I would have posted sooner but I needed a nap.The first several pictures are Patch the Wonder Dog. Every time I said, "pizza," he's tilt his head the opposite way. Great fun.Then Alex's Graduation. There's an arrow to helpfully point him out. He's the one in red.Father and Son. Ah, I remember when I was … Continue reading The Party's Over…
Author: Michael
Follower of Jesus, conservative, freedom-loving patriot.
Alex, Class of 2004
High School Graduation Eve
'Twas the night before graduationand all through the housenot a creature was stirringwell except my son on the computerand Patch the wonder dog with his red, white, and blue bandanaYeah, yeah, I know the cadence isn't right, I'm bushed. It feels sort of like Christmas around here. The refrigerator is stuffed with deli hams and … Continue reading High School Graduation Eve
I Don't Expect You to Agree with Me…
But if you don't, why are you here? There are much easier places you can get your point across, and enjoy your time with like-minded people.I bring this up because of the comments on this post. Read the comments here.In other news, I've semi-decorated all the beds needed for tomorrow night, and it turns out … Continue reading I Don't Expect You to Agree with Me…
Relax, Al. Relax.
My son and I pulled up Paint Shop tonight, and decided Al Gore needed to relax a bit. We gave him a little treat to help him lighten up.Though he still looks a little angry that he has to eat cotton candy.
The Path Less Taken
Why do people come to Chasing the Wind? What answers are they seeking? What pheromone drives them buggy? What carrot moves their donkey?The first answer is simple - apparently, I'm a virtual babe magnet. I'm attracting women bloggers like buttered toast attracts cats. I dunno why, though I suspect it's the pretty colors. So subdued, … Continue reading The Path Less Taken
This would be a great day to rant…
... but I'm too busy. This weekend I'm fortunate to host my entire extended family's visit for my son's graduation, and today there is insufficient bedding, food, towels, etc. Tomorrow I shall be shopping, so today I have to develop a list of stuff. Patch gets to spend the day tomorrow at the groomers getting … Continue reading This would be a great day to rant…
Lonely Man Suspensory
I added a list of "Last referrers" on the bottom left a week or so ago to see what might bringing people to Chasing the Wind. Today I spied this entry:Last 25 Referrals recent referrers for Chasing the Wind * JustOneMinute: I Save John Kerry's Non-Nominating Convention Scheme! * Hunny Hive * Google: "lonely man … Continue reading Lonely Man Suspensory
Not the Day After Tomorrow, or Even the Day After That
I've decided not to go see The Day After Tomorrow. According to USA Today, besides completely ignoring most of the laws of physics and thermodynamics, it's based on a book called The Coming Global Superstorm by Art Bell, the radio crackpot who once faked a photo to claim that the comet Hale-Bopp was accompanied by … Continue reading Not the Day After Tomorrow, or Even the Day After That
Strategy That Just Might Work…
Source: JustOneMinuteOh, you Dems don't pay me enough for this kind of advice! John Kerry has been catching flak for his trial balloon campaign finance gimmick - the "To be or not to be" non-acceptance at what would become the Democratic non-convention scheduled for Boston in July. The idea also raises "Equal Time" questions, and … Continue reading Strategy That Just Might Work…
Cato Critique Misses Mark
I think I like 1/2 the articles at The Cato Institute. Some days they have excellent commentary on politics, other days I wonder if their hats are on too tight. Today was one of those days.In today's "Bush, Kerry, and Partisan Hypocrisy," David Boaz criticizes the hypocrisy of both parties. While I would agree that … Continue reading Cato Critique Misses Mark
A Tower of Coexistence
Beth of Obeyance gives some insight from a discussion with a Hindu friend about various religions getting along. It's probably one of the better analogies that I don't agree with. :)I have some nice friends of various faiths (or no faith at all) that I get along well with. We even discuss our faiths - … Continue reading A Tower of Coexistence
WordPress Installation Troubles
I tried to get WordPress installed last night so I could see if I want to switch away from Blogger.com. I got the following error message during the install:Error establishing a database connection! This probably means that the connection information in your wp-config.php file is incorrect. Double check it and try again.Are you sure you … Continue reading WordPress Installation Troubles
Better Background, But Not By Much
I spent the first couple of hours tonight trying to get WordPress up so I could see if I like it. I started at Livejournal.com, switched to Blogger.com, and now I wonder why I need Anything.com. I should be able to bypass any 3rd party blog host and post directly on Chasing the Wind. Since … Continue reading Better Background, But Not By Much
Waffles for President
A coordinated Googlebomb has succeeded. A google search for "waffles" points you to the number 1 website for information on waffles: John Kerry's election website.Previous well-known googlebombs were "Weapons of Mass Destruction" which points you to a fictional error page, "The weapons you are looking for are currently unavailable," and "miserable failure" which points to … Continue reading Waffles for President
The Background Has to Go?
