Halloween

Halloween is a funny holiday.

I used to love to dress up and go to parties on halloween. I wonder if dressing up in costume is an expression of one's subliminal alter-ego.

My favorite characters I liked to dress as was either "Prince" of the purple rain fame or a policeman.

And yes, as a part of my police costume I would carry the requisite bag of donuts.

I never dressed up as a clown or a princess or anything scary.

How lame.

Last year, my cousin and I goofed around dressed as the "Billy Bob cousins". We were absolutely out of our minds, cracking up at our own stupid jokes and uproarious at how silly were looked with our fake rotten hill billy teeth. We were instantly transformed at back at being two little kids again.

We had great fun.

And we were completely sober.

Yesterday, my husband and I took the train to Salem to check out the festivities during the day.

I wasn't sure if people were dressing up during the day so I sort of went "in between" dressed more like Dorian Grey. It was a total mob scene there. People were dressed in some of the craziest costumes. People really go all the way out with some of their costumes. It's really fun to "people watch' there.

I had been to Salem on Halloween night before some years back but it was a bit out of control due to a few jerks drinking way too much. It is suppose to be a family event but a few trouble-makers wreck things by causing trouble. I distinctly remember that year these two guys dressed as giant penises .

Yes, you read this right.

It was kind of funny, in a surreal way, seeing the cops chase these two giant penis guys through the crowded street. These guys were acting like jerks doing obscene things is why the cops were after them. They were alter-ego dicks, really.

Right now, I am giving out candy out to neighborhood "trick or treater" kids and reminiscing of all the crazy halloween parties with all it's great characters.

Oh how I miss Tammy Fay Baker!

sharks in the news

I was watching Fox news this morning while working out down in cell block #9. I clicked on just when the diver's video appeared on the news. As I was observing the video noticing the greenish murky water I thought to myself, "hmmm..I bet that is somewhere in the NE coastline" plus these two divers that were talking sounded like they were from the Boston area.

It turned out that these two divers had a very close encounter with a very large shark off of Eastport, Maine. (Isn't that where Jonathan bird's summer place is located?)

I didn't get what kind of shark it was until I looked it up online and the divers suspected that it was a porbeagle shark.
And of course, being the nutty and oh so common NE divers that we are (and you know who I am talking about!) These two divers interviewed hoped the shark would show up again so they could get a better look.
Here is the link:


Maine diver videos underwater encounter with shark .

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101027/ap_on_re_us/us_shark_encounter_video

* photo taken of porbeagle shark via search engine

confessions of a shoe addict

OK OK, I'll admit that I am a serious shoe fanatic.

I mean, I can not stop in a department store without just looking at the shoes.

Those TV commercials that advertise ladies designer shoes I stop dead in my tracks like I've been hypnotized and I unconsciously just stare at all those beautiful shoes with my mouth agape as if I am looking at a row of delicious pastry. I'll be the first to admit the selling point of my house was it's walk-in closet.

MY shoe closet.

There was days when I am feeling down that I will just sit in my closet and just look at all my shoes, line them up by color and heel height. One dreadfully rainy day I heard my husband calling for me for something. He yelled up on the top of the stairs and said, "Hey! Are you in your closet looking at your shoes!?"

It's scary how he knows me so well.

I'll invite close friends up to see the shoe closet.

And yes, I do wear all my shoes at various times and events.

During the regular work week, I'll wear just crappy sneakers or boots walking dogs. By the weekend, if I don't have to walk dogs, I need to satisfy my real shoe fix. I'll put on my designer heels if only for a few hours.

My longtime childhood friend was aghast at how many shoes I have. I actually cleaned out my closet of scroggie outdated scuffed up shoes. (I relinquished about 10 or so pairs of unusable shoes) I think I have about 70 pairs of shoes (This includes: boots, sandals, sneakers, flats etc..) Of course, I teased my friend back remarking at how many pocketbooks (purses) she owned. Now she has a serious pocketbook addiction. Ha!

I could definitely relate to the main character in the book "Confessions of a shopaholic" by Sophie Kinsella. She would almost hyperventilate when she would spot a pair of gorgeous shoes on sale in a shop window display..

She couldn't help herself.

I "get it".

In the book, "Secrets of a Shoe Addict" by Beth Harbison really had nothing to do with a shoe addict. The story involves four women who had got themselves in trouble financially for various reasons. One of the main characters had a shoe business that floundered. These ladies got themselves out of the financial hole by starting up a phone sex business. The story got a bit ribald for my taste but some of the predictaments these ladies got themselves into were rather hilarious.

