Here were a few of the more difficult questions I received during my Speech midterm yesterday afternoon.

The process of elimination is what saved me on these three.


Not sure if I got this next one right. Hope I did.

Appropriate Comic for Upcoming Halloween

Read Vince Flynn's books for a better understanding.

FARM KID IN THE MARINE CORPS

Dear Ma and Pa, I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled up. I was restless at first because you get to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m. But I am getting so I like to sleep late.

Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically nothing. Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there's warm water and nice soap. Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food, plus yours, holds you until noon when you get fed again. It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much.

We go on 'route marches,' which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us If he thinks so, it's not my place to tell him different. A 'route march' is about as far as to our mailbox at home Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks. The Sargent is like a school teacher. He nags a lot. The Captain is like the school board. Majors and colonels just ride around and frown. They don't bother you none.This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting. I don't know why. The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don't move, and it ain't shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don't even load your own cartridges They come in boxes.

Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrastle with them city boys. I have to be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain't like fighting with that ole bull at home. I'm about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake . I only beat him once.. He joined up the same time as me, but I'm only 5'6' and 130 pounds and he's 6'8' and near 300 pounds dry.

Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter, Alice

A History of teaching maths

Subject: A History of teaching maths
An email from my cousin Isaac Coverstone

1. Teaching maths in 1970
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

2. Teaching Maths In 1980
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. His cost of production is 80% of the price. What is his profit?

3. Teaching Maths In 1990
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. His cost of production is £80. How much was his profit?

4. Teaching Maths In 2000
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. His cost of production is £80 and his profit is £20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Maths In 2005
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habit of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. Your assignment: Discuss how the birds and squirrels might fee l as the logger cut down their homes just for a measly profit of £20.

6. Teaching Maths In 2009
A logger is arrested for trying to cut down a tree in case it may be offensive to Muslims or other religious groups not consulted in the felling license. He is also fined a £100 as his chainsaw is in breach of Health and Safety legislation as it deemed too dangerous and could cut something. He has used the chainsaw for over 20 years without incident however he does not have the correct certificate of competence and is therefore considered to be a recidivist and habitual criminal. His DNA is sampled and his details circulated throughout all government agencies. He protests and is taken to court and fined another £100 because he is such an easy target. When he is released he returns to find Gypsies have cut down half his wood to build a camp on his land. He tries to throw them off but is arrested, prosecuted for harassing an ethnic minority, imprisoned and fined a further £100. While he is in jail the Gypsies cut down the rest of his wood and sell it on the black market for £100 cash. They also have a leaving BBQ of squirrel and pheasant and depart leaving behind several tonnes of rubbish and asbestos sheeting. The forester on release is warned that failure to clear the fly tipped rubbish immediately at his own cost is an offence. He complains and is arrested for environmental pollution, breach of the peace and invoiced £12,000 plus VAT for safe disposal costs by a regulated government contractor.Your assignment: How many times is the logger going to have to be arrested and fined before he realises that he is never going to make £20 profit by hard work, give up, sign onto the dole and live off the state for the rest of his life?

7. Teaching Maths In 2010
A logger doesn't sell a lorry load of timber because he can't get a loan to buy a new lorry because his bank has spent all his and their money on a derivative of securitised debt related to sub-prime mortgages in Alabama and lost the lot with only some government money left to pay a few million pound bonuses to their senior directors and the traders who made the biggest losses. The logger struggles to pay the £1,200 road tax on his old lorry however, as it was built in the 1970s it no longer meets the emissions regulations and he is forced to scrap it. Some Bulgarian loggers buy the lorry from the scrap merchant and put it back on the road. They undercut everyone on price for haulage and send their cash back home, while claiming unemployment for themselves and their relatives. If questioned they speak no English and it is easier to deport them at the government's expense. Following their holiday back home they return to the UK with different names and fresh girls and start again. The logger protests, is accused of being a bigoted racist and as his name is on the side of his old lorry he is forced to pay £1,500 registration fees as a gang master. The Government borrows more money to pay more to the bankers as bonuses are not cheap. The parliamentarians feel they are missing out and claim the difference on expenses and allowances. You do the maths.

