Ok, this was taken from Salon.com and it pretty much shows what a "typical" Florida Gator fan is. Nevermind the incredible loss of life, just worry and blame the postponment of your football game.
My husband, a rather spiritual and caring person, truth be told, was incredibly pissed at how the reaction to the attacks messed up sports for the next week. Florida (his team) was supposed to play Tennessee in football the next weekend. It was, of course, canceled, and played closer to the end of the season. Florida lost, and lost the chance to be national champions as a result.
He's convinced that if they'd played Tennessee when they were supposed to, they would have won ... yada yada. He still talks about it.
Ok, I know not all University of Florida fans are like this guy, but hey.. that is the reputation and if you don't want that stereotype to be perpetuated, ask these morons not to speak.
Finally got home and I am exhausted. Chris woke me up this morning to get ready to do the things we had planned. First, we were driving to the Six Nations Indian Reservation to pick up some smokes. I have cut down considerably and can see me quitting in the near future. For the time being however, I want to be as thrifty as possible and I buy the filters with empty tubes for $1.75 (Canadian of course) and a bag of tobacco, $9.00. It is quite a ride, down past Brantford, so we only go when we completely run out. After that long ride, which took even longer because Chris had left a few things that he wanted to take to his mother's at home and we had to turn around in Clinton. Anyway, we finally made it all the way to Kitchener and hung out with Brenda, his mom, for over an hour. Her dog, Sahara, is just so sweet! Been a long time since I had a big doggie to hug on! Isn't she a doll?
Chris kept reminding me that today was Friday the 13th and that nothing was going to go right. Thank goodness, things went ok. Below you see the gorgeous sunset (best I could get while driving) we saw just leaving Kitchener.
1. What was/is your favorite subject in school? Why? - JROTC because it challenged me to be the best and gave me many responsibilities that a 15-17 year old would not have a chance to experience.
2. Who was your favorite teacher? Why? - Sgt. Pitts, Sgt. Major Sellars, and Colonel Wilson. They instilled in me, a wild child, the values of honor and patriotism.
3. What is your favorite memory of school? - Competing in the National JROTC Drill Team Championsip in Daytona Beach, Florida. We had the greatest night there! Walking on the beach, meeting other kids, partying and competing. I personally snuck back in my room at about 5 a.m. Oh, and attending JROTC summer camp at Camp Blanding, Florida. Mini boot camp really. Gained my expert marksman with the M-16. Oh, 100 degrees in the shade and ticks. May not sound like fun to you, but that is where I gained my appreciation for MREs.
4. What was your favorite recess game? - Oh, now that is going way back. Probably was kickball. I was pretty good at that as I recall
5. What did you hate most about school? - It bored me in many respects. Other than my accelerated classes (gifted and AP), I never felt challenged really. That is why I loved JROTC so much. There were rewards and it tied both mental and physical abilities together.
This is pretty eerie, but somehow comforting. Maybe our collective thoughts about the day influenced the draw, or was it the ones who died letting us know that they are still watching and saw the memorials. Today's Pick Three Numbers for New York State: 9-1-1.
We had an op in #artbell on DALnet that was recently deopped for passing out xxx porn sites. alfa (goes by alfa666, alfa119, alfa187, alfa420) is not an American and is entitled to his own views on the subject of the War on Terror and the impending war with Iraq but when he said he was going to burn the American flag, I took offense as you will see below. The exerpt below was taken from the logs of Session Start: Mon Sep 09 00:00:00 2002 Session Ident: #artbell
[17:56] [ alien_intelligence]: everyone got up there american flags? [17:56] [ alfa666 ]: upside down.. [17:57] [ marstrax ]: good idea [17:57] [ kira_nerys]: Many people here in my town have them up [17:58] [ alfa666 ]: I was gonna set mine on fire in protest of the war [17:58] [ alien_intelligence]: anyone seen the new alqueida tape [17:58] [ kira_nerys]: lucky I am not near you alfa [17:58] [ alfa666 ]: why not? [17:58] [ kira_nerys]: because I would stop you from doing that at any cost
Upside-down flag? Going to burn MY flag? I think fucking not! How dare he do something that vile to the symbol of what my grandfather fought for and consequently was prisoner of war for in the Battle of the Bulge. How dare he try and tarnish the memory of all those who died one year ago. I would not even post this crap if it weren't for the fact that he wanted hits to his site and made a "tribute page". What is on that slimeball's page? An American Flag! Want to take a gander? click here. If you just take out the "tribute.html" in the URL, you can go to his main page and sign his guestbook. I say give him the hits he wants, but make your voice heard if you feel like it. Or, he has a link to his "new" irc channel on his site. I know I sound angry but this is my country and my flag. My countrymen and ancestors died for that flag. To quote George W. Bush "If you are not with us, you are with the terrorists."
One year later, I thought that many of my raw emotions would have been dulled by the distance of time. I was so wrong. I am so thankful that I watched the memorial service at ground zero.
