I'm just sayin'....

Today is September 9, 2009.

09/09/09.

And in two hours it will be 9:09am, which on a military clock is 0909.

0909 on 09/09/09.

Good Gawd.....

I had one of these as a kid.

Yep. That was one fine Christmas, I'll tell you.

At one point, I also had a toy meant to be a version of one of these.....



No wonder I'm a bit twisted (like the barrel of a rifle. I keed! I keed!)and have a gun-safe full of metal.

However, those were the days when boys did not play with dolls, so for as macho as they were, Dad didn't allow my brother and I have any G.I. Joes. They were little more than Barbies, and I think I have to agree. It is better to emulate adult life with toys than to imagine toys playing with other toys....if that makes any sense.

I guess that today's video game generation makes that point even more pointedly....what with middle and high schools using the Wii platform in their gym classes, we have accepted the idea that we can simulate doing something as well as actually doing it. I mean what's better: Handing a kid a tennis racket and a ball, or handing him a video controller so he can simulate playing tennis?

Anyhoo, this trip down memory lane is all thanks to a small item I saw at DirectorBlue having been pointed there by Gerard.

Ok. I'll play....

Bold=Yeah, I've done it.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (not Disney World, though)
8. Climbed a mountain (Mt. Lassen)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped (no way in hell)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (It was closed when we visited.)
18. Grown your own vegetables. (Routinely)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon (I've thought about a half-marathon. But thinking doesn't get one across the finish line, now does it.)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (Does from the air count?)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (One of my greatest joys is to buy a soldier a meal in an airport food court. I do it all the time.)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (Daughter #1 is an artist)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (We are counting the Eiffel Tower at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas, arent' we?)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies.
62. Gone whale watching (Maui, '08)
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (I've been a routine donor--2 gallons--but my last experience was awful and has me rethinking whether I'll go back)
65. Gone sky diving (Sort of. Paragliding training in the AF.)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (Unwittingly, of course.)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square (All the damned time. Central Park, too.)
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (I'm counting that I quit--actually walked out--one, though.)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (Hiked Havasu Falls, too!)
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox (Had shingles in my '30s. Hurt like hell.)
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury (I've got a summons for next month too.)
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (Being a father counts, I guess)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone (Felt prisoner to a cell phone, too.)
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

h/t Exurban League

"People are too depressed to be sexually active,"

So give us a bailout.

h/t Ace.

Leave Brittany Alone...

...before she overdoses on something.

Seriously, the girl is a train-wreck, no less than Anna-Nicole. She's gonna implode some day (or maybe we're watching her do it today), just like Anna and Michael did...the only questions are: How and when.

File this under...