randomly chaotic and frequently mundane

here’s a trio of pictures of the moon that i took and really quite like.
this one, i call “cold moon.” i took this picture in january, thru the bare trees in the back yard. i wanted better focus, but i just couldn’t get it. i need to figure out a good setting on my camera for photographing the moon. i love taking pictures of the moon… as you might have noticed. even if they’re not clear, it’s still fun to take them.

this one i took after sunset. it was a nice night, the sky was lovely and there was the moon. as my friend eric used to say (i believe he was quoting something), “the moon is out and it is daytime… it mocks me.” of course, i could also quote robin williams and say, “the moon, like a testicle, hung low in the sky.” except that this one isn’t really hanging low, is it?

this one i took later in the evening on the same day as the one above. i love the way the lightof the moon shows on the clouds sometimes… that’s what i was trying to catch with this picture.

when gage went to bed, he took poe with him.  he didn’t want to stop cuddling with his kitty.  poe went along like a good sport and now he’s curled up under gage’s arm.  when he’s sound asleep i’ll go in and let him out.

anyhoo… since poe went in there, ziggy has been making funny “yowls” at me and going to gage’s bedroom door.  tiger keeps going to the door, sniffing and whining at me.

they want me to rescue poe, apparently.

My introduction to handling and firing a projectile weapon was at Woody’s parents house, when Woody and his dad taught me to shoot an air rife. It was pretty cool, actually, and according to both of them I’m a pretty good shot. We were firing at a soda can, swapping back and forth with his dad’s Crossman air rife, and the Daisy that Woody got when he was a kid. Of the 3 of us, I was the only one who didnt’ need an “adjustment shot” after changing guns. It was cool. In all honesty, I’d rather have an air gun for home defense than a ‘real’ one, but that’s probably just me. I’ve been browsing the selection lately at Airgundepot.com, they’ve got a lot to choose from, including the ones I’ve already got experience with and a couple of very interesting replica guns. Whichever one I end up buying, they’ve got em stocked and ready to ship, so I don’t have to rush my decision or anything.

this weeks picture was taken… last night. what can i say, i saw the moon and it was just so beautiful i had to get the camera.  i had WANTED to get the shot about 30 seconds before this… the moon was half covered by that cloud.  i wish i had a camera that was really good for getting pictures of the moon.  mine might be… if it is i haven’t figured out the setting for that.  either way, i think this is a great shot.  i’ve got 2 more pictures of the moon that i took yesterday.  one right after this one, and one a couple of hours earlier… when the sun had set, but it wasn’t dark yet.

I think that it’s my brothers artistic talents, and all the years spent watching him work and admiring just about everything he did that has given me a love of fine art. I’m probably not the most astute critic, what can I say, I like what I like. But that’s the way people should buy art, anyway. Park West Gallery, based out of Michigan, conducts auctions throughout the US and Canada. Their affiliate, Park West at Sea conducts cruise ship art auctions — brilliant, I think. Where better to be inspired by fine art than in an exotic locale with the salt air and sunsets at sea?

Anyone who places an order of $20 or more (before shipping) at my Noah’s Ark Animal Workshop page between now and June 30 will be entered to win a free animal kit. Winner will be announced July 1 or thereabout.

To enter, place an order at www.bearyspecialhugs.com then email bearyspecialhugs@yahoo.com with your order number. I’ll contact the winner for shipping details after the winner is announced. Free kit will be shipped within the US only.

We’re all about the gadgets these days. Gadgets around the house, like audio/video equipment and appliances as well as gadgets we can take anywhere we want. I think I’m the only person on the planet who doesn’t have a portable mp3 player. I want one like you wouldn’t believe — it would be nice when I take walks to be able to take some tunes with me; I don’t even have a discman anymore (remember discmans?). To be honest, I thought they were way out of my price range, until I visited Abtelectronics.com. Now I’m thinking that an MP3 player isn’t so far out of my reach. They’ve got everything, actually, including MP3 players, cell phones, household appliances and my personal fave, kitchen gadgets! They even offer free shipping. I think I just found my new favorite online store.

i got my noah’s ark starter kit in the mail today. lots of good stuff in there. i’m contemplating using some of the free stuff for giveaways to help get sales and promote. got a few animal kits — gage stole one of them. also got some bella bee stuff, some of the glamour cosmetics and some of the body products. gage also stole the queen bee that came with the bella bee stuff.

tonight after he goes to bed i’ll put together some of the mini catalogs for handing out.

gage keeps holding up his blue crayon and saying “my blue crayon.”  he’s also been asking for pizza  rolls all day, it’s terribly cute.  what’s not terribly cute is that he was trying to make me color, which is fine, except that he was trying to direct my hands in unnatural positions.  it’s uncomfortable.

so… decided to make a pizza of sorts with the leftover ribs.  i de-meated the bones and chopped the meat, then heated it w/ a little sauce and added it to a pizza crust that i made.  it’s tasty.

i’m contemplating selling my bread machine and my ice cream maker.  they take up space, and i hardly use them.  really i don’t have the room to use the bread machine.  the ice cream maker will be hard to give up, tho… i love it so.  and i love making ice cream when i can.  even if it’s just milk (or heavy cream) and pudding mix that i put in it.  it comes out so good.  also contemplating losing the fondue pot, the octagon dish set and a few other things.  yeah, i should probably ahve a yardsale, huh?

