everybody reads raymond

There need to be better euphemisms for injecting insulin vs. �shooting up�. How about these?:

De-sugar
Unglu
Insulate
Ride the Rapid
Write a prescription (re: Novolog insulin �Pen�)
Stab an Ab
Percolate the pancreas

Thanks to KPaul for the breakdown on who blogs and how. Check out his Portrait of a Blogger. Its fun and I really like the Goth Blogger.

Switch to the Dark Side. This is a hoot.

Thanks to Kali who says, "If anyone can figure out how this works (and it does work), please let me know. All work has ceased in the office." Check it out at The Flash Mind Reader

Just give me a NIBLICK and I'll knock it on the green every time. :-) For those who need a hint other than the club reference above visit "Who was that mashie I saw you with last night?" to match the club.

I found this on Me, Myself & Ehsan an arabic site that had only one word of English on it (other than the title). That world was Britney and I had to check it out. I'm glad I did. Take a look at Spears. It was fun.

The best bar in Brooklyn. Cast your vote here. While I'd prefer that you cast you ballot for Magnetic Field as it is my personal favorite watering hole, be sure to vote either way at Citysearch.

If your stuck, I'll add my pitch for Fields as those in the know call it: with live music every Saturday and DJs Thursday-Saturday, plus the chance to spin your own platters on Mondays, how can you go wrong? Oh yeah they also have a pretty swanky bar staff and great cold brews on tap.

The above is given as a pure and unsolicited opinion and I have no financial or other personal motivation in making the above statements other that its a cool place that needs to do well and make money so that I can continue to frequent there with my friends. Although, I won't turn down a free Sierra if the mood strikes 'em.

So, check out the fun new picassohead picture I did of Ursa the cat. She's contemplating the bugs - one of her favorite sports. If you would like to create your own virtual Picasso painting, stop by mrpicassohead.com and make your own. Its a good way to kill twenty minutes (or even an hour or two).

Thanks to sunny Florida's ultra affordable car insurance rates, we've been able to pickup a second (and well needed) car. Unbelievably, the combined insurance premiums on both cars (including the fancy, luxury sports car) is less than what I was paying for just the SUV in New York - like 20% less.

For me, the golf swing has been demystified, thanks in large part to AJ and a simple little twist of the wrist. Not that's what AJ teaches, but after watching his video (yeah, I got suckered into an infomercial pitch) I learned a little extra about my swing and how I could improve it.

Boy, did it wreck it perfectly acceptable swing! My swing isn't perfect, but I can count on it to do what I ask about 80% of the time. With AJ's help, I converted a fade into a dead hook vs. the slight draw I was hoping for. Maybe in time I will learn to add the “twist” with less drama, but until then, I'll stick with 80%.

So,..I discovered this nasty little thing called iTunes Essentials and my wallet screamed in pain.  But how could I not go crazy?  It had all the things that I was hoping my/our little company would do - offer baskets full of tunes that represent a genre of music.  Say, for example, you wanted to check out the "new" punk scene while respecting the ones that carved the path: enter The Punk Set, and so on.  iTunes has done a great job of it too, by offering 3 levels of depth and a 4th that includes all their picks.  My two complaints are: (1) I don't exactly need every song in the list as it duplicates a few already in my library, and iTunes doesn't give you a method to de-select the ones you don't want; and (2) they don't give you a discount for purchasing the whole basket.  That would be nice.  But, a few hundred dolla' later and I'm set for my next party, backyard bash, etc.  Way cool. :-)

While searching for more "essentials" I played: Hey Jealousy from the album "New Miserable Experience" by Gin Blossoms.

When I was younger, Dad drove me and my sister from Germantown, Maryland to Vineland, New Jersey (as he did every two weeks, as per the separation agreement that was between my parents predicted) and as always, Mandi fell asleep in the back seat of a rusty, red, 5-speed as Dad and I drew math formulas on the windshield while driving the Jersey Turnpike. On one of those trips, Dad explained the magic of nines.

Having reached my 4th (magic 9), and having been born on the 4th, I feel closer to my Father than when I was riding in that car so many years ago. But I recognize that it was he who gave me the reasoning to recognize it. My Mother gave me passion and respect to balance it - she gifted me the soulful and compassionate thought my father never had, but with my father's gifts of theory and logic, I was able to understand it.

Thank you to both of you. I know now that I am a TRUE product of, and happy to be the multiple and not the sum of the parts.

What's both funny and freaking scary is that I am older now than he was when he was trying to be a Father to me and my sister. Jesus, hadn't you guys ever heard of condoms? At 36, I am still only imagining the concept of children. But I'm glad you didn't (use them). As Mandi was adopted, I guess it doesn't matter much for her - lol. Four times nine and you can still be a mean brother. So much for Mom's lessons of compassion. But all of us would laugh. (Or, at least I do now.)

Jeepers! I just realized that my Sister is older now than Dad was then too. And that I forgot her birthday this year. Sorry, Mandi. I love you, (even though you were adopted and have "big feet"). But as you were adopted, your "actual" birth date is a bit sketchy anyway. Hugs and Kisses. Love, Raymond.

While calculating the power of nines, I played: Nine Million Bicycles from the album "Piece By Piece" by Katie Melua.

PS: There was a reason I choose to get engaged on May the 27th. I am so bad at dates, I thought I would just "stack* them, making them easier to remember. So if Randy would be so kind as to switch his special day to one that matches the rest of the family's, that would be much appreciated. And if we could just all agree than Mandi was born on January 1st, 1975, that would be great. Oh, yeah! Mom, you've been moved up two days to the 27th and Mommom's now falls on Thanksgiving Day, along with Glyn's and Lisa's. If we could all convince Sandy toward the 27th of May, New Year's Day or Thanksgiving, that would work beautifully. Evan's will fall nicely on Leap-Year. Thanks for understanding. I think we'll all be much happier this way.

PPS: I, of course, as the eccentric, egocentric, self-abosrbed, self-important, prodigal child will continue to keep the very special date of October 4th as my birthday, which is where Sybille will be having hers from 2007 on. Mark your calendars and see you next year!

PPPS: Dad, I hope you got all of the math references. So, laugh, laugh, laugh. Or, "send more money". Much love, Raymond. Thank you.

Eddie Izzard has always brought tears to my eyes when he explains that American's pronounce the word *herb* as “erb”, while the English pronounce it as “hu-erb”, because there's a “fucking H in it”!  Today, I was checking out RSS feeds and stumbled upon this tidbit of information concerning the plight of the “H”:

From: Krulwich on Science, by Robert Krulwich

An American Story: Give Me Back My 'H!' - Morning Edition, October 23, 2006 · Not that you would have noticed, but a long time ago, on Sept. 4, 1890, the president of the United States quietly began to attack the letter “H.”

Not all “Hs”. Just the ones that sit quietly at the ends of many city, town and village names.  Like the “H” in Pittsburgh. You don't speak it. You can't hear it, and so the United States Board on Geographic Names, created by President Benjamin Harrison, announced:  “In names ending in 'burgh,'” the final 'H' should be dropped.“  This was more than a pronouncement. It had the power of law. In 1891, Pittsburgh, Pa., and Newburgh, N.Y., and Williamsburgh in Brooklyn and Vicksburgh, Tenn., and burghs all over America had their final, silent ”H“ removed from all Federal maps and agencies. The Post Office, for example, called Pittsburgh ”Pittsburg.“

What happened then is the subject of my story...

Give it a full read @ npr - An American Story: Give Me Back My 'H!'.

While multi-tasking, And You Tell Me from the album ”Hunting High And Low“ by a-Ha played in the background.