HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

If you're counting on those tax write-offs, you better hurry

& get those babies squeezed out,

those marriage certificates signed

& those million$ given away!

Time's a-runnin' out!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, ONE & ALL!

This Christmas, let's all strive for peace on Earth

& let it begin right here at home.

Let's set aside our petty differences, let's zip our lips against gossip & let us all be thankful for the blessings life has tossed our way.

Or, if we can't do all that, let's at least wish one another

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

yes, I said merry CHRISTMAS because really, isn't "holiday" just HOLY DAY with a typo??

Christmas In Clay County ...

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ...

An illegal bonus, a ride around town in the company truck & an alibi ...

THANK A VET

If you are one, THANK YOU. If you're going to be one someday, THANK YOU. If you sacrificed a loved one to war before s/he had a chance to become one, THANK YOU.

I hopped up on my soapbox here & after some thought, deleted it all. Let me just say, Veterans Day is in honor of ALL veterans. We had veterans long before we had this war in Iraq.

Thank you. Thank you ALL.

The Court of Public Opinion ...

Whaddaya think?

Happy October!

Ah, life is good ...

That's the beautiful & talented

Bev Kearns on The King's other side.

& FUN WAS HAD BY ALL ...

Did you go to the Apple Festival? Always a great opportunity to see folks you haven't seen in a year!

For those of us who choose to live here in Clay (as opposed to those who can't seem to find a way out), it's also a measure of our roots. We started out as cranky little kids, then became the crazy, giggling, oh-so-cool teenagers ... now we bring out chairs to sit in front of the courthouse & listen to music that hasn't been popular for 25 years & talk about how good the band is, while watching the cycle continue. What's funny is that the oh-so-cool teenagers today have no idea how much cooler the generations before them were. ;)

Remembrance - Commemorate or Instigate?

Tomorrow, Americans are asked to fly their flags in honor of those who died at the hands of terrorists 6 years ago. Businesses are asked to fly their flags at half staff. A moment of silence will be observed at 8:46 a.m., when the first plane slammed into the Twin Towers.

Personally, I think flying your flag only on patriotic holidays and "days of remembrance" is the equivalent of going to church only on Christmas and Easter. You either mean it or you don't.

What do you think? Do you think that our need to honor & remember helps us heal & honor our dead or do you think it just gives future terrorists more options to choose from when picking the perfect date to attack us again?

Do You Give A Rip?

that ...

... Jerry Lewis introduced a "family member" as "the illiterate faggot" on live, national TV during his annual telethon?

... a "prominent" business man in Clay is an alleged cradle-robbing pervert?

... it's been almost 6 years since terrorists slammed into the Pentagon, the Twin Towers & a field in Pennsylvania & we STILL don't know where Osama bin Laden might be?

... it's almost time for the Apple Festival?

Did You Hear About ..

HAMLIN, WV -- The Hamlin City Council voted unanimously Monday to fire J.D. Scites, 20, after State Police arrested him on Friday and charged him with two counts of third-degree sexual assault. He is accused of having sex with two girls ages 14 and 15. Scites was a Hamlin police officer. State Police are still investigating whether Scites was in a personal vehicle or a city-owned cruiser and whether he was on duty at the time of either alleged incident.

HUNTINGTON CANYON, UT -- Dangerous conditions that forced rescuers to halt attempts to reach six trapped miners will prevent crews from reaching the men for at least a week, a mining executive said.

BROOKLYN, NY -- The National Weather Service confirmed at 5:12 p.m. that a tornado touched down in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn this morning. The tornado was classified as a 2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which goes from 0 to 5. An EF2 tornado consists of winds of 111 to 135 miles per hour.

CHARLESTON, WV -- A Kanawha County prosecutor filed a motion today asking that four charges of sexual abuse against former Capital High School teacher, Tyrone Keith Persinger, be dismissed. A jury found Tyrone Keith Persinger not guilty in March on two charges of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian. But the jury was deadlocked on the remaining four charges, and a mistrial was declared. Assistant Prosecutor Don Morris said he spoke with the teenage victims -- all former Capital High students -- and their families, and none wanted to proceed with another emotional trial.

Priorities, Anyone?

• Federal Highway Administration data from 2006 shows that 24.5 percent of the nation's bridges longer than 20 feet were categorized as "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete." According to the Department of Transportation, West Virginia has 6,343 bridges; 32% of those are over 100 feet long.
• In its most recent report card on the nation's infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation's bridges a grade of "C" and said that in 2003 27.1 percent of them were deficient. The report also said bringing all the nation's bridges up to snuff would cost $188 billion over the next two decades.
• The Iraq war and reconstruction effort has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $300 billion.
• The State Department paid $43.8 million to contractor DynCorp International for the residential camp for police training personnel outside of Baghdad's Adnan Palace grounds that has stood empty for months. About $4.2 million of the money was improperly spent on 20 VIP trailers and an Olympic-size pool, all ordered by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior but never authorized by the U.S. U.S. officials spent another $36.4 million for weapons such as armored vehicles, body armor and communications equipment that can't be accounted for.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Yesterday, my friend Chuck would have been 49.

Someday, remind me to tell ya about the time

he put fireworks off at our house ...

