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September 29, 2006

Friday Feathers

The Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) is a "zebra-backed" woodpecker with a white rump. Its red crown extends down the nape of the neck, and its tan breast has a tinge of red on the belly which is often hard to see.

Named for its easily overlooked rosy red belly patch, this woodpecker is mostly a bird of shady woodlands. Will hammer acorns and berries into crevices of trees for winter food. Returns to the same tree to excavate a new nest below that of the previous year. Often kicked out of nest hole by European Starlings.

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September 28, 2006

Oz says g'day and g'bye... for now

Sad to see ya go Oz. Bummer.

Y'all come back soon, y'hear me? (I'm shouting over the moutains and rivers and valleys and oceans; I know you hear me Oz.) Hurry back Oz, we'll be missing ya.

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September 22, 2006

Friday Feathers

The Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) is a smooth fawn-colored dove with a gray patch on the head. Its name comes from its mournful cooing.

Parents feed young (squab) a regurgitated liquid called crop-milk the first few days of life. Flimsy platform nest of twigs often falls apart in storms. Wind rushing through wing feathers during flight creates a characteristic whistling sound.

Note: for those new to this every-Friday entry, all the photographs featured in Friday Feathers have been taken by me.

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Fried Egg

It's been a while since the last time I waxed poetically about anything here. All I can say is, oh well. Seems my brain was willing but the fingertips were not. *shrug* That's why I refer to my blog as writer's block and logorrhea -- it's always one or the other. I recently changed my blog description to like a wobbly tightrope hanging over a windy canyon -- it seems fitting at the moment. :-)

Another reason why I've not deposited sparkly new gems here is in part due to that weird thing that continues to happen with the track button of my powerbook G4. It got so bad (click it twice and nothing happens) that I began pounding it with my fist. Of course hammering one's laptop in absolute frustration isn't the smartest thing to do. Thankfully I'm not a big burly guy; just imagine the damage I could do to this machine.

Yesterday I had the brilliant idea of actually referring to the manual that came with the laptop to see if there were any pearls of wisdom in there I could put to use. Sure enough (duh!) there was a bit that informed me that I could actually double click the trackpad -- whodathunkit? -- never did THAT before. Like, duh - (having a Paris "I'm not like that smart" Hilton moment.) Anyhoo, trackpad clicking has proved, uhm, interesting. It slows things down considerably, especially when I use Photoshop and attempt to do things like use a horizontal guide for an image -- it's just not happening, and when it does it's after numerous repeated attempts. *sigh* Any day now I'll be throwing this high-priced piece of crap against a wall. (a 3-year old laptop should NOT have problems like this.)

In better more perky news, (I've been accused of writing depressing posts to which I respond pleasantly, TFS... if you don't like what you're reading then don't stop by here,) some friends thought I could use a day out on a lake. It helped that the weather was splendidly warm and sunny and I needed a new spot to take some photographs. The excursion also involved fishing, and it's been quite a while since I last had a fishing pole in my hands. Guess who caught the most fish? (insert image of me raising my arms over my head bellowing YAY ME! on a lake devoid of any other boats but the two my friends and I were in.) Say what you will about fishing, but it actually helped to wipe any concerns/issues/pressing matter from my brain. I found myself consciously focused and meditating on the fishing line floating on the surface of the lake, following it all the way up to the tip of the fishing pole, just willing that pole to begin its bend and subsequent yank by the fish that found its way to the bait on the hook... and it did, six times. YAY ME.

As far as photography is concerned, try using a weighty 200-500mm zoom lens without a tripod in a boat that is bobbing left and right. Try it, I say. This is no small feat, given the lack of control over a boat that's drifting and swaying to and fro. (sp?) Other than the flora and fauna of trees beginning to change into yellow, orange and red fall attire, there was also the added bonus of a lone Blue Heron on the banks of the lake. 179 shots and a couple of hot-motored boat pursuits later and I had some definite keepers. You know, shots of the heron in flight, miraculously vivid, sharp and devoid of blur. (Perhaps the heron will appear in a Friday Feathers at a point in the future... or not. I'll think about it.) It was a neat trick if I do say so myself, steadying that cumbersome lens on a boat rocking back and forth and managing a clear shot. YAY ME. ;-)