8. Teaching Maths 2017
أ المسجل تبيع حموله شاحنة منالخشب من اجل 100 دولار. صاحب تكلفةالانت
=D8ج منالثمن. ما هو الربح له؟

Weekend in Napa (and lots more that I didn't plan on writing about)

This past weekend my cousin Nathaniel, who lives up in Napa, graduated from high-school. My family had plans to go up there for it since a while back, but I did not think I would go - for work reasons. However, a day before my family was scheduled to leave, I decided to try to get some people to cover my shifts for Friday and Saturday. After two hours of tedious effort, and contacting every Starbucks location in Rialto and one in University, I finally found two gracious baristas that would cover for me. I then let Nathaniel know that I would indeed be coming. He was glad.

When we got there Friday afternoon we all met each other, as always, with hugs and kisses and hugs and kisses and more hugs and more kisses, etc. If you didn't know, we Browns are a very huggy and kissy family. (If you don't like it, turn away. (as they say)) In fact, we did that an awful lot this weekend. (we don't get to see each other very often any more)

This weekend was a very memorable one and precious not only to me personally but I believe it was special to each one of us, seeing we grandkids are all getting older and will be going our separate ways as life would direct. This past weekend was the first time that the entire Brown family had gotten together in a very long time (I don't remember when the last time was, as a matter of fact). And I know Grandma loved getting to be with all her kids and grandkids (especially me) one more time. I don't know how many more times we'll be able to get together like that again, so I cherish the times that I have now. When I was young I didn't really appreciate my family like I do now that I'm older. This whole weekend I had sort of a sentimental feeling down deep in my heart. I don't want to ever lose the times that I get to spend with my grandma and uncles and aunts and cousins, but I know that time has a dirty way of stealing them from all of us.

So, lately I've been really thinking about how good of a family God has given to me. My dad turned 51 last week; so at the table today after this morning's church service, Uncle Clayton had everyone take a turn to say something special about my dad. Without going into great detail, suffice it to say, it got pretty emotional pretty quick. People were crying in no time. The occasion opened, even further, my understanding of how much my family loves my dad. God has indeed blessed me with a wonderful father. It almost sounded like a funeral - all the sniffling and wonderful words. :-)

The occasion also reminded me of how much we all love and deeply care for each other. I remember when us grandkids were younger, even though we had a lot of fun playing together, we also had several times of great disagreement (which is natural in children). But now that we're older, it seems like it's easier to look past the differences and relish the friendships created by the family bond that has been built over the years by the generation before. I love all my cousins very much. But I especially love my Grandma who (along with Grandpa Brown) created the family that I am proud to be a part of today.

When I began writing this, I didn't think I'd end up writing an epistle. If you read this entire post without either going cross-eyed, falling asleep, or some other way losing consciousness midway, I commend you sincerely from the bottom of my heart for your attentiveness.

The Happy Fruit

Before Sunday May 31, I don't remember ever eating a mango. I knew nothing about them other than that they were fruits that tasted good in smoothies. But during the course of conversation with Bro. Saul Flores I learned that the mango is not only a tasty fruit, but also a very healthy one. Of course I understand that most all fruits are healthy in some respect (what with all the different vitamins and so forth), but the thing that Bro. Saul told me (while munching on a very juicy mango) that really stuck out to me was that mangos contain a lot of tryptophan, which is (according to scientific studies (you can look it up online. it's there. all over.)) the pre-curser of serotonin, aka the "happiness-hormone." Apparently mangos possess a source for happiness. I didn't not know that, and was shocked when Bro. Saul told me that. "Eat mangos and be filled with happiness!" he said with a smile as he took another bite...

By the end of the night I had downed at least four of those things, and was filled with joy! (well, I didn't really feel a drastic change come over me all of a sudden, but I imagine if I keep eating them, I will eventually start to feel it.) At least they taste good. Plus, I like being happy. It gives me a more happier feeling than does being sad or mad). I noticed the seeds are pretty weird looking too.

