Bushwacked by Some Shrimp

Well, the the story is: I had an allergic reaction to some shrimp I ate last weekend. It wasn't a particularly deadly attack by those damn little shellfish, but I went to the emergency room to make sure it wouldn't get any worse. There, they gave me a steroid to help take down any swelling and prevent any breathing problems. Unfortunately, the steroid also caused some intestinal problems, and kept me awake for most of the last three nights. I did see my regular Doctor today, and he gave me a prescription for something to ease my intestinal discomfort, and help me sleep. So, with luck, I just might get a decent night of shut-eye (sleep) tonight. 
I'm sure it will take a day or two to recover my usual bright and cheerful self, so I won't be running any of my conversation groups at the Library for the rest of the week. But I'm sure I'll be bored to tears by next week, and will be quite happy to be back pretending to teach some English next week.
Anyhow, be well, stay out of trouble, and check back here when you get a chance, for any further updates, or stange weather, and/or news reports.
And if you'd like to make me happy, go find some obnoxious Republican, and kick him or her in the ankle.

Monsters, Vampires, & Werewoves, Oh, My!

October is my favorite month. Why? you may ask. Because Halloween is my personally favorite holiday. How could this be?! you are probably wondering. And to answer that,  I say, I live for wonderfully scary and horrifying stories. Not true stories, you understand, but fiction. I read a lot of different kinds of stories, from some mainstream (popular fiction, like bestsellers), although not much, to a lot of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy, horror, and any combination of them.
But October is the perfect month to read those dark fantasy and horror stories. In part, because the month ends with Halloween, which represents the pagan holiday of Samhain. In past times particularly, but still today for some, this holiday was thought to be the time of year when the separation, or the door, so to speak, between the living and the dead is at its thinnest. And so, communication, and even contact, is possible. Or so it is believed. By some.
But October is also perfect for those spine-tingling stories, because it is getting colder, as winter approaches. The leaves are changing color, and beginning to fall from the trees, and darkness is falling earlier as the days grow shorter. Yep, I'll say it again. I love October.
Eddie, my feathered friend, doesn't really care what time of year it might be. As long as he is warm, gets fed, and can receive headrubs upon demand, it's all the same to him.
Then there's Albert. Normally, at this time of year, bears would probably be making preparations to hibernate for the winter. Albert, however, who is now quite used to living indoors most of the time, seems to have no intentions towards sleeping through the winter. In fact, right now he is planning on going walk-about (an Australian term for wondering around, sometimes for very extended periods of time) for a month or two. He's been watching a lot of tv, and he heard a lot about how global warming is destroying the homes of the Polar Bears, and making life difficult for many animals. He's pretty angry. Unfortunately, he has also heard a number of politicians, pundits, and presidential hopefuls, (Republicans all, of course), denying there was any such thing as global warming, and speaking against any action to correct it. Big mistake. At least, as far as Albert is concerned.
So, he wants to drop-in on as many of these fish-for-brains idiots (His words; it's lucky I can understand him. Mostly.) as he can come across. What his exact intentions are, I can't tell you. But, I can say, I believe he has tasted human flesh at least once in the past. And, after all, it is the perfect month for trick and/or treating. Any treats, however, would probably be for Albert. And none that would be given freely.
So, it's not Halloween yet, but you can't begin to prepare too early. But be forewarned. If you are on the right (as in the conservative) side of the political spectrum, I would try to avoid letting a big black bear named Albert into your home. It would not be a good thing. Just a word to the wise.

