adumbrate \a-DUHM-breyt\ , verb;
1. To foreshadow; prefigure.
2. To produce a faint image or resemblance of; to outline or sketch.
3. To darken or conceal partially; overshadow.
From the Word of the Day
suspire \suh-SPAHY-uhr\ ,
–verb (used without object)
1. to sigh.
2. to breathe.
–verb (used with object)
3. to sigh; utter with long, sighing breaths.
"And from that one intake of fire
All creatures still warmly suspire"
- Robert Frost
With Reed and Chris in Mississippi having the Dominator outfitted with scientific instrumentation, Joel headed out with his storm chasing dad Jimmy to document the moderate and high risk set-ups. On May 18 they observed several tornadoes in the Texas Panhandle, near Dumas and Stinnett. The next day was a high risk, and they caught a rain-wrapped wedge near Loyal, Oklahoma!
Dedicated to my pal, Barb.
She heard me singing this tune in other words.
The lights go out and I can't be saved
Tides that I tried to swim against
Have brought me down upon my knees
Oh I beg, I beg and plead
From a couple of days ago; BP has promised to post a live feed of the leak, but a cursory search has found nothing so far.
The streaming video is "supposed" to be on the Energy and Commerce Committe site.
You Are a Crocodile |
 You are fierce and strong. You go after any prey that is in your sights. You have a take charge personality, and you are quite dominant. You are not easily intimidated. It's likely that you've had to struggle for survival in your life. You've had to develop a very thick skin. You can be brutal, but you can also be tender. You tend to have two sides to your personality. |
From today's Brainy Quotes feed:
We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.
Eric Hoffer
From NASA's Image of the Day Gallery
Anchored to the Canadarm2 mobile foot restraint, Garrett Reisman performed construction and maintenance activities outside the station during the STS-132 mission's first spacewalk. During the seven-hour, 25-minute spacewalk, Reisman and NASA astronaut Steve Bowen installed a second antenna for high-speed Ku-band transmissions and added a spare parts platform to Dextre, a two-armed extension for the station’s robotic arm.
Image Credit: NASA
This is such a great website not only for excellent wallpaper, but to keep up with the daily activity at the space station. This is, I believe, the last mission for the shuttle Atlantis, and the next few flights will also see the retirement of the rest of fleet.
I am extremely apprehensive about the future of US space endeavors. We misuse our national resources in so many ways, but the space program is - for the very most part - money well spent.
habitué\huh-BICH-oo-ey\ , noun;
1. One who frequents a particular place, especially a place offering a specific pleasurable activity.
Cast Away is one of my favorite movies, and this blog is at the top or very nearly so in searches for the flick (well, at least for the scenes that were filmