My front door (thinkin' about you, Marion).

What Your Front Door Says

You are intriguing and charming. People are naturally drawn to you, even if they don't know you. You are calm and wise. You are a true leader. You never feel isolated in a group. Somehow, you always belong.

The Front Door Test

Plagiarizing my own stuff

Eagles.............................Plagiarized from my Yahoo Blog

I'm getting to the point where I can sing almost all the words in the car to the Eagles "Long Road Out of Eden". I'm focused on the lyrical poetry of Don Henley's "Waiting in the "Weeds" right now. I like it again now, because it's the end of August, just like the song. It's a love-gone-wrong song, something that the Eagles are so good at. And man, that harmony. But the word poetry is stunning; and so, here it is for you, too:


WAITING IN THE WEEDS

It's comin' on the end of August

Another Summer's promise almost gone

And though I heard some wise man say

That every dog will have his day

He never mentioned that these dog days get so long.

~~~~

I don't know when I realized the dream was over

There was no particular hour, no given day

You know, it didn't go down in flame

There was no final scene, no frozen frame

I just watched it slowly fade away.

~~~~

And I've been waiting in the weeds --waiting for my time to come around again

Hope is floating on the breeze, carrying my soul high up above the ground

I've been keepin' to myself,

Knowing that the seasons are slowly changing you

And though you're with somebody else

He'll never love you like I do.

~~~~~

I've been biding time with crows and sparrows while peacocks prance and strut upon the stage

If finding love is just a dance -- proximity and chance

You will excuse me if I skip the masquerade.

~~~~

And I've been waiting in the weeds -- waiting for the dust to settle down along the backroads

Running through the fields, lying on the outskirts of this lonesome town

And I imagine sunlight in your hair

You're at the county fair -- you're holding hands and laughing

And now, the ferris wheel has stopped

You're swinging on the top, suspended there with him

And he's the darling of the chic

The flavor of the week is melting down your pretty summer dress

Baby, what a mess you're making.

I've been stumbling through some dark places, but I'm following the plow

I know I've fallen out of your good graces, but it's all right now.

~~~~

I've been waiting in the weeds -- waiting for the summer rain to fall

Upon the wild birds scattering the seeds

Answering the calling of the tide's eternal tune

The phases of the moon, the chambers of the heart, the egg and dart

A small, gray spider spinning in the dark

In spite of all the times the web is torn apart.

~~~~

And I've been waiting in the weeds --waiting for my time to come around again

Hope is floating on the breeze, carrying my soul high up above the ground

I've been keepin' to myself,

Knowing that the seasons are slowly changing you

And though you're with somebody else

align="center">He'll never love you like I do

align="center">~~~~~~~~

I'm not sure which I treasure more, the visuals of the ferris wheel and melting ice cream, or the allusions to the types of birds and animals and how they relate to types of people. When I get the the last lines "the egg and dart", "a small gray spider spinning in the dark".... I'm nearly beside myself, wishing that my writing could be so metaphorical, and so telling.

It's a beautiful song. Download it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE1nqDrYcDg&feature=related

This can't be right.....

Your Family Is 28% Dysfunctional

Your family isn't perfect, but everyone's pretty good at working things out. There's probably been a bit of family drama in your past... and who's to say it's over? As long as your family communicates openly and respects one another everything should be fine. Everyone in your family does love one another. They just may not be so good at showing it.

Is Your Family Dysfunctional?

I'm sure we're at least 50%. But what do I know??????

Symbolism

New Government Seal:





Official Announcement:
The federal government today announced that it is changing its emblem from an Eagle to a CONDOM because it more accurately reflects the government's political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually being screwed!


Damn, it just doesn't get more accurate than that.

40 Years after Martin Luther King walked with us....

We finally have a serious African American contender for the Oval Office.

