The Rhetoric

So glad it's Friday

2008-07-19T03:50:13Z

This week seems to have gone on forever. Work was just a bit crazy with someone calling me "retarded" and then there was the vomit. But I have the weekend off - from work anyway - and I'm going to enjoy it.

Except I have a huge assignment due tomorrow, plus I will be at the Motorcycle Safety Foundation class at 7:30am tomorrow. (and Sunday) Maybe I'll just plagiarize the whole thing like my instructor does...

Did I mention that I can't get my hair cut until next Tuesday? My hair person must be very popular. I told the lady scheduling me to pass along that she should bring her hedge trimmers for the day that I come in. I'm going to look like an upsidedown mop.

OMG More plagiarism

2008-07-17T04:36:05Z

I know I've posted on here before about how when students plagiarize it drives me up a freakin' wall. How hard is it to cite a source? But this one takes the freakin' cake! I just discovered that my instructor appears to be plagiarizing random sources on the internet in his comments on our assignments. Seriously, I thought maybe he was just a little random until I started Googling stuff. Word for freakin word. I am beside myself.

MSF goodness

2008-07-16T03:13:49Z

Today I felt like I was on a game show. Only it wasn't for money or prizes - it was for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Basic Rider Course. I wasn't signed up for the class because all the classes are booked up for the rest of the year, so I had to do the stand-by thing. Last time I went I got there a bit late and the class was already started. This week I got there 45 minutes early. You get a raffle ticket and they randomly draw tickets to see who gets in. By the time 6 o'clock rolled around there were a bunch of walk-ins, but as luck would have it my number was pulled from a hat and I'm in. Yay!

So the class was good - all basic information. I already knew just about everything they talked about because before I got my bike I researched and read everything I could get my hands on. This weekend is the range portion of the class where you're on the bikes doing practice things like swerving and weaving, etc. Should be fun. And at the end I get my motorcycle endorsement - provided I pass the class. I better - I'm not used to getting less than an A. :)

Dante, Disc 2

2008-07-15T17:29:09Z

I watched the second disc of season 1 of Dante's Cove today. It truly is like a gay soap. The storyline goes places you certainly wouldn't expect. Someone has already died and come back to life. So far my only pet peeve is the freaking lightning - why is it always thundering and lightning in this place? Seriously, there's a scene where it's daylight, clear skies... then they go inside and boom crash and there's lightning all the heck over the place. Aren't the characters aware that when lightning and thunder start that trouble is about to find you?

7/10 QOTD

2008-07-11T03:10:40Z

Quote of the Day:

Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window. ~Author Unknown

The Tennis Grunt

2008-07-07T01:02:37Z

Today I was watching some of the Wimbledon tennis and it took me back to when I was a kid. No, I never actually attended Wimbledon, but I remember when my sister and I used to watch - and make fun of the players. The thing that we would laugh hysterically at was when they would grunt. I seem to remember Martina Navrantilova grunting with each stroke. WHHHAAGHHH!!

Today I was watching the matches between Nadal and Federer. That Nadal gives quite a grunt almost every time - almost sounds like a very primal grunt. If you closed your eyes and listened to the match, it might even sound like kinky sex. But I digress....

So my sister and I were playing Bocce with our family, and for awhile weren't doing so well. So we decided to grunt like the tennis players. Surprisingly, we started to do quite well. Maybe there is something to it...

Interestingly, there appears to be a "gruntometer" in tennis now. Maria Sharapova apparently is the loudest grunter at 101 decibels. (Lane, 2005) Hell that could cause hearing damage - G. Carol Audio reports that hearing loss can occur at sustained 90-95 dB. (gcaudio.com)

Maybe we should all grunt in order to try harder. Give it a try the nexy time you play a sport. Even if you don't do better, people will know you're trying. Heck, try it at work. Can't get that photocopier to work? Give us a good ol' grunt and at least your peers will know that you're the one for the job.

(sources: BBC News - Why do women tennis stars grunt?; Decibel (Loudness) Comparison Chart)

1000 miles

2008-07-06T01:58:34Z

As of today I have ridden my motorcycle 1000 miles since I got it in May. That's like from here to Toronto, KS! (plus a few miles) Then again if I'd ridden that all at once I wouldn't be able to walk. This past Tuesday I rode up to see my sister and then on up to where my parents live by Lake Erie. Round trip was about 160 miles, and it was a great ride. Hoping to get out for a longer ride on the bike again sometimes this week - we'll see if the weather cooperates.

not a playground

2008-07-01T01:56:23Z

It's a little blurry, but can you see the child climbing the trash container? There's a bunch more inside while the mother (?) is at her car talking on her cell...

Sunset

2008-07-01T01:20:23Z

Sunset tonight... (Nikon D50 w/ 35mm Nikkor)

a gay soap opera?

2008-06-30T03:34:45Z

The other night I started watching Dante's Cove. I got the first disc of season one from Netflix. It's a very interesting show - it's like a soap opera that's a combination of real life, dramatic overkill, sci-fi, and soft core porn. I remember back when that one lady on Days of Our Lives was possessed. Heck that was nothing. In Dante's Cove there are witches and 200 year old people who live in basements. So far the production value is good, acting and writing are ok, and the storyline is enough to keep you wondering. Of course I just watched the first episode, so maybe like many shows they get better as they mature. We'll see when Nexflix delivers the next DVD..

Sleep speed dialing

2008-06-28T03:41:48Z

I've had dreams about work. Plenty of them in fact. Almost any night that I close I come home and dream about it all over again. (as if the first time wasn't enough) I should get paid for the work I do in my sleep sometimes. Well this morning I hit a new low. I had switched shifts with someone who was going to open the store for me. At 5am I saw the clock and in my half-asleep stupor I wondered if that person had remembered. So in my half-asleep state I speed dialed the store. When I heard an answer I hung up - partly because I didn't want him to think I was checking up on him, but more because I was still so asleep I couldn't really speak. Truly, what is wrong with me?

700 miles

2008-06-26T00:17:17Z

As of today I've ridden the new bike 700 miles in about 7 weeks. Not bad for someone who's never ridden a motorcycle before. That's like almost from here to Kansas City... It's just so incredibly fun and relaxing. Tuesday I did some errands on the bike, then found more excuses to keep riding - almost 100 miles.

Hoping this weekend the weather breaks for awhile so I can get a few more miles in...

I'll take the money, no sin on the side

2008-06-21T18:40:48Z

I was reading about the gay marriages taking place in California, and how some people in the wedding industry are conflicted about the whole thing. Some people believe it's wrong so they make the choice to not participate. Others believe it's wrong, but choose to benefit from it anyway. Take Eric Nelson, a photographer and minister, for instance.

"Nelson has already booked a same-sex wedding in July, but his religious beliefs and his business sense took him in two directions.

So he'll only be taking the photos. He will not officiate gay weddings, which he said conflict with his Christian beliefs."

He also likens gay couples to people who are on drugs or involved in crime.

"The ... photographer-minister said he would likewise turn down officiating weddings for heterosexual couples who he knew were involved in drugs or crime."

So in effect, to complete the analogy, he would then take pictures for a couple who was on drugs or involved in crime.

So these are the values the high and mighty want us to aspire to? Object to it all you want especially if it's amoral, but make money off of it if you can. No wonder our country is so messed up right now...

(source: LA Times - Gay weddings are not quite a piece of cake)

Between the legs

2008-06-18T01:47:32Z

Yes this would be my lucky shot on the umteenth hole of mini golf. Somehow this just doesn't seem quite right. I mean, I'm not even really into bears...

Download Firefox 3 Day

2008-06-17T20:28:33Z