The End of the World As I Know It

A quick update. Time always seems to be in short supply and high demand. At least, it is for me. So, as I type, the Red Sox are barely winning, and fighting off very possible defeat. There's only two games left to the season, and if they want to get into the playoffs, their only chance includes winning both games. Of course, as a Red Sox fan, there is always a sense of doom that I feel in this kind of situation.
But I have been feeling very pessimistic recently about life. Not just the Red Sox falling apart, which they tend to do towards the end of many seasons. The damn media's slant on the Obama Administration is really annoying, and I don't mean a favorable one. The fat cat owners of the networks and news media love to make Obama look bad whenever they can. And I don't even want to talk about those traitors to humanity, the Republicans. Oh yeah, and the worst, and most proud to be ignorant, the completely laughable, if they weren't so vile, Tea Party.
Anyroad, life has an appearance of bleakness to me recently. But not too worry. I have too much to do to be able to afford the time to waste dwelling on it. I had a busy day today. It started at about 1:00 a.m., when Eddie had a nightmare and started flapping around in his cage. I had to talk to him for about a half hour so he would calm down, and go back to sleep. I still managed to get up in time to jog. And after showering, I trimmed Eddie's nails, which he hates, but it's got to be done. And, I did get a lot of cleaning done, ran some errands, managed to do some work on-line, including reviewing a Mandarin lesson. And even had some time to do a bit of reading.
That's it kids. Tomorrow's another day. Hope y'all had a good few days, and a wonderful night. Until next time, Adios, mi Amigos! Take no prisoners! Particularly if their damn Republicans.

OoooOOO! I get soOOoo mad!

I try to never get in a serious discussion of politics because I have an unbelievable amount anger and disgust that seems to be brought out by the antics and despicable conduct of the Republicans, in particular that group that calls itself the Tea Party. So, my intention is to only get into this once, because even just thinking about it is too frustrating. And life is too short to waste it on moronic clowns who can't see beyond their own noses, and whose main concern in life are their wallets. OOOooo, I really don't like them.
There once was a good Republican. His name was Abraham Lincoln. That was back when the Republican Party actually stood for what the Democratic Party now stands for. Since then, I can't think of a single Republican that I would call good. Although, to be fair there must have been at least one somewhere back there. 
Through what I could only think had to be greed, selfishness, hunger for power, and corruption, the Republican Party has come to represent only the rich and, of course, corporate America. They seem to have adopted that infamous pirate motto (from Pirates Of The Caribbean), take what you can, and give nothing back.
Right now they are petrified by President Obama, for, I think, a number of reasons. He represents everthing they are not. He actually wants to unify the country, make it a better place for everyone. That includes raising the quality of life for EVERYONE, including making health care available, and AFFORDABLE, for everyone. This pretty much goes against the grain of the Republican Manifesto. Being as they are anything but humanitarian, they do not want to see any costly help of anykind for the poor, disadvantaged, and elderly citizens of this country.
In my own opinion the behavior of the Republicans goes behind mere obstructionism. They are saboteurs, and yes, legislative terrorists. They will do, and say anything, and everything, to stop the President from accomplishing anything constructive, and do everything in their power to make him look as bad as possible.
As I said, I believe their fear is based mainly on the possibility of President Obama really accomplishing something. And I believe, at least in part, some of their fear has to do with him being an African-American. But regardless. Them dang Republicans (and I can think many good names for them) truly disgust me. So, to them, I say, Step Off, #@%^!&*s. Take a hike.
And that, as Forrest Gump would say, is all I have to say about that. 

A Story

Once upon a time...many stories start just like that, with those exact words. So, to continue...
There was a young bear cub (baby bear), who got lost in the forest. A young girl found him wandering, and thought he was very cute, so took him home. The girl's parents, particularly her father, was very unusual in how he viewed the world, and decided to let his daughter keep the bear cub.
The bear cub became very attached to the young girl, and really liked living in a nice warm house. He and the young girl had many interesting adventures over the course of several years, but as all living things usually do, the bear and the girl began to grow up. Even though the girl loved the bear, the girl's parents became concerned that one day the bear might become dangerous and hurt someone. So the father arranged to give the bear to a zoo, where he would be cared for, but he would have to live in a cage. The girl was heart-broken at first, but in the way of young girls, she discovered other interests, including boys, and soon forgot all about the bear.
In the meantime, the bear was very unhappy living in the zoo, and became rather depressed. He soon lost interest in his surroundings, and in life. But one day, lo and behold, the zookeeper who brought him his food, was called away, before he had properly locked the cage door, by an emergency at the monkey cage. It seems a young boy, who had been taunting (teasing in a not very nice way) a monkey, got too close to the cage, and so the monkey got a grip on his hair, and wasn't letting go.
Well the bear, finally taking some interest in what was happening around him, took advantage of the situation, and escaped. He wandered in the woods, doing his best to avoid people for many months. One day, he saw his opportunity to sneak in a man's backdoor, while he was taking out the garbage.
And that my friends, is how Albert first came to be hiding under my bed. Lucky for me, I have the gift of the silver tongue (the ability of persuasion), which helped Albert to decide not to eat me and take over my apartment.
Anyroad, there's your story. So goodnight to ya'.