LOLOLOL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

OK, so there's no more "technically" about it;

I'm officially 40 until about this time next year.

Beats the heck out of the alternative.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

If you are one, if you have one, if you've ever been one,

Happy Father's Day!

If everybody was blessed with dads as great as mine,

the world would be a much better place.

More Random Thoughts ...

School's out!

It's 76 degrees in Charleston at 6:04 a.m. Be on your best behavior - tempers tend to flare when brains start to fry.

A GED & a little know-how will get you a $13/hour mechanic's job in Ohio.

When all else fails ...

we'll talk about the moon ...

I see the moon,
The moon sees me
God bless the moon,
And God bless me.

MEMORIAL DAY

RUN FOR THE WALL

Mission Statement: To promote healing among all veterans and their families and friends, to call for an accounting of all Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action (POW/MIA), and to honor the memory of those Killed in Action (KIA) from all wars

ROLLING THUNDER

Mission Statement: The major function of Rolling Thunder®, Inc. is to publicize POW-MIA issues: To educate the public that many American prisoners of war were left behind after all previous wars and to help correct the past and to protect future veterans from being left behind should they become prisoners of war-missing in action.

Happy Mothers Day!!

Call your mom.

Send her flowers.

Tell her you love her. Often.

Oh, What A Beautiful Morning ...

Spring. A time of rebirth. Renewal. Reflection. Seasons come and seasons go. The world goes 'round and 'round, oblivious to the trials, triumphs and tragedies of those who inhabit it.

Today's one of those days lonely people dread and busy people covet. Not much going on, beautiful blue sky, the smell of clean in the air. One of those days that totally blindsides you with memories of days gone by.

Somewhere, there's a life ending and another beginning. A heart breaking and another giving itself up to the glories of new love. Somewhere, a soul seeking peace is finding it.

Somewhere, there's a festering cesspool of sewage sucking evil, waiting for you to go see the new Simpsons movie so the scene of Bart's cartoon, 10-year-old full frontal nudity can burn your eyes out and damn your soul to eternal hellfire.

"Schools should be places of safety and sanctuary and learning." - President George Bush

www.vt.edu:

Campus remains closed; convocation Tuesday at Cassell
04/16/2007, Updated 4:45 p.m.

Two shootings on campus today have left 33 dead. Thirty-one, including the gunman, died at Norris Hall; two died at West Ambler Johnston Hall. Fifteen other victims from Norris are being treated at area hospitals. The university is in the process of identifying victims and notifying next-of-kin. Names will not be released until that process is complete.

Dream A Little Dream ...

Do you think your dreams mean anything? Are they just jumbled conglomerations of the thoughts & events of your life or are they more? Do you ignore them or do you try to interpret them? Have you ever tried to control them?

So Much Noise ...

According to a year-long online study led by Trevor Cox, a professor of acoustic engineering at Salford University in England, & more than one million votes, the top 10 sounds we most hate to hear are:

1. Vomiting
2. Microphone feedback
3. Multiple babies crying
4. Scraping of train wheels
5. Seesaw squeaking
6. Violin
7. Flatulence
8. One baby crying
9. Soap opera argument
10. Electricity hum

IF YOU'RE NOT IRISH, HAVE ANOTHER DRINK & FAKE IT

Born in Britain, Patrick was kidnapped by Irish pirates at the age of 16 and enslaved in Ireland. For six miserable years he tended sheep on the cold hills of Ballymena. He finally escaped aboard a ship to France, which then was known as Gaul. There he studied for the priesthood and in 431 A.D. was named a bishop. The next year he was sent by the pope to teach the gospel to the people of Hibernia – the same wild Irish tribesmen who had kidnapped him as a boy. Patrick spent nearly 30 years trudging up and down the Emerald Isle, teaching Christianity.

The drinking part ... that ain't St. Pat. That's the wayward descendants ... teeheehee

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Does green beer taste any different from regular beer?

Why doesn't it turn your mouth green like Slurpees do?

Make Me Laugh ...

When you type "LOL" do you really mean you're L'ing OL?

Define Immoral

Your body belongs to you, right? You can paint it, pierce it, pork it up at will. You can give away parts of it for free - a chunk of liver or even a whole kidney. You can donate your blood and plasma for free or you can sell it. You can rent your bald head or your pregnant belly as advertising space. What, then, makes prostitution illegal??

Same Ol', Same Ol' ...

I want in on the CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT that *&$! well better be filed against Wagner Gas & everybody associated with it...

SNOW DAY!!

According to my 7th grader, he hasn't had a SNOW DAY! since about the 4th grade ...

WOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!

Bring on the trash bags, car hoods & refrigerator doors!

(or for you city slickers, sleds are OK, too ...)

I'll Always Love Tater best ...

Guilherme Marchi

Mike Lee
Sean Willingham
Adriano Moraes
Justin McBride
Brian Canter
Chris Shivers
Wiley Petersen
Ross Coleman
Jody Newberry

ELVIS ARON PRESLEY

It's all been said a bizzillion times, so there's really nothing left to say ... but I just can't help but acknowledge it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELVIS!

GLOBAL WARMING

Hey, it's something new to talk about, isn't it? Personally, I think global warming is caused by aliens. The outter space kind, not the illegal ones.