Thank yous and Pleases...

Go read Vampire6 and his thank-you to women.

Check out the new shirt design at Ranger Up.

Help support an amazing lady who is in training
for a three-day walk in D.C. Woo-Hoo, Diane!

The common thread in all three places is, they are
making an effort to raise money for the Susan Komen
Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Help if you can. Please.

Meld...

simply one
word with you,
today becomes ours
and you are
again, still and always
in my forever.

Those who have gone before...

The title of this post is the topic Sparrow has chosen
for this week's Haiku Challenge.

UPDATE: Sparrow has chosen a touching resolution to
this week's contest. She posted all the entries with a
special handling of the Deluxe Care Package going to
someone in our military serving in harm's way.
Please, read her post AND the comments.

my entry:

a word, a breath, a
look, a touch. To remember
is to honor life.
~~~~

I will follow you
to a place I do not know.
You will make it home.


ed: if I don't hear from Yucky Mug Company soon, they
might be my main subject for this topic.

New business hurdles...

I love love love the folks who are printing
my Frame-ables. LOVE them.

However, I'm getting mugs printed from two different
suppliers. One is right up there on the LOVE List
with the Frame-ables printer.
The other? Wet dreams do not stand a chance.

The Good Mug People notified me this weekend
(a holiday weekend, no less) that my order with
them is expected to ship this Friday. Yesssss!
Their proofs were perfect the first time, I approved
them and the mugs were in production in 24 hours.
The only drawback with these folks? They require a
much larger minimum order resulting in a bigger
cost for me, even though the individual mug cost is
almost the same as the Yucky Mug Company.

The Yucky Mug Company had the camera-ready artwork
for a week before they sent the proofs for the three mugs
I want. All wrong. WRONG. Wrong. Wrong.
They set up what I wanted on the front of the mug on the back.
What should have been on the back of the mug was on the front.
Print size on one mug was correct. The other two... too small and
off-center. Three different designs ordered for three sets of
mugs... they completely ignored/forgot one design and did one
of the designs twice. Twice. WTF?

Corrections were emailed to Yucky Mug Company immediately
and I was told they hope to have the corrected proofs back to me
tomorrow. IF those proofs are correct, it will take two weeks
to complete them. And then shipping time. Unless, of course,
something else gets added to the current clusterfuck.

Well, I guess my education in the world of self-employment
has only just begun, right?

Memorial Day...

remember to remember
those who gave all.
for all of us.

It can't possibly be raining anywhere else...

There cannot be any rain left for any other part
of the world. It has been raining here non-stop,
NON-STOP, since last weekend. Crap.

UPDATE: Saturday local reports say the average
rainfall for the area is 25" this week. Yikes.

Feels like a hurricane without the hurr.
Florida is flooding. Is this 'cause the ice caps
finally melted? Are Polar bears on the way?

Somebody make it STOPPPPPPPPPPPPP. please?

Okay, okay it could be worse. It could be a full-blown
hurricane. Or, it could be no rain and lots of fires.

Let's see... I can reveal a little bit of good news.
Anybody remember the 'new venture' I've mentioned before?
Well, I got back on track with that and will be taking the
leap soon. I even started another blog so I can sell my
products on-line. It's called 'the Pondering....... store'.
I won't have all of my beginning inventory in hand until
mid-June, so that's when I'll be able to upload photos
and start the pimping process. Stay tuned for details.

I have business cards. Real business cards. (picture me
with a goofy grin on my face right now.) I'm excited.
I'm also just a teensy bit scared. I'm not usually a risk-taker.
But, this feels very good. I want it to work. I believe it will.

There is a lot for me to learn. Some will be by trial and error.
I have plenty of experience in trial and error.
Keep your fingers crossed for me, my friends.

*update* Haiku challenge, G-Rated...

Sparrow's topic for this week: the Body.

********************************************
UPDATE- thank you to all who voted for me!
I picked a sailor serving in Afghanistan to
get the Deluxe Care Package from Sparrow.
********************************************

G-rated, huh?
This is going to take serious pondering.

I'll be back.



um, how's this?...

sacred playground of
sensual pleasure meant to
be honored while poked.

maybe this...

anybody want
a body, used, but nicely
maintained? Going once...

or this...

your body makes my
body want your body to
want my body NOW.

and finally, I think...

the body of man
meets with body of woman.
perfect puzzle match.

Food for thought...

a minute
or a day
of life with you
might be just
what's needed
to nourish
a hungry soul.

Thank you and Happy Birthday, Berry...

Boneman graced me with
an award. Thank you, dear.

Today happens to be his
birthday. He is now as old
as I am. ( told ya it's painless.)

Do a nice thing and wish
Berry a Happy Birthday.

Signed and sealed...

Some think
I'm certifiable.
Some might
be right.
If that made me
non-liable,
it might not be
a blight.

Sparrow is testing us...

The Haiku contest topic at All Atwitter is:

****************TRIALS******************

Please go back to vote for your favorite by 11 pm Thursday.


Girlfriend lemme tell
ya. Life, it just ain't never
fair. I broke a nail.


prick-eth not my heart
dastardly, bastardly swine.
aim prick-eth lower.

Recent reading...

Thought I'd share 'cuz I'm nice like that...

1. Shadow Country (Peter Matthiessen).
2. ...And Ladies of the Club (Helen Hooven Santmyer)
3. A Tragic Honesty, the Life and Work of Richard Yates
(Blake Bailey)
4. Walt Disney, An American Original (Bob Thomas)
5. Jimmy Stewart, a Biography (Marc Eliot)
6. The Things They Carried (Tim O'Brien)
7. Words of My Roaring (Ernest J. Finney)
8. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)

...if you have reading suggestions for me, leave the
info in comments or slap me with an email.

Hello, again...

You talk me through it,
into it.
You fit perfectly
in my head.
Reliving the memory
of skin on skin,
lips on lips not so
long ago.
You make it real again.
again.
and more.

Sports in Seventeen Syllables...

The topic for Sparrow's Haiku Contest-

~~~~~~~~~~~~SPORTS~~~~~~~~~~~
VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE BEFORE 11 pm THURSDAY.

mostly overpaid,
pampered, egotistical
players and coaches.
~
ten dollar hot dogs,
five dollar cokes, foam fingers,
fat drunks painted blue.
~
When I was a kid,
Little League was the most fun
of Summer vacay.
~
Terry Bradshaw, Pete
Rose, Rosie Grier, Johnny Bench...
it's been a looooooong time.

Sex as a second income...

"You should be charging." he said.

"Do you give your daughters the same advice?" I asked.

He hung up.

A Navy mom rants...

If you have not discovered Pawsing to Ponder,
you are missing some good reads. Follow the
link and scroll down to the post that is titled
'Rant'. I believe she echoes many good folks
in this country.


Then, there is a blogger who has been absent for
too long. Ron's Rants. He is famous for his long,
compelling stories told mostly from his younger
years as a rowdy, good-hearted musician.
Always good stuff.
His latest telling is in three parts, so scroll down to
April 23 and start with part one of 'Guilt'.
You'll be hooked. Guaranteed.

Kudos to Kelsey!

One of my best friends
(the Goose Chaser), whom I've
known since high school,
and her husband, are popping their
buttons with pride.
Their beautiful, multi-talented,
genius, sweet daughter is
graduating from one of the
Honors Engineering Programs at
the University of Akron (Ohio)
with Magna Cum Laude honors.

(The U of A is my alma mater but,
we won't discuss my academic
standing at graduation. sheesh.)

Kelsey, I wish you a long, happy
and fulfilling career. Congratulations!