And just when you're starting to believe it really is a "new" century, you find yourself living with:

Huge Confederate Flag to Fly Over Tampa
50-by-30-Foot Symbol of Southern Cause to Fly at Private Site by Highway Crossroads

The i's are dotted, t's are crossed and a 139-foot flagpole is ready to fly the Stars and Bars over one of the busiest highway interchanges in Florida. (And I get the honor of bypassing it every morning, ladies and gentlemen).

The Sons of Confederate Veterans in Tampa plan soon to raise what they claim is the world's largest Confederate flag on a private triangle of land tucked near where Interstates 75 and 4 meet. The flag measures 50 feet by 30 feet.

John Adams, commander of the organization's Florida division, has spearheaded the flag project, which includes plans for an accompanying memorial park. And he wants to make sure that the only objections the group faces are based on opinion, not the law.

"You're going to hear some complaints about it for sure," Adams said. "But it's a free country as far as I know."

To some, particularly across many Southern states, the rebel flag represents a rich heritage that includes fighting and dying for the Confederate cause during the Civil War. To others, the flag represents dark memories attached to slavery and racial inequality.

One of those people is Curtis Stokes, president of the NAACP in Hillsborough County, who hopes that a groundswell of opposition to raising the flag might convince the Sons of Confederate Veterans to reconsider.

Sigh. Thus far, the county has not been able to figure out how to make this go away. And so it goes, here, in the land of Dixie.

Rooms

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are quite expressive and thoughtful. You see the world in a way that others are blind to. You are a grounded person, but you also leave room for imagination and dreams. You feet may be on the ground, but you're head is in the clouds. You see yourself with pretty objective eyes. How you view yourself is almost exactly how other people view you. Your near future is still unknown, and a little scary. You'll get through wild times - and you'll textually enjoy it. For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't trust.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

I'm all Olympicked out.

It helped to watch some of the err....more awkward moments and poses in the video below. See if you can catch the Dick Cheney moment.

Too Close For Comfort

Too Close For Comfort

I gotta bad feeling about Fay. Right now the hurricane watch extends only about as far as Anna Maria Island, about 40 miles south of me. Models have the thing turning east before it gets to Tampa and hitting the soft middle of the state...the area that has had such a hard time in the last 4 years.

It's early, it may still remain a Tropical Storm. It will be interesting to go to work tomorrow and see what shenanigans will ensue, then not so interesting on Tues/Wed.

Time to go buy water.

quid


5:00 pm model. Uh oh. Now it's going west of me. Not good.

PARODY

What better to engage in than parody...taking something beautiful and goofing it up to suit your mood. Over the course of a couple of posts and some aimless emails, you doubtless know that I am flea-bitten. It has now been 21 days and (yes, hit me baby one more time) 3 rounds of doctoring/steroids (plus 2 nights in a hotel, 1 day of flea bombs and 1 visit from an exterminator...oh, and a partridge in a pear tree) since I was victimized by leftover fleas who miss my doggy. Hell, it's awful to be so allergic (a wasp bite will probably kill me -- put that on my tombstone, wouldja?).

So I take the sublime, Rilke and twist it to suit my mood. If you would like to comment, your favorite verse from a well known poem, followed by your own poetic parody on my insect infested state, will give me a chuckle.

Know that, I am currently comfortable and confident in my abode, and the lesions are healing. (e.g. I think I finally defeated it!)

Perhaps all the dragons
in our lives are
princesses
who are only waiting to
see us act, just once,
with beauty and courage.
Perhaps everything that
frightens us is, in its
deepest essence,
something helpless that
wants our love.


Rainer Maria Rilke

Perhaps all the insects

in our lives are

fleas

who are only waiting to

use us as a host, just once

while mourning the doggy.

Perhaps everything that

frightens us is, in its

deepest essence

something tiny that

wants our sanity.

Lynne Quido

(driven to insanity by prednisone)

Presidents and Pizza

After a great post (albeit plagiarized) about Presidents, I think it only logical to post about pizza, it's kinda like the old Saturday Night Live gig, the Pope and the Pizza. You figure it out.