Wololoo! HAHAHAHAHAHA...Hic! YES. You played two hours to die like this? Nice Town; I'll take it. Wood Please. The wonder, the wonder, the...NOOO!!!

It's old, but it's still a blast to play with friends. It's called Age of Empires - "The Conquerors."

(In case you're wondering what the hidden meaning behind the strange title is, they are just some of the audible phrases and taunts that AOE has a part of the game. They are a blast to use in multiplayer... during the entire gameplay.haha)

I dedicate this post (can you dedicate posts? If so, I do) to my good buddies Josh and Josiah Winkler, with whom my brother and I play AOE everytime we get together, which isn't nearly enough. Wololoo!!! Ah, smite me!

I also dedicate this to my good buddies and cousins Loren and Nathaniel, with whom, also, we play when we get together, which also isn't nearly enough (however, since Nathaniel is graduating from highschool this year, (tomorrow as a matter of fact) tomorrow morning my family is heading up to Napa for the big Brown Family weekend sha-bang!! Woohoo! I can't wait! BTW congrats Nathaniel - and many happy returns!!!).

In case you've never played AOE or seen someone play it, but you might know someone who watched someone else play it maybe, then the following menu and in-game screenshots are for you. Maybe they will inspire you to go out and buy this 10 year old masterpiece.haha

Don't these guys look like conquerors?

(Read aloud with heavy English accent as is spoken in Stan Freberg's "The United States of America - The Early Years" (which I plan to post about sometime in the relatively near future).).

"Look at them all out there - how fierce they look. Why, they're not moving a muscle! Seem to be frozen in their tracks. Almost like a painting. Grim visage of war. My, look at the determination on that fellow - the skinny kid with the pipe."

(This too.) "Hello! They've begun their barrage. Great heavens lord Cornwallis, I'm afraid we've had it. Yes, well, time for the better part of valor and all that. Shall we go? After you sir. Righto."
End of quotes from Stan Freberg.

Sorry, when I saw the first picture of those three guys up there, I thought of that dialogue...thought you might enjoy it.




BTW, I hate population limits.

"Are you native Californian?"

asked the barista to his blonde co-worker today. "No! duh, I was born here in California."

You Too...

There's a very nice, very old man that comes into my Starbucks every morning around 9am with his newspaper in hand and orders a grande coffee with either a slice of lemon loaf or a butter croissant. His name is Mr. Simpson. A few months back, through the course of conversation, I learned that he grew up in the same area of Oregon that I did. His sister lives in the same town where my Nana lives. So we both have alot in common; and I enjoy talking with him. There's one problem though - he's really hard of hearing. REALLY hard of hearing. So, I have make sure to talk loudly to him. Well, yesterday at work (on Saturday's he comes in the afternoon) he came by. When he was finished with his food, he gave me his plate, and here's how the conversation went:

Me: "SO DID YOU HAVE A BUSY DAY TODAY??"

Mr. Simpson: "You too!"

And he walked past me, out the door.

You talk about being thrown for a loop. I just stood there for a second, dumbfounded, not knowing what just happened. That's when I realized just how shot Mr. Simpson's hearing is. When he left, I told my co-workers and we all laughed about it. We all at Starbucks 210/Riverside love Mr. Simpson. He's one of my favorites!

When the Fire Fell 2 Hours before Church, Adam Put it Out

Yesterday afternoon as I was sitting outside of our home relaxing and watching an intense lightning storm, which I have always enjoyed doing, while also listening to the sirens of fire trucks as they sped to and fro throughout the city, as I was enjoying the phenomenon, I suddenly was jolted out of my chair by the deafening crackle of lightning not 100 feet away along with the simultaneous boom of thunder.

I thought the lightning hit the street that our church sits next to. So as I was running around the church to the perceived bomb site, I noticed plumes of smoke and flames of fire pouring out of the top of one of our cyprus trees that are right next to our Church buses by the conference room. I then perceived that the lightning had not stricken the street. Immediately I called 911, then got Adam Pierce who was in the conference room.

