to try and limit my postings about personal matters pertaining to me to just this thread, mostly, that way i wont have a thousand threads all over. and if soemones not interested they wont be exposed to it-see how considerate I am? Of course anyone can post in here as well, not my forum to set rules for. All are welcome. hope you enjoy it.
so heres what going on on my fascinating life: not a damn thing. thank you.

I love that curse. I've heard it attributed to several cultures-another saying that gets credited to several different cultures is 'revenge is a dish best eaten cold'-anyone know where this originated?
Well, the last couple weeks i've had a terrible itch all over-oh sure, sounds fun, and was for a while, but now i'm ready to peel my skin off (the ultimate nudist)-hard to talk about, makes me sound dirty, like I have cooties or something.
Must've caught something from these kids at work (it's a pit of disease here) or from the low class kids at my kids'school...I've bathed in calamine lotion, baking soda, used every anti itch product i can find-it seems to be fading slowly...
A friend had a similar problem they ended up giving her steroids for (!!!) Thats all I need: 'roid rage'! and I dont want to bulk up unnaturally-then the Cardinals would draft me & I hate baseball. Not to mention what i've heard 'roids do to parts down below...Eeek!
So many new viruses around-man has destroyed his immune system-we're all doomed...
I hate doctors (went for the first time in 5 years last year for my knee, which they were of absolutely no help with) and I avoid pills and medicine in general but might have to break down and go.
Any ideas what this might be and what might help? (I checked my detergent, clothes,diet, etc, to no avail)
Failing that, anyone want to come to Oregon and scratch my back for a while?

I did a little research on that revenge quote Buddy (I teach and am also a librarian--lucky you!) and here's what I found.

The earliest known use of this proverb, Revenge is a dish best served cold, is by the French author, Pierre Chaderlos de Laclos, in his book, "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" printed in 1782. It's been reprinted into English by various authors and into a play by playwright, Chris Hampton. It has also been made into motion pictures under these titles: "Dangerous Liaisons" in 1988 and "Cruel Intentions" in 1999.

The modern English translation of the quote is from a Dorothy Parker around 1916. She was known for her wit and humor and wrote for magazines and newspapers.

However, the quote (like revenge) knows no cultural boundaries. Mario Puzo used the line in "The Godfather", so it is said to be of Sicilian origin. But it is also claimed by the Chinese, Arabs, Spanish, English, Russians, Romanians, and even the Klingons! It was used in one of the original Star Trek episodes and in Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan.

Now about that rash Buddy...I have a Mayo Clinic Health Encyclopedia in the library that has gross pictures of rashes, but I'm no Dr. My son used to get poison ivy bad every year, and they'd give him a topical steroid cream. It cleared up right away.

Maybe you have shingles, it's a form of chicken pox. You said your rash was on your back. Shingles usually is around the spine I think. It can cause a lot of pain too. Tick bites can cause a rash. Have you been out on any walks...nude? Have you been around any cats or dogs? If you have, and they have fleas, you could have flea bites too. Certain types of fabrics in sweatshirts can cause a rash if you get sweaty...kind of like how a kid would get a prickly heat rash. When my son had chicken pox, I used an over-the-counter oatmeal soap...I can't remember the name of it.

I've recently discovered I'm allergic to shrimp and I love shrimp! But every time I've eaten it within the last year, I get hives all over my neck and throat. They say that each allergic reaction may be worse, and I certainly don't want to stop breathing, so no more shrimp in my stir fry or salads.

"Let us make medicine of our great revenge to cure this deadly grief"
Shakespeare's Macbeth

Michi

So, having paid the car off, I expect to wreck it any day now. Balance in the universe and all...sure enough, t'other day on a busy city street, here comes a hubcap rolling towards me at a great speed, having obviously just come off some poor unfortunate's car. I braked hard, and the spinning wheel of steel death stopped suddenly and fell on its side, right between my tires-the person behind me probably got whiplash from braking so fast, and rightly so for following so close. Hope they had to go home and change pants.
Only damage I suffered was a full box of dog biscuits (scooby snacks brand) propelling itself from the back seat and emptying completely all over the front-and of course I had just vacuumed inside there.
No 'final destination' this time...

