-in-all, the scary environment and Shawn resulted in one teenie dropping her dress on the porch and running away; two separate girls crying; and one teenie...well...wetting herself. But consistently through it all, everyone (including the parents) told us that our house (and huge candy) was the best of the night! :) Yep. All worth it. I can't wait for next year... ;)
What I'm thinking about lately:
Will the Liberal Press ever make news out of this? Likely No.
While watching national news this last weekend, I heard this week about the man who was the Arabic-speaking FBI agent (George Piro) who was tasked with debriefing Saddam Hussein after his capture. From the article I (finally) located about this (see link below), he interviewed Saddam every day for about a year. What's amazing is what he learned: that Saddam admitted that Iraq never had weapons of mass destruction, but that he was so worried about Iran possibly invading, that he initiated a detailed policy to spread misinformation world-wide to make other nations think that they had WMD. He did this to keep Iran away from Iraq's borders. He also admitted to continually turning away
the UN inspectors because he didn't want the truth to come out that he didn't have WMD.
This is profound. It explains HOW and WHY the US intel agents told the Bush administration that Iran did indeed have WMD; and why Colin Powell presented this information to the UN and went to war.
It appears that misguided female tendencies and liberals have single-handedly created a crisis for the US economy.
They've done this by ensuring that our children will not be able to successfully compete with their world-wide peers for jobs. I've watched the teachers union systematically oppose any attempt to measure and reward (according to performance) either teachers or students. Female tendencies never want anyone to feel bad. This is a good thing at home, but not at school. At school, this tendency eliminates all competition, giving everyone a gold star - no matter their actual performance in relation to others. Proof of this is a report I heard recently
where large employers were saying that hiring and managing 20-somethings is very challenging because they need constant ego-stroking and Thank-Yous -- even when their performance is substandard. I call this the 'gold star' effect. Everyone has to be a winner. I saw this reflected in my own life. While in elementary school, I was always placed in advanced classes. Then 'open classrooms' came along. The goal of "open classrooms" was to put all kids together in one big class so no one felt bad. The pace of the class was the slowest child, so no one was left behind. I got so bored with the slow pace that I mentally checked out and my grades inevitably suffered.
Another example of this tendency is the drive to eliminate bullies in school. I was bullied by some very mean and tough girls in high school -- bullied terribly. How did I deal with it? I used humor and ingenuity. I had to get creative to overcome it. But I'm not so sure that eliminating all bullies (which is a popular theme in schools today) is either a) possible; or b) healthy for our kids. This seems like another attempt to encase our children in padded rooms for fear that they should ever be hurt. What will the NEA do when these sheltered kids have a bullying boss, or a conniving coworker? Will the NEA be there to save that poor child? No.
My observations, and the fear these have occasioned in me for our future workers, were recently confirmed by a talk Bill Gates gave in March of 2007 to the Senate Health Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. From an article on his speech (link below):
"He noted that we have among the lowest high school graduation rates in the industrialized world. As we've said here before, so much of the resistance to education reform has come from none other than the National Education Association, a group that consistently puts self-interest above that of the students."
"He talked about the need for H1B visa and green card reform, to allow the world's best and brightest to come here -- or to remain here after their education -- so that we can keep our innovation edge. Otherwise, it is increasingly likely that the jobs will follow them home, a bad solution for Americans and American manufacturing."
28 septiembre Rock EagleA few weeks ago we went to go see a really cool ancient site located near Atlanta. It's called Rock Eagle. It's thought to be around 2000 years old, but there's evidence that the site's been used by indians for over 5000 years. I was really struck by the effigy; by the size of it, and the depth of it. One of the things that struck me about it, once I climbed the viewing tower, was how the body was filled with larger rocks, while the wings were constructed with smaller rocks. The different stone sizes really lent some visual interest to the different parts of the effigy, making the wings seem lighter and realistic.
Here's a site that talks about the effigy: http://www.lostworlds.org/rock_eagle.html
Go check out the pictures Shawn took there. He's amazingly talented with a camera, isn't he? Wow.
01 marzo really not sure what to Title this one...We’re having some severe thunderstorms this morning; they're predicted for all day. It's pretty funny – ‘cause well, we didn’t hear much of this in Seattle, right? If you don't know, it rarely ever thunders there. And, oddly, it hasn’t actually happened much since we got here, which I understand is pretty normal being winter time.