But I digress...

My favorite pair of shoes?

Hmmm... I'm not sure. They are all my favorites.

Perhaps my leopard print Manolo Blahniks? Dolce and Gabbana teal boots? Or my pair of (no name) faux snake skin boots?

That was one of things I would look at in checking out guys too. First, it was the teeth and then it was the shoes. Sorry, I know it sounds shallow, but scrotty teeth and those hideous birkin stocks would scare me away.

Bless me Father for I have sinned.

I confess.

I AM a shoe addict.

The Wild pigeons of Salisbury beach part 18

It's been darker in the morning now when I go for my early morning run. Sometimes I don't see the pigeons because of the darkness. I still leave their food out for them.

On the weekend, I got out there at about 7:00am when the sun starting to come up.

My old pal "Brownie" showed up!

I haven't seen him/her all summer!

I think he remembers me too. He flew down right in front of me. I said, "hi Brownie! Where have you've been?" He just looked up at me waiting for his seed breakfast but unafraid of my presence. "Craow Dum" is like that too. He recognizes me and stands right in front of me looking up.

"Chocolate milk" is no longer in the fray. Hopefully since he was a tagged pigeon he found his way back home. "Golak" and "Snowflake" were front and center looking up at me as well.

I haven't seen "Busta Move" but I did see a pigeon feeding her/his baby on a ledge sheltered by a pile of leaves early morning. Yes, the males help out feeding the baby too. That could've been "Busta Move" feeding the baby. He's a bit of a "playa" so it wouldn't surprise me to see him with a brood of youngsters.

Both the male and female pigeon produce a substance to feed newbornes in their crop (a pouch below their throat) called "pigeon milk". It's not milk per say like mammal milk but it does contain a lactase substance full of protein to help the baby grow. This goes on for about 4 weeks and then they get regurgitated seeds, pizza, bread, bugs or whatever, until they are 8 weeks old.

I've taken some photos of the pigeons but the shots came out blurry. I need to figure out how to use the "stabilizer" mode on the camera in order to take decent shots. I am so "techno-challenged" that it is ridiculous.

Pigeons are funny birds. There is one house in Newburyport that I pass by when I walk some of the dogs. It's in a "la de da" neighborhood but this one house which is a little run down attracts pigeons. I'll see a flock of 20 of them sitting on this one rooftop but nowhere else. I wonder why this one particular house in the middle of nowhere attracts pigeons in particular. I'm wondering if there is a hole at the roof line that acts like a pigeon cote.

It's been really windy by the coast-line for the last couple of weeks. The pigeons have a hard time managing the wind. Most try to find a sheltered spot out of the wind under a ledge. Some have been tragically swept out on the street into oncoming traffic or out-to -sea picked off by a hawk or a taunting seagull.

Despite "Craow Dum"s disability (distorted feet from monofiliment line entanglement) he seems to be doing A-OK.

The gate goes down...

The season's turned almost overnight.
It's now cold and dark.
Fall is officially here.
The gate is down.
I put my dive gear away.
I emptied the fish pond.
I covered the AC unit.
I shut the outdoor faucets off.
I had the fluids changed in my car
Next, I will empty the rain barrel and put it away.
Once the trees are bare I'll have to rake the yard of leaves.
I will have to make an appointment to change over my regular tires to snow tires in a month.
Gag, then I have to change the oil in the snowblower.
Oh shit, and I've got to think about Christmas and what I have to buy for gifts. (Now, that is a wicked pain in the ass)
Sigh....
I like the fact that it is a bit cooler. This summer was unbearably hot. The beach is now free of tourists so the traffic is down substantially.
That"s a good thing.
Baseball season is over, which is a sad thing. Football season is in full swing, which is a sucky boring unending drone of a "sport".
I have projects I want to work on which I refuse to do when it is summer time.
So I have to make the most of the approaching 'season" so I do not fall into a pit of depression.
I just hope it is not a nasty winter.

Birdology

I just finished reading a book called "Birdology" by Sy Montgomery.

If you are a nature lover I think you would find this book interesting. It was different from what I expected but I found it intriguing.

This author's name was familar to me. I remember reading her many conservation-animal articles in the Boston Globe. The ones I remember the most where about the plight of whales and dolphins. I remember thinking to myself, "thank God somebody with a nature/ literary background is writing about the virtues of these creatures!" It still never ceases to amaze me that countries such as Japan and Norway still hunt whales for meat or whatever bullshit reason , under the guise of scientific research. I still refuse to buy a Japanese car because of this.