He had me move his truck, and in 2.85 seconds (I think) he was on top of the bus. (In his suit. Remember, it was two hours before service, and he was there early preparing for a meeting.) He proceeded to spray the tree with a garden hose for about 20 minutes until the fire was out. Then a police officer pulled up to see if everything was okay (apparently the fire dept was backed up with several other fires.) So Bro. Adam ended up a hero in a drenched suit and tie.

Today, reminiscing about it got me to thinking,  Azusa and Topeka aren't the only places where the fire fell. When it fell at Inland Lighthouse Church in Rialto 2 hours before church, Adam put it out.

Here are some pics I took with my phone during the incident. The last one I took today.

.     .     .

.     .     .

Unfortunately there was a fatality that we were unaware of until today's inspection of the scene.

This poor possum got barbecued.

Grande Cappuccino with an Add-shot? Ok, what's your name sir.

This happened at work today. I can only wonder what would have been the outcome if I hadn't have double-checked the name that my co-worker wrote? I will omit a description of the kind gentleman.

Taco Joe's About 2 Months Ago

My mom - the blackberry photographer. Notice the new "mod" style poses she incorporated.

The "born for adversity" look

Excuses, Excuses...

This may shock you, but I am posting once again. I have read, in times past, several people's excuses as to why they have not kept up with their blogs every week; from too much school to too much work to extreme weariness. 

All those are fine and dandy excuses, but none apply to me. I did finish the semester at SBVC last Monday, but I honestly did not study very much at all throughout the whole semester - mixture between easy classes and apathy to study. I do still work at Starbucks - around 20 hours a week. Also, working mostly in the early mornings (4am), and not going to bed till around 10 or 11pm, has caused me to be perpetually tired.

Although I could use those excuses, I won't. My excuse used to be that nothing interesting had happened lately, and I did not know what to blog about. But my mother shot that one down every time I tried to use it with instances that had just occurred that surely my readers would find very interesting: such as, my 20th birthday trip to Lazer Tag Island in Upland, a memorable dinner with my sweet mother and dear brother at Taco Joe's here in Rialto, a recent powerful youth service at our church, having my taxes done by an older lady (who, as I found out during the course of conversation, was a missionary to Peru during the same time that my father was there as a missionary's boy), swapping out a flat tire on the truck, and this past weekend at the Winklers' in Phoenix.

So, in actuality, I did (and do) have some postworthy things to write. So there goes that excuse, but there still is one that works, that is, I've been too lazy and apathetic to post. But I cannot allow myself to fall into a life of laziness. If I let myself fall into that trap with regards to writing, it might be easier to integrate into my everyday lifestyle. Today the blog, tomorrow my job. Not gonna happen.

Therefore, I will try (key word) to update my readers with the recent happenings in my life. I understand that my style of writing can be, at times, rather monotonous... and long. So I will try to keep my posts at a readable length. 

So, with that being said, prepare yourself for a few updates - and pictures to-boot, hopefully.

First Celebrity Dies of Swine Flu!!

The Easter Bunny is Saved

This is my aunt Floreen. Read her story below of what happened a few days ago atwork! And if you can't read between the lines - SHE LOVES ANIMALS!

_______

welllllllllllllllll, Darren that we work with (he moved up here from Placentia, CA as an adjuster - long story) anyway he comes in and says "there's a bunny out in the parking lot next to the highway near the concrete sign "!!

Yipes, I said we can't leave it there.He said I wasn't about to pick up that bunny (I've been bitten before) So I talk Anna (who works in here and also has bunnies of her own and she grabbed a box and off we went. Well, we looked all over and we couldn't see any bunny. (it's windy and very cold this morning too)!

We come back in and Darren said come on Floreen I'll show you where it is. Sooooooooo, we headed out and sure enough he pointed right to the little guy so I looked down Baker street and made sure the light was red and no cars were coming and I grabbed him!!!!!!!!! Yup, I caught it first time!!! What a darling bunny!! So I held it tight and close so it wouldn't get away and walked back with it to a large group of people watching the whole rescue!!!! So cameras were flashing everywhere (HR dept was there too and may be in the next company wide newsletter, yipes) and now I'm embarassed but there's one happy bunny that didn't go "Squish" on the highway thanks to Darren and me!!!!!!

floey

(and you think I only WORK here!!!)

