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Well, not exactly. Earl and I are headed off to the midwest on Tuesday after work, and we’ve begun preparations today. We’ve decided to do this trip on a budget, so we’re packing lunches and snacks in a cooler. I think we’re both determined not to regain weight we’ve recently lost and this is a good way to keep our health in check during this vacation.

I was most impressed with his choice of song. “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor. He was living my dream back when I was 10-years old… singing “I Will Survive” in front of an audience and getting a rousing round of applause. Good for him!

It’s Thursday, just one day away from the weekend. I’m getting a little antsy, because Earl and I are going on a trip… we’re leaving on Tuesday night for Madison, Wis., Chicago, Detroit and all points in between. We want to take in some sights of the midwest, visit with his family in suburban Chicago a little bit (don’t tell them, it’s a surprise) and visit Taliesin, the summer home of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

O.k., I’ve ranted enough for one night. Now for a little praise. I’m typing this blog entry on the iMac because my computer is downloading it’s 15th update for Windows XP this week. I really need to save some money so I can buy myself a power book and ditch the Windows based machine. Honestly, I’d like to have an iMac powerbook AND a Unix/Linux based desktop machine – but something not quite as powerful as my current Windows machine. A decent processor, videocard and lots of RAM. I’ll do all my multimedia stuff on the Powerbook. Now to convince Earl! 🙂

I can not believe the latest television rage that has swept the public this summer. No, I’m not talking about that ManBEAST on “Paradise Hotel”. (Memo to Fox – do NOT employ ‘Toni’ on anymore reality shows. She as fun as a case of SARS.) I’m referring to “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”. It seems that every day at work someone is talking about this show like it’s the best thing to hit the airwaves since Diff’rent Strokes.

Will this QE thing blow over? Of course it will. When it comes to entertainment, Joe Public has the attention span of a gnat. Then I won’t have to answer questions like “How do I clean my Alabaster?” (“Uh, with a garden hose?”). And we can settle down for the next fad. “Language Arts for the President!”

Well, it’s Sunday night already. Time certainly does fly when you’re having fun! 🙂

Well, the healthy kick has continued for longer than I expected. This is a good thing. I’ve always been one to jump into something totally and get bored with after two weeks or so. I think I suffer from a short attention span. Earl says I’m Aunt Clara reincarnated. (Ho ho).

It’s official.  I’ve been consciously eating healthier for the past ten days.  I’m back on the vegetarian bandwagon, and honestly, I haven’t felt better.  I’ve been trying to maintain a strict vegetarian diet – nothing that poops, no milk, no eggs.  The no milk and no eggs deal hasn’t been difficult, since I’ve been doing that for quite a while.  The no meat thing hasn’t been a big challenge, though I haven’t been confronted with my beloved Chick-Fil-A since I’ve started, so we’ll see how I hold out.  If I continue to feel as good as I do today, I don’t think it’s going to be an issue.

I’ve been having recurring dreams the past couple of nights.  In these dreams, Earl and I have relocated to another city, and I’m working for a food co-op.  (Think my diet is affecting my dreams?)  I wake up feeling very happy.  I’m wondering if these are pre-cognitive dreams.

I’ve read that one gets “déjà vu” as an affirmation that they are “on track”.  I believe, as many others do, that before we incarnated into this life, we pretty much planned everything out, that we have a pre-destined path in front of us.  It isn’t wildly specific, but the basics are there.  And that one gets déjà vu because that particular part of the life path was pre-planned.

Where am I going with this thought… as I’ve mentioned a couple of times, I made a couple of life altering choices a couple of months ago (the whole Reality TV thing).  I must admit that I’ve fleetingly wondered if I made the right decision (which I truly believe I have) or if I was meant to be a “TV whore”.  I think these frequent feelings of déjà vu are an affirmation from someone on the Other Side, whether it be my spirit guide, my angels, or even God, that I did make the right choice, and that I am right where I should be.  It’s a wonderful feeling.  I haven’t felt this great in a long time.

The hot, sweltering days of summer. They have decended upon us like a

plague. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, because old man winter will be

here soon enough, but gosh does it have to be so humid that you stick to

everything you touch?

I went on a short bike ride today… only about eight miles. It was just

before noon, and the humidity was a little much to be riding in near 90

degree temps. So I went around the block.