I'm doing the happy dance today....Snow Day!...No school! We've got about a foot of snow and the lake effect is kicking in....it's still snowing!
No bare feet here, I've got the warm fuzzy slippers on, hot chocolate and my lap top...life is good.

couple of bad mornings-

A's folks are just so lazy and irresponsible sometimes its hard to keep a civil tongue in my mouth...tired of him being around trashy people, adults as bad as the kids...
and trouble with our union at work-they're just as corrupt as the administration there-politics and filth.
Plus a Verizon (BOO!) pay phone ripped me off for 50cents...

Had to go to my dojo yesterday and really kick things hard to feel better...
It worked, and A has joined the boys and girls club, which he's enjoying. plus i'm sending him to a week's worth of classes this summer thru the Portland science museum (OMSI)-different destinations and activities each day, including a dinosaur dig, which he's dying for.They'll come back each night-dont think he's ready for a full week away yet-and I know I'm not...

A went to his first movie by himself yesterday-I was nervous, but it turned out fine. Apparently last week I'd told him he could do this-kids remember everything...so i gave him the lecture about not talking to strangers, not flashing his money, and told him if he got scared just find a nice older man in a raincoat to sit by and everything would be ok...
He saw 'the Incredibles' for the 2nd time-lovin' that new second-run cheap seat theatre...
really, i'm training him for summertime when he'll probably stay with me 7 days a week, including many nights by himself while i'm at woirk-he's 11 next month-do y'all think thats old enuf for 'home alone'?
His mother will have 4 heart attacks when she finds out what he did-that alone makes it worth the price of admission...

Hey Buddy, I admire you're committment to kids in general, and this one in particular. I worked with emotionally disturbed kids many years ago. It was a very hard job, but boy it sure taught me about being firm with kids.

Now I have my own 9 year old daughter. She's a lively, energetic, happy kid. But we occasionally have our moments. That's enough challenge for me in our family; I can't imagine the difficulties in dealing with A's original home life.

Also, I saw that you grew up in Iowa. I grew up in Mason City, IA. Moved to Santa Cruz, CA for 20 years. Came away with Taoism, a wife, and a daughter. Moved back to Mason City 3 years ago. (We just got 6 inches of snow last night. Say hello to a few hours of shoveling!)

Anyway, keep up the good work for the kids. We struggle with the suffering in life, but I figure pushing ourselves to do better as parents is one of the most important things we can do.

so where am i at this week...

The boy got accepted into the Summer Camp program offered by the Portland Science Museum. Yay! Got his financial aid-first time i'd ever asked for anything like this, and they came thru with $200+! So he gets to go to a week of day trips and one overnight: Mt St Helens, a dinosaur dig, and a night at the beach...I'm taking that week off to drive him to and from Portland, late August, should be nice weather, I'll probably just bum around the town all day waiting, cheaper than driving back and forth...we're excited.

He's 11 on Thursday...getting him an electric guitar and a dragonball z cake, & he gets to spend his piggy bank money-has two, one for coins, one for bills, and only gets to open them on his birthday & Xmas...so happy he's getting older and so sad too...

I had 4 meetings for work and the union last week, on my own time...and another on tuesday. contract time, we may strike, oh hurray...and in the end we'll get screwed, have no doubt of that..

karate is going well, next test in 2 months... more later, on my 500th post!

knows how to tune it, replace strings,

Wow! He can change the strings already! Good for him! Each time I change the strings, I need the strings I just changed to be changed. Same with tuning.

What's the previous box owner's mail like? . . not to be nosy or anything. Just curious.

wow, this joint is jumping these days...never know where the Abbotts will show up next-love the pictures...nice truck (and GF, Luke-I also have a new s.o. in my life-heehee, must be spring-now just gotta hook Kyle up)
I'll send y'all some more pics of meself soon, as i now have (ahem) a home computer! Yes, I'm rushing right into the 1990's!
That leaves about 4 people in the world without one now...

on other fronts: Anthony graduates 5th grade this month-he's in a play 'treasure island', and also will play trumpet at the graduation. then next year private or home schooling-thats it for the public school sucksym.

