GRABBINGSAND

why, oh why, do i have new edition’s candy girl running through my head? even more bizarre is realizing that the song was released twenty years ago. 1983. i remember this being on the radio during karate class, back when i was a ten year old orange belt. our instructors kept a clock radio in the corner of the dojo, not too loud to distract, but audible enough to hear.

i neeeed you’re loooove, each and ev-er-y day.

i love coffee. even before i was old enough to drink coffee — because in my house, there was an unspoken prohibition against pre-teen consumption — i loved the smell of the percolating pot. it would sit on the corner of the kitchen counter, stainless steel with a glass knob on the lid, and once plugged into the wall it would audibly blip-blop hot water through the grounds. this was retired eventually and replaced with one of the early model mr coffee’s. this introduced the concept of the paper filter and the glass pot, parts of the at-home coffee experience that are just a given now.

so i love coffee. a morning at home is not quite the same without it, and if there is no time before i leave, i will still suffer through the bitterness of office coffee. with enough creamer and between 2 and 3 sugars, you can almost consider it drinkable. the tastier option would be to make a detour on the way. occasionally, i’ve stopped at a starbucks or similar for a coffee of the day, or possibly something fancy like a hazelnut latte. grande, please. but do the math and it becomes very clear that a twice-weekly latte can turn into a yearly habit worth over $500.

so yeah, i love coffee. but i know when i’ve had too much. i can feel it set into my bones and under my skin, like fires that have died to a deceiving smolder. sounds like an addiction, doesn’t it? about three or four times a year, i throw myself into a self-induced plan of caffeine avoidance. replace the morning cup of java with a bottle of water. try to avoid the coca-cola or tea with dinner. replace it with even a beer or wine. but is this really the best way? for a perfectly legal drug, caffeine withdrawal is a particularly dreadful experience.

so yes, i do love coffee. even with all of its faults, i can’t help it. and at least i know i’m not alone in my love for the jittery beverage.

just be calm. everything will be fine. but if you scroll down a bit and keep your eyes on the left-hand side, you’ll see something you’ve not seen before. like i said, maintain your composure and breathe normally. it’s a blogad. somebody has paid a few dollars to borrow a few square inches of my front-page presence. and who is it? i’m not sure, but he seems to be sincere in his attempt to create something … well … just go check it out and make it worth his $7.50.

breathing normally. all is well. a bit of understaffing at the workplace is keeping me busy, but i suppose that just builds character. at the very least, it serves as an effective barrier against that trouble experienced by those with idler hands, right?

a week without posting. not entirely in line with my typical behavior, but i must confess that it has also been a week without indulging in the morning news review. if the major news outlets can turn their heads back to other matters like springtime tornadoes and $15 hot dogs and american idols, then i can certainly avoid some time away from the information feeding trough.

(wait…. did i spell trough correctly? eh. no matter. what really matters is whether ruben or clay will win, or if bartlett gets to take back his oval office chair, or if president palmer survives the summer, or if neo really is bridging a gap between the matrix and the desert of the real….)

so i’m having a small online conversation about the merits of the old and new testaments, trying to put some reasoning behind the severe change in divine personality from one to the other. the old testament stars a god that deals in definite laws and severe retributions, while the new testament features a kind and benevolent deity, willing even to become human to better understand his creation. such a shift is jarring to anyone that attempts the herculean task of reading the bible from front to back, like a large chunk of the story is missing.

and perhaps it is. if nothing else, it is a given that several books and texts just didn’t quite make the cut for biblical inclusion. these are collectively known as the apocrypha. lots of reading there, enough to fill a curious afternoon or two. but should you research further and do a little searching, take a look to the ads on the right of your results page.

i never knew that google held such opinions…. (yeah, i know, those ads are paid for by individual and are not representative of any particular company opinion, but it is still quite odd.)

it surprises me that nobody else thought of it. we’ve seen the very popular mirror project and the lesser known eye project, but nothing gets the thoughts going or the memories moving like this new one: when i was little.

weren’t we all adorable once? (yes, i’m in there… but i will let you hunt around for me.)

after a month and a half of silence, salam pax is back. actually, he never left, but without electricity, you get no ‘net and with no ‘net you get no blog. so push your nightly news to the side, give those formerly embedded journalists the day off and read up on the only real man on the (iraqi) street.