I was hoping to learn something new by reading "Birdology".

And I did.

The author's quest to find and study the elusive cassowary bird was quite an adventure in the jungles of Papua New Guinea and Australia.

This giant bird is one of the closest relatives to the dinosaur. Many of it's features are similar to a velociraptor most notably it's huge razor knife claw that could easily disembowel a person.

And it has.

My husband reminded me that the bird that was in the animated movie "Up" was a cassowary.

Another chapter of fascinating interest was on falconry.

She actually participated in learning the art of falconry.

Falconry is basically hunting guided by a big dangerous bird. I never realized how dangerous birds of prey were. They target a victim's face (could be a rabbit, another bird or even a human) specifically the eye-balls with their steel-like dagger claws. She described them as "loaded guns" and so many things that could go wrong while hunting with them.

Of course, I enjoyed her chapter of intricate chicken societies, intelligence of pigeons, parrots and the strangely violent world of the hummingbird.

She has another (children's) book that just came out called, "The kakapo rescue: saving the world's strangest parrot". A Kakapo is flightless nocturnal parrot (that was) native to New Zealand. Sadly, only 100 remain in existence. They are on an isolated sanctuary on Codfish island off the southern coast of New Zealand in hopes of recovery. My sister sent me a book awhile back on kakapos called, "Hoki: the story of a Kakapo" by Alison Ballance. Kakapos look like a cross between an owl and a parrot.

Sy Montgomery seems to be a person who I would like to meet and chat with. She has a knowledgable background, respect and compassion for all kinds of animals.

She has even has a soft side towards pigs in her book "The good good pig".

I guess I have to read that book because right now I find pigs kind of gross and disgusting.

*photos above:

a) kakapo

b) cassowary

It's me or the dog!

My wonderful husband picked up tickets at the Lowell Auditorium for us to see Victoria Stilwel of the "it's me or the dog" fame featured on "animal planet".

Mind you , I don't even have cable TV. But when I travel, I load up on the cable network's "animal planet" at every place I stay at that has cable TV. Bonaire has cable TV so between dives we veg out and watch "animal planet" for hours.

Victoria Stilwel is a professional dog trainer.

I like her non-confrontational approach to training dogs by rewarding good (desired) behavior with treats and praise. She doesn't buy the "pack leader" domination approach of training dogs. That pack leader approach of getting dogs to do what you want them to may work with some dogs and if it is done by certain alpha-type personalities.

I've seen how certain animals (in my experience with dogs and birds) will favor a certain person over another and that they will segregate who they 'like" (by picking male over female and vise versa) as well.

Since Victoria is a female, about my age and weight, I realistically follow her approach of training.

And it it works.

So long as you are consistent and it is constainly reinforced.

You need to pay close attention to body language (non verbal communication)

And by NOT forcing your will.

Patience and calmness is key.

Ms Stilwel's presentation was interesting and entertaining.

She featured dogs that had not been trained from the local rescue by demonstrating simple commands. Again, it was patience and they were given a "reward" (treats or praise) for the desired behavior.

I was hoping to get my book signed "it's me or the dog" but after the show I was too exhausted to wait in the long line. As much as I enjoyed her presentation I was a bit aggravated with some of the obnoxious people in the audience.

It never ceases to amaze me how many ignorant assholes just have to keep their cell phones on during a presentation.

I mean, really.

This one woman seated next to me had her cell phone ringer go off. I just looked at her, giving her the benefit of doubt thinking maybe she just forgot to shut it off and then, the f*&^ing thing went off again! I then said, "what is up with these jerks and their cell phones!?".

My husband elbowed me.

And it wasn't just this person either with the ringing cell phone.

At the end of the presentation there was a "question and answer" period.

Some people just looooove to hear themselves talk

This one very obese woman kept talking and talking until Victoria had to cut her off because she was taking up so much time with her 'saga". This blabber mouth hogged so much time that other folks didn't get a chance to ask questions.

Maybe the next time Victoria does a presention, she should start the presention by telling the audience to :

"sit"

"shut off your cell phones"

"Speak, OK, now stop"

"gooood people!"

fun with foreigners

I had to check out the new show on NBC called "outsourced".

The commercial advertising the show looked like it would be kind of funny.

The premise of the show is about an American novelty supply company (like "Spencer's gifts) that has been outsourced to India. I guess for the people who's jobs have been outsourced to another country may (or may not) find this concept funny. But the reality is that enough jobs have been outsourced out that in a twisted cheeky kind of way you just might find this funny.

My husband's company is in the process of being completely outsourced to India.

