Category Archives: lifestyle

Preview: Back to Boston

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Just a quickie here, that’s all I can manage til I get off this trip. It’ll only be a couple more days and I’ll be home again. 🙂

I was looking at the pictures I already had uploaded here (since the internet is too slow for me to get any more on and I can’t spend much time on it here).

I thought I might go back to Boston where this blog really got started. 🙂

I had been thinking about it for a while. I really had no idea of how to do it. How to get started. How to make everything work.

I had been interested in the idea of travel writing and photography for a while already. I figured since I LOVE to travel and take pictures of everything, it would be a perfect fit!

Yeah, I guess it would be if I could manage to find the time to actually WRITE.

I DO manage to take pictures, tons and tons of pictures. But I learned while taking a workshop on how to be a travel writer/photographer that I was not taking good enough pictures. They had to be PERFECT. 🙁

At least I learned what I was doing wrong and why my photos were rejected (mostly to do with the quality of my camera lens).

I also learned that you could do a lot with a computer to improve your pictures. I still haven’t learned how to do that very well. I’m better than I was, but I still have a lot to learn. I also still don’t have the time to spend editing all my pictures. Even getting them uploaded onto my computer is hard sometimes.

I am still working on my photography and I still toss around story ideas and put together a little thing every once in a while, but I’ve only actually tried to get my pictures accepted twice (so far) at stock agencies.

I’ve never tried to send in an article (yet).

It seems I’d just rather spend any spare time off on another adventure. When I’m forced to stick around the house, I spend it taking care of business I can’t put off any longer. Like working on my taxes (ugh) and other fun stuff like that.

I had heard that blogging was a way to make money online while doing something you enjoy. I was all into that!

When I found out there was going to be an additional blogging session as part of the travel writing/photography workshop I was interested in , I was sold on taking time off for another learning vacation!

I just barely managed to get this blog started before I left for Boston. I had such a hard time figuring out how to do things like upload a photo, make a ‘gallery’, add a link, etc. Things that I do all the time now and seem so simple. 🙂

The workshop was great. Paula Pant, who has a blog called Afford Anything, was our instructor for the blogging session. She was really inspirational and a lot of help.

I met incredibly interesting people every day there and the instructors sent us out and around town on some helpful assignments. Then we had our work critiqued. I learned a lot there but was still hungry for more. I still feel like I could use more help.

Especially with the part about how to make some kind of an income from this internet stuff! I’m really enjoying the whole process of blogging and meeting people from all over and interacting, but I’m spending a lot more time on it all then I ever thought I would.

Remember I started out this post saying “just a quickie here”? That’s what I mean…

Here’s a ‘taste’ of Boston, I’ll be back with more later. 😉

PS-I’m going to another workshop in Korea in a couple of weeks, can;t wait to get over there and see/do/try everything!! Maybe I’ll even run into some of my old tuna boat crew. 😉

More: Bike and Blues Fest 2013

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I’m glad I had most of these photos uploaded before I came out here this hitch. I really haven’t had the time to get online much and the computer situation is not the best here. I’m kind of limited in what I can do til I get back home.

So, I figured since I already had the pictures on here, I might as well add a little bit more flavor to my earlier post about the Summertime Bikes and Blues Fest.

I was actually there last summer. They usually have this event the last weekend in August. I try to go if I’m home. I usually see a few friends, it’s neat to check out all the cool bikes, and I really love the music. It’s out in the open, spread out around the old downtown area of Freeport. I like that it’s that way, it doesn’t feel very crowded. The food is good too. 🙂

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2013 Summertime Bike and Blues Fest

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I’ve been wanting to get this post done for a while. Something always comes up. I went to the Summertime Bike and Blues Fest last summer and it’s taken me this long to get around to posting these photos.

I went down there with my friend D. They’ve been having this festival in old downtown Freeport for a few years now. It’s kind of neat wandering around down there with all the old buildings, right in the middle of everything.

We had a good time checking out the bikes, listening to the music, trying out the food, running into friends. I always like to go to these things. 🙂

Here are a few photos to get started. I’ll have more later. 😉

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SNL: Chippendales

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Hilarious video with Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley! 😉

I remember watching this one years ago when it was originally on TV. I used to LOVE staying up to watch Saturday Night Live.

I still try to, but it just doesn’t seem as good as it used to be.

I miss John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase…

I loved the Coneheads, those ‘wild and crazy guys, the cheeseburger guy…

I still love their take on the news, “Weekend Update”.

I rarely stay up late enough to watch it anymore, but if I’m home Saturday night and still awake, that’s what’s on TV. 🙂

 

PS- I started working on this post while I was at home. I noticed after I posted it this morning that the video I thought I already had in the post had disappeared. I tried to put it back, but since I am at work, I can’t look at things like that. They block it all here. So, I am not sure exactly WHAT the link will show. I HOPE it is showing the video I wanted to put on here about Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley competing for a job as a stripper at Chippendales.

Will somebody please check it out and let me know if that’s where the link goes. 😉

So sorry. I’ll have to be more careful about what I try to post while I’m out here. It IS a funny video, even if it’s not politically correct. 🙂

Capt Jills Journey into History: Houston Maritime Museum

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It’s already time to go back to work. It seems like I just got off!

Yes, I did have a couple of weeks at home. Tomorrow would have been 3 weeks. WOW! It sure flew by. 🙂

I have been pretty busy this time home. I went up to Houston a couple of times. I went to the Houston Rodeo (yeehaw!). Only my 2nd time in all the years I’ve been here. It was fun, I watched the barrel racing and the mutton busting. I tried the fried Snickers ice cream sundae (yummy). Took TONS of pictures. 🙂

I was hoping to meet a friend who was volunteering at the Wine Garden. I did actually meet her, but she was pretty busy by that time and I was on my way out. I was on the way to a meeting with the Sail La Vie sailing club I belong to (check out my post on last Saturdays sail).