Earl and I went and saw “Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life” last night, after

a day long ride through the Finger Lakes. It was a relaxing, leisurely

ride. We packed a picnic and ate at a Thruway rest stop. About a half hour

into the ride, we came to a grinding halt on the Thruway. There was a very

bad accident with an overturned mini-van. We were about twenty cars back

from passing all the action (after creeping for about 10 minutes) when

emergency personnel stopped everyone where they were. Minutes later, a

medi-vac helicopter came in and landed on the Thruway. So we knew we were

going to be there for quite a while. We shut off the car, and like everyone

else, got out and walked around a bit. The police didn’t let people up near

the scene of the accident (understandably), so we walked around talking with

others that were stopped. We chatted with a family from St. Charles,

Illinois (Earl has relatives there) and from Wisconsin. While it was a

tragic reason that we were stopped there, it was refreshing to chat with

other people from various slices of life. Traffic resumed after about an

hour. Fortunately, no one had been killed in the accident, though they did

have to use the jaws of life.

while we were riding, we took the opportunity to snap some pictures for my

great New York Counties project. I think we’re almost two-thirds of the way

to completion!

After the bike ride today, Earl and I did some grocery shopping, and just

kind of relaxed. Caught up on laundry and that sort of thing. Had a light

supper and now we are eating fresh strawberries for a little snack.

There are storms brewing after all of this sultry weather. I think it’s

going to be an interesting night with thunderstorms. I’m looking forward to

it.

Well I’ve just updated myself on the world’s news courtesy of my Netscape home page. Very interesting. Baby Bush had an interesting quote today regarding the recall vote that might occur in California. “Of course the California is important. That’s the only opinion I got.” It’s nice to have such an articulate man in the White House. Good Lord, I miss Bill Clinton.

I’m not one to go political, but there are some things I just don’t understand.

1. When President Clinton left office, the national deficit was zero. Zip. Nada. Nothing. Baby Bush is in office for three years and we now have the largest deficit in the history of the United States. That makes me sick. How Baby Bush and his coven spend so much money, pay out tax rebates like a drunk sailor in a cat house, and have absolutely no idea how much “The War Against Terror” is going to cost despite the fact that 100,000 troops will probably still be in Iraq one year from today, racking up this huge deficit in three years is beyond my comprehension.

2. Osana Bin Laden’s Al Quaida network waged an attack against the United States on September 11, 2001. This attack killed thousands of innocent Americans. So we send troops to the Middle East to get Bin Laden, understandably. Unfortunately, mission not accomplished. So then we go after Saddam Hussein in “The War Against Terror”. He has weapons of “mass destruction”, we’re told. Apparently, these weapons of mass destruction are so good, they have vaporized themselves because no one can find them. Yes folks, I can find a picture of my house taken from a satellite on the internet. This picture is so clear and accurate, I can see the dashed lines down the middle of the highway I live on, AND I can see my cat sitting in the driveway. However, we can not find these alleged weapons of mass destruction. O.k., let’s try this on for size. Daddy Bush didn’t get Saddam Hussein during his presidency. So now, Baby Bush will. We can screech that Bill Clinton lied to us about his fling with Monica, but we’re suppose to remain calm when Saddam’s weapons can’t be found and American troops in Iraq are being killed daily?

3. Baby Bush and his cohorts are pushing for a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriages. Isn’t that just peachy. Why does it seem like whenever bible beaters are quoting the bible, they always skip the “Love one another as you would love yourself.” When asked about homosexuality, Baby Bush replied with “We’re all sinners.” Newsflash: the biggest sin is that he’s still in office.

4. The office of Homeland Security has warned the there is a strong possibility that there will be more terrorist attacks using airliners much like the Sept. 11 attacks some time before the end of the year. The SAME day, it is announced that air marshalls will NO LONGER be on international and cross country flights, claiming it’s too expensive! (Apparently, the little old lady air marshall will still be on the commuter flight from Podunk to Peoria, after all, she’s cheap.) Later the SAME day, they reverse the decision and announce that the air marshalls will continue as they have since shortly after 9/11/01. Pardon my French, but what the fuck? Is it unreasonable to expect the different governmental agencies to exchange a few e-mails to “work out the details” before going public with these announcements? Do intelligence reports actually hit CNN within five minutes of the actual gathering of the information? Do sources skip the White House all together and just go to MSNBC, not giving Washington the chance to make sure policy is in place? And why hasn’t the terror level being raised to orange? Commercial airline companies having a fit about it?