We interrupt this moment of blowing sunshine up my own butt for a reflection on two fascinating but interesting (to me) things. While on my temporary 48-hour vacation from things that weigh heavily on my brain, I observed some moments of nature I've yet to have the chance to research further. One was watching, in split-second time, a small woodpecker flying and smashing itself into a glass door, bouncing off the door and right into the clutches of a hawk that swooped down out of nowhere and grabbed the poor woodpecker. I didn't need to witness that but hey, that's nature for you. The villain (aka the hawk) subsequently lurked nearby for some time later on, and that's when I saw the second interesting nature-at-work moment. Two small woodpeckers were busy feeding on a cage of suet and I was watching them (of course with camera at the ready) when suddenly the swinging cage came to an immediate standstill. Both woodpeckers FROZE, not blinking, not moving, just statue-like in their perch on the cage. I didn't realize it at the time but the villain was observing the woodpeckers and the birds sensed the hawk's presence. Too bad I didn't have a shotgun handy; damn that hawk for picking on those small birds.

Other than the above, life goes on and there's a wedding to attend this weekend. Another week here and then I'm headed elsewhere for a month of work which should be very, uhm, adventurous. I get to see how self-sufficient I really am whilst living in a very rural area. It helps that I have friends who live nearby but still... I'm more than up for the challenge and look forward to seeing how I fair. It also means dialup but at this point in time that's the least of my concerns. Never a dull moment in my neck o' the woods!

One more thing. When I returned to my homestead I found a lovely Christmas card waiting for me in a stack of mail. Yes, I wrote CHRISTMAS CARD. At a time when little things mean so much to me, (like having friends drag me out to a lake to decompress,) the surprise card from John and Martin in the UK was wonderful. I can't tell you how much it made me laugh and was indeed a welcome chuckle. Thanks you two! :-)

And that concludes today's deposit of brain dust. Have yourselves a lovely day!

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September 15, 2006

Friday Feathers

The Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) is a snow-white bird with slate gray wings and black wing tips with tiny white spots. The bill is yellow with an orange-red spot near the tip of the lower bill.

An opportunistic bird, this gull scavenges for food from dumpsters but will also take other birds' eggs and young right from the nest. Often drops clams and other shellfish from heights to break shells and get to the soft interior.

Nests in colonies, returning to the same site year after year. Lines ground nest with grasses and seaweed. Takes about four years for juveniles (above) to obtain adult plumage.

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September 11, 2006

Five Years Later

In solemn remembrance of:
the fathers ... the mothers ... the sons and daughters ...
the families ... the children ... the husbands ...
the wives ... the girlfriends ... the boyfriends ...
the brothers... the sisters...
the citizens ... the colleagues ... the clients ...
the friends ... the neighbors near and far ...
the bravest ... the finest ... the heroes ...
all who perished.

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September 8, 2006

Friday Feathers

The male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is an all-red bird with a black mask that extends from the face down to the chin and throat.

The male feeds young of the first brood by himself while the female builds a second nest. The name comes from the Latin word cardinalis, which means "important." Very territorial in spring, it will fight its own reflection in a window. Non-territorial during winter, gathering in small flocks of up to 20 birds. Both the male and female sing and can be heard anytime of the year.

Wife and kid below. ;-)

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September 6, 2006

Mish-Mash

Dear Tech Support:

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a slowdown in the performance of the flower and jewelry applications that had operated flawlessly under the Boyfriend 5.0 system. In addition, Husband 1.0 un-installed many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.9, but installed undesirable programs such as NFL 7.4, NBA 3.2 and NHL 4.1. Conversation 8.0 also no longer runs and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed, Desperate

* * * * * * * * * *

Dear Desperate,

First, keep in mind that Boyfriend 5.0 was an entertainment package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system. Try to enter the command C:/I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME and install Tears 6.2. Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications: Guilt 3.3 and Flowers 7.5. But remember, overuse can cause Husband 1.0 to default to such background applications as Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1. Please remember that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will create SnoringLoudly.WAV files. DO NOT install Mother-In-Law 1.0 or reinstall another Boyfriend program. These are not supported applications and will crash Husband 1.0. It could also potentially cause Husband 1.0 to default to the program: Girlfriend 9.2, which runs in the background and has been known to introduce potentially serious viruses into the operating system.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have a limited memory and can't learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to enhance his system performance. I personally recommend Hot Food 3.0 and Single Malt Scotch 4.5 combined with such applications as that old stand-by... Lingerie 6.9 (which has been credited with improved performance of his hardware.)

