I rode the bike to the arboretum today. It is also known as the Washington Park Arboretum.Here are some pictures I took . The dogwood, magnolia, mountain ash and rhododendron trees and plants are in bloom now, among others.

Sad news from Florida. Scott had to put Teka to sleep. She had a blood clot that moved to her hind quarters thus paralizing her. She was 13 years old with some heart and kidney trouble. Let him tell you all when he can. I'd say that you can send him and Chrissie a card though. Here is a picture of Teka and Kasha at another apartment a few years ago. Here and here are some cat prayers. It is hard for those left here.

A day late here but happy May Day. Read this entry by Sonya. It made me laugh.

Contemporary free speech.

I'm going to try to see the fields of flowers at the Tulip Festival in Skagit County today. I printed out a map of the fields this time.

I thought I felt something last night. There was an earthquake on the peninsula. There were two, actually. Does this count for my first earthquake?

I drove the truck and trailer today. Gary hurt his legs yesterday when he slipped into his mower as he was trying to back it up, so Pepe and I did the Thursday route through south and west Seattle. It was cold and wet out there today.

My sites show up twice (one for each respectively) for the search at the bottom of the page. Someone was looking for pictures of zuchinni. Tara shows up with the zuchinni.

Go to this site if, like me, you are interested in media, freedom of speech and propaganda and the issues which surround these.

OK, the apartment is cleaner but the carpet still smells. The manager scared off the carpet guy so the owner of the company had to come out here to try to correct this himself. It didn't take, so all of you out there who have carpets which have no smell, please keep me in your thoughts. This is the last piece of this puzzle (at this time). I'm barely breaking even but this I suppose is good for now considering that I had nothing coming in just a few weeks ago.

I rode the bike over 520 miles Saturday and Sunday. I went up to Skagit County to see some of the flower festival on Saturday and on Sunday I took the bike through Snoqualmie Pass on I-90 to Ellensberg, then rode through the Yakima River Canyon on route 821 to Yakima and then back on Rt. 12 and 123 through another (cold) pass to Enumclaw and then highways back to Redmond. The snow up in that pass was much higher than the bike at places but the road was clear. No walking lately or even running. I'll start that routine soon I hope.

From the Seattle Times today: War a world away reveals the differences next door; "We have come to wonder out loud whether Washington's rural places, in striking contrast to the Seattle area's awkward wartime angst, seem more comfortable donning the war garb because they have been fighting their own battle for survival for decades. And losing.

"It doesn't take a doctorate in economics to see the national shift, with old, resource-based jobs succumbing to a service economy, technology-based industry and, inevitably, an ongoing flight to urban areas."

I received these today:

When a Joke Becomes the Truth...

"President Bush has said that he does not need approval from the UN to wage
war, and I'm thinking, well, hell, he didn't need the approval of the
American voters to become president, either." -- David Letterman

"In a speech earlier today President Bush said if Iraq gets rid of Saddam
Hussein, he will help the Iraqi people with food, medicine, supplies,
housing, education - anything that's needed. Isn't that amazing? He finally
comes up with a domestic agenda - and it's for Iraq. Maybe we could bring
that here if it works out." -- Jay Leno

"President Bush announced tonight that he believes in democracy and that
democracy can exist in Iraq. They can have a strong economy, they can have a
good health care plan, and they can have a free and fair voting. Iraq? We
can't even get this in Florida." -- Jay Leno

"Democrats were quick to point out that President Bush's budget creates a
one trillion dollar deficit. The White House quickly responded with 'Hey
quick, look over there, it's Saddam Hussein!'" -- Craig Kilborn

"We have it. The smoking gun. The evidence. The potential weapon of mass
destruction we have been looking for as our pretext of invading Iraq.
There's just one problem -- it's in North Korea." -- Jon Stewart

"War continues in Iraq. They're calling it Operation Iraqi Freedom. They
were going to call it Operation Iraqi Liberation until they realized that
spells 'OIL.'" -- Jay Leno

"CNN said that after the war, there is a plan to divide Iraq into three
parts ... regular, premium and unleaded." -- Jay Leno

"Iraq began destroying those missiles they don't have over the weekend. See,
President Bush may be the smartest military president in history. First, he
gets Iraq to destroy all of their own weapons. Then he declares war." -- Jay
Leno