He just shrugs his shoulders.

At first glance, you might find this show racist but the humor lies on both cultures (American and Indian) colliding in what is "lost in translation".

I actually found the show to be bloody hilarious, in a twisted sort of way.

Comedy is funny if it is something you can understand and relate to.

(I never "got" "Seinfeld". I did not get the 'jokes". I hated the characters too. They were annoying, not funny nor endearing)

My husband is from another country and both of us inadvertantly fall into these "faux pas" of each other's cultures with some language barriers.

Thank God we can both laugh about it.

In the show "outsourced" one of the characters name is "Manmeet". (Say the name out loud so you know what I am talking about when I say names alone can cross the great divide what is funny in one culture and normal in another)

I remember having a dental patient with the name of "Won Hung Lo". I stammered to address him in the waiting room. I ended up just calling him "Mr. Lo."

When my husband was a little kid he went on an international field trip to London England with his school chums. They visited all the tourist-trap historical museums. One of the places of interests was to see the Royal crown jewels. When the tour guide announced they were going to see the crown jewels, the kids went into a uproarious fit of laughter.

The word "jewel" sounds like "joowh" which means: "penis".

When I was cut off by a idiot driver one day, I called the driver a "stupid F*&^!". My husband turned to me and laughed. The word "F*&^" means "melon" in his language. He thought it was funny that I would call someone a stupid melon.

I never gave this a second thought when I would see Buddha statues in people's gardens. My husband who is a real Buddhist (not one of thes phoney baloney Richard Gere types) was horrified to see a reverend Buddha statue on the ground used as a decoration much like a garden gnome. What was more horrifying to him was the prevelant use of just the Buddha's head planted in the dirt. I explained to him that Americans who do this genuinely thinking that they are being open minded about other cultures by having a Buddha statue.

He was still offended. If he goes in a store with decorative Buddha statues he will walk out. This is an example of what is "lost in translation". Most Americans do not have a clue that they are being offensive.

When I first met his Mum,the first thing she said to me was "how she just loved Micheal Jackson's" and started to do this little dance.

I stood there speechless.

Really?!?

She felt that by gushing about what she percieved as an "American icon" that she would bond with me.

I was horrified to think that this is what foreigners percieve Americans to be like, that we all listen and dance to Micheal Jackson.

Gag.

He's a creepy, scary, clown and a pedophile freak who was popular way back in, ahhh, 1980 (?).

I felt embarassed and ashamed.

Micheal F*&^%ing Jackson.

You've got to be kidding me.

The bottom line is foriegners have this percieved stereotype of what all Americans are like. I guess we do the same thing as well without even realizing it.

What is interesting that in each state within the USA is like their own little country with their own expressions and culture.

As I mentioned before, years ago in Florida, I had a hard time understanding the Floridian accent. Just their food and drink alone was a little different too. As soon as I opened my mouth and also by the way I dress they could tell I was from Boston.

Yes, as our world becomes more globalized we will inadvertantly clash culturally with people abroad.

Hopefully, we can all just keep an open mind about us with a humorous outlook and just laugh at our "faux pas".

call waiting

Call waiting.

Honestly, this has got to be one of the rudest inventions of this century.

Nothing is worst than calling a 'friend' you haven't seen in awhile only to be interupted with a, "oh, there's another call coming in. Can you hold a minute?"

And before you can reply, you get a "click".

And then you wait.

And then you wait.

You have got to be kidding me.

At this point you've completely lost your train of thought and now, you're pissed.

I think of that other rude invention of automated phone service lines where the robot operator gets online while you wait for your call to be transfered and merrily says, "thank you for holding! Your call is sooo important to us!"

Right.

When people pull that " oh, hold on while I get this call " shit on me, I just hang up. They can just call me back later when they have the time.

If I have guests at my house and the phone rings, I let the answering machine pick up.

I give my guests my full attention.

And the person making the phone call, I call them back later to give them my full attention as well.

This lack of social (phone) grace phenomenom includes having lunch with somebody and their cell phone is on, and rings. I can understand if you are waiting for an important call, you let your company know that you are expecting an important call and you excuse yourself.

That's having at least a semblance of manners..

It's awful when you are with somebody, their phone rings in mid-conversation and they start chatting with that person as if you do not exist. "Oh hiiiii Jenny!" Oh nothing..just having lunch.." So what is up?""Oh really? WOW! What else happened?" blah blah blah......

Call me old fashion but there just seems to be a new era of rudeness.

morning coffee

Although I'm a "tea" person I also really enjoy my morning cup of coffee.