Good Luck, Tech Support

Virus Alert
All users should be aware that Wife 1.0 has an undocumented bug. If you try to install Mistress 1.1 before uninstalling Wife 1.0, Wife 1.0 will delete MSMoney files before doing the uninstall itself. Once that happens, Mistress 1.1 won't install and you will get an "insufficient resources" error message. To avoid the aforementioned bug, try installing Mistress 1.1 on a different system and never run any file transfer applications (such as Laplink) between the two systems. FYI: Don't even think about a shared directory!!!

Alpha Release
Penetration is still in alpha-release stage, it doesn't have a version number yet. We'll give it a version once we have the many initial bugs worked out, it can function autonomically, responds a bit more mature and we are happy with its performance most of the time. At that point it will become a beta version, which will be the point where some new features can still be added without impacting reliability. After that, of course, there will be release candidate 1 & 2, which will be 'feature frozen' to see whether the customer is really happy with it and to make sure we have made it really fit the environment it is supposed to operate in for a long time. All of this comes before the release of the production version of penetration, which will be version 1.0, at which moment we can take the initial feedback and begin working on improving the product to really suit the customer's needs.

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September 5, 2006

Mr. Right's Job Elimination

Dear ________,

I regret to inform you that you have been eliminated from further contention as Mr. Right. As you are probably aware, the competition was exceedingly tough and dozens of well-qualified candidates such as yourself also failed to make the final cut. I will, however, keep your name on file should an opening become available. So that you may find better success in your future romantic endeavors, please allow me to offer the following reason(s) you were disqualified from the competition.

(Check those that apply... )
___Your last name is objectionable. I can't imagine taking it, hyphenating it, or subjecting my children to it.
___Your first name is objectionable. It's just not something I can picture myself yelling out in a fit of passion.
___The fact that our dining experiences to date have left MY wallet a little lighter, and YOUR pants a little tighter!
___Your inadvertent admission that you "buy condoms by the truckload" indicates that you may be interested in me for something other than my personality.
___You failed the 20 Question Rule, i.e., I asked you 20 questions about yourself before you asked me more than one about myself.
___Your constant emailing shows me you have TOO much time on your hands!
___Your legs are skinnier than mine.
___You're too short. Any son that we produced would inevitably be beaten up repeatedly at recess.
___You're too tall. I'm developing a chronic neck condition from trying to kiss you.
___I find your inability to fix my car extraordinarily unappealing.
___The fact that your apartment has been condemned reveals an inherent slovenliness that I fear is unbreakable.
___The phrase "My Mother" has popped up far too often in conversation.
___You still live with your parents.
___I find your wardrobe of Star Trek uniforms a little disconcerting.
___Your frequent references to your ex-girlfriend lead me to suspect that you are some sort of psychotic stalker.
___Your ability to belch the alphabet is not a trait that I am seeking in a long-term partner.
___Your height is out of proportion to your weight. If you should however, happen to gain the necessary 17 vertical inches, please resubmit your application.
___Somehow I doubt those condoms I found in your overnight bag were really necessary for a successful business trip.
___I am out of your league, set your sights lower next time.

Sincerely,

________

:-) *chuckle*

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Zoe on the Beeb

The award-winning diva of the European blogosphere Zoe (aka I'm-too-lazy-to-write-a-book) of My Boyfriend is a Twat, her boyfriend Andy, hate mail, stalkers, RSS feeds. Today's radio entertainment brought to you by the BBC.

Link: Meet the Bloggers -- scroll down the page and select "Listen to the complete MY BOYFRIEND interview."

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September 4, 2006

Holidaze

Oops. Forgot. Too busy laboring. BusyBusyBusy. :-) *chuckle*

Hope y'all had a nice Labor Day, for those celebrating it, of course.

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September 1, 2006

Note to Al...

Welcome back. :-)

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Friday Feathers

Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) are in a family all their own. It is the only raptor that plunges into water feet first to catch fish. Can hover for a few seconds before diving.

Carries fish in a head-first position for better aerodynamics. Often harrassed by Bald Eagles for its catch. In flight, wings are angled (cocked) backward.

Nests on man-made towers and in tall dead trees.

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