That was an interesting meeting. 😉

I spent the night up there in Houston. I had planned to go to the zoo in the morning since the weather looked nice. Apparently everybody else in town had the same idea. I couldn’t get into a parking lot anywhere within a half mile.

I decided to try something else instead. I decided to check out the Houston Maritime Museum. It was actually pretty close to where I spent the night and the Zoo but I drove around for a while looking for it.

I finally found it and was glad I did. Of course, yes, I am always interested in a good maritime museum. 😉

This one didn’t look like much from outside, or even when you first walked in. But the more you wandered around, the more it opened up. There was something interesting to see around every corner.

The Houston Maritime Museum was founded by James L. Manzolillo (merchant mariner and cruise ship lecturer), and opened to the public in 2000. Since then, it’s worked to educate the public about maritime history and the continued importance of the maritime industry to Houston and the State of Texas.

I enjoyed exploring rooms full of models recreating everything from aircraft carriers (including tiny little airplanes on deck) to Liberty ships to semi submersible drilling rigs to the USS Constitution and famous ships of the age of exploration.

The museum counts Master Modeler and restoration expert Lorena Alvarez as a valued member of the team. Her expertise shows! The time and effort that goes into building even one of those models is just unbelievable and they had dozens of models!

They had an excellent collection of navigation equipment: sextants, astrolabes, starfinders, compasses, barometers and barographs, etc.

They had a nice display of ships (and other things) in bottles. I still don’t really know how they get all that done, but it looks like a good project to work on if you don’t have a blog or another hobby to keep you busy at sea. 🙂

They had a mock up of a ships conning station with the ships wheel, compass and engine order telegraph.

They had a room covering war ships and it had a pretty good exhibit on how the merchant marine functioned during war time. Convoys and Liberty ships, sinkings, explosions and other disasters, navy escorts, etc.

They had a room with memorabilia from the old cargo liners and another display of things relating to the passenger liners “Titanic”, “Olympic”, “Britannia” and the SS United States (still one of the fastest ships ever!).

They had a room to tell the history of the Port of Houston. It did a pretty good job of explaining how important the Port was and still is to Houston. How the founders built up Buffalo Bayou and brought cotton and sugar to/from Allens Landing and all up and down the Bayou. Those old photos were really fascinating!

There was another room full of really interesting stuff from the oilfield. There was a painting and write up on Howard Hughes’ (spy ship) Glomar Explorer. There were models of drillships, floating production facilities and semi submersibles. There was a nice little section on whaling (not much of that going on in Houston). 😉

They even had a room just for the kids to learn about maritime stuff. The day I was there, it was still a work in progress. They had costumes for the kids to dress up in and have fun pretending to be ships captains, pirates, mermaids, engineers, etc. 🙂

One of the staff was working on installing a cushion for the floor in the kids room and I started talking to her about the museum. Turns out she was the Director of Operations so I got a really good person to talk to and answer all of my questions.

My biggest one was: why in the world was the Maritime Museum located in such an out of the way place and not nearer to the Ship Channel where people would expect it to be? Turns out, they are in the process of building a new place right over there and it will be opening in 2014 for the 100th Anniversary of the opening of the Houston Ship Channel.

That will be a good move for the Museum, for the Port of Houston and for the general public. It should be easier to find and they will have a partnership with the M/V Sam Houston (which gives free tours of the ship channel), that should help both parties.

That tour is a very interesting thing to do too, especially if the weather is nice. Free boat ride! Woot Woot!!

It really is amazing all the things that go on in our own backyards and most people have no idea. The maritime industry is one of those things that I think more people would be interested in if they only knew about it. I think the Houston Maritime Museum will be a good place to go to learn more about it and I hope more people will take advantage of the opportunity. 🙂

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Sail La Vie

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I went out sailing this Saturday with the Sail La Vie meetup group (FINALLY!!). It’s been way too long since I’ve been out sailing. I always have a good time with them and this trip was no exception.

My only issue with them is that they are up in the Houston area. They usually sail out of Kemah and it is so far away, I have to get up around 0800 (on a WEEKEND) to get everything done and drive all the way up there. 🙁

I did my usual morning rush around to get out of the house before I’m too late to make the departure time. They don’t leave until noon, but they ask people to be there by 1130 to get settled and then go over the safety briefing.

I had to stop for some snacks. I got some honey BBQ chicken, cheese (smoked gouda and muenster), and some surprisingly good store made brownies. And beer (of course).

Everybody always brings so much good food, we never wind up eating it all. This time we had a full boat and we still had plenty of food, beer, wine, etc. People brought brie cheese and crackers to start with, sandwiches, calzones, chips, olives, etc.

We took the Paradise out for this trip. She’s a (1994) Hunter 42. There were 10 of us and I think she can take 12.

When we left the dock it was pretty dreary. We got out past our marina and the fog really started moving in. It was only about 1/2 to 3/4 mile visibility for a while. Some people were concerned about heading out into that. We passed quite a few boats already returning to their docks.

We continued on out, figuring that we could just go check it out and see if the fog would burn off as it warmed up. It did. Once we got out on the bay, the visibility got better. It turned into a BEAUTIFUL day for sailing. 🙂

The fog did come back for a bit later on and we got out the foghorn (hold your ears!!). Anyone who wanted to practice got plenty of time on the helm.

We did a few tacks around the bay, going nowhere in particular. We got up close to Bayport and took a look at one of the cruise ships at the dock. We talked for a while about setting up a cruise for the Sail La Vie club which I would love to be able to go on! 🙂

We headed back to our marina in time for the sunset. The Kemah Boardwalk was full of people and the docks at “Outriggers” were packed with boats.

We got everything secured at the dock by about 1830, then hung around “Paradise” for a while to BS and eat/drink the rest of our supplies while we tried to decide if we wanted to continue on.

There was some talk earlier about heading over to the Kemah Crawfish Festival, but I think most of us weren’t really up for that. We called to get a table at the ‘Swamp Shack” but they had a 1-2 hour wait and we weren’t sure if they reserved one for us or not (and nobody wanted to take a chance on possibly having to wait around so long).