I've been away mostly for a while, checking in now and then but too tired to post most. glad to see others are keeping this site going-i'll post more when i'm able to at home, gives me more time to read, think and consider the deeper topics here...

well, we're moving-found a house just a few blocks way-lot bigger than my current 4 plex apartment, where I've been 9 years-huge yard, fenced in so we can have a dog (A wants a chihuahua named Pablo)-garden area-which with my brown thumb should be an adventure-garage-hardwood floors, big rooms-double the rent i'm paying now but thats what moneys for-between the increased rent and the loan i took out to move, there goes the $600 a month i saved by paying off the car and karate, but again, it's for a good cause-anthony can have a pet and his own room and a little elbow room-he'll know that at our house at least it'll just be me and him, no junkies crashed in his bedroom...and for half the week i'll actually live alone, which has been so rare in my life...
the owners are a nice couple who live right across the street, own several properties and a painting business-told me they're both ex cons, 12 years clean and free now, doing alright. not a problem with me, who am i to judge.
if they treat me right i'll stay there till i retire..
started packing today, taking stuff off the walls (i have ALOT of stuff on the walls) a little depressing and stressful, and who knows what my brother (whom i live with now) will do-but cant worry about him, have to put the kid first...
anyway thats whats up with us...

Broke my partner's arm this week in karate. She landed wrong-I'm upset about it and take my share of the responsibility, but also unhappy with students like her: a 40ish mother of another student, no idea why she joined the class-obviously she'd rather be sitting, reading in the library-maybe she doesnt trust her daughter around all us macho men-she's been in about a year and cant even fall right? hasnt gained any strength... tired of these soccer moms joining, thinking it'll be like step aerobics or something-martial arts is a physical, mental and spiritual pursuit, not to be taken lightly.
I know this is rude, griping about someone whose arm I broke, but dang! i feel terrible, it hurts my repuatuon in there, and making the wrong decisions in your life affects so many others. find where you belong and stay there, folks.
I hate choosing partners in class-different one every time-mostly i get stuck with the newbies, the weak, the ones who want to resist learning, or show off what they learned 20 years ago in tae kwon do...i'm not unsympathetic (although the first thing i did check was to make sure i couldnt be sued)...I've just got alot on my mind right now and have been depressed anyway, and this sort of thing doesnt help.

Well said, Lynn. Excellent advice. I might add that, unfortunately, falling is often not taught much in karate . . . apparently even JKA/shotokan people can go years without taking the time to learn how to fall (i.e. "roll". I still can't do it very well. Kyle on the other hand . . . not only can he fall, but he can roll faster than Earl Scruggs . . .

And personally, I like working with the newbies and the "weak", as long as they have an interest in learning (which in our class they all do). After all, we were all newbies once (and in the [not so?] grand scheme of things, still are).

Hey, I like this thread. It's like the Buddy blog! Maybe you should rename it that . . . I think it's got kind of a ring to it . . .

yeah, you might say she minded that her arm was broken-she near went into shock and tried to pass out a couple times-not having ever had anything broken (knock on head) i can only imagine how it hurts.
thanx for your support y'all-i still havent been back to class yet this week-dont feel up to it, the glares and the lectures that i'm sure will come. I work harder than most in there and i'll continue to train, but i wont be suffering poorly prepared partners gladly from here out. Give me someone who's serious and ready.
people think because i joke alot i'm not taking life seriously, and nothing could be farther from the truth-i joke exactly because I DO appreciate the seriousness of it-i'm more aware of life than many, it's resposibilities, its potentials, its dangers...this can be very wearying. I try to just let it be, and it rolls right over me....

LOL! I miss being drunk-it's sort of like an abusive relationship you stay in for years and years-even though you're 'unhappy' you get used to it-over 5 years now since i drank, not that i'm keeping track or collecting coins or anything. just seems to have flown by...