It has to be 'good' coffee too.

I won't drink just any brand of coffee. Nothing is worse than a crappy cup of coffee.

In my humble opinion, dunkin rates up there on top of the list of good coffee.

However, the best coffee of all the coffees I've tried is the "green mountain" brand coffee.

I really like their favored coffees. It's similar to dunkins but a bit more flavorful.

Honeydew donut coffee also ranks high on the list.

One of the best places to get a good cup of coffee on the road is, believe it or not, is in the state of Maine.

I remember one time I was visiting a pal way up in Maine. We stopped in one of those roadside diner/convenience stores to use the bathroom. I wandered into their side store where you can buy the daily news abutting the diner.

I could not believe my eyes.

They had a take-out coffee station room with over 150 carafes of every flavor coffee you can possibly imagine. They had from "house brand" to pecan caramel, blueberry chocolate, cinnamon pumpkin, to whatever.

It was amazing.

Guys in orange day-glo hunting jackets and "pro bass' caps were filling their thermos with their favorite coffee.

I opted for french vanilla.

The coffee was delicious.

My worst coffee experience was in downtown Boston about seven years ago or so. My mother and I did our annual filene's basement shopping excursion. Exhausted from our 'hunt" we decided to stop for coffee. The coffee server in this small upscale kiosk announced that he just brewed a fresh pot of coffee. I put the coffee to my lips and took a sip.

I nearly spat it across the room. It was shocking how gross it was.

"Oh my God! This coffee taste old and dirty!" (It tasted like they brewed old cigarette butts)

I really thought something was seriously wrong and brought it back to the counter.

"Er.....something is wrong with this coffee....it's undrinkable..."

The server poured himself a cup and drank it.

"This coffee is perfect. It is suppose to taste like this", spoken in this weird non-Boston accent.

"This coffee really tastes like shit!".

"This coffee is from Seattle. This is real coffee. Not like your (meaning Boston's dunkin donuts coffee) watered down version served locally".

I couldn't believe that I just paid $3.00 for a really shitty cup of coffee. What a bloody rip-off!

Needless to say, my mother was mortified, "oh just shut up and just drink it for God's sake!"

My Mother hates confrontation whereas I go for the jugglar vein.

However, she thought the coffee sucked too.

As you might have guessed this was the first and last time I bought a coffee at starbucks. Just to note, "peets coffee" and "seattle's best" are as equally shitty.

My father really likes ice coffee. As far back as I can remember my father drank ice coffee in the summer. My mother would brew a pot of coffee, pour it in a juice container and leave it it the refrigerator. I never gave it a second thought until a time we were in Florida in 1976.

We stopped to have lunch at a small family restaurant. My father ordered an 'ice coffee". The waitress just looked at him. "You want ice in your coffee!?!?!" First of all, the waitress had a hard time understanding his "accent" which we thought was weird. Afterall, they had the weird accents not us. Later did we realize, that ice coffee was a " regional" drink, Rhode Island in particular.

Another common beverage we had in our house-hold was 'coffee milk". We had "coffee syrup" as well as chocolate syrup that we would mix in our milk as a flavored treat. This I learned was also a "regional" (Rhode Island) drink.

I finally perfected the perfect brew of coffee: 3 coffee scoops of coffee per 4 cup line of filtered water.

I found "green mountian" pecan praline to be absolutely the best coffee evah!

(Dunkin donuts cinnamon coffee is a close second place)

And don't forget to use use either cream or half and half.

Don't ever use skim milk. It is digusting and turns the coffee grey.

Motto:

Friends don't let friends drink starbucks!

Life is too short to drink shitty coffee!