A couple of people had to get on home since it was getting dark. I figured I had better just go on home too. I still had to drive over an hour to get home. I’m not too thrilled about driving at night anymore.

It’s a good thing I didn’t stay later. The fog came back on the drive home and it’s not one of my favorite things to deal with (65 mph speed limit on a 2 lane highway in thick fog).

I made it home OK and wishing I didn’t live so far from all the action! I’m already ready to go sailing again but I’m heading back to work soon and still don’t have any kind of regular schedule.

I just have to hope I’ll be home long enough next time to take another cruise with Sail La Vie (or at least make it to one of their great parties!). 😉

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These photos are a combo of this Saturdays sail and the last one I was on (Jan 26, 2013).

Video: Sailing

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I always loved this song. 🙂 I’m going sailing this weekend so I thought this would be a good start. 😉

I remember when this song first came out. I was a teenager, still living in Florida. I was living on the beach and sailing my little sea snark just about every day.

My life was about to change in a big way. I went off on the adventure of my life on the sailing ships of the Oceanics School. We ALL loved this song there! Rod Stewart was SO hot!!

 

 

“Sailing”

I am sailing, I am sailing,

home again ‘cross the sea.
I am sailing, stormy waters,
to be near you, to be free.I am flying, I am flying,
like a bird ‘cross the sky.
I am flying, passing high clouds,
to be with you, to be free.

Can you hear me, can you hear me
thro’ the dark night, far away,
I am dying, forever trying,
to be with you, who can say.

Can you hear me, can you hear me,
thro’ the dark night far away.
I am dying, forever trying,
to be with you, who can say.

We are sailing, we are sailing,
home again ‘cross the sea.
We are sailing stormy waters,
to be near you, to be free.

Oh Lord, to be near you, to be free.
Oh Lord, to be near you, to be free,
Oh Lord.

PS- does anybody know why he’s singing about sailing while he’s cruising around on a power vessel??? 😉

A Sailors Sad Choice

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I was just really missing my job. Yeah, I know that must sound really weird. Crazy even. But I’m not crazy! Really!!

I don’t miss the work I do NOW, right at this moment. I DO miss the work I’m still sometimes able to find. Those few jobs that allow me to do what I’ve trained all my life to do. To sail the seas AS A SAILOR.

I went to sea for the FREEDOM it afforded. Freedom to just do my job (no worries), and enjoy life at sea with an occasional port call (with enough time to go ashore). Not much paperwork, no one really bothered us. We literally were in our own little world out there. Our own community. We all did our jobs yet worked together as a team.

OMG have things changed!!! (NOT for the better)

It seems like it’s almost impossible to find that sort of employment any more. You’ll take a job that’s totally confining, one almost as bad as if you were working on the beach. Paperwork out the ying-yang. Do a JSEA before you even get out of your bed (seriously, on one boat they actually wanted us to do that!). The only advantage is you don’t have to commute every day.

They micromanage every tiny little detail of your life, even to the point of telling you how to dress yourself every day.

WTF??? They hire us to run a multi-million dollar vessel with hundreds of peoples lives in our hands, but they think we’re too stupid to know how to dress ourselves? What’s UP with that?

At least the money’s decent. Not enough for the BS they put us through, but decent.

The other option is to find an interesting job. An enjoyable job. A job that actually lets you use the skills and knowledge you’ve worked so hard to gain. One that might actually GO somewhere INTERESTING at least every once in a while.

But it seems that every one of THOSE types of jobs entail working for people who think that their company is just SO wonderful that we’d just all love to work there for free and they don’t even want to come up with the minimum wage! 🙁

I’m still looking to find that happy medium. A job that lets me be a sailor that actually pays the bills at the same time! 🙂

Those tuna boats were close, I really enjoyed my time there. Take a look at these pictures and tell me you don’t understand my craving for adventure, don’t get it just a little bit, don’t wish you could be doing something like this instead of wasting hours in traffic everyday to get to a ‘regular’ job?

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March Monthly Music Sampler

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Utne Monthly Music Sampler.

I haven’t been able to keep up with all my email and missed a couple of months worth of these music samplers from Utne Reader.

I always like them so I saved them in my email, but I found out today that even tho I opened up the one from January, the music from January was gone and replaced with the music for March. So I totally missed out on January and Febuary. 🙁

This one is (as usual) a pretty good mix. I really don’t know how to describe some of them.

I really liked the one by Terry Waldo. It’s called “Proctology”. I don’t know why (what a name). I always did like ragtime and I haven’t heard it for a long time. Too long. I used to try to play the piano for my dad and his friends. I never really got to be very good at it, but I had some books on ragtime and always loved the sound.

Another one I really liked in this months sampler is the one called “Agdam” by Hauschka (German composer Volker Bertelmann). It’s all on piano too, tho it’s hard to tell a lot of times.

I always did love piano. I had no idea you could make it sound like that! 🙂

“I Got the Moves” by Habibi is another of my favorites from this months sampler. It’s kindof retro. Reminds me of the 60’s. Probably good to dance to. 😉

There’s plenty more good stuff to check out. “Red Eyes” by War on Drugs, “Calypso Lane” by the Blushin’ Roulettes (love the name), “River of God” by Linda Perhacs, and “Evolve” by Texas girl Emily Elbert (kindof jazzy, I liked it).

Check it out. 🙂

Sad End to the Celt

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Here’s a link to a video which tells the story of the gorgeous yacht the ‘Celt’. It’s really a cool story.

luxury steam yacht Celt

luxury steam yacht Celt built 1902

Originally owned by a railroad tycoon, used by the Navy a couple of times (WWI and WWII), owned by Thomas Edison, used by the Circle Line for tours around NY Harbor, used by Madonna in a music video and more.