So how clean are the hands of the US forces? Can they say “Well, we couldn’t do anything” and be let off the hook? Hell no. If I open the doors for you and watch you steel am I not an accomplice? They did open doors. Not to freedom but to chaos while they kept what they wanted closed. They decided to turn and look at the other side. And systematically did not show up with their tanks until all was gone and there was nothing left.

We sealed ourselves away. There is nothing a voice calling for restraint can do in front of a mob. Oh and thanks for the tank in front of the national museum. And the couple of soldiers on it lounging in the sun while the looting goes on from the back door.

from tales of ali baba to sips of zam zam cola, it’s hard to find “professional” journalism nearly as compelling, honest, witty and earnest as these “amateur” entries in a simple weblog.

ah… you have to love the calming and reassuring tone of our national weather alerts. it almost makes you wish they just had a rainbow scale instead.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR… NORTHERN COBB COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL GEORGIA NORTHEASTERN FULTON COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL GEORGIA UNTIL 200 PM EDT.

AT 109 PM EDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WINDS UP TO 70 MPH LOCATED OVER ACWORTH…MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE…ACWORTH…ALPHARETTA…FAIR OAKS…KENNESAW…MARIETTA AND ROSWELL.

WEAK SHORT LIVED TORNADOES CAN SOMETIMES DEVELOP ALONG THE LEADING EDGE OF THIS LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. HOWEVER… THE MAIN THREAT IS DAMAGING WINDS. SEEK SHELTER INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM OUTSIDE WALLS AND WINDOWS. WIDESPREAD WIND DAMAGE IS EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. WINDS MAY KNOCKDOWN TREES AND POWER LINES. MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES ARE ESPECIALLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO HIGH WINDS AND MAY BE OVERTURNED.

TAKE COVER NOW!

update 3:14 PM - and so we did. shortly after 2pm, a disembodied corporate voice came over the intercom to tell us the tale of a tornado warning. we were to step away from the windows and into an interior hall or stairwell. if there is anything you don’t have to tell corporati twice… of course, we all dropped whatever we were doing and meandered into the stairwell and down, down, down into the basement. yeah, at least two people made the “wonder if freddy kreuger lives down here” comment, and both thought they were terribly funny. we weren’t stuck in the depths for long. i don’t know how much longer i could’ve stayed anyway. there’s something in those unused halls that just does not like my eyes and nose, making me all squinty now and feeling like i have a cold.

back at my desk, the thunder is still rumbling out there and in just over an hour i get to negotiate my way back home…

i’ve seen them around. i thought i might make one, yet never seemed to get ’round to it. they’re rather egotistical, at least on the surface. but really, it’s a survey of how you see yourself and the thoughts currently on the forefront of your brain. there’s no real rule to the making, and it is best to not think too much about it. consider it a little zen project.

so what is it? it is my list of 100 things. you can find others here, as well as a mefi discussion of it over here.

only two posts in a whole week. i’ve either been busy or tired or otherwise occupied. but it is friday again and i see that this week’s five is worthy of some attention. disclaimer: my musical tastes orbit and evolve around an oddly shaped center, so i reserve the right to alter or edit or retract these answers at any time and without warning. got it? good. let’s go.

1. Name one song you hate to admit you like.
It’s Not Unusual - Tom Jones

2. Name two songs that always make you cry.
Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny) - Elton John
Overlap - Ani Difranco

3. Name three songs that turn you on.
Rock Me - Great White
Paradise - Sade
Slide Your Ass - The Spinanes

4. Name four songs that always make you feel good.
Love Having You Around - Stevie Wonder
Spread Your Wings - Queen
Handyman - James Taylor
Dead Man’s Party - Oingo Boingo

5. Name five songs you couldn’t ever do without.
Love is Stronger than Death - The The
I Believe - Stevie Wonder
Inner City Blues - Marvin Gaye
All I Want is You - U2
Same Old Lang Syne - Dan Fogelberg

okay. that took longer than i expected… let’s see how long it takes you, eh?