I shed tears with every name read. Name after name. All those names. Strangers names but not strangers anymore. We will always be connected with each and every one of them. Seeing all those pictures of the loved ones of people I do not know. But I do know them. I know them well. They are our fathers and brothers, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, sisters, friends, neighbors. Hearing the names brought them to my life as individuals. Individual tragedies. Not just a lump sum of 2,800+. Dear God.
God bless America! God bless all those souls. God bless our world and bring peace to our planet.
I am not going to post some political speech about last year, only recount where I was. I will never forget. I never want to forget.
One year ago today I had gotten up bright and early. It was a cool September morning here in Ontario. Noticing that our cupboards were getting a bit bare, I decided to let Chris sleep and head to Sobey's Supermarket on my own. I was in and out of the store pretty quickly with the milk, eggs, cheese, and potatoes. I parked the car in the underground garage and toted my bag in the building and up the elevator. This would have been right after the first plane hit the World Trade Center.
Entering the apartment, I went directly to the kitchen and put away my groceries. I was still unaware of the horror happening back in my homeland.
After puttering around for a bit, I went into the bedroom (Chris had come out to the living room and fallen asleep on the sofa) and I turned on what should have been Regis and Kelly. All I saw were the twin towers engulfed in flames. At first I thought that I had turned to the wrong channel and was watching some movie. The horrible reality hit me quickly as I saw the looks on the faces of Regis and Kelly.
I ran to the bigger television in the living room and turned it on. Every channel was broadcasting the news. I just kept saying "those poor people" over and over. I finally woke Chris up. Although he is Canadian, the horror on his face was apparent.
Bad news upon bad news kept coming in. The Pentagon, the plane in Pennsylvania. Chris called our friend Wayne. They were talking as I watched the first tower fall. The announcer was at a loss. I remember something to the effect of "I am not sure. No. I don't want to alarm any of you but.. it looks as though one of the towers is gone". I knew it was. I felt it. My heart broke even more. I continued to watch as the second tower fell. The sight of that antenna falling haunts me. I cried. I actually cried for days. Sleeping next to the television only an hour or so at a time. Wanting to go home so badly.
You see, I love my country. My family came over from Scotland, France and the Netherlands in the 1660's. They fought in the Revolutionary War. I am so proud to be an American. I always have been. This is the first time though in my life, that I ever thought about dying for my country and realizing that I would. Yes, I would die for my country.
God Bless the U.S.A. Although the tragedy will always be in my mind and my heart for as long as I live, I have found that with this came a new sense of family, country, and humanity. Out of the ashes of hate and destruction that these terrorists left in their wake, has arisen a phoenix of strength, pride, and patriotism.
As I stated at the beginning of this post, I will never forget. I do not want to forget.
From an email and I thought that it would be perfect for today:
A native American boy was talking with his Grandfather. "What do you think about the world situation?", he asked.
The grandfather replied,"I feel two wolves are fighting in my heart. One is full of anger and hatred; the other is full of love, forgiveness and peace."
"Which one will win?", asked the boy. To which the grandfather replied, "The one I feed."
Several years ago I got a mouse as a pet. Murphy Brown was still on television and I knew that Murphy could be either male or female so that is what he was named. Although his gender was not known at first, it became clearly evident that he was male when he developed a set of "cajones" that would have made a bull blush.
Murphy was a gentle critter. He had all the amenities that a rodent could want. Habitrail system, treats, attention, and love. Somehow, that never seemed enough. I finally came to the conclusion that Murphy needed a companion. Little baby mice would be cute, right?
I found a pretty little mouse that was guaranteed to be a female. I gave her the name Sally, since that is a name that reminds me of something cute but somewhat plain. Sally was a brown mouse and when introduced to her new mate, she seemed to like him. That is where the trouble started.
Sally may have been attracted to Murphy, but there was no question that Murphy was attracted to her. When Sally tried to eat, Murphy mounted her and humped. When Sally tried to sleep, Murphy was humping. When Sally tried to run on the wheel, Murphy was running behind her wanting some more of her rodent love. This went on for more than a day.
When I left at 8 o'clock that morning, poor Sally was buried under the bedding, while Murphy tried to get to her once again, I believe that looking at his track record, he wanted to hump. I returned at 3 o'clock that afternoon only to find poor Sally dead and stiff. Good old Murphy was still humping away.
Poor Sally, she was the victim of an over sexed male mouse with the libido from hell. Humped to death she was. She received a proper burial in the back yard and I still feel guilty in a way. I subjected her to the Ron Jeremy of mice.
Murphy never had another mate and lived a long mouse life (a few years). He passed away one night while running a marathon on his little wheel. I had never seen him run that long without a break and have often wondered if he was delirious and thought that if he could just reach "the end of the wheel" he would find his sweet Sally and be able to hump once again.