"Many of our soldiers are stationed at Camp Coyote just south of the Iraqi
border. This is how you know we have a strong army, when you can actually
tell your enemy exactly where your camp is and what its name is." -- Jon
Stewart

"The Pentagon still has not given a name to the Iraqi war. Somehow
'Operation Re-elect Bush' doesn't seem to be popular." -- Jay Leno

"The president boasted at the top of his press conference that we have the
support now of Britain and Spain for our attack on Iraq. You know, when you
want to make it perfectly clear to the world that you're not an
imperialist,the people you want in your corner are Britain and Spain." --
Bill Maher

Here is a picture of Joe on the Eastside Steelheaders website. He was to leave today but wasn't feeling well enough so his plans have been changed. He'll now fly out Wednesday and his truck will be shipped out to meet him later in Greenfield. Joe and Tracy will be living next to the fairgrounds of the Franklin County Fair.

It was raining like crazy this morning. The way it usually rains here is more like a heavy mist but this morning it was raining as I saw in Florida. We even had thundershowers and lightning. I picked up my bike yesterday so was able to ride it after the showers today. I put another charge on my card and had them put on Perelli MT 66's. I was very careful with them on today so I can't say how they felt as compared to the Dunlops I had been using. I was able to put over 80 miles on them and the whole package (major engine tune up with valve adjustment plus tires) was very smooth. Well worth the money I think since it will go a long way in keeping me sane. Thanks Uncle Andy.

PATRIOT II

This boggles me.

Rummy is a poet.

As Molly Ivins considered the ideological coup d'etat, this article traces "how neoconservatives conquered Washington -- and launched a war." And here is a article on Jon Stewart's Daily Show, also from Salon.com, which touches on political humor; "Political humor used to belong to the left, but that all changed in the 1990s, when the priggishness of political correctitude injected new vitality into a segment of the population that had been shut out of comedy's pantheon:"

Did anyone vote for this "ideological coup d'etat."

I came from another sunny place as this author came from California. I don't think that it is all that bad here. Hell, she is on the inside, writing for The Seattle Times while I am quite literally on the outside cutting the grass. I mowed the Seattle Times grass Friday. They own a lot of real estate north of downtown. I made the grass in their employee park nice and tidy.

Here is an opinion piece outlining some of the current U.S. hawkish foreign policy as it relates to the northwest.

Katie sent me a Flat Stanley, so I took him for a ride today. We went to see the Space Needle, Mt. Si in North Bend and to Snoqualmie Falls, all in western Washington State. Flat Stanley even helped me pump some gas! I wasn't going to go for a ride but thanks to Katie and her friend Flat Stanley, I got a good ride in today. Thanks Kats!

thumbs up. What does it mean?

This is what I see when I go to work in the morning in North Seattle. Not too pretty after getting used to the eastside. The cigarette butts from yesterday's entry were found in a city setting. Cities are cities.

For all of that gratitude yesterday, I could have had a better day today. I'm kind of underwhelmed. People, please pick up your cigarette butts from the landscaping, or better yet don't throw them down there or quit smoking all together. And I had a highly unpleasant and upsetting experience today. I hit a kitty. God that sucked. It didn't have a collar so I arranged for an animal hospital in Redmond to dispose of the remains. It was black and came jetting out in front of me, I think being chased by another cat. Like I said, not a good day. Hey Tracy, I thought you said things would be looking up?

Well the long run is over. I go to work tomorrow. Now I get to find out what a 520 commute is really like. I am going to cut grass and trim shrubbery. I have not worked for a long time. I have to say that I've enjoyed myself. I am grateful not to be in Florida any longer. I am grateful to now be in Washington state. I am grateful for the time I was given to accompany my mother and to visit with the family. I am grateful for the whole time and I am grateful to be (somewhat of) a different person than the one who left Florida so long ago. I am grateful to find out what a good little dog Tara could be. Who would have thought? I am also grateful for the assistance I recieved from my dear friend Tracy. I've learned that I don't have to live like a college student any longer. What a concept. I am also grateful for the people I will be meeting here in the future. Thank you.

Echoing Ellen Goodman's lack of affinity with the political left, this piece points out why the "nation's antiwar left remains clueless."