Reading Kyle's blog about the dearth of fish since veggies are eating so many instead of red meat-this explains why we're overrun with cows-like being in Calcuttta! Damn heifers (and thats not even counting the state workers here who only resemble cows)...now watch folks start getting sick from all that fish they're consuming...
nobody around me eats healthy-if i want to hide something at work i put it under a lettuce leaf-nobody'll touch that.

Paid first rent yesterday, start moving stuff in today-hope it's my last move until i retire / die...

back to karate tomorrow...see how that goes-guess if i dont cripple anyone i can count it as a success...explaining to one of our 'residents' at work what happened, and his first response was 'dont you feel any remorse?" funny thing coming from one with multiple charges and victims, but thats what they teach them here... No not really, i dont tend to feel much of anything anymore -I didnt mean to do it, it happened, we move on. everything that happens is meant to happen.
you all remember you're 'meant' to loan me money-dont disrupt the flow of nature...

the teacher talked to me today about the arm incident-not a bad ass chewing-just told me to moderate, be aware of my own stregnth and my partner's limitations and abilities-to placate him i finally bought sparring gear-$200+ but what the hell-got the bucks and lots of folks lined up wanting to whack me upside the head...
started moving-first couple loads over there-always kind of sad, moving-done it about 70 times in my life-but not in 9 years...when i was a kid we'd move, 3, 4 times a year-for years i didnt unpack or even undress-slept in my clothes...
thats all we'll do today-the new place is only a half mile from the old so not a problem just to load the car and dump the stuff off...
Anthony met one of the landlords daughters and she fell right in love-heehee-thats my boy...he loves having his own room-has one at his folk's house but it's closet size and too often someone is crashed in it. this is his and his alone and only his very best friends will be allowed in if they know the password (sonic)
anyway the garden's going to take more work then i thought but i look forward to it-backyard is soooo big! have a clothesline (am i getting old when a clothesline excites me?)
couple of coworkers found out i dont have a bed and they looked at me like I was from Mars, or an Ethiopian refugee or something-they've known me long enuf to know i'm eccentric, but this set them back on their heels-bet they take up a collection and i have 5 bed offers by the end of the week. they just dont understand...

well, mostly moved in-about 3 more car loads left-but I've been deathly ill all week, on top of the moving...seriously, some respiratory thing, coughing till I couldnt breathe-couldnt eat or sleep-living on watered down cranberry juice-finally broke down and went to the doc and got some meds that along with a handful of other pills and liquids seems to be working-back to work after a week and feeling 90% better.
man, I been weary-load the car, sit and catch my breath-unload the car, sit and catch my breath...havent really been able to enjoy the place yet.
and karates gone by the wayside again-missed aweek after the arm incident, then another week with illness-gotta get back into that-start sparring next Saturday and that takes a lot of energy...
then had to sit around and wait for the cable guy one day-"between 8 & noon' and we all know what that means-sure enuf, at 7 minutes till noon he pulls up.
and then the phone people messed up my computer transfer-apparently they cant just switch it over if you keep the same phone # (?) seems to me it'd be easier-so now I have to wait again one day next week (from 8-noon, LOL) and then fight them for 6 days credit since they swore I wouldnt have to have a tech guy out again to hook me up...grrrr.....
feeling like Job these days, except he had it easier...

Boy, busy week on here-great to have so many new members and postings-keep it up folks. especially happy to see carl & leslie posting more.
On the SBL group I saw message about a barefoot family on 'Meet your new mommy' and i got all excited until i realized thats the other name for 'trading spouses' and its just those dang Abbotts again-LOL-didnt know they were re-running it.
Last week of moving then maybe I can catch a little more tv, though i doubt it-have a yard now and how i'll get the time to work in it i dont know...been getting out there for an hour or so in the early mornings and late night on my days off-too hot otherwise, but need to spend more time out there getting it in shape.
3 weeks of being sick now, but almost well-green tea seems to help-at least it keeps me regular (is there nothing i wont say on here?!)
Sparred for the first time in karate-with anthony-and man, it's not as easy as it looks gfrom the sidelines-first, the gear makes you feel like an astronaut. you sweat like a pig, and drool-i was practicing with my teacher, had him on the ground, i was over him and he says 'yuck, you're drooling on me!'-LOL-couldnt tell I was-not used to mouthpieces-told him thats part of my strategy-gross my opponent out.