I've been blogging for.... um, about 2 weeks. Too much blogging. It's 1/2 hour after bedtime, and I'm still blogging. I like it. I do it too much. And I've learned a lot.I've learned I haven't picked the best tool for me. I started at Livejournal, didn't like it. I *do* like Dreamweaver, but it's … Continue reading The Background Has to Go?
New Family Photos (1971 -1972)
"I'm on top of the world, Ma!And I wanna get down!"These photos start in late 1971 while still living in Tucker, Georgia and bring us through our move to Houston in early 1972, and then our visit to Arizona and Mexico in late summer. 1970 3rd Qtr - TuckerStone Mountain. They were still working on … Continue reading New Family Photos (1971 -1972)
Clip Clop
Thanks to "The Cheese Stands Alone," I have a new comic to follow, "Clip Clop."
How Stuff Works
One of my favorite websites is HowStuffWorks.com. I think it has the answer to everything there, the entire internet on a single website. I've found answers to how these things work:toastersroutersauto transmissionsspammistletoeNew stuff is added all the time - featured stuff on the front page are stealth bombers, poker, safecracking, and counterfeiting.
William Shatner on Enterprise?
Source: SciFiPulseLooking ahead to what we can all now confidently say is going to be Star Trek Enterprise's fourth season. Berman confirmed that he had indeed been in talks with William Shatner about a guest starring role in Enterprise, and is hoping to fit a William Shatner Guest appearance into Enterprise's 4th season.This would be … Continue reading William Shatner on Enterprise?
Essays from a Democracy at War
Essays on the war on terrorism: Strength (Part 1) and Strength (Part 2). If you go to his main site, he has several other essays on Power, Responsibility, Confidence, Courage, and more.
Remember the Wedding the USA Destroyed?
Well, it wasn't a wedding.Source: CNNA senior coalition military spokesman said Saturday that dozens of people killed in a U.S. attack in the Iraqi desert early Wednesday were attending a high-level meeting of foreign fighters, not a wedding. Photos shown to reporters in Baghdad support that contention....[Brig. Gen. Mark] Kimmitt said video showing dead children … Continue reading Remember the Wedding the USA Destroyed?
Confused and Misguided Filmmaker Accepts Minor Award
Source: AP NewsOr at least that's how the headline should read. Michael Moore, routinely boo'd at any patriotic US function has found that going to France to criticize a sitting American in the midst of a war can win him a French award."Fahrenheit 9/11" won the top award at a festival that sharply divided Cannes … Continue reading Confused and Misguided Filmmaker Accepts Minor Award
August 1977, Summer of the Boy Scouts
I scanned in a small reel of slides today, from August of 1977. This was a trip to San Marcos, Texas with Boy Scout Troop 479 with my father and brother. Summers were hot, scorpions and tarantulas were common discoveries. Compared to today, those days were relatively safe.It's difficult to put descriptions on the photos … Continue reading August 1977, Summer of the Boy Scouts
Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Cover is Blown!
Rather than post stream-of-consciousness back-to-back-to-back articles, here's my last minute thoughts before I turn in. Fox News has a poll out, their summary says The latest Fox News poll finds that while President Bush's job rating remains below 50 percent and pessimism about the nation's economy grows, the election matchup shows little movement. In addition, … Continue reading Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Cover is Blown!
How to Create Weinergami
Source: Somewhere in Japan
Weird Spam
I get a lot of spam, and about 90% of it is caught by my spam filter. The spam filter is aggressive, though, so I still have to look at the spam headers and make sure it didn't catch email I really do want.I understand the basics - spammer sends 30 million emails a day … Continue reading Weird Spam
Kerry Flip-Flop?