Here is a war news weblog I found very up to date. I just heard this stuff on tv.

I went to downtown Seattle today to take a look at the war protest going on there. The protest didn't have a permit to march, only one that allowed them to gather, so the police did their best to keep them on the sidewalk and out of the street. I guess it turned ugly after I left.Traffic was stopped on 1st Ave. on the first day of the Iraq war and they weren't going to let that happen again.

ha ha ha ha ha

We can pray.

Day one of the invasion starts. Debka.com provides a map This is probably the best place for early news.

Dave drove through Great Barrington, Massachusetts on his trip from California to Boston. I used to deliver beer on this and many other streets in the Berkshires and central and western Massachusetts.

Dave says think!

There were 6400 peace vigils in 129 countries this past Sunday the 16th. Here are some pictures.

It looks as though we (well Bush and his regime anyways) will be at war soon. I was in a car with Michaela somewhere in New Jersey or New York for the beginning of the last one with Poppy Bush. Michaela cried when we heard on the radio about the opening salvos in the air war. She sort of apologized or explained herself by saying that it effected her because it is a big step. I can barely remember the tv reports of the Vietnam war and maybe the body count that was reported every night. That war lasted for 10 years. This is a whole different scenario but the impact in anxiety from the media coverage is the same on this side of the screen, I believe. It is interesting that the Pentagon has made arrangements for "embedded" reporters within US units for this war. I don't think that Michaela had a war on tv for her, other than maybe Grenada and Panama. I wonder what she is thinking and feeling now?

Here is a link to a war weblog. The Seattle Times will be covering the war in a weblog format also. And not that anyone cares, but MSNBC is "gague(ing) the global debate on Iraq" here. Here is a "no war blog" and here is an army family journal with links to more military blogs. The Guardian has a special weblog report on Iraq. It seems that a lot of Americans are reading foreign new on Iraq because, as Paul Krugman wrote, the "(U.S. TV news) seems to be reporting about a different planet than the one covered by foreign media". The folks at Debka say that in their reporting on the mideast, they say that "We Start Where The Media Stop". ...There, I'm sure there are many more links. Read away.

ABC13.com: Brawl erupts after song played at rodeo

"...the only thing we DO KNOW is that there's a lot going on that we DON'T KNOW."

Check this out.

And this look back to after the inauguration: "The insanity is over," Bush said. "After a long, dark night of peace and stability, the sun is finally rising again over America. We look forward to a bright new dawn not seen since the glory days of my dad."

I want to ride my bike.

Get Fuzzy is getting some attention.

My horoscope looks good for today. I hope you all have a great day too. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): "Your kind of day! People seek your company, want to wine and dine you. Conversations sparkle with wit and wisdom; you are no slouch at relating 'remarkable stories'."

Joe is back in town. The moving company screwed them over, just as I had read about moving complaints in the paper yesterday. Massachusetts has plenty of snow, and this has taxed the yankee patience. The carpet guys came back yesterday. They sprayed some stuff on the back of the carpet which smells like glue and some deodorant on the top of the carpet which smells like vinegar. I hope that it works. I sent a resume out to a lanscaping company Monday and I'll fax a follow-up letter to them today. Not to belittle that line of work but I guess that my years of cooking and my degree in political science leave me with few options in this woeful job environment. We have rain through Thursday yet it should be relatively warm - 50 degrees. To me there is a big difference between lower 40's and the lower 50's. I guess it is the relative Seattle difference. People here would freak out if any snow accumulated on the ground, so lower 30's or even 20's is rare.

"oderint dum metuant"

World of Ends "What the Internet Is and How to Stop Mistaking It for Something Else."

Gray Matter - Bush's incomprehension of foreign viewpoints. By William Saletan "Again and again, Bush was asked to explain why other nations didn't see things his way. Again and again, he changed the subject to himself and his supporters."

Here is the "The Pentagon's New Map"

Roger Ebert on the Pledge of Allegiance.

Stranger than fiction.

Check out the strip for Thursday at Baby Blues.

Somebody swiped my running clothes at the laundromat, I got a parking ticket in the city today and the job expo was a bust. And the ionizer fallout is giving me a headache. It will get better, won't it? Thinking about motorcycles or sex make me feel better. Must be some sort of trigger in the brain...