What a cool history for a boat like this. It would be wonderful if someone would fix it up again, but for now it looks like just another sad story of a beautiful ship wasting away in the boondocks. 🙁

http://screen.yahoo.com/broken-news-daily/mysterious-ghost-ship-incredible-history-004502570.html

Cranberry Chocolate Cream Tart

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Cranberry Chocolate Cream Tart « Go Bold with Butter.

Here’s another delicious looking dessert! The recipe looks pretty simple, but I would probably skip making my own crust and just go with a store bought one.

Do that and it looks REALLY quick and easy. I like cranberries, but it looks like it would be just as good using a can of cherry pie filling (which would make it even easier).

I could have fun experimenting with this one. The filling sounds perfect the way it is. 🙂

Surfside Beach St Patricks Day Parade

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I stuck around as long as I could stand it. At least I got to see a lot of old friends and catch up on the news down at the beach. Too bad the weather just SUCKED!

I hate it when the rain gets all over my glasses and I can’t see!

People down there work and plan all year to make this event a success and the cold and rainy weather put a damper on it once more. 🙁

I think only the regulars showed up down there to start with, and only the real die hards stuck around til the parade started.

I wound up leaving right before they started the parade. For some strange reason, I didn’t really feel like hanging around drinking all day (the bars were PACKED with people trying to dry off).

At least I got a few decent pictures. I got to try out my new Olympus Tough camera. It’s waterproof! 🙂

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Preview: Surfside St Patricks Day Parade

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Sorry I haven’t had time to do a whole lot of posting here this week. I hope I can catch up some in the next few days.

I’ve been enjoying my time home and busy doing some fun stuff for a change. I went to the Houston Rodeo, the Houston Maritime Museum, the Sail La Vie meeting, the Campaign for Liberty meeting, and this morning I went to the St Patricks Day Parade at the beach.

I haven’t had time yet to get my pictures together, but here’s a preview. I’ll get them up tomorrow! 🙂

Let’s Cook With Beer!

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Let’s Cook With Beer!.

Now THIS is some cooking I could get into! 😉

I never used to like beer. I grew up on the beach in FL and I used to be a wino. 😉

My father always drank wine. Maybe it was because his mother was Italian and always had wine with meals. We always had wine around the house (and so it was very easy for me to have some whenever I wanted).

When I moved to Texas (to go to school) I was in for a major culture shock. First of all, most of the area where I moved to was ‘dry’- no alcohol! WTF??!!

Moving from a little fishing town in FL with 15 bars/restaurants within a few blocks (along with everything else we would need to live) to Texas where my school was 5 miles away in one direction one of my jobs was 10 miles away in the other direction and the other job another 5 miles away in yet another direction.

WOW! I really had no idea how big Texas was when I moved here. 🙂

So of course there was nothing within walking distance, or even within a reasonable bike ride away. There was not a bar I could find that had anything but beer. For some reason beer was almost always available even when nothing else was. Blue laws???

So, I switched to beer out of necessity. 😉

I never really thought about cooking with beer, I just drank it. Sometimes I made neat things out of the empty cans. I remember a beer can Christmas tree one year. 😉

I’m not sure why I never thought about cooking with beer before. I did cook with wine growing up. I remember a bunch of my dads fishermen pals stopping by to help me cook a pot of beef stew.

It went like this… throw some onions and the beef in the pot and some (red) wine. Pass around the wine.

Check on the stew, throw in some potatoes and celery and some more wine. Pass around the bottle.

Check on the stew, throw in some carrots and mushrooms and some more wine. Pass around (another) bottle.

I think you get the picture. 😉

We all enjoyed the stew!! 🙂

I think this ‘Peppered Beef Soup’ could be done in the same style. I’ll have to invite some friends over and try it out one of these days. 🙂

That ‘Beer Cheese Spread” does look really good to me, and not too hard to make either. I’ll definitely be trying that recipe soon!

I’m not too sure about the rest of the recipes (just not really my kind of thing), tho they do sound like a good way to use up your beer (if for some reason you don’t drink it all).

Songs of the Sea: Southern Cross- Crosby, Stills & Nash

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At work last hitch, I got into a conversation with my watch mates about nautical music, or more generally, songs relating to the sea. We had a great time coming up with a whole bunch of great music. This was one of our favorites to sing along…

I love the images of those sailing ships in the video. I always wish I had another chance to sail on one of them but I’m very grateful I got to go even once.

This song and the lyrics make me want to just chuck it all and take off for the islands. Maybe one of these days I will. 😉

Here’s to some more inspiration…

“Southern Cross”

[Intro. (Acoustic Guitars)]
Oooh …Got out of town on a boat goin’ to Southern islands
Sailing a reach before a followin’ sea
She was makin’ for the trades on the outside
And the downhill run to PapeeteOff the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas
We got eighty feet of the waterline nicely making way
In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you
But on a midnight watch I realized why twice you ran away

Think about
Think about how many times I have fallen
Spirits are using me larger voices callin’
What Heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten

(Around the world) I have been around the world
(Lookin’) Lookin’ for that woman girl
(Who knows she knows) Who knows love can endure
And you know it will

When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way
‘Cause the truth you might be runnin’ from is so small
But it’s as big as the promise, the promise of a comin’ day

So I’m sailing for tomorrow my dreams are a dyin’
And my love is an anchor tied to you tied with a silver chain
I have my ship and all her flags are a’ flyin’
She is all that I have left and music is her name

Think about
Think about how many times I have fallen
Spirits are using me larger voices callin’
What Heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten

(I’ve been around the world) I have been around the world
(Lookin’) Lookin’ for that woman girl
Who knows love can endure
And you know it will, and you know it will yes

[Instrumental (Electric Guitars)]
Oooh …

So we cheated and we lied and we tested
And we never failed to fail it was the easiest thing to do
You will survive being bested
Somebody fine will come along make me forget about loving you
At the southern cross

[Ending (Acoustic Guitars)]

Not many things more awesome than the clear, wide-open, star studded skies out on the open ocean. It’s one of the best things about being a sailor. 🙂

Southern Cross

Video: Pleiades- Dances with Light

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I saw this posted on my Facebook page tonight, I thought it was just awesome. 🙂

Performamce & Choreography :Saya Watatani , Maki Yokoyama
Director : Nobuyuki Hanabusa
Animator : Seiya Ishii , Nobuyuki Hanabusa
Music : Nobuyuki Hanabusa

I’ve always loved to watch people dance. I was never really into this particular kind of dance, but I REALLY enjoyed this performance!