Wizbang is funny. :)Waiting to hear, "I accepted the nomination before I didn't formally accept it."Source: RoutersKerry's trying to figure out if he can spend more campaign dollars if he delays his nomination by 5 weeks. So I guess they'll have the Democratic Convention for 4 days in Boston with loads of fanfare and party … Continue reading Kerry Flip-Flop?
Next Generation Search Engine: A9.com
No, you don't have to give up Google - this new Amazon.com search engine is developed in partnership *with* Google. Basically it allows smarter searches tailored for you.Have you used one of those sites that lets you rank your findings in order to tailor itself to you? The example that pops to mind for me … Continue reading Next Generation Search Engine: A9.com
Whee! My First Inbound Link!
Ok, it's such a little thing. I've been chatting away for most of this month, mostly by myself, like I'm suffering from from self-focused dementia. I don't want to wander aimlessly around the blogosphere asking for people to link to me 'cuz that smacks of desparation. Unless somebody links to me, though, the only people … Continue reading Whee! My First Inbound Link!
He Thinks His Son's Killer's Admired Him?
Source: Guardian UnlimitedI read this a dozen times, trying to figure out this mentality. He blames Bush for his son's death? People ask me why I focus on putting the blame for my son's tragic and atrocious end on the Bush administration. They ask: "Don't you blame the five men who killed him?" I have … Continue reading He Thinks His Son's Killer's Admired Him?
Chasing the Wind is on the rise!
I've added a link at the bottom to the TTLB Ecosystem. We grew from roughly 7500th most popular blog to #6454 in the first day, jumping from the "Insignificant Microbe", past "Multicellular Organism," "Wiggly Worm," "Crunchy Crustacean" and "Lowly Insect." Chasing the Wind is now a Slimy Mollusc! I want a tee shirt.
Patch and The Blustery Day
If you have a dog, you have to have a routine. Even if you change the routine, it's still a routine. Have to, because dogs love it.Patch, Mr. Brain of the Dog World, loves the morning routine. When I turn on the shower in the morning, his nose is in the shower. He blocks my … Continue reading Patch and The Blustery Day
Again, I Stayed Up Too Late…
But it was for a good cause; Tomina was kind enough to take pity on poor old color-blind me and tweak the colors of the boxes and fonts.Unless of course, you don't *like* the colors of the boxes and fonts, then it was all my fault. 🙂
UPN: Enterprise Lives!
Source: SciFi.comUPN renewed its ratings-challenged Star Trek: Enterprise for a fourth season, though it's likely to move to Fridays from Wednesdays next season, Variety reported. UPN is expected to make the formal announcement as part of its prime-time schedule in its "upfront" presentation to advertisers on May 20.Wo0t! This is the only television show I … Continue reading UPN: Enterprise Lives!
Stop the Moral Equivalence
Source: Wall Street JournalGarry Kasparov, the world's leading chess player from Russia, has a great article in Opinion Journal today entitled, "Stop the Moral Equivalence; Suicide-bombing and hostage-taking vs. democracy." Some key quotes:It is not only Al Jazeera talking about "insurgents" in Iraq, it is CNN. Many in Europe and even some in the U.S. … Continue reading Stop the Moral Equivalence
News in the Nude
Source: ReutersTORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian producer is poised to unveil Spanish versions of its Internet and cable television news show, in which anchors deliver the day's top stories in the buff, this week, company officials say......"One version is a fully nude Naked News program dubbed into Spanish," Warga said. "The second version is the … Continue reading News in the Nude
It's Not About the Oil
This Iraqi on his blog shares a letter from an American soldier. The soldier writes, "I'm hopeful in helping the Iraqi people stabalize the security situation so you guys can get on with daily life and a future full of prosperity. I believe in our mission to restore Iraq, so much, that I am willing … Continue reading It's Not About the Oil
I Hab a Code Today
I have to do this to keep my nose from running: I know when a co-worker comes to work all sniffly and sneezy, I do my best to give him a wide berth and hope he goes home early. So when I have a cold, I try to remember that.I called in sick, went back … Continue reading I Hab a Code Today
Most Useless Website Ever
Please register your vote for the most pointless website ever, not counting the "I am Cow" song, of course. PushyZombo.comAmazing Closet CamVirtual Stapler
Childless Couple Told to Try Sex
Source: AnanovaA German couple who went to a fertility clinic after eight years of marriage have found out why they are still childless - they weren't having sex.The University Clinic of Lubek said they had never heard of a case like it after examining the couple who went to see them last month for fertility … Continue reading Childless Couple Told to Try Sex
First, They'll Make Fast Food a Crime…
It's started already.