Precious metals have always been considered sound investments, even when the market for them wasn’t ideal for buying. But how to invest in them? You could always call up your broker and see if he trades those particular commodities — but chances are you’ll strike out if you go that route. No, your best bet is to find a good coin dealer who does gold and silver coins — coins that have currency value but are not legal tender. By that I mean, you couldn’t take your new gold coins into Denny’s and use them to pay for your dinner, but they are exchangable for currency at any bank or broker that deals in gold and silver coins.  It’s not as complicated as it sounds.  As a matter of fact, it’s a good idea and from what I’ve read, now is the time to invest in gold and silver coinage, silver especially I think since the silver stores are rapidly shrinking.

This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com.

yesterday wasn’t bad.  had ribs for dinner, which were tasty as hell… here’s what i did.

first, i brined them overnight in a combination of water,lemon juice, salt, peppercorns, garlic salt and brown sugar.  i used a cooler and ice cubes to keep it cold.  if you do that just remember to wash the cooler thoroughly, before and after using it.

THEN… i took 1 section of the ribs (i cut the slab into 3 sections) and put it in the crockpot on low with a combination of stubbs barbecue sauce and brothers hot barbecue sauce.  that cooked for about 6 hours and was so tender it coulda been pulled pork.

the other two sections were given a shot of lime juice (1 lime), pepper and garlic powder before being covered in stubbs barbecue sauce, wrapped in foil and popped into a 350 degree oven for 1 hour, then the temp was dropped to 150 and they cooked for another hour.  then they were taken out of the foil, brushed with more sauce and put under the broiler for a few minutes (i would have loved to have been able to put them on the grill for that portion of the cooking…).

so good, so tender.  so delicous.  i wanna get some kaiser rolls so i can just shred the meat and have pulled pork ribs sandwiches or something.  lip smackin good i tell ya.  damn can i cook!

gage, that is.  he keeps finding games on his dvds.  it’s pretty cool, actually.  there’s one on the tarzan dvd that he’s gotten pretty far on, to be honest.  also one on the alice in wonderland dvd.   i’ve watched him go through the menu on the dvds and i have to say it looks like he’s reading them… he could just be counting or remembering where the selector was the last time he got to whatever it is he wants. he also plays the music videos on the dvds, the sing a long tracks, i’ve even watched him turn on a “making of” documentary on the lion king dvd and watch it all the way through… INTENTLY.  he’s a strange little boy, lol.

tiger did the cutest thing this morning… he wanted to go outside and chase squirrels, so he sat next to the bed and put his head on the bed right next to me.  then he jsut sat there staring at me.  it was adorable.

i need to get packing tape so i can put together ebay and half.com items for shipping.

If you ‘attended’ Capella University — a fully accredited online college, to receive your MBA you may be familiar with Sara Orem, a PhD and adjunct faculty member at Capella University. Orem has recently co-authored a book titled ‘Appreciative Coaching: A Positive Process for Change.’ I find the concept overall rather intriguing, positive change affected by focusing on the strengths of an individual — also the idea that focusing on human ideals can help a person or organization flourish is very interesting, to say the least. The ideas presented are quite unusual, but make sense to me. Focusing on a positive outlook of oneself and ones future to effect positive change is actually a rather brilliant theory. Orem has no doubt put this into practice in her own coaching firm.

This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com.

i’ve had my period for almost 2 weeks.  not constantly, off and on.  not spotting tho, regular flow a couple of days at a time… a day or two off and then flowing again.  it’s very strange.  i don’t feel weird, it’s just a pain in the ass.   the cramps are the worst part, since they’re a little heavier than they usually are.  i’m guessing this has to do with the 6 weeks without my period and the pill cycle getting a little bit snafu’d.

cooking is hit or miss for me lately.  not the quality, the enjoyment.  i’m just not enjoying it as much as i usually do lately.  i suppose that’s one more symptom of depression.  i hate this.  i want a car.  part of me wants to pack up and move back to new jersey.  but the school here for gage is just too perfect.  even without having seen it, i know that.  we need to go see this school son.

gage is hit or miss lately, too.  some days are good and some days are bad.  and there’s really no way to determine which is which.