And the weird thing is…

It actually did remind me of the Pleiades!

The Pleiades (the Seven Sisters) Star Cluster

Watch: Dancers Defy Beijing’s “Nuclear Winter”

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Watch: Dancers Defy Beijing’s “Nuclear Winter” Smog | Mother Jones.

I was just going through some of my emails, trying to catch up and I saw this post from Mother Jones.

What a great way to make things better over there, even if just for the few minutes it takes to watch the video. It’ll put a smile on your face and make you feel better. Enjoy! 🙂

Pirogue- Lost at Sea

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I’ve been working for the last couple of weeks on an ROV job. We’re working in the Walker Ridge area. It’s about 178 nautical miles SW of Fourchon, LA. Not much around all the way out here.

The other night on DP watch, we saw something flashing in the light around the windows. A bird? A bug? (Sometimes we get some pretty big moths out here). Turns out, it was a tiny little hummingbird.

Our crane operator Shane crept up on it and managed to catch it. It was so exhausted, it just sat calmly in his hands while we tried to give it something to drink. We mixed up some sugar and water and fed it by hand with a coffee straw.

Shane named the bird ‘Pirogue’. We don’t know why. We don’t know why Shane does anything he does. 😉

At first we put Pirogue in a water bottle so he would have a little room to move around in. It was just the only thing we could think of that we had handy. We cut the top off it, turned the top around upside down and stuck it back into the bottle. We fed Pirogue more sugar water and he started to perk up. We made the mistake of leaving the top off the bottle a little too long, and Pirogue was off like a shot! 🙂

He flew around the wheelhouse til Shane (the bird-whisperer) managed to catch up with him again. We put him back in the bottle and kept the top on to feed him from then on. 😉

Itchy (one of our ABs- don’t ask how he got that name) came up with a big 5 gallon water bottle (with the top cut off and some holes drilled in it) for us to move the bird into. We fixed him up a little nest of shredded newspaper in a cool whip tub. Shane made a perch for him out of a pencil. We put a cup of water in there with him but he preferred to drink the sugar water from the straw.

We hand fed him every half hour. Eventually, we figured he needed some rest so we put a dark towel over the ‘cage’ and left him alone til morning.

When I took the cover off him in the morning, I thought he would already be up and alert, but he surprised me, he was still very groggy. I almost thought he was dead, but he would blink his eyes at me verrrry slooooowly…

After about a half hour or so, he gathered his wits about him and started buzzing around his ‘cage’. Letting us all know he was HUNGRY. Everyone who came up to the bridge would stop by and take a few minutes to give him a few sips from the straw.

Pirogue has been making great progress. I think he might be able to make it the rest of the way home by himself now. Only one thing, the weather is pretty nasty out here now and is supposed to continue that way for the next few days. I’d hate to turn ol’ Pirogue loose, just to see him blown away in a heavy thunderstorm. 🙁

That’s probably how he wound up on our boat in the first place. He might not get so lucky again.

So, I’ve decided to keep him here til we make crew change in a couple of days. I’ll turn him loose when we get to the dock in Fourchon. Hopefully he’ll be able to find his way from there.

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These birds live all over the Eastern part of North America. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are the only ones that regularly nest east of the Mississippi. With a name like Pirogue, ours might be happy enough to settle in South Louisiana (but hopefully not in Fourchon itself). 😉

Since we’ve adopted Pirogue on here, some of us have spent some time on google. We’ve wondered how he would wind up all the way out here in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. We don’t usually see hummingbirds out here.

Turns out, hummingbirds migrate all the way from Central America to the US every year. I’m reading online that “many cross the Gulf of Mexico in a single flight’.

Well, they would have to, since there’s nothing out here for them to eat or drink. Until we started drilling for oil out here in the last few years, they had no way to stop for a rest either.

Imagine, flying for 500 miles or more without a break! Scientists have found that they fatten up a lot before they make their yearly migration. They may double their body mass.

Pirogue is a ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) . They’re bright emerald green on the back and grey-white underneath. Males have a bright, ruby-red throat patch, tho it only really shows very bright at certain angles. Pirogue is a male, he has a very obvious red throat. He looks almost iridescent. 🙂

They usually eat nectar. I know people use bright red feeders to attract hummingbirds so the red coffee straw was a good way to get Pirogue to eat and drink here. I learned that they also eat small bugs for protein. We don’t have any of those handy out here. (Good thing!).

Wikipedia says that these birds can live to be 9 years old, tho the males rarely make it past 5. I have no way of telling Pirogues age, but I hope he makes it through another migration. Maybe he’ll have learned to stop by another ship to get some help next time too. 🙂

Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Skillet Recipe

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Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Skillet Recipe – Kraft Recipes.

Well this looks quick and easy and it sounds like it would taste pretty good too.

I have to admit I haven’t tried this one yet. I’ve never bought that particular dinner ‘kit’ before tho I have used other ones like the hamburger helper.

This one looks even easier than the way I usually make chicken lately (which is pretty easy). I like to start by saute-ing a bunch of onions and mushrooms in a big cast iron skillet (with REAL butter- I don’t like the fake stuff!).

Get the onions to where they’re turning clear, then throw in the sliced up chicken with the mushrooms. I’ll add some cream cheese (if I have it) and sour cream. If it gets too thick, I’ll thin it out with some heavy cream.