The Disneyland Experience PT 2 - Vote for "Change"... NOT!!!

The above picture was taken at the Golden Horseshoe in Frontier Land where, on our Thursday trip, a shocking reality of "change" hit me square between the eyes as the following news came to my attention.

I'll first lay some groundwork, which has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand, but fills you in on the first part of our day. We got to Disneyland, and the four of us agreed to go to California Adventure first, since they closed at 6pm, as opposed to Disneyland's 9pm. So we went there, rode "Soarin' Over California" and "Tower of Terror," got a fastpass to "California Screamin," and then went to the Disneyland side. (Never to return and use the fastpass, due to forgetfulness.) We are all very indecisive people when it comes to things like rides, etc. So we agreed that one person would lead us in California Adventure, and I would lead us in Disneyland, since that's my favorite out of the two. And it was there that my world turned upside-down. (not really, but for discussion's sake let's say it did.) Of course, it was imperative that we go watch "Billy Hill and the Hillbillies" at the Golden Horseshoe in Frontier Land as it is my absolute favorite thing to see at Disneyland.

Now follow me as I lead you subtly into my shocking news. As many of you may have observed already, Disneyland has been upping the price of daily parking about 1 dollar each year or so since a few years ago. When my family moved to southern California in '05, the price for parking, if I remember correctly, was at 9 dollars per day. It is now at 12 dollars. That is not really a drastic change, albeit, it is a steady one, which is dangerous as well. However that is not the primary disturbing change of which I speak. 

Ready? As we travelled to the Golden Horseshoe, we decided to eat there as we waited for Billy Hill, as I have already stated. In times past, up till now, I had enjoyed a good full basket of nice, plump chicken strips while awaiting the infamous "Billy Hill" show. I went in to save a table for the four of us, while the three went and ordered food. I had Daryn get me my usual, chicken strips. He called me minutes later saying, "They don't serve chicken strips anymore. They only have chicken nuggets." which I found out were about half the size of the previous mentions chicken strips. I asked how much for the nuggets and soda, to which he replied, "$11.50." I about fell out of my chair. 

Not 5 months ago, at that same diner, I had eaten a nice fat juicy chicken strip meal for around 8 dollars. I had never heard of a Disneyland diner upping their prices by that much in that short amount of time. Ridiculous.

I hope that news was as shocking and outrageous to you as it was to me. Refer back to the above photo for a view of the new 11 dollar mini-nuggets.

The Disneyland Experience (well... ours at least) PT 1

This past Thursday evening proved to be quite an eventful one for Daryn, Brittany, Jonathan, and myself. Since Daryn and my-self's seasonal passes to Disneyland are nigh to expiration we supposed that we would go and "break-even." - Well, Daryn just broke even; I got my money's worth out of it a long time ago.Lol This outing was planned about a week ago; actually, they had it planned - I was undecided about it until about 30 minutes before we pulled out of the church parking lot in Daryn's truck. We met behind the church, piled into the truck, and that's when the fun began.

(Behold, I now wax eloquent.) Now, before I embark on my memoirs, I would feel obliged to point out something of importance. There were considerable amounts of inspiration, which sparked ideas and points of discussion, brought to my attention through my observations while on our "mini-vacation" that I would like to review. Albeit, if I, indeed, expressed the complete extent of my memories, thoughts, complaints, and opinions in merely one composition, it would, quite possibly, produce material of nearly eternal extent. Reading such kinds of essays have been known to cause harmful side-effects such as, finger crampness, teeth grittanitus, a severe inkling to bang ones head against a wall, just to name a few. Personally, I feel that it would be more favorable for me, the author, to strive in holding on to (proverbially speaking, of course) as many frequenters as are faithful enough to remain. With that being said, the majority of my thoughts will probably be split into 4 or 5 separate compositions.

Now, the following 80 something picture album is a reflection of our recent trip to the "happiest place on earth." Enjoy the pictures. For the sake of clarification, there are a few pictures in the following album that actually have a certain element of importance behind them; those are they which you may see repeated, in perhaps another post, included with my detailed thoughts concerning them.