Sooooo, I take Kiera (my black lab) out this morning as I normally do to go potty. She *has* to go. But it’s raining and thundering and lightening. To put this in perspective, she spent all night in the bathtub. Yeah, the bathtub is the only place she feels safe during storms. LOL Anyway, so we're on the porch watching the storm roll. Kiera is clearly anxious to go, but she won’t even step off of the porch! She’s pacing back and forth and I keep saying, “Kiera, go potty”. She’s getting more and more stressed, but it’s raining harder and harder, and the flashing and thunder is getting intense. So I put my hood on and walk out into the rain, keeping near the garage to lead her and show her it’s OK.
She finally comes over to me in the rain and storm, but only so far as to wedge herself between my legs and the garage door! We both stand there, getting wet, hugging to our little covert in the wall. LOL!!
I keep saying, “Kiera, go potty” which is a command I’ve given her since puppyhood and which actually helps her go potty almost on-command when needed (car trips, etc.). Finally, she walks right along the garage door (protected from the storm by the slight overhang of the roof) and pees while shaking in the pouring rain and storm no more than 3 inches from the house!
I congratulate her. :)
Then, she skittles back to where I am and wedges herself between my legs and the house again. Now, I know she’s got one more thing to do. So I keep saying, “Kiera, go potty”; until I get a brilliant idea. I walk back to the porch which is where I keep her two Frisbees and tennis balls and chucker. I pick up a Frisbee, and she starts excitedly barking over the rumble and flashes of light. I throw the Frisbee far into the front yard, and she runs giddily after it. She picks up the Frisbee and then runs back to her original spot where she'd pee'd just a moment ago and does the rest of her business no more than five inches from the house...and all with that Frisbee still in her mouth!!
Because I play Frisbee with her twice per day during her potty runs, I now know that she can only go potty with a Frisbee in her mouth. When I was really young, I used to have a stuffed black and white kitty. I know how important these things are to providing needed comfort during stressful times.
27 abril Happy Thursday! Thoughts for todayBALD EAGLES
A couple of years ago I was on a long ride from South Dakota back to Seattle. I got to ride my motorcycle through Yellowstone National Park. During my trip through the park, I would often happen upon a long line of cars parked on the side of the road with a throng of people clustered in small groups and excitedly pointing at something in the distance. In two cases, I got off the bike, took off my hemmet and inquired. Each time, one or two folks energetically burbled, "Bald Eagles!! There!!!", while they pointed to some crag in a tree upon which perched a beautiful and huge very majestic Bald Eagle.
It wasn't until the first time that happened when I realized how fortunate I was to live in the Great Pacific NorthWet. You see, we see them all the time. When I lived in the Salmon Run apartments in Bothell, they flew in lazy circles overhead in groups of 2-3 every day. It finally got to where I had to add 20 minutes to every errand that included my car, just so I could stop next to the parking lot, lay down in the cool green grass, and watch them. Today, living in Redmond, on my commute into work I pass two large Bald Eagle nests. Others rubber-neck at car accidents. I rubber-neck at raptors. Every other year they're up there raising their callow brood. I've seen them this Spring already, but I'm not confident they'll stay. They're setting up a massively bright, huge, and very loud Cirque Du Soleil performance tent right underneath. :(
But I digress...since about five years ago, I've been a regular devotee of the WDFW WildWatch Cam - Kent Eagle 1 and 2. These cams show two family nests in Kent and refresh your view every 15 seconds with great shows of the day-to-day hijinks of the bustling family life of Bald Eagles -- egg laying, hatching, raising, feeding, wing flapping, and the occasional bickering over the errant fish-head. It's a blast!! I check it many times a day. Check it out for yourself:
SWAMP RATS
Swamp rats (aka: Nutria) are friggin cute. Yea, they don't belong here, and Yea, they're ruining our lakes and rivers (!!), but dang are they cute. Some days I feel just like this little guy...
MUSIC
I am loving Shooter Jennings' "Aviators". Great lyrics. Also, I can't help but smile reeeeeeeaaallly wide and sing at the top of my lungs whenever I hear Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten." Since I own an Ipod and downloaded that song a few weeks ago, I get to dust off the LR speakers with it twice a day during my commute. :D
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