I apologize for going on with such a tirade. But I was just commenting to Earl the other day that the country seems so depressed. Mopey. Americans were not this depressed during the Clinton administration. Granted, September 11 had not occurred yet. True, we were not at war during his administration. True, the economy was much stronger. And yes, Bill was probably little too frisky in the oval office. But life just seemed better. The country was thriving.

Gosh, I miss Bill Clinton.

Well I made the leap yesterday and decided to return to being a vegetarian

full-time again. I don’t think Earl is very excited about it, as it does

put a little bit of strain on meal planning. Since he does the majority of

the cooking (well, all of it to be exact), it is a burden on him. So,

emotionally I’m wrestling with feeling selfish for doing this, but I really

think that it’s for my own good health-wise, as well as spiritually… I

don’t like reading about what happens to animals that are bred for food

stock.

One thing that’s funny is that the radio station I work at is a country

station – and we do all the farm reports… livestock auctions, the status

of cheese, etc. And these reports have advertisements for growth hormones

to feed your cattle, etc. One even starts with “Before Bessie ends up on a

bun…” Eeks! Once in a while I have to load these shows into the computer

for future airplay. I’ve always had to walk out of the studio while they’re

recording (not a good practice for a radio professional), but I just can not

listen to the contents of these shows. I don’t think I fit the “country

radio station employee” very well – what with pursuing a vegetarian

lifestyle ang being gay. Oh well.

Earl and I installed the new weather station yesterday. Very, very exciting.

You’ll notice a new button on the front page, “Weather”, which leads you to

the current weather status here at home. It updates every 15 minutes. Once

I get my butt in gear I’ll probably install a webcam so you can see what the

weather is looking like as well.

After the installation, we went for a drive through the Hudson Valley. It

was a beautiful day. Drove down Route 32 in Greene County and was surprised

to find the aftermath of a tornado that hit the area Thursday night. About

a quarter of a mile swath right across the street – through an old 1950s

style motel – stuff was scattered everywhere. Mother Nature can do awesome

things (and I don’t mean that in a gleeful way). Earl and I have decided on

our vacation next year – we are going on a tornado chasing excursion mid

part of June out in the midwest. I’m really looking forward to it.

Today has been a blah day. Lots of rain, not much accomplishment. Mostly

relaxation and laundry. I think we may be caught up with laundry before the

night is over. I guess there’s going to be some accomplishment after all.

I must admit that I’m really looking forward to the weekend. The reason? Earl and I have no plans. It’s one of those weekends where we basically have time to ourselves, and can do anything that we want. I really enjoy this type of freedom. No deadlines. No restraints.

Earl and I arrived home on Tuesday to see that our new landscaping is finally being installed. It’s been a year in the planning stage, and now it’s coming to fruition. Very exciting. We’re having new brick walls installed, all new shrubbery and greenery… I think it’s going to make the house look fabulous! I’ll post a picture when it’s done so everyone can see.

Maybe I’ll get motivated and do some other landscaping around the outbuildings this weekend. That would be productive.

Honestly, I’m itching to go on a bike ride, but I’m not sure that I’m ready for it. I rode to work today (and plan on riding home), but this is the only riding I’ve done in about a week and a half – mainly due to weather. I was originally going to do a century ride tomorrow to the Finger Lakes, but I’m not sure my legs could keep up. Maybe I’ll do 50 miles on the canal trails.

Work is moving along at a reasonable pace today – which is refreshing. It’s been quite frenetic lately and it’s nice to simmer down and actually think about what I’m working on rather than flying by the seat of my pants.

I took my own advice and set TiVo to record “Bewitched” off TVLand every night for a while. It’s nice to watch the older shows – especially since “Bewitched” is probaby my favorite show of all time. I’m glad TVLand is showing it again. Wednesday night I decided to turn off “Paradise Hotel” and watched the clothes in the washing machine instead. Now I admit that sounds a little whacked, but I’ve always found laundry exciting, and at the very least it was more exciting than watching “Paradise Hotel”.