Boil up some pasta (whatever kind you prefer), I usually use plain spaghetti and mix it around in the pan when the chicken is done cooking. Sometimes I just skip the pasta (it’ll save a FEW calories) and just have the chicken like a thick creamy stew in a bowl.

Season it up with my usual stuff (Mrs Dash, onion salt, garlic powder) and then top it off with some Italian style cheese to melt all gooey on top. Sometimes, depending on how I feel, I might mix in some lime juice, or tequila (or both). It adds a little kick. 😉

Good stuff!

I don’t know if the mix will be as good as my recipe (I doubt it), but since it’s so quick and easy I guess it’s worth a try. I can probably find ways to fix it up some. 🙂

Give mine a try too, I think you’ll like it. You can use the ‘light’ alternatives and make it much healthier if you prefer. 😉

Cheers!

This Video Will Make You Want to Become a Houston Harbor Pilot

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gCaptain Maritime & Offshore News | This Video Will Make You Want to Become a Houston Harbor Pilot.

 

I agree! It’s a good video, a good advertisement for the Houston Pilots.

I almost don’t even think about it any more; what a pilot does, what it takes to become one, what it’s like to be one, how much we depend on them.

I’ve sailed on dozens of ships when we’ve used pilots. I’ve been on the helm entering Cape Hinchinbrook going to Valdez, AK. I’ve been on the helm entering San Francisco Bay heading up to Benicia. I’ve been on the helm passing through New York Harbor. I’ve been on the helm transiting the Houston Ship Channel.

I’ve always admired the skill, experience and local knowledge the pilots have. They’re a fantastic aid to any ship passing through an unfamiliar port.

I’ve never really wanted to be a pilot myself, tho it is definitely a challenging job. I still like traveling and HOPE to be able to go somewhere interesting again one of these days. Pilots are experts on their port and they stay in one place.

It seems the pilots job is one most captains hope for one day but not me. 😉

Historic Michigan Tugboat Sinks At Dock

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Historic Michigan Tugboat Sinks At Dock | Working Harbor Committee.

I got news of this in an email this morning. What a sad loss for owner Jim Bradley and the people of Michigan.

The former US Army Corps of Engineers tug ‘Wilhelm Baum’ sank at the dock Sunday (2/23/14). No explanation has been found yet. 🙁

Sad to say, I know EXACTLY how Mr Bradley feels.

My father bought a boat when I was growing up. The ‘Island Girl’ was a beautiful antique staysail schooner. She was originally built in Detroit in 1910. She was 72′ LOA, built with a wooden hull. My father fiberglassed her in the late 70s, trying to give her a few more years of life. I remember spending a lot of time helping. 🙂

We spent a LOT of time on that old boat over the years. My father – Capt Bill- sailed her around Florida from the late 60s til I finally convinced him to bring her over to Texas in the late 90’s.

He originally bought ‘Island Girl’ in Miami, sailed her up to Madeira Beach where we grew up. Took her down to the Keys and up the East Coast a bit. Then back down to the Keys and up to Bradenton for a few years before finally bringing her to Galveston and then Freeport, Texas. Sad to say, my father wasn’t able to sail her much after that.

Soon after he managed to get the ‘Island Girl’ to Galveston he got the bad news. He was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. They gave him just a few months to live.

After he died, he left the boat to me and I did my best to take care of her. Sorry to say I just wasn’t able to. I was still working offshore and really didn’t have either the time or the money to do it. It costs a LOT to keep any boat in shape and an 80+ year old wooden sailboat costs more than most.

We did get to sail it a few times out of Freeport. Eventually our luck ran out and I was awakened with a phone call from the dockmaster. The ‘Island Girl’ was on the bottom. She looked just like the ‘Wilhelm Baum’ in the linked video. 🙁

I was so sad I was actually sick. We’ve had that boat in our family for over 45 years and it was such a big part of my life. I was just so sad. 🙁

To this day, I don’t really know what happened. I have my theories, but it was nothing obvious like burst through-hull fittings or any leaks in the hull. I would really like to know what happened to finally do her in but I’ll probably never know.

I did re-float the boat. Immediately. We pickled the engine and she started right back up- no problemo! It was a Perkins 4 cylinder diesel. We did get to sail her a few more times. We had to keep the sails below the owls nest in the main mast. 😉

Schooner 'Island Girl'

Schooner ‘Island Girl’

I actually managed to sell her. I didn’t really want to but I had to just admit that I would NEVER be able to find the time or the money I would need to spend to do what I wanted with her.

I heard later that she sank again. I STILL don’t know what happened to her. The new owner had her moved to Mammoth Lake where there is a dive center. At least someone is still getting use and enjoyment out of that old beauty. I’m glad for that at least.

I wonder if they will ever figure out what happened to the ‘Wilhelm Baum’? I’d like to know if it was the same thing that happened to the ‘Island Girl’.

Video: Capt Kirk and the Enterprise Meet Miley Cyrus

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I have to admit, I’m not really into Miley Cyrus. I didn’t even really know who she was til this whole big media circus about her escapades at the MTV music awards.

So far, I’ve seen her on Saturday Night Live and now this great clip showing on utube using old film from Star Trek. Someone posted it on my Facebook page and I just cracked up laughing.

I love the reactions of the crew. Captain Kirk, Scotty, Spock and Uhura, Chekov finally lost it. OMG, funny!!! The guy who made this video got it down PERFECT!

I’ve never heard of ‘twerking’ before the awards. OK, I’m way past 30, so I know I must be out of touch with what’s going on, but I have learned to use google. 😉

Apparently this is some kind of new dance fad. I don’t think I’m missing much, but during my googling this morning, I discovered that there is an event called the UK Twerking Championships in London. I watched the highlight video. Let me tell you, it’s hilarious!

I’ve always enjoyed watching people dance. All kinds of dance. This twerking is something else. I would have a hard time keeping a straight face in that place. I wonder what they do to people who bust a gut laughing? They looked like they really were pretty serious. WTF???