12 miles yesterday. Woo hoo. I have only a mild pain in my right knee. Nothing too bad I think. I take a few days off in-between, walking and hiking. It helps that the average temp here is in the mid 40's. Florida was too hot. I have to evacuate my apartment for the day because the carpet guy is going to ionize the apartment and hopefully get rid of the dank must in here. There is a employment expo tomorrow at Safeco Field in downtown Seattle. Joe and Tracy go home that day. Wish me luck in the search. Today while I'm out of the apartment, I'll get my laundry done, drink coffee read and maybe I'll walk. Y'all have a great day. Peace peace peace.

Hey, a gal in a red pick up truck complimented me on my motorcycle.

11 miles and a bike ride today. The carpet guy came by again and dropped off a dehumidifier. He says that the carpet doesn't need to be steamed but they'll ionize the place on Monday for most of the day. Maybe all of this will get rid of the musty smell. Just one of the treats of living in the northwest. And you all at home are looking into the maw of another storm. Better mood today; walking into the future.

This article describes me I think. I'm an introvert, now "shush".

Instead of walking or running in Marymoor Park and along the Sammamish Slough I took a hike up Tiger Mountain. It was a very nice change of pace. Here is a view from Tiger and I didn't know it but you can see Seattle from there too.

"Al Qaeda’s Opening Shot in Iraq War.?"

Here is some typical old growth, but in the summer.

I'm trying to keep my spirits up. Running and walking seem to help and get me out of the apartment. I ran 10 miles today. I've found that if I do this every three days then it gives my knees and muscles time to heal. Glucosamine, chondroitin and msm must be helping too. No sun today but there is a constant almost drizzle going on out there. It is all a Seattle gray. Joe was nice enough to bring over a wicker seat for my balcony/patio. It fits great and is not nearly as big as when I tried to imagine it out there. Work would be welcome right now. I'll get more serious about that at the end of the month. Y'all enjoy your week.

Are you looking for weapons of mass destruction?

Happy f***ing Valentine's Day.

The war has already begun.

This editorial article explains Bush's 'Healthy Forests' plan for what it is.

"Once again, left and right talk past one another."

For those of you who use cast iron cookware, or those of you who would like to, here are some care tips.

I love this "bug" entry. You should really go and read it.

This columnist says that "(t)he nastiness of right-wing paranoia is not a new story, but the creepy resemblance of the current crop of true believers to the Leninists of yesteryear is genuinely troubling."

Read how Bill O'Reilly treats this guest.

It is late and I don't feel like reading this whole thing, but here is a line by line critique of Bush's State of the Union Speech.

Look at this about the shuttle.

I'd almost want to hear the Dave Barry qualifier "and I'm not making this stuff up" to these developments/accomplishments/news items.

Why we should travel; we could have stories like this. And who are 'em?

I've been away from here for a while and still no messages.

Scott sent me a picture today of his morning sky. Check it out. I guess you can call it a Hypoluxo sky.

Here is to beer. I also enjoy, not necessarily at the same mind you, travel essays and such writing. Please read this short essay. I don't usually care for this cat even though I read this comic, but I enjoyed the strip this day. I'll be busy at some time, really. Look at this Marymoor rainbow.

Time for some Starbucks coffee now I do think. Have a great day, week or whatever.

Dave wrote to me and he is alive and well in Montague. He says he goes to this site often but I don't see any comments. Please write to him and tell him about your life, your hopes and your dreams.

I found this site at Katy's blog.

How much of the coming gulf war is Bush and his oil buddies securing the mid east or is there a true threat from Saddam and his friends in al qaeda?

John F. Manley says "the U.S. drew the wrong lesson from 9/11 ."

I don't try to be mean here, but I received this e-mail today saying:

"If you wish to give your uncritical and wholehearted support to all of President Bush's domestic policies and programs, cast your vote by clicking below:

click here"

They want to blame this lousy economy on Rubin and Clinton. These guys sound like Nazis bent on world domination. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and see whos names are on this. Here is the hit list map. Don't pull this shit in my name. F*****g Nazis.

Here is a conservative who came to believe that the Bush administration's foreign policy (is) run by people in love with their own ideas.