Another Eye-Crossing Experience... for you

Before jumping blindly into the following chapter, it would be important to note some disclaimers. Now, this might just be an empty warning, but you might have trouble keeping your eyes in focus if you endeavor to read what lies before you. After every few sentences, it might be a good idea to readjust your vision by looking at a far-away wall for a couple seconds. Otherwise you might end up with "permanent cross-eye syndrome." So with that being said, read at your own risk. Don't blame me if you need glasses when your older.

So now, I begin...

Yesterday, February 27th, 2009 was quite a memorable day in my life. For that was the day that I had my third molars (aka wisdom teeth) surgically taken out of my jaw. Thank the Lord I only had two. And they were both on the bottom part of my jaw. They weren't causing me any trouble, but my dentist said that if I waited any longer to get them removed, then they would start causing me much trouble and pain. The way they were growing in was sideways underneath my gum toward the front of my mouth, thusly pushing the rest of my teeth together which would cause even more pain, while at the same time ruin my nice "brace" job that I spent an agonizing year and a half perfecting. I did not want to go through that again. So I decided, rather than go through all that mess, to just get my wisdom teeth pulled. It was memorable in that it was my first major/minor surgery to encounter. (My first being, when I was an infant I fell off my dad's chair and landed my head on the floor heater, resulting in a few stitches up there. Obviously, I don't remember it because it was so long ago.)

The doctor and his assistants were very kind to me. They hooked me up with IV's and other weird gadgets. Of course they informed me that they were going to put me under during the operation. I thought that I would maybe doze off to a deep slumber, but not so. I was wide awake, then the next thing I vaguely remember was waking up in another room. However I don't really recall anything else until I was put in the car. Now, my mother tells me that it was quite an experience getting me from my chair into the wheelchair and into the car in the parking lot (that whole part I don't recall at all). My mom said that as the nurse was putting gauze in my mouth, she told me to bite down. So I did, and bit down on her finger.lol I guess she jerked back real quick and I started apologizing profusely. Then as the same kind and patient lady got me in the wheelchair, I guess my feet drug the ground all the way out to the car. Then as she was trying to get me out from the wheelchair and into the car, I got top-heavy and nearly slammed my head into the frame of the door. My mom said I acted like a drunk guy.

Oh well, it's over now, my face is all swollen up, and I look like a chipmunk. I haven't been exactly obeying the rules of "diet immediately following procedure." He either didn't tell me, or I was in a stupor when he did. I'm leaning towards the latter part. Anyway, I got home and ate some chicken and noodles. Then later on, Daryn and I went over to the Lee's where I ate a cookies-and-cream candy bar (my second favorite) that I got at the store on the way to their house. As I began to open my twix bar that I also got there (my first favorite), Sis. Lee strongly encouraged me not to eat that one because it was too hard and would make me sick. Oh well, at least I got in the cookies-and-cream. By the way, today I ate the twix and I didn't get sick. I haven't gotten sick at all, and my mouth doesn't even hurt really, although they told me that the third day would be the worst (which would be tomorrow, Sunday). So we'll see how that goes. I don't think I'll be praise-singing tomorrow.lol

Sorry about the abrupt ending, but I am done.

Now, if you read that entire post, I am very impressed at your attentiveness and unique ability to keep your eyes focused, much less stay awake. You deserve an applause, or an aspirin.

Until next time,

jb

My New Pet Peeve

You guys probably wouldn't notice this because you usually aren't sitting with me when I read other people's blogs. But one thing that you would notice if you did happen to be with me while I surfed my friends blogs for updates would be that I now have made it a habit of muting the volume every time I go to a blog. Why? because adding automatic music players to blogs seems to be the new "hip" thing to do.

Apparently those who participate in this new fad must add to their playlist songs of which only they enjoy, thus making life miserable for the rest of us who want to visit their blog merely to read what they have to say (not listen to their music). Also, adding a music playlist box thingy to one's blog slows down the load time of the rest of the blog significantly, causing those of us who USED TO enjoy visiting that blog to now despise the consequences of such an action. Listening to music, an odyssey, or an old time radio show used to be something that I was able to do to while surfing blogs.

