Random Dozen - 20101013

Linda over at 2nd Cup of Coffee hosts a weekly meme where she works hard to come up with completely random questions, a dozen at a time, to share with the blogosphere.  This is one of the few meme's i like both to read, and respond to.  Wander on over and check out her blog.

1. Is there a word which you initially mispronounced? Were the circumstances in which you made the faux pas embarrassing? ~ Nope!  I pronounce ever word correctly, every single time, no matter what region of the country, or world, i should find myself in.  Ok, seriously now... um... not that i can recall, but i am pretty sure this is a common occurrence.


2. How do you feel about the use of texting shortcuts and trends? (ex: "I've got ur notes. Get them 2 u 2morow.") ~ personally, i am intrigued... but in practice they confuse me.  I prefer to not use, or receive, them.  The world must conform to me!

3. Tell me about your high school senior picture. Please feel free to post. ~ I am sure there is one out there somewhere, but i dropped out of High School in December of what was supposed to be my Senior year, so i never received it, and i am quite sure my mother could not afford to purchase it.  If any of my High School friends actually read this... and you can find the incriminating evidence... please forward to me for delet... i mean dispersal.

4. Linda actually failed to post a question #4, but it reminded me of my favorite Carolina Panther player, the last original Panther, John Kasay.  A private man, from what i can tell a humble man.  A man who lives his life for God.  May God grant him continued success in his career, and may he be used by God all the days of his life.

5. Share a high school or college homecoming memory. ~ The only Homecoming anything i ever attended was a Homecoming dance at my Beloved's college.  I was in town for a friend's baptism and was set up on a blind date at the last minute with her roommate (long story - had to borrow a suit and everything).  As an ice breaker my friend set up a public meeting with my date at the Homecoming football game.  My (not as yet) Beloved was supposed to be on a canoe trip with the outdoor club that weekend, but it fell through.  I spent the whole football game talking with my date and the future Mrs. samurai talking about the sovereignty of God.  To this day i still could not tell you if the home team won or not.  Although i went out to dinner and to the dance with my date, the wheels were set in motion for the rest of my life.

6. Linda at Mocha with Linda wants to know: "Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?" ~ I still enjoy the sunrise, but i am more relaxed at sunset.  Also, i know there is almost no chance to get my Beloved up before sunrise to watch it with me so... the enjoyment is somewhat minimal.


7. Lea at Cici's Corner asks, "What is something you have not done that you desire to do?" ~ I would really like to learn how to play the Irish Whistle well.  It has been literally a life long dream of mine.  I am afraid of failure, and i know it takes time to master any musical instrument.  I just have not found, or set aside, the time i would really like to dedicate to it.

8. Carol at Wanderings of an Elusive Mind ponders, "If you could come back [in another life] as an animal, which would it be?" ~ That is a tough question.  I am pretty sure i would prefer to be either a Hawk or an Eagle.  I'd love to be able to fly. to be able to spot things a far off, to be able to swoop in and strike or just to stay aloft and ride the wind currents.


9. Joyce from The Other Side of the Pond is curious: "Where were you 10 years ago?" Please feel free to elaborate more than just your physical location. ~ I was juggling a long distance commute to/from work, and my Beloved and i were raising two toddlers.  Around Thanksgiving time in 2000 i loaded the family up for what would be my family's last visit to my mother.  We had a nice long weekend, and enjoyed not just a delicious Turkey dinner, but a nice time at Kevin Barry's Irish Pub in Savannah.  When we were called back less than a week later i packed the family back up for what would be a two week "adventure".  Kevin Barry's welcomed us back and we had a night i will never forget.

10. When you are proven to be correct in any contentious discussion, do you gloat? ~ Well, i am not much of a debater, so it usually takes some time to be proven right.  So, if i do gloat, it is from a far.  In any event, i hope that i don't.

11. What is your favorite food which includes the ingredient "caramel?" ~ I absolutely love Carmel Apples.  I love the chewy Caramel, and the sweetness of the apple underneath.  I also love Dark Chocolate caramels.

12. From my 17 year-old daughter to you: "If you could be part of any fictional family, which family would you choose and why?" (She's so cute. And clever.) ~ Wow... i never thought about this... to be honest... i cannot think of a single family that i would want to choose.  Too many "issues" that i am not familiar with... i will think about this one some more and come back and answer it...