sooo, whats the latest in my exciting woirld...lets see....anthony'll be going to public school again thias year-his mother has her sights set on a school across the river, since the one in our district failed the 'no child' rule 2 years running, and thus is required to let any kid who wants to go to another school that passed. not a bad school but i just dont trust any public school-and I really dont trust her ability to get him up on time to catch the bus. last year they lived 4 blocks from the school, and he missed about a day a week due to mama oversleeping or being'sick'...sh;'e also arranged tutors for him outside of school hours, and i'll almost guarantee this will conflict with his time with me, and our akarte. well, we're not changing our schedule-they can come to the dojo and teach the times tables between kicks...
I really wnated to home school him...but she was worried it'd cut into her judge judy tv and nap time-grrrr....
they went begging to the church friday for school clothes and supplies-her favorite thing, free stuff-and then went to lucnh, leaving it all in the car...unlocked...and of course it got stolen...so as my original plan anyway was to go out like i do every year and buy him decent stuff for school, so that plan still is a go...
he has his science day camps next week-($$ for camping supplies etc, not to mention gas...it never ends) -but its worth it-i'll be stayng the days in the big city of portland, probably at powells books-worlds largest-then pick him up each night...i'm off a week, thats a bright spot, as work is getting more and more sublimely ridiculous...
-the ignorant workers just passed the new contract-93 % yes (I was part of the 7% who get to say 'i told you so' in the next 2 years when the rest figure out what a crap deal this was)-we get a hefty 2% raise, which translates to about 12 cents an hour...but since they're changing my shift to hours where i'll never see, talk to, or have any contact with the youth (against my strenous objections) i wont be working very hard for that extra 12 cents...

lots of grumbling i know-complicated times...hope it didnt bore you...soemtimes it bores me, other times it make smy blood boil

It has been quiet here lately and I apologize for not contributing more regulary-just seems like one thing after another lately and trying to keep it all in focus so as not to get overheated-keeping emotional state under control-not that anyone missed me but i like to help keep conversations flowing here, keep this site active...
-the boy had a week of day trips, and one overnight, thru the local science museum-went to a dinosaur fossil dig, mt st helens, hiked up multonamah falls (2nd highest continuosly flowing waterfall in the us), went whale watching-and had a ball on all of it-this required several trips of 50 miles each way to get to the museum and pick him up each day-'kaching', thats the sound of gas being pumped into the car and $$ being pumped out of my wallet...
I spent 2 days walking around the town instead of returning home-portland has alot of nice architecture when you have the time to stop and view it
-stood and watched the oregon ballet theatre rehearse for 'Swan Lake' in a tent set up in the park-man, the balance and flexibility of those guys...
spent a day in powells, worlds largest bookstore-yes, you can easily spend a whole day in there-and managed to limit myself to just one purchase-the new 'Boondocks' collection (great comic strip, if you havent read it, you should)-yay me!
Got so many hugs and 'I love you's from the boy this week-he really appreciated this chance to explore and have adventures-great way to end the summer...

Anthony took home a trophy finally, from Saturdays tournament-4th place in sparring! thats the good news , the bad news is there were only 4 boys sparring in his division-he lost all 3 matches, but as there were 4 places awarded, he got one-so he's still happy, and i'm not especially upset over it-he deserves it for sticking it out for 3 years-few do, kids or adults-and his form work deserved a trophy and somehow got passed over, so we'll take the sparring one-he's an award worthy person anyway, and it's nice he finally has something to show for it...

but i still hate tournaments-as a competitor or spectator-we got out as soon as his stuff was done-it was run much better this year, but just not my cup of tea-went and saw 'march of the penguins' -nothing like hot penguin love on the big screen-then had a piece of cheesecake and went home-he had a new neighbor boy over all weekend and they decided it's great fun to cannonball onto me...