week 21 on WW

I get a little nervous on mondays when I have to step on the "all telling scale".
I look down with apprehension, but I am holding steady at 110lbs.
I am still , religiously, working out 5 days a week down in cell block #9. I am slowly increasing the weight. Sometimes I "drop back" on the weight when my shoulder feels 'off" or if a migraine is banging at the door. It's just a 30 minute morning workout but my arms feel tighter as well as my stomach.
My body is changing due to my age so I am trying to fight off the "middle age spread".
Yes, I am bombarded with AARP's membership junk mail on almost a daily basis.
It's a reality.
There's nothing wrong with aging because it is the natural progression of life.
BUT
I want to look good and feel good.
I still want to run everyday and scuba dive on the weekends.
I want to dress stylish and classy, not dumpy and farty-looking.
I look at some of the ladies of a 'certain age" and they look fabulous.
Sharon Osborn at age 58, is gorgeous. ( I love her hair!)
I am eatting more but I am staying away from the addictive carbs like bakery goods, candy and breads.
Once you start, you can't stop.
At least that is what is like for me.
I bought my husband a small bag of M & M's as a treat. He takes the 6 oz bag out of the refrig and eats maybe two M & M's at a time, and then puts the bag back in the refrig. I would've emptied the bag in my mouth in one sitting and then went out to buy a pound bag to sooth the rest of my craving.
Nope, I can not touch stuff like that.
I'm still doing OK. But, I have to consciously remind myself to stop eatting when I'm eatting something that tastes really good. I know this sounds so basic but it is a conscious effort for me.
I bought a really nice pair of Italian slacks that were on sale. When I pulled them from the rack I thought to myself, "oh, these will never fit me". The sales-lady in the boutique said to me, "oh my God! you are sooo skinny! You have to get those pants!"
That was the selling point.
Still working it one day at a time.
It is still not easy even after 21 weeks.

Vote for Charlie Baker!

I try not use this forum for my political views.

But this time I just can't help myself.

I haven't felt passionately for a candidate in a long time but this time there is a 'candidate' I passionately want unseated.

And that candidate is "the blind mole rat" (see above photo) who mascarades as the Massachusetts governor :

Deval Patrick.

Let's see, where shall we start?

Let's start from the beginning of why this clown should be tossed out of office.

There must have been alot of cool-aid that went around as for why this jerk ever got elected.

The first thing he did when he got elected was redecorate his office on taxpayers dollars. This was close to $27,000 worth of curtains, desks etc...meanwhile fire stations were being closed down due to the lack of resources. Priorities, eh?

The next thing he did was buy a pricey cadillac escalade ($1,200 monthly payments via taxpayers) Didn't other Massachusett governors drive around in crown victorias? Former Governor Mike Dukakis took the train, remember that?

When Patrick took office he spent a fortune on advertising in Massachusetts to encourage outside companies to create biotech jobs in this state and to promote tourism. Shouldn't he advertised outside the state to get those jobs? Massachusetts never got those badly needed jobs. So what does he do as an alternative to get money in this state? He pushes for legalized gambling!

Wow! What a great alternative! Thank God gambling (so far) hasn't passed approval.

OMG....

Patrick hired his cronies for "hack" jobs. He hired a $72,000 a year chief of staff for his wife. (And what exactly does she do?)

He hired Maria Walsh for a $175,000 a year state job. This was a job that had been defunct for years but all of a sudden it was 'needed". Did I mention fire stations had been shut down due to lack of resources? The public made enough of a stink (thank God) so she never got the job.

He raised the sales tax from 5% to 6.5%. when the unemployment rate has been the worst since the depression.

Other 'sneaky" taxes and fees went into effect as well. My vehicle registration jumped from $50.00 to $160.00 in one year. Taxes and fees went up on utilities.

As a civil rights lawyer prior to becoming governor, he defended this dirt bag Benjamin LeGuir who brutal raped an elderly woman and then later tormented her years later with nasty letters. I guess her 'civil rights' didn't matter. Patrick corresponded with LeGuir while he was incarcerated stating that (leGuir) was"thoughtful, insightful, eloquent and humane". He paid $5000.00 for DNA in his defense ,much to his chagrin, proved that Leguir was indeed the culprit.

Deval Patrick never voted in Massachusetts prior to his election.

On a September 11th Memorial service in 2007 he is quoted as saying, " It was a mean and nasty and bitter attack on the united states. But it was also about the failure of humans beings to understand each other and to learn to love each other. It seems to me that lesson at that morning is something that we must carry with us everyday"

HUH?!?!?

Jim Ogonowski who had a brother died on the September 11th attack called these comments "completely inappropriate".

I totally agree with Mr. Ogonowski.

What the hell was Patrick thinking?!?!

Bloody insensitive moron.

And of course, Patrick had to stick is nose in the biggest non-event of year. I am referring to the situation regarding that nitwit snot professor Gates and the Cambridge police officer who was just doing his job responding to a call. This was a total 'diss' to the Cambridge police.

Don't get me started....

On a local level Patrick pretty much ignores the north shore as far as help being needed.

Newburyport has for years has had problems with toxic odors emitting from a dump site off of Crows lane. People are getting sick from it due to new Ventures refusing to comply to capping off the site. About three years ago, the officials from Newburyport had a visit from Deval Patrick in which they were complaining about this problem on what to do. He said, "I will personally see to that this problem is solved!"