I even found online lessons. In case you’re interested, here’s one. Enjoy! 😉

A Word A Week Photography Challenge: Violet

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orchids

orchids

Yes, it’s late, but I decided to go ahead and post my entries for the Word a Week Photography Challenge. It’s only a couple of weeks late. 😉

Here’s the link to the original post from Suellewellyn at a Word in Your Ear blog. People have some nice photos they’ve entered there.

I’ve got a few flowers, a pretty little fish, some fanciful lights, a motorcycle and rider (or not), a cute little witch, a couple of playful green and purple/violet leprechauns from last St Patrick Day parade, and finish it up with some more colorful flowers…

 

orchids

orchids

more orchids

more orchids

I would have posted more photos but for some reason I’ve been having a HELL of a time uploading photos. I’ve had to shrink them down to a much smaller size than previously. I don’t know if my computer has a bug or if it’s something going on with WordPress. Anyone else having issues the last couple of days?

The Age of Impressionism: Great French Paintings from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute

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The Age of Impressionism: Great French Paintings from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute | Houston Events.

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get around to it. Since it’s time sensitive, I really should have put it up earlier, but things have been very busy lately. So, here it is..

The Houston Museum of Fine Arts is having an exhibition of Impressionist Artists. It is already ongoing and will only last until March 23, 2014. The link to the article will give you all the information as far as location, artists represented, etc.

I was up there at the museum the last time I was home. I thought about going to that exhibition, but I was running short on time and I didn’t want to waste my money. The Houston Museum is FREE on Thursdays (which was when I was there). I figured I would look around at what I could for free with what little time I had.

There is a nice sculpture garden outside. I took a bunch of pictures but I don’t know what happened and they all disappeared off my camera! Luckily, the rest of the pictures I took that day were still on my memory card and I was able to get them onto my computer.

I’ll put a couple of them here just to wet your whistle. I’ll put some more up in a gallery once I get them ready.

I have a little bit of a weird taste in art. Here are a couple of my favorites I found at the MFA…

Takahiro Kondo- Dimension Box

Takahiro Kondo- Dimension Box

1903 eggshell porcelain, decorated by H.G.A. Huyvenaar

1903 eggshell porcelain, decorated by H.G.A. Huyvenaar

a monster by Antonio Berni

plasticine on wood by Grupo Mondongo

plasticine on wood by Grupo Mondongo

detail of skull by Grupo Mondongo

That skull was almost the last thing I saw at the museum that day. They had it down in the basement and I almost missed it. It REALLY impressed me. My photos don’t do it justice.

Every inch of it is made up of small figures and items fitted together to make the whole. It’s VERY detailed if you look closely. It was made by Grupo Mondongo. I had no idea the name means ‘tripe’. Thanks Wikipedia. 😉

I wish I knew Spanish better, all the links I can find about them are in Spanish. I definitely want to find out more about them and see more of their work. 🙂

Excellente!

Triple-Lemon Cheesecake

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With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart: Triple-Lemon Cheesecake

I LOVE cheesecake! This one looks and sounds so yummy! I can’t wait to try out this recipe when I get home. 🙂

I hope some of you can try it sooner than I’ll be able to get to it. 😉

Enjoy!!

Songs of the Sea: Little Talks

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I hope to make this another ‘regular’ feature here. I love music and I listen to all kinds of things. I like folk, rock, reggae. Irish, Latin, Cajun, blues, bluegrass, classical, etc. I especially love a good ‘ballad’. Pretty much everything except most heavy metal, rap and opera. 😉

I don’t listen to the radio much anymore. I don’t like listening to all the commercials and I really can’t find a station I can listen to for long before I get bored. The only one I listen to now is Houstons KPFT. They’re non commercial, listener sponsored and they have a huge variety of good stuff on there.

I thought I would try to share some of the things I’ve found that I liked on a more regular basis. I have posted a few songs in the past and people seemed to like them. I’ll continue to do that whenever I come across something I really like, but I wanted to showcase here music that relates to the sea in some way.

This particular song is one I just really like. I like the energy, HEY! I loved the imagery in the video. Absolutely fantastic! I liked the melody. I liked the feeling of the whole thing. In all honesty, I could barely make out the lyrics while listening to the song, but I did hear something about a ship. So I guess it’s enough to qualify for a “Song of the Sea”. 😉

So here goes… Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men…

“Little Talks”

Hey! Hey! Hey!

I don’t like walking around this old and empty house
So hold my hand, I’ll walk with you, my dear
[Video version:] The stairs creak as you sleep, it’s keeping me awake
[Live version:] The stairs creak as I sleep, it’s keeping me awake
It’s the house telling you to close your eyes

And some days I can’t even dress myself
It’s killing me to see you this way

‘Cause though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Hey! Hey! Hey!

There’s an old voice in my head that’s holding me back
Well tell her that I miss our little talks
Soon it will be over and buried with our past
We used to play outside when we were young
And full of life and full of love.

[Video version:] Some days I don’t know if I am wrong or right
[Live version:] Some days I feel like I’m wrong when I’m right
Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear

‘Cause though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Hey!
Don’t listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Hey!
Hey!

You’re gone, gone, gone away
I watched you disappear
All that’s left is the ghost of you.
Now we’re torn, torn, torn apart,
There’s nothing we can do
Just let me go we’ll meet again soon
Now wait, wait, wait for me
Please hang around
I’ll see you when I fall asleep

Hey!
Don’t listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Don’t listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!

Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

Darkest Chocolate Cake with Red Wine Glaze

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Darkest Chocolate Cake with Red Wine Glaze Recipe | Epicurious.com.

Just in time for Valentines Day (in case you’re a late starter, like I am). 😉

I got this recipe in my email from Epicurious.com. It looked perfect for a sweet treat for a sweetie. 😉

Chocolate and wine, together, umm…

Nullify the NSA!