AND DON'T FORGET TO TELL ME, WHAT DOES YOUR PIZZA SAY ABOUT YOU?

What Your Pizza Reveals

Your appetite is pretty average. You don't go overboard - but you don't deprive yourself either. You are a very picky pizza eater. Not any pizza will do. You fit in best in the Northeast part of the US. You like food that's traditional and well crafted. You aren't impressed with "gourmet" foods. You are dependable, loyal, and conservative with your choices. You are cultured and intellectual. You should consider traveling to Vienna. The stereotype that best fits you is emo. You think you're special... and you kind of are.

What Does Your Pizza Say About You?

Ironic

A report published by the Lovenstein Institute of Scranton, Pennsylvania , detailed its findings of a four month study of the intelligence quotient of President George W. Bush. Since 1973, the Lovenstein Institute has published its research to the educational community on each new president, which includes the famous "IQ" report among others.There have been twelve presidents over the past 50 years, from F.D. Roosevelt to G.W. Bush, who were rated based on scholarly achievements:1. Writings that they produced without aid of staff.2. Their ability to speak with clarity, and several other psychological factors, which were then scored using the Swanson/ Crain System of intelligence ranking.The study determined the following IQs of each president as accurate to within five percentage points.

In order by presidential term:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt [D] 142,

Harry S Truman [D] 132,

Dwight David Eisenhower [R] 122

John Fitzgerald Kennedy [D] 174,

Lyndon Baines Johnson [D] 126,

Richard Milhous Nixon [R] 155,

Gerald R. Ford [R] 121,

James Earle Carter [D] 175,

Ronald Wilson Reagan [R] 105

George Herbert Walker Bush [R] 98,

William Jefferson Clinton [D] 182,

George Walker Bush [R] 91

In order of IQ rating:

182 . . William Jefferson Clinton [D]

175 . . James Earle Carter [D]

174 . . John Fitzgerald Kennedy [D]

155 . . Richard Milhous Nixon [R]

147 . . Franklin Delano Roosevelt [D]

132 . . Harry S Truman [D]

126 . . Lyndon Baines Johnson [D]

122 . Dwight David Eisenhower [R]

121 . . Gerald R. Ford [R]

105 . . Ronald Wilson Reagan [R]

098 . . George Herbert Walker Bush [R]

091 . . George Walker Bush [R]

The six Republican presidents of the past 50 years had an average IQ of 115.5, with President Nixon having the highest at 155. President George W. Bush rated the lowest of all the Republicans with an IQ of 91.The six Democratic presidents of the past 50 years had an average IQ of 156, with President Clinton having the highest IQ, at 182. President Lyndon B. Johnson was rated the lowest of all the Democrats with an IQ of 126. No president other than Carter [D] has released his actual IQ (176). Note the institute measured him at 175.

Among comments made concerning the specific testing of President G.W. Bush, his low ratings are due to his apparently difficult command of the English language in public statements, his limited use of vocabulary [6,500 words for Bush versus an average of 11,000 words for other presidents], his lack of scholarly achievements other than a basic MBA, and an absence of any body of work which could be studied on an intellectual basis.The complete report documents the methods and procedures used to arrive at these ratings, including depth of sentence structure and voice stress confidence analysis."All the Presidents prior to George W. Bush had a least one book under their belt, and most had written several white papers during their education or early careers. Not so with President Bush," Dr. Lovenstein said. "He has no published works or writings, which made it more difficult to arrive at an assessment. We relied more heavily on transcripts of his unscripted public speaking."

The Lovenstein Institute of Scranton, Pennsylvania think tank includes high caliber historians, psychiatrists, sociologists, scientists in human behavior, and psychologists. Among their ranks are Dr. Werner R. Lovenstein, world-renowned sociologist, and Professor Patricia F.Dilliams, a world-respected psychiatrist

Hmm - The smartest president didn't know enough to keep his pants zipped and the dumbest one thinks he can run a war.