Two years later, with nothing done, and NBPT residents still getting sick from the fumes, Patrick was invited back up. He said, "I had no idea that this was going on".

Enough said.

Dump the Chump!!!!!

presidental pets

I couldn't help chuckling when I saw the recent news about President Obama and his dog "Bo". Apparently, "dog whisperer" Cesar Millan made an observation and comment regarding Pres. Obama lack of properly controlling his dog. "The dog is leading! The President is suppose to be leading!"

I've also read comments people made regarding this negatively addressing Cesar.

This is what Cesar does and has an eye for!

When I used to work in a dentist office, my eyes immediately obsessively focus on people's teeth when I talk to them. I was at a party a while back, I was talking to this lady and I couldn't help but stare at her grossly stained teeth. I wanted to grab her and run a cavitron over her teeth. I have no idea what the conversation was about in which I was engaged. I was too fixated on her nasty teeth.

You just can't help it.

Cesar must feel the same way when he sees errant dogs and clueless owners.

I kind of feel Obama got this dog as a prop for photo ops. He probably never had a dog in his life, he is just too busy and probably has'nt a clue of what to do.

Former President Geoge W Bush also had a problem with his dog "Barney" as well. He has had dogs while growing up but I think mum Barbara was the one who took care of the dog(s) in the Bush household while the 'kids' just played with the dogs ,whenever.

Did'nt Former President Clinton have problem with his dog, "Buddy, that was humping everything? Hmmmmm.

Maybe Cesar sees this as an opportunity to be "the presidental dog trainer". You got to give him credit for stepping up to plate to a potential "job" opportunity.

Presidents all through the ages have had pets. Perhaps some got pets for PR reasons and some have had pets because they always had pets.

One presidental pet that stands out to me is Andrew Jackson's parrot. Andrew Jackson was our 7th president. Andrew Jackson had a parrot named "Poll". Apparently this parrot could speak in both spanish and English but what came out of this bird's mouth was obscenties. When Andrew Jackson died, the parrot was present at his funeral. The bird let out a litany of swear words at the service so bad that he had to be removed. Parrots are extremely smart. I am guessing this bird was exposed to alot of expressive salty language!

I hope for Bo's sake that the president hires Cesar to help him teach Bo to behave so that Bo becomes a family member rather than just being there used as a prop.

reptiles of Bonaire

I must have taken a hundred photos of iguanas and blau blaus.

I will share just a few of my favorite photos

The second photo down is a photo of a blau blau. I am guessing this one is a female because the males generally have a bright blue coloring. The females are browner in color.

The rest of the photos are native green iguanas. They are really fun to watch.

bird watching in Bonaire part 2

OK, get ready to faint, but I actually signed up for DSL.

We had dial-up connection. It was so bloody slow that it kept jamming. It took close to a half an hour to download one stinking photo that I couldn't stand it anymore.

When we first moved to this area we tried the adelphi high speed network on their trial "special". After 3 months of their "special", the price jumped to a ridiculous level plus we still had problems connecting, so we ended that. Adelphi is no longer in business. Comcast and verizon are the only choices.

Anyways, here are some photos that "yours truly" took in while bird watching in Bonaire.

a) This first photo is of a caribbean parakeet, Aratinga pertinax. These parakeets are basically conures similar to the 'wild parrots of Telegraph hill". This picture was taken on a scrub tree near Rincon. If you look in the upper left part of the picture you can see a "feathered mass". That is picture of a caribbean parakeet feeding her fledgling! These parakeets are thriving!

b) This is the common bananaquit, Coereba flaveola . You can hear them making their "twizz twizzz" sound.

c) This is a tricolored heron, Egretta tricolor. He was fishing in the salt panns.

d) This is a yellow oriole, Icterus nigrogularis

Pretty bird!

e) This is a bare-eyed pigeon, Columba corensis. This is one of my favorites. He would sit in the tree and make this "whoooo whooo" sound.

f) Caribbean parakeets

g) These are caribbean flamingoes, Phoenicopterus ruber. You see them on a regular basis looking for tiny shrimps at the salt panns.

h) This is a brown pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis.

birdwatching in Bonaire

Here is a list of birds I have properly spotted and identified during my stay in Bonaire:

magnificent frigate birds-You see them in the sky

caribbean parakeets-They fly in flocks and you can hear their raucous "cak cak cak!"

common ground doves-Like their name, you usually see them walking around on the ground

earred dove -Looks similar to the ground dove but are lighter brown and have a black ear dash

white faced dove-Looks similar to the earred dove but lighter color with a pale face.