Not so anymore my friend, because now, while the rest of my computer freezes up, because "At Last," is required to start playing before any typed material appears, I must endure the first 10 seconds or so of that song mixed horridly with my odyssey episode, making it very difficult to comprehend either one. I will then either pause the story, causing immense frustration along with annoyed suspense, until I can turn off the song. Or if I'm not listening to anything, I will hit the mute button with vigor which often causes strain to my left ring finger. In any case, I think I've made my point that I absolutely, unequivocally, and unambiguously despise blogs with music players.

So, with that being said, here are a few of my favorite songs. :-)

(Due to the substantial delay of “blog-load-time”, which my previously uploaded music player has caused in just these past few days, I feel it is in all our best interest if I merely leave you with a web link where you can go to enjoy my music without being disturbed by bothersome essays.) - Click here.

Animals and Australians

Look, I love the accent and all, but is it just me, or does it seem that all who work with animals as a profession are from Australia? As soon as the late Steve Irwin came on the scene, everyone started turning into Australians. Apparently the qualifications go something like this, "If you will enter the field of Zoology you must be from down-undah." What triggered this thought was when I recently heard the news about the shark that attacked Nari, the beloved bottle-nosed dolphin of Tangalooma, in Queensland. I heard it on the news; and there they were all speaking Australian. I guess that's only reasonable and expected since it happened there in Australia, but hearing that made me think about it. Alot of times when I hear interviews about animals, or more specifically, marine wildlife, the expert is an Australian. Maybe they all just like animals more than we do. Or maybe there's big money in that sort of business down there. Whatever be the case, it's still intriguing. And now, seeing the time, I leave you to ponder.

Wouldn't it be cool if you could breathe through your ears?

That thought just popped into my head while I was riding in the back seat of my brother's car last night, while he and Claudia and I were heading to Lifehouse Theatre in Redlands. I don't even know what caused that thought to enter my head. I never think about frivolous things, so that's pretty weird. I usually think about important things like homework and cleaning my room.HA I guess the thing that would be so cool about it would be that if you were to get tied up by a robber or someone, and they tried to suffocate you by stuffing your head in a pillow, you would just laugh at them cause they didn't know that you could breathe through your ears. I told that to Preston and Claudia while traveling to Lifehouse and they laughed at me. They don't understand deep thinking. (I just got a leg-cramp right now. ouch... no kidding)

Speaking of Lifehouse, the show last night was about Beauty and the Beast. It was a nice show. The guy who played the Beast was kinda ugly and weird looking though, but I guess he was the only guy, who auditioned for the part, that knew all his lines perfectly. The Beauty, Rose, (which is interesting enough by itself, because her name fit in perfectly with the plot of the play. The reason that they got into the whole mess with the beast to begin with was over a rose flower, and that's funny because that happened to be the main character's name too.) Anyway, Rose wasn't bad either.

They did alot of singing and dancing in the play too, which was kinda weird. But I'm glad I went. Every time I go to Lifehouse, it reinforces my 2/3 timing on the drums. Boom chuck chuck, Boom chuck chuck, Boom chuck chuck, etc... ("Chuck", "Chick", it all depends on how the snare is tuned, I usually end up with a "chuck" snare, but I don't mind. As long as it doesn't go "boom" like a tom, then I'm okay with it) They enjoy singing to that beat there at Lifehouse though, apparently, which is nice I guess.

As the end of the show began to come to a close, I remembered that I thought that the Beast died in the story for some reason. I thought maybe he fell off a cliff or his porch or something tragic like that. I asked Donavon and he said no, but that he and Rose got married in the end. I said I remembered that too, but I thought the Beast had to die first, then he would resurrect miraculously as some handsome prince and then they'd get married. He looked at me and laughed. So toward the end of the show, sure enough, the Beast was in the woods fighting wolves when he got wounded and died. Or at least it looked like he died. His kitchen utensils and stove and broom and closet were all gathered around him crying and mourning for him. Then Rose, the girl who played Beauty, came and cried and told him she loved him. Then the lights all started flashing really quickly as he turned into a nice prince, and it was inferred that they got married eventually, but they didn't have time for the wedding, for it was already 9:30 pm, and I had to get up early in the morning to go to work.