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And the hits keep on coming

Last night i found out my "Aunt" was being released from the hospital and going into Hospice. *sigh* This woman, her husband, and her kids took me and my brother in for a summer when we didn't have a place to go. The school year before this summer we had attended three different schools and lived in four different places and were about to be asked to leave the last one. That summer my "Aunt" and "Uncle" took us in. I still remember that summer with fondness. It was a great summer. "Uncle" was the Baptist Minister in the small town where they lived in the parsonage. The town had a blinking light for the four-way stop, and there was a bank on the corner. We walked everywhere and my brother and i shared in all the chores ~ which was an eye opener for us both. When it was coming to an end i begged to be allowed to stay with them but it was not to be. I am hoping to go and see her this weekend before it is too late, but i don't want to impose on my cousins in their time of grief... Lately i have been getting invites for a High School reunion. At first i was intrigued, but later i became annoyed. Not by the person who is working incredibly hard to get all of it organized, but at the school population from back then in general. When i went to that school i sat with only four other kids, three of which i am still friends with (not bad considering that was over two decades ago). For the most part we were shunned, mostly ignored, and sometimes picked on. We handled ourselves well enough (my "applesauce 'grenade'" is still fondly remembered), but we were not really a part of the whole if you get my meaning. If memory serves my nickname back then was "brainiack" as people stuck out legs to try and trip me as i read between classes. After seeing how my beloved's reunions have gone... i don't see it being worth my time. Yesterday, over at Eternal Revolution (yet another Christian Samurai themed blog) i caught wind of the samurai umbrella! LOL! That's right, the samurai umbrella! Sometimes i find out about some really cool Christian Samurai things, but this is one of those things that is just fun. I don't think i will be picking one up, but just knowing that such a thing exists made me chuckle. Such is the 'danger' of living in a free market economy i guess. Where if someone is willing to buy such a product at a price you can make some money on, people make it. For a while now i have been talking with a friend of mine about helping me sort of spruce up the "dojo" here. I finally sat down with him last night. Since i am asking him to do this from the kindness of his heart (well, he has not mentioned anything about paying him anyway), i am not expecting too much of a change, but it should look good, simple but good, when all is said and done. I am also unsure of any kind of time line. Just that i am finally working on it. If anyone has some suggestions i would welcome them, but i would ask for an example so i know what you are talking about. *grin* Lately i have been wanting to be in the middle of a really strong thunderstorm. I don't know why, but i just really have the desire to be in the middle of it, soaking wet, feeling the rumble of the thunder in my chest and the wind all around me. And i am not talking about one of those passing storms that roar in and is gone in ten minutes. One that lasts a good thirty minutes or more. Back when i had just become a Christian one of my new roommates had a sound track CD that had rain and gentle storm sounds on it. I slept like a baby when i went to bed with it on. Ok, in closing... lately it has been feeling like God has been telling me to get off the bench and do... something. I am not sure what, but... i need to continue to pray... delve into His word... and seek where He would have me go or do. That began Sunday with the sermon at the church we were visiting. The visiting pastor to the church was talking about the difference between a Christian who sits and studies all the time but doesn't do anything and one who may not know as much but is actually out in the fields getting his/her hands dirty. Then, yesterday, a sermon from Kenneth Maresco come up on my MP3 player - The Pursuit and Practice of Fellowship . Although i had listened to this sermon before it seemed to hit home on several points and i am now praying over a few specific points... we shall what God will do.

Writer's block

When i was in High School i hated my English class. I managed to fail every class since the 1st semester of the 9th grade. (It was one of the reasons i eventually dropped out.) One semester i realized that i had not been marked late once - despite being late numerous times (it was my first class of the day), so vowed to make a marked effort to be late. One day i even showed up five minutes before the end of class thinking, "there's no way he won't mark me late today"... there was a substitute who, wait for it... didn't mark me late! LOL I got to such a point that i would take dice into class, rolled them noisily on my desk, then took the results to answer the multiple choice questions. *sigh* I was far from a model student. This comes to mind because i was re-reading my blog from yesterday and i kept finding little mistakes. Ok, perhaps big ones. Ok, back to my original train of thought... I eventually went back and obtained my G.E.D. (i had to if i wanted to ever get promoted to Sergeant in the National Guard, or wanted to go to college - which the NG had encouraged me to do) and started college. Yet i avoided the core English requirements like the plague. Finally, after i got married and i found out that my beloved was good in English and was willing to tutor me, i finally took an English class. When i took the placement tests to see where i needed to start at the school - since i had never taken an S.A.T. i had apparently scored pretty well. Before i had received the results back from the placement tests i received a letter congratulating me, and inviting me to join the Honor's Society at the school. I had actually seriously considered it... right up until i found out that i was going to have to take English 010. That's right... it's not a typo. English 010... English Composition. What's worse... it took me four tries to finally get a "S" (satisfactory). not even a letter grade. That is a long story, but here is the kicker... it taught me to enjoy writing! I am still not very good when it comes to punctuation, or grammer, or spelling. I have always enjoyed reading, but writing is not something that comes easily. Well, publishable writing anyway. Re-reading yesterday's blog sort of reitterated that to me. It's hard to be taken seriously when you writing skills are so poor. And yet i hate to edit my own work. I have no qualms about having others mark it all up with a red pen and then combing back through it to make it work and correct, but it is like dragging my own nails across a chalk board (ah the days before white boards), and still not liking the sound. Well, i have the ideas in my head to continue my on-line story series as well as the "novel" i am writing, but i've not been able to get the words out. Mostly because of being in a constant state of something other than quiet, but also because i want it to be what i want it to be... and not some trailing thought that doesn't flow with the rest of the story. So... i spend my time re-reading my background material (previous stories i've writen as well as a plethora of old articles that describe the various aspects of the world i choose to write in). I will get back to it though. I just enjoy writing too much. Various tatics i use to get "pen to paper" - or more accurately "fingers to keyboard" because i can't write fast enough for my thoughts to flow, but i can type much faster than i can write... and yet that is still not fast enough at times. Anyway... my tactics include... outlining to give the story a framework... just diving in a typing from the beginning... and just random note taking of various ideas. For a person who has some "compulsive" tendencies in doing things certain ways... for me the writing process is rarely the same way twice. I think in the end i know my 'audience' is pretty small - but then i am not doing it for fame, fortune, or a paycheck.