Foo Fighters: Wasting Light

Check this out. Or you could just look at it here: Wasting Light by Foo Fighters


The link is to the Foo Fighters album in its entirety. What? You might be saying... if they did that they would be committing suicide, nobody would buy their album if they are just going to play it for free. I really don't know and don't care. Listen if you dare! There whole album definitely has an 80's sort of throw back feeling... and I'm ok with that.  

Wow, I Did Not Know That...

Patio Set

We are also considering purchasing a newer updated patio set. Why? Our current one only has seating for four, and we count up to five. Plus the set we have is looking a bit dated/worn out. If we have anyone over for dinner, we are regulated to the dining room. But alas, our current screened in back porch only fits a square or circle setup, not a rectangle or oval. So we got to thinking.

You know those canopy/gazebo type things they sell pretty much every where? Well, maybe we could make this work with a gazebo type thing. What we really want is a larger patio, but finances just aren't there, and I'm afraid by the time the finances are there, we may end up moving... basically making our outdoor dream into someone else's dream.

And if we get a gazebo/canopy and some bigger patio furniture, that opens up the screened in porch for a setup for something more... I mean there won't be a table/chairs there anymore which means we could put some wicker sofa/chair setup... make it like an outdoor living room. But the drawback is, are you going to come out of pocket with this project. We figure $500-800 for new furniture, about $300 for a gazebo, about $200-300 to make a modified patio, and we have not even priced the new outdoor living room.

But I see the possibility of this morphing into a big thing, however, and this is by no means set in stone, heck we don't even know if we will go through with it yet... But we got our income tax return burning a hole in our pocket, and what else could we spend it on?

The Trip to Atlanta

So I am here in Atlanta. And I have to say, we paid a pretty penny to stay where we are, but I have no regrets thus far. I’m right across the street from Olympic Park. I could ask for better weather but what are you gonna’ do? Day one consisted of driving from Bluffton to Atlanta and going to Fernbanks Museum. So far so good.

The next day would be a whirlwind. We got up earlier than we needed to so we were about an hour earlier to Zoo Atlanta than it opened, Since it had a park right next to it, we walked around, and came across a crayfish (crawfish if you happen to be from Louisiana). We thanked him for the entertainment and put him back in the water (I hope that is where he wanted to go). When the zoo opened, we saw gorillas, panda bears, lion(s), tigers, and bears (oh my) as well as a variety of other stuff birds, reptiles, and smaller mammals.

It was fun and we did not get rained on, but the sky was dark and dreary, and it looked like the bottom could fall out at any minute. We had lunch at the Varsity. I wanted to show my kids how big the place is, and they were amazed.

Next we went to the aquarium and I must say I was impressed with the size and scope of it all. It is one big aquarium, but not better than seeing the one in Charleston or New Orleans. But it is big. And the lines to get in this place were equally staggering. We got to skip this because we got the CityPass, I would say it was worth it just by getting to jump the line alone.

It was still raining and rather cold outside. We decided to pack up our Atlanta vacation a day early. But we still had a CNN tour and a World of Coke on our itinerary. The CNN tour was a nice learning experience (and a really long escalator) but I don’t think I would buy it by itself. The World of Coke was equally nice, they had many drinks and a bunch of nostalgia but really pay $15 for the thing? I think not.

The whole vacation was a great idea, that is until the weather turned yucky which it turned before we even left. And it wasn’t just bad in Atlanta, everywhere in the south had it pretty much the same, cold and wet… so not the spring break we had envisioned. Still it was good, we saw the zoo and aquarium and Fernbanks and CNN and World of Coke. We stayed at the Omni which is right there next to CNN, and they had a huge food court (it was ok, not real good or bad… just ok), which was where we ate every meal minus the Varsity trip. It was great fun and very educational, really a something for everyone kind of trip. I'm glad we went and maybe (just maybe) we will go again, sooner rather than later...

The Duck Face

Yeah I know it sounds kinda weird, especially considering what I posted yesterday, but we can't simply stop life because one of us gets sick or even dies. I don't want to sound flippant either. But this is what my mom would want, that is to laugh. The littlest has been giving these duck faces lately. No rhyme or reason, just does it... a lot. So I took her picture and shared with the group. Yep, that's my girl.

I'm sure we can look back over the years and see that this face, which is a face made by lots of women (and men) and we can wonder why, but we will likely never know...

And Then...

Yeah so I got some bad news while on vacation. It is definitely a "game changer" as it were. My mom called and told me that she has breast cancer. I have been processing that for a few days. There is so much running through my head, I don't know how to say it all. I went through a similar experience 7 years ago, when my father told me he had throat cancer.

I'm not sure how my mother will opt to treat this. If she will go the full mastectomy, the partial lumpectomy, or some other thing. With my father, they originally wanted to remove his entire lower jaw. He did no opt for that and if you have seen Roger Egbert lately, I can totally understand.

There are worries that arise, like "What do I do if one of my daughters/sisters get this too?" Yep, it is stupid to worry, because worrying can't help anything, but I worry anyway. My mom is young, at least I think so, 60 isn't so old anymore.

I don't know what I will do from this point forward, but I am reminded by my father's words way back when he thought his cancer would kill him... "Nobody gets out of life alive, there ain't a big shiny trophy when you get to the end either. All you can do is love those close to you and appreciate the person for whatever time you have. There is nothing else."

I'm not ready for my mother to leave me yet. I'm just not. But I am powerless in that regard. So it is a waiting and hoping and worrying game until I find out anything more...

Classic Film Friday: Miranda

This movie, for its time, was groundbreaking in that the mermaid really looked the part. Dr. Paul Martin (Griffith Jones) goes on a fishing trip without his wife Clare (Googie Withers). While on the boat, he gets pulled under by a mermaid, Miranda (Glynis Johns). She takes him to an underwater cave where she plans to keep him. He is only let go when he promises to take her into London. Miranda plays an invalid in a wheelchair (you have to hide the fish tail after all) and the comedy ensues from that point on.

Mainly, Miranda, not being a human and not completely understanding human nature, gets all of the other women jealous because of her voice and maybe because she is an invalid. Men are forced to carry her and this gets them up close to Miranda. My wife comes in at this point and asks, "What is she? A floozy?" Kinda' sorta'. Especially when you see the last scene... she is holding a mer-baby. I had no idea that things would suddenly turn all Maury Povich way back in 1948, but it just goes to show you...