Oh, I also met a lady that works there at Lifehouse Theatre as a makeup assistant I think, with the same name as my mom, Vicki Brown, same spelling and everything. Cool huh? She was nice and said she'd like to meet my mom. It would've been perfect, but her husband's name wasn't Carl, like my dad's. It was Dave. That was kind of a bummer. Her daughter was Beauty in the play.

Anyway, the drama was pretty satisfactory all the way around. About 20 or so of us College and Carear class kids went. That spelling error just reminded me of a wise saying I heard long, long ago, by someone who was giving advice to another who was thinking about his future, where to work, etc. His words are those with which I would like to leave to you as my parting words. "Whilst sliding down the banister of life, try not to get a splinter stuck in your career."

Inaugural Thoughts

I don't know if you have heard, but yesterday, (oh and don't hyperventilate over the fact that I'm posting again... on my own blog this time) but yesterday was Tuesday, January 20th, 2009. You might say, "So what?" Well, the significance to that date is that it just so happened to be the date that our new president was inaugurated or sworn into his new position. 

Cnn.com had some good coverage of the whole procession. I think they had three stations posted at different areas of the city. Notwithstanding that I don't agree with hardly anything for which Mr. Obama stands, I still thought it was a pretty spectacular affair. Washington DC was one crowded city this past week - I think 2 million people went to see it. I was happy to see that he did place his hand on the burgundy Bible used by Abraham Lincoln in 1861 as he swore his oath of office.

I had no idea that the parade went for so long, from the capital to the White House. I guess it's not that far away, but it sure seems like it when you're there. Watching online brought back memories of my high school graduating class's trip to there in either April or May of 2007. We visited the Capital building, White House, Supreme Court building, Arlington Cemetery, National Archives, and other significant places, names of which I cannot think right now.

I'm glad that we got to the place as a nation where we could elect a black president, (despite the racism that has been here since the times of slavery, or before maybe) but the word, "historical" is kind of starting to get annoying. Apparently it's the drive-by media's favorite.lol All this "cheers and tears" business, though, is getting old.  I doubt the drive-by's will read this, but in case they do, that was my two-cents' worth. To be completely honest with you I never really was overwhelmed with all the historical hooplah. It's not that I have no heart, but rather, it's that I am striving to be counted as one of the few level-headed people left (apparently) in the world who do not lose their head over things, emotionally, whether they be great or small.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not in any way being unpatriotic - I love my country. I'm also in no wise bashing or demeaning my president. I realize that despite whatever he plans to do while in office, that "promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another." God is setting up the world for his coming. So I'm not worried, however it is kind of saddening to think about the road that our nation is heading down. Oh well, the best thing I can do is keep prayed up.

I'm almost done, but let me say one last thing before I sign off, since it has to do with what went on yesterday. Let me quote from CBSnews.com, "Some in that crowd booed when Mr. Bush appeared on the big screens positioned on The Mall during the inauguration ceremony, the AP notes. There was cheering when a broadcaster announced that Mr. Bush is no longer president, and some chanted "Na-na-na-nah, hey, hey, hey, goodbye." " Whatever happened to respect or reverence for authority? That made me sick when I heard that. America is going to pot. I'm disgusted of how the media destroyed our nation's morale by degrading, debasing, and disgracing our previous president, and knit-picking his every action with the sole purpose and intent of ruining his legacy. I, for one, appreciate his leadership. I pray that God blesses him. Now that I think of it, he kind of reminds me of Moses. He too had to lead a people who were stiff-necked, gripers, and complainers.

Oh well, I'm done with my rantings now.lol I figured since I hadn't posted a decent post since like, umm, last August, (and that being just a forward I got from my mother.lol) I figured I'd bestow my thoughts. If you actually read this whole post, I commend you for staying awake. If I ever read a post this long on somebody else's, I'd probably go cross-eyed.

So long for now,

 - jb