Zippidy Doo Dah Day

I saw someone I hadn't run into in a long time in the supermarket a couple of days ago. A beautiful young woman, both in looks and, more importantly, personality, and her 3 year old daughter, who hid from me by putting her hands in front of her face. I do have a reputation for making young children cry. I don't know what it is about my face that brings not only tears, to their faces, but also pulls howls from their lungs, like the world is coming to a horrible end. I actually used to take pride in the fact, that I could get the baby daughter of two of my friends to cry to beat the band (an expression that, in this case, means at maximum volume), just be looking at her. It was quite amazing actually. I have to say, although she is older now, as a baby, X (no name to protect the poor cry baby) could cry like nobody else possibly could, no matter what the age.
Anyroad (I really like that word), I believe it's important to appreciate the people in our lives while we can. B (name not given to protect the beautiful) was once someone I saw every week in my conversation group at the local Library. Then her husband had to go and get her pregnant. That was over 3 years ago. Well, my loss was her gain. She always was a very happy person, now even more so. It was good to see her.
As I was saying, we need to appreciate the people in our lives. I have to say, I become very attached to the people who come to my conversation groups. And, I become not only used to seeing them, but I look forward to it. Then, schedules change, or jobs change, and in some cases, I see them very rarely, or not at all. Oh, I don't forget them, and I don't think they forget me. But my life seems a little emptier, a little more drab (colorless). And, of course, there will be other people who come to the Library for me to torture, but I will always miss all those I see no longer.
So, look around you. Make sure you appreciate the special people in your life. You never know when your paths may, or may not, go in different directions.
On that note, I gotta' go. Eddie is fed up with my typing, and wants some serious headrubbing. He knows he's the boss. And how can I refuse that sparsely (yup, he's a bit bald on top) feathered little head. Hasta luego (until later). 

Do You Wanna' Dance, and Hold My Hand?

I should probably remember the musical group (rock'n'roll, of course) that did that song, but it was a long time ago, and I was but a tadpole, so to speak. Memory is a funny thing. Sometimes I can't remember what I did last Tuesday. On the other hand, I can remember distinctly playing cards on the living room floor of my cousins' (plural) house the first time I heard the Beatles singing Yellow Submarine on the radio, and laughing hysterically at the songs lyrics. And that was quite a few blue moons ago.
I have always felt a need, upon occasion, to go back to where I came from in order to remember who I am. Confused? It's not too complicated really. As someone once said, how can you know where you are going, if you don't know where you came from? Every now and again I get a little lost along the way. It is not difficult for me to get distracted by the the unimportant things in day to day living, and to be overly concerned with my own minor needs and wants. That's when it's important to look back, and by way of my past, remember who I am and where I'm going. We never really lose that child we were, and it can be the best part of us a good bit of the time.
Anyhow, Eddie and Albert are here to help out as well. They tend to keep me focused, although not always in the way I would like.
At the moment, however, it's only Eddie and I, and Eddie is sleeping in his castle (it's a really big cage). Albert's out dancing in the night time air. But whether he has found someone to hold his hand, only he can say. Whether alone or not, any physical activity he gets is good. You wouldn't believe how much that bear can eat. Trust me. He needs any and all the exercise he can get. And, as most of us do, he'll come home when he's ready. There's always a light burning.