String Of Fast-Food Suits Expected By End Of Year
Source: Lawyers Weekly USAWhat I find amazing about all this is the amount of preparation lawyers do for this. The plaintiffs are lodging lawsuits left and right, hoping a favorable judge will give them a ruling that'll open the door to other lawsuits. Both sides are preparing - the defense is saying "bring it on!"Who … Continue reading String Of Fast-Food Suits Expected By End Of Year
Which one of you was Mom again? I forget.
This is the type of story that makes me wonder whatever happened to that comfortable nuclear nucular nuclear family. Ward and June never discussed issues like this.SAN FRANCISCO - A woman has no parental rights over the twins she was raising with her lesbian partner - even though she is the children's genetic mother, an … Continue reading Which one of you was Mom again? I forget.
A Saturday from Dell…
For not having anything on the agenda, I was busy all day. I spent the day at Mom's getting her new Dell laptop up and running with everything installed correctly. Not too many problems except for the wireless network installation - I changed values in the Physical address / MAC fields of the router setup … Continue reading A Saturday from Dell…
Which book of the Bible are you?
You are Ephesians. Which book of the Bible are you? brought to you by Quizilla
My Groucho Marx Impersonation at 6 months old!
I think I'm getting slower at this - I scanned another 100 family photos today, and it took 8 hours instead of my normal 6. I'm sure that my new fascination at reading other people's blogs slowed me down some. I also took not 1 but 2 naps I took while scanning, but I'm sure … Continue reading My Groucho Marx Impersonation at 6 months old!
Blogs for everything…
Go on, try to come up with a obscure topic that nobody else has thought of. Here's one I stumbled upon today:Women's Professional Handball in Denmark .I didn't even know there was a Professional Handball Association. For women. In Denmark.
A Do-Nothing Weekend
It started off as a Do-Something weekend, but the rain killed off all the plans. Tonight was "Something With Patty" Thursday, but for some reason she's not interested in braving the tornados in order to get a caffe latte.Tomorrow was a golf day with a vendor; rain killed that, too. All that's left on the … Continue reading A Do-Nothing Weekend
Y.M.C.A.
So I'm getting ready to hang it up for the night - I'll try to add that Google site search later - when my Launchcast Internet Radio starts playing this icky, horrible song....I pop over to Launchcast to blip this monstrosity off my radio... and realize it's William Hung, the rejected Idol contestant. The judge … Continue reading Y.M.C.A.
Chasing the Wind….
My move is complete. I managed to integrate a web template so the blog integrates seamlessly. Or, ahem, will integrate seamlessly. My blog is now located at Chasing the Wind.
White Chocolate
White chocolate is neither white nor chocolate. Discuss.
Reset the blog template this morning…
I reset the blog back to a standard template this morning, hoping it would be useable today. It's not - I have to figure out why there's a path missing, so in the meantime pictures don't show and you can't comment on the entries.If you see anything else wrong, please let me know, but do … Continue reading Reset the blog template this morning…
It's 1:00am. This was harder than I thought. :)
I'll try again tomorrow.
I guess I'm Moving…
What I really wanted was a way to embed a blog *into* my site. Livejournal offers that for paid users, but for free users you have to use some sort of Frame html setup. I had been considering upgrading to a paid account. Except Blogger.com revamped their site today. One of the free features is … Continue reading I guess I'm Moving…
My First Blogger Entry….
I'm trying out Blogger.com (owned by Google) for 2 reasons. 1, it let's me publish on my site free (unlike Livejournal which requires a fee) and 2) I'm trying to get listed on Google. :)I must have stumbled onto Blogger at the right time - it's all over the news that Blogger was revamped. It … Continue reading My First Blogger Entry….
