Watching the History Channel with their standard show on aliens. There seem to be a lot of hypotheses about aliens. The usual ones seem to be of aliens helping build the pyramids and the large animals engraved in South America. This particular show is hypothesising that there may by undersea bases, probes in orbit, or on/in the moon. They hypothesise that aliens may be among us. It simply boggles my mind that people can honestly believe that aliens traveled incomprehensible distances to help build a mausoleum to a dead pharaoh, draw pictures in the dirt, or teach us how to use laden jars to electroplate jewelry.
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I've been working on my genealogy for the last couple months. I think everyone who does genealogy hopes to find some ancestor who was famous, or failing that, historically important. Vern wasn't either, but he's one of those finds that really is what genealogy is all about... A connection to history.
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There are plans to build a Muslim "community center" next to ground zero of the World Trade Center. Apparently, it's caused quiet a stir, but I'm not sure why.
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In my late teens and early 20's, in my "bachelor years", I managed to get by, at least in-so-far as I managed to survive. However, there were times when I unplugged the refrigerator from not having any food. This wasn't from not having the money to shop (although times were often tight), it was from just never getting to the store. I also knew that if I bought food, I'd just eat it, and be back to square one. I also had paths. That is, the mail and what-not went on the couch, and often spread to the floor, and I would have a path through the living room.
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I took my kids to a small, mostly abandoned train yard here the other day, and although my two elder childs woosed out, my youngest and I did a minor amount of exploring. Along the way, we collected a railroad spike, a huge chunk of coal (elder son likes rocks), a train brake, a toy train (found in a pile of trash dumped on site), and a railroad spike. Naturally, most was left behind, but I slipped the railroad spike into his bag.
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I've been getting ready to move, so haven't had any time to post, but I'll take a moment to add a few more to the prior post on childhood memories...

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Reading John Elder Robison's look me in the eye got me thinking of childhood memories, particularly those where I was a misfit. I've brought several to mind that I hadn't thought of in years. I'll share one or two now, and maybe share others later on.

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Just sitting here watching tv, and they played that damn Tostitos commercial again. "I used to think koalas were bears when everyone knows they're marsupials." Unfortuantly, the way the actor says it, I hear "I used to think COBOL-as were bears...", and it takes a couple seconds for me to decipher what he actually says, despite having seen the commercial several times.

I suppose it could have been worse... They could have played an Autism Speaks commercial.

An arguement my partner and I had recently got me thinking about instincts and how much we are guided by them. We have all sorts of impulses and urges. People always think of love and and sex when they think instincts, and certainly they are examples.  Fear can completely cripple people. Lust can ruin lives. And anyone who has loved knows it's power. But I've been considering what else may be instincts. Consider:

loyalty - Some people are natural leaders. Others aren't. But have you ever felt loyalty to
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