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I hate to say it, but I screwed up. I had heard of this event a couple of weeks ago and meant to get involved a whole lot more than I managed to do. I actually heard of it the first time from a post by Gene’O at the Sourcerer Blog. He had a great page on his blog all made up especially for this event (and of course it’ll be an ongoing fight, so check it out and follow it to keep informed).

I wanted to do something to help promote this event. I wanted to rouse people up to take a stand and get involved. I meant to make at least a post of my own (and hopefully a page) about it, but I’ve been so busy lately, the best I could manage to do was to sign the petition, email my congressmen, and post on my Twitter and Facebook pages. I hope at least a couple of people noticed it yesterday and took some action. 🙂

Today I got an email from the ‘Campaign to Stop Government Spying’,  ’cause’ I signed up for it a while back. They sent me an update on how things went yesterday and a reminder that the fight is far from over. Here’s what’s they reported…

The numbers were astonishing.  The Day We Fight Back was featured on over 5,000 websites, generated 84,000 calls, and 172,000 were emails sent while our petition here on Causes reached over 25,000 signatures!

 

In addition to the tremendous online success Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has filed suit against the NSA in what will surly become a landmark case against mass surveillance.

 

It’s a good start, but obviously not good enough since the congress is not yet willing to completely throw out the NSA (and TSA, and the PATRIOT ACT, and Obamacare, etc) and get back to Constitutional government!

Personally, I wish I could throw out (with appropriate punishment) every one of those politicians who allowed this to happen in the first place. Every single one of them who voted to support the NSA in ANY way.

The NSA is an affront to every principle this country was founded on. Its entire purpose is at war with the 4th amendment (and the 5th)(and all the rest of them too!).

I can hardly believe how far we have come in just MY lifetime. We’ve moved from a place where most of us could all live our lives in (relative) peace and prosperity, almost like in the TV shows “Leave it to Beaver” or Andy Griffiths Mayberry,…

To now we’ve somehow wound up in George Orwells 1984, or Huxleys Brave New World. Maybe a mixture of those 2 with a big bunch of Kafkas Metomorphosis thrown in.  In all reality, we’ve far surpassed even the worst nightmares of those visionary authors.

The NSA (along with the TSA and a bunch of other alphabet agencies) are a BIG part of what’s wrong with America.

I don’t agree with those who say we’ve got the government we ‘deserve’. I don’t believe ANYONE ‘deserves’ a government like this. One that treats us as criminals. One that thinks it has the right to track and CONTROL EVERY aspect of our lives.

Why in the world would ANYONE think anybody deserves that? It reminds me of the self righteous hypocrites who think everyone but themselves are sinners and belong in hell. They get a huge enjoyment out of feeling so smug and superior. But no one is perfect (including them), so they deserve to go to hell (and will) too.

The people who think we deserve this are just the same. So, we deserve this suck ass government we have because of what, exactly?

We’re ALL in the same boat! We need to figure that out and stand together to do something to save ourselves from sinking. We need to throw overboard the ones who are bashing holes in our hull and sabotaging our pumps!

Maybe then we can save ourselves and find a way to repair our country to one that will help better our lives again instead of the opposite.

This campaign was called “the Day We Fight Back”. We don’t need A day we fight back, we need to fight back EVERY DAY until they get off our backs and give us back our freedom!

Illegal government spy programs are not the ONLY things we need to fight. We can START with that, then take on the next. We need to keep going until we have ALL of our freedom back.

I hope I can see that someday. I hope I can even see a serious START to it. I know I’m not the one, but there must be SOMEONE out there who can come up with something effective, some way to make some progress, some way to wake people up to what’s REALLY going on and get them to take an interest…

Anyone?

Statism is Dying

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Statism is Dying.

I sure as hell HOPE so! Nothing deserves it more. Nothing would make me happier!

I REALLY want to be able to live at least part of my life with the freedom I was promised as a child! Instead of watching it slowly stolen from me day by day here in the former “land of the free”.

I got this article from The Dollar Vigilante in my email today. I just HAD to pass it on in it’s entirety. I thought it was an excellent explanation of my views on government and the state. The videos are excellent, especially the second one by Josie the Outlaw.

I have been in an extended argument with some of my friends on Facebook over this kind of thing. I can’t seem to get them to understand the benefits of freedom and the sick, soul killing abuse of statism (or rule by others in any form).

I always have a hard time explaining what I mean and why the way I think about things actually makes much more sense than the way things are. Why I am still a ‘dreamer’.

My basic premise is that I own MYSELF. The principle of self-ownership is what everything else comes from. I think it’s pretty self evident, but apparently it’s not. Too many people just don’t seem to get it.

I don’t get it. I don’t understand them at all. Why do SO many people argue against that most basic principle? Why do SO many people feel they do not, could not, SHOULD not own their own lives?

IMHO, we are all born free, we all deserve to live as FREE human beings, since we ARE free from birth! Regardless of what other people say or do, they do NOT own you! IF they try to act like they do, then they are WRONG and you DO have a right to overthrow them in any manner you choose!

In my eyes, there is a very basic struggle going on world wide. It is the fight for individual liberty vs Statism; slavery and power over others.

I will ALWAYS be on the side of individual liberty and will do whatever I can to help that side.

I am still waiting for my friends (or anyone else) to come up with some good (LOGICAL) reasons for why anyone (other than a sociopath/psychopath) would support the other side.

Any takers?

Video: Dolphin Asks Diver for Help

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I’d like to be able to do more this week, but my schedule is just not allowing me much time to spend on the computer. Hopefully, things will improve soon. 🙂

I can’t believe it’s already been a week! For the second of my creature feature posts, for ‘Wild Wednesday’, I’ll put up this video I saw online last week. I just had to say awwww… the cute factor is pretty high up there.

I’ve always loved dolphins. That was my choice to come back as, if I ever got reincarnated. I’d love to be a dolphin! Every time I see them out at sea, they always bring a smile to my face.

They have a reputation for being helpful to sailors. It’s nice to see a favor returned. 🙂