Open Thread!!! We're gettin' ready to leave on a road-trip; what's happening in YOUR life?

Today's a trip to the bank to get money as well as a little shopping spree. We're both gonna get walking shoes and a few pair of socks to wear inside them. I'm gonna get new cheap sunglasses and some kind of hat. Might even pick up a pair of summer pjs because we'll be staying in a dormitory in San Francisco. We're gonna start with 3 days in Las Vegas, then do 1 day in Reno, 4 days in San Francisco, spending most of the rest of our two-week trip on the road or quick visits with family. Anyway, taking someone's recommendation, I'd like to try a Basque restaurant when we get to Reno, but we could spend up to $50 on dinner for just the two of us there and we can't afford to do that every day. Spent (wasted) a lot of time yesterday afternoon researching cheap places to eat on the strip in Las Vegas, and it looks like we'll end up doing what we always do...get the cheap breakfast across the street from the Stratosphere and the cheap dinner at the same place. If I remember, I'll watch Rachel Ray do her Las Vegas on $40/day tonight at 11pm to see if she has better ideas. If we go downtown we'll have better options, but the days of cheap eats on the strip are pretty much gone. Showed #1 and a neighbor how to pick from the garden. It's getting way too hot already, though, so #1's gonna need to water every other day and pick the days she doesn't water. She can either deal with the heat when she does it or deal with the mosquitoes in the cool of the day. I've NEVER seen this many mosquitoes around here. So, what's up with y'all? Looks like you're gettin' all excited about camping in Arkansas this fall, Diane. You got school this summer, #2? Whatcha takin' this quarter, #3? Silly-O? Jen? There-ya-go? Whatchup with y'all these days?

Here's a test for you. Which one of the following is #2?

Apparently, they did a little "on the street" survey in the town in which #2 works and chose these people to represent that town. That seems to be how these "on the street" surveys work, right? Give up yet? Want the answer?

They came, and then they went again! (sigh)

Happy Birthday Mom!

See happy birthday michael post for pomp and lyrics...

Little garden porn for Diane.

Finally figured out how to minimize and took several pics of the garden today, but only minimized the one to see if this works. The key seems to be to click on "for the web" or something like that when saving pics from Easyshare. IIRC, this photo shows some beans and moving right toward the bush that separates the NW from the NE garden, there's a watermelon plant surrounded by turnips. My favorite in this particular garden is the chard plant. It would be the one that looks all shiny and proud. I'm gonna keep it goin' as long as I can; it's my understanding that if I pick off the leaves on the outside, I could keep it going all summer. Nice alternative to plucking up the whole plant, IMO. This NW garden was planted several weeks after the NE garden, which (one would think) would be more firmly established by now. That's not necessarily true, but the plants Diane sent were planted there, so I need to get a pic of that area, as well. Well, it's SMALLER, but at least I figured out how to get it both smaller and HERE. LOL. Mints are doing FINE; I didn't look...can you see the tomato planted in the middle of the mints?

Other Blogs that i ran into

I was actually looking for a way to listen to the rtsp defcon archives when i found these: HOLIER BLOGSPOT and DEFCONBLOG I like the holier one more, just because of the quizes... (I heated up your links, #3; hope you don't mind.)

Neil Young's protest songs are free-streaming today at his site.

Unfortunately, I have sucky dialup. I got to hear enough, though, that I know I'd like the CD. Isn't Mother's Day right around the corner? Young's Anti-War Album a Growing Drumbeat By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY The Associated Press Thursday, April 20, 2006; 1:34 PM NEW YORK -- If the snippets Neil Young is posting on his Web site are any indication, his upcoming album, "Living With War," will be a serious musical broadside against the Bush administration and the Iraq war. Young isn't alone in his feelings of discontent. Pink, known more for her slams against bubble-headed pop stars than political figures, assails President Bush in the searing attack "Dear Mr. President" on her album "I'm Not Dead Yet," released this month. And the new single from Pearl Jam _ always politically minded _ is titled "World Wide Suicide," about a soldier's death. All represent a steady, if not increasing anti-war sentiment since the war began in 2003. Whereas even superstar acts like the Dixie Chicks and Madonna faced backlash when they uttered opposition to the war in comments or song, more mainstream acts are more comfortable these days expressing critical thoughts. "People were, certainly in the first couple of months, very cautious, and they are less so now," said Sean Ross at Edison Media Research, which conducts research for radio stations and others. "So it took people time to get past whether they were willing to say things." After the 9/11 attacks, Young released the song "Let's Roll," about the passengers who helped prevent United flight 93 from reaching its target that day. It was embraced as a patriotic message during a time of crisis. The few songs that did touch the topic at that time were also patriotic _ Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American)" and Paul McCartney's "Freedom." But Young was also an early opponent of the war. And on "Living in War," the rock legend expresses his frustration in blunt songs such as "Let's Impeach the President." Justin Sane from the rock group Anti-Flag, which has been active in its opposition to the war and President Bush, said artists have always been at the forefront of social change, and expressing political views in song is a way to bring attention to issues being overlooked in the mainstream media. "It's left to artists to make the statements that should be getting put into the public discourse that are not," he said. If there's a growing number of artists expressing their opinions about the war, Sane said, it's because "people who may have ignored it before can no longer ignore it, and artists who ignored it before can no longer ignore it. ... It just becomes something that is this white elephant in the country and I don't think artists can ignore it any longer." Still, songs with a political context remain in the minority, and there hasn't been an overwhelming indictment of the war or Bush in a multitude of songs. "The acid test will be when there is some anti-war commentary on country radio," Ross said. "That hasn't happened yet." ___ On the Net: LISTEN! You're gonna 'specially like the song on consumerism, I think, #3.

Thanks Em!

Looks like I'll be traveling next month. Em set me up with a ticket. It's been awhile since I've been down that way. I was told not to come back with a southern accent. :) CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU GUYS!!!!!!! XOXO

Off again to Louisiana tomorrow...blog support goes to...you know the drill. Consider open thread.

Em just got home Friday from his trip to Memphis (actually Mississippi 20 miles south of Memphis), but he wants to go to Louisiana again tomorrow, so we'll go; not like there's all kinds of stuff keepin' us from goin' there. Also gonna hit Las Vegas at the end of April which reminds me to ask if anyone called Dana on her birthday. Might touch bases with both Dana and Davey; who knows? Looks like #2 can come a bit earlier than Em had thought, so we'll be gearin' up for that...if we're ever home between now and then. LOL. 'sup witch'all?

From the "Whatcha Think?" Department... Whatcha think about this:

Guy meets girl on a blog. Guy and girl get together. Guy proposes marriage to girl via blog post. Apparently, she said, "Yes." Would you think that was kewl or not kewl?