bare-eyed pigeon-My favorite. They have a white ring around their eye. They make a "Whooo whooo" sound all day long. We had one perched in the tree next to our apartment all week.

brown pelican-you see them south at the beaches

tricolored heron- We saw them with the flamingoes in the salt panns.

caribbean flamingo- You periodically see them flying but you mostly see them at the salt panns

ruddy turnstones-You see them at the beaches scurring around the rocks.

laughing gulls-Common bird.

house sparrow-Common bird.

bananaquits-You hear them all the time with their "switzz switzz" sound

safrron finch-You see them everywhere as well. they are pretty and are usually in small flocks.

troupial-Beautiful and bright orange and black.

yellow oriole-People get the troupial mixed up with oriole. The oriole is smaller and yellow.

least sandpipers-Very common with yellow feet.. They look similar to the semi-palmated sandpipers which have black feet.

yellow shouldered amazon parrot* -I have not seen this parrot this year but before construction in the back of the residences were we usually stay. I would see them and hear them squawk roosting in the scrubby trees and hisbiscus in the morning and at dusk.

Since 1993, there was about 300 of these birds living in Bonaire. I have no idea how many are left due to habitat destruction and poaching.

*photographs above I took while in Bonaire.

Yes, ME!

the above photos are as followed:

bare eyed pigeon

movie day

Chris called me to cancel the weekend dive.

The weather is now officially fall with it's unpredictable days of warm days alternating with fiercely cold windy days. We are getting some of the backlash from hurricanes that has caused havok down south. This time of year it is a "crap shoot" as far as diving goes because the water can get pretty dam rough making it pukey, dangerous and, just not fun.

So we took the opportunity to use a movie card gift certificate that I had tucked in my purse to see "the Legends of the Guardians".

Yes, we finally got to see the owl movie.

The last movie we saw at the theater was "Avatar" on New Years day. The time before that was "Happy Feet". I'm not sure when we saw "Happy Feet' but it had to have been at least a year or two ago.

We don't go the theater that often so with my insistance we saw this movie in the IMAX 3-D theater.

It's really kind of expensive to go to the movies. The regular price of admission is $10.50 pp plus an additional $7.00 for the IMAX. Being the resolute bargain hunter that I am I found out if you go to the first seating before noon the tix prices are $6.00( plus just $4.00 to include the IMAX experience).

Yup, so we saved $15.00 by going early AND there was no crowds.

Seriously, it was soooo worth it.

This was a totally enjoyable movie.

The art work that was put into this movie making it so visually real and exciting was exquisite. It might be a little scary for little kids but at least this is the type of movie you could go with your mother to see.

I give this movie the "two thumbs up!"

Bonaire iguanas

The one thing I really like about Bonaire is the abundant reptile life.
Bonaire has no shortage of blau blau lizards, anoles and their bold, proud, green iguanas.
The first couple of times in our quest to find iguanas we got sucked into going to Bonaire's Slagbaai National park.
Slagbaai is rocky,rough, desert terrain in the middle of Bonaire's version of "death valley". Heaven forbid if your truck broke down, you ran out of water and had no sun protection. You might as well bend over and kiss your ass good bye.
I also found out that iguanas and blau blaus really like raisens.
I spotted a few iguanas in the scrubby brush. I approached them very cautiously by tossing a few raisens on the ground. One approached, then another and another, and then, there was this stampede of iguanas and blau blaus boldly confronting you for raisens.
My husband thought, at first, that this was kind of cool but then when close to two hundred iguanas, anoles and blau blaus surrounded us, he ran to the truck and rolled up the windows. He left me standing outside the truck with a, now, empty box of sunmaid raisens.
At popular resorts such as the "Divi flamingo beach resort" lives 'friendly' resident iguanas that sun themselves at the dock and look for french fry hand-outs from the tourists.
At the, now, demolished "sunset house resort" commonly known as the 'front porch" dive site is one of the best places to watch iguanas in action. The demolished concrete slabs provide housing for many iguanas. The defunct cess-pool basins provide a place for the iguanas to lay their eggs.
In the dirty rain water gathered in the basins I could see quite a few eggs hunkered down amongst the twigs and dirt. I like to hang out here between dives to watch the iguanas.
The males will stand defiantly on top of the debris with their dewlaps unfurrowed like a great sail. Some will bob their heads with great vigor and some will do it lazily. Some will bob their heads at another iguana and some will do it because they think somebody is looking at them because they are just so great.
It is not unlike watching a bunch of guys posturing at a sports bar with one another.

* I took this picture!