Mom's Day Weekend Recap..
Great weekend. "Babysat" my brother-in-law Saturday morning and took him out for "ice cream" later. (Euphemisms for "golf" and "a pitcher of Shiner Bock"). Sunday took Mom out for brunch and visited with my sister & niece & step-father. My son was nowhere around this time - he was playing D&D Friday, then I left … Continue reading Mom's Day Weekend Recap..
Vending machine drama
Ok, so one day last week, I stuck 65 cents into the machine to buy a bag of M&M's, which whirled and twirled and left the M&M's dangling from the shelf. Grr. So I put some more money in - I'll buy a bag for next week, I think. The machine whirls and twirls, the … Continue reading Vending machine drama
Thank you thank you, I'll be here till Tuesday. Try the veal.
I was on one of those roller-coaster highs yesterday. Don't know why; might have been as simple as a good night's sleep. Whatever it was, yakked all day, told goofy jokes, sang that cow song that got stuck in my head, kept it up nonstop all day. Put a new MasterCard/Visa logo on my website. … Continue reading Thank you thank you, I'll be here till Tuesday. Try the veal.
Song Stuck in My Head
Why can't I get normal songs stuck in my head? I've never had the "It's a Small Small World Song." I get "Bohemian Rhapsody." I get whistling from "Andy Griffith." Last night I went to I am Cow. It took all of 3 minutes for my brain to be permanantly seared. I woke up this … Continue reading Song Stuck in My Head
Ow^2
Up late again. Same reason. This morning I'm driving to work, listening to a country music love song. I cried like a baby. I gotta listen to something else. Maybe go back to listening to talk radio. No, wait - politician talk about raising my taxes on talk radio. That makes me cry like a … Continue reading Ow^2
Ow.
Ow. Up way to late last night and my head hurts. It's not what you think though - I don't party hard anymore. I'm not sure I ever did - or at least I can't remember. Ha! No, I was up late last night playing with Dreamweaver and Paintshop Pro. New toys are fun. My … Continue reading Ow.
Cure unsuccessful…
Brother still has his virus, both computers now. Looks like he has 2 of them, a Beagel variant and a new strain of Gaobot. He has this NS.EXE program hogging all of his resources and he's unable to delete it. He can surf the web, but the major virus software sites are unreachable. I've punted; … Continue reading Cure unsuccessful…
Now I know why I have a website
There's nothing on it at the moment except a lot of "blah blah blah". My brother who lives 300 miles away apparently picked up 2 viruses on his wife's machine. One of the features of the virus prevents him from going to Symantec's website and picking up virus updates. So I'm copying large sections of … Continue reading Now I know why I have a website
Doris
I received a letter from the local car dealership. "Dear Doris," it starts. They have my last name correct, my vehicle VIN number correct, the make and model of my vehicle correct. Look at the muscles on my icon. Do I look like a "Doris" to you?
There is a prize…
I don't even remember what the prize is. I just remember that I want it. Ultima Online is having a contest for players to write up strategy guides. Actually, I think they've decided that strategy guides are a good idea but they don't have the manpower to write them, and this is a trick to … Continue reading There is a prize…
Lunch is over
I had poorly cooked vegetables for lunch and surfed for odd things on the web. I want to refinance my townhome but the dweebs at Countrywide aren't any help. See, I have a prepayment penalty for the 1st 5 years of my mortgage (currently about $3900) if I refinance early, and that 5 years ends … Continue reading Lunch is over
Not my planet…
The more time I spend reading various blogs here on Livejournal, the more I feel like this is a different planet than the one I grew up on. I'm accepting of other people; it matters not on a social level what they do. But I don't think I'm going to be able to converse over … Continue reading Not my planet…
Perhaps the term is "bloguer"
I know why I didn't want a journal. It's a much easier question to answer than why I *do* want a journal. I don't want a journal because I'm a listener (or on blogs, "voyuer" might be a better term). I'm a gatherer of information, just soak up knowledge, useful or not. Reading other people's … Continue reading Perhaps the term is "bloguer"
And so it was in the beginning…
Notice that I have -0- entries. Doh. Now there's one.