There! I just manually linked my archives to my weblog. I tried to upload a text document with the javascript in it but the whole thing wouldn't load to my natman site on MSN. I can't even show any potential helpers what the code was I was using. Well, here it is and it might mess up this page, but...

faultStringjava.lang.Exception: java.io.FileNotFoundException: /home/Templates/blognumber_a.html (No such file or directory)faultCode0

src="<$BlogArchiveFileName$>" type=text/javascript

before and after the last line there is supposed to be script and /script; this line goes in the main template and the first one goes in the archive template. If anyone out there knows why this set-up doesn't work, either my side or blogger side, I'd be grateful for the help. Right now I'm just happy to have my archives linked once again. Aum Sat Nam
Peace Peace Peace

I shook hands with Richard Bach today. He spoke at The Museum of Flight in Seattle. He is a good speaker and it was a pleasure to watch him creatively piece together and weave his responses to questions. Of course at the book signing I thanked him for writing his books and I gushed about how Tracy and I loved them. She doesn't know it yet but she now has signed copies of Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Air Farrets Aloft. My normal reaction to anything farret is "but they aren't cats". I'll give the book a try, and maybe the little known others. He is convinced that no one else knows about the farret books either.

I asked him about his writing. He said in his talk that he would usually get six rejection letters for each book and he told me that he didn't rework them in between sending them back out to different publishers. He approved of the Steven King book, "On Writing". Steven King would save all of his rejection slips and keep them on a nail in front of where he worked. Richard Bach said that he had planned on eventually using them to wallpaper a room. He didn't tell me whether he did this but he then conceded that the contrast between his volume of rejection letters and his over the top success is (not an exact quote, my words) sweet. Good for him, and us. Thanks again for writing those books.

"We can take steps every day to increase the interaction within our families and our communities and between ourselves and our natural environment."

Here is to drinking every day.

Now you'd think that I always have a lot of time, being unemployed and all. I cleared up some finantial issues and related paperwork today because I have more time. And now it is high time to actually look for a job. I know that I move slowly but it has to be at my pace. The biggest problem I face (I believe) is that I have no good idea as to what I want to do. I have a BA in Political Science and have worked cooking for the last 14 or so years. This really stinks because if I knew what I would like to do then don't you think I would make that happen for myself? People think that they are helpful by asking me what it is that I would like to do, as if I had never thought of that idea. So I've bought the book, "Zen and the Art of Making a Living" in the hope that something between those pages will help me get from here to there. I'll open it tomorrow. It is too late tonight even though I fear that my run this afternoon will keep me up late. I can tell people that I'm listening to my muses for inspiration and short term promise but a metaphysical/intuitive approach to a job/career leaves them with a blank stare which then turns into a look of pity and fear. The day to day flee and don't turn back.

"God forbid we look at the details of exactly who benefits most from this administration's policies."

Tracy and I went cross country skiing today. Here she is with her skis. Yesterday I took the motorcycle out for a ride. I could, I was told, go rafting tomorrow. This place has such large recreational possibilities. From the Olympic Peninsula to the Puget Sound, the Eastside, The Cascades and East across the high desert of Washington, there are so many things to do in this state. This author laments the loss of Lou Pinella and touches on why the people of Western Washington love this area. The rest of the country could learn a lot from the Northwest. Did you know that it is illegal not to have a litterbag in your car in Washington State?

OK, I got the page back into shape. Happy new year's eve. Have a happy happy happy next year too. Ok?

OK, I'd like to add permanent links to my archives in my left column but have run out of steam tonight. I should really learn all of this rss, html, xml, etc... but I think that is for later. Right now Buffy is on....

My back is better now and I have run twice in the last three days. Woo hoo. Joe and Tracy come back tomorrow, sort of mid day. The eastern snowstorm has thrown a wrench in their travel plans. The kitties will be glad to have them back. Y'all have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and above all Peace Peace Peace.

Please read about Dave Winer and his Dad. I was blessed with my Mother's company for the last six months of her life so I know what blessings he is receiving now.

The Seattle Times: How to Cope with the Dark

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: The pursuit of happiness: It may not be where you think

still no archives.

Please read this installment of "chronicles of the unemployed."

Ellen Goodman points out the disaffecting nature of the present anti-war protests.

I can't make my archives work. Ugh.

I pasted together some pictures of Lake Sammamish that I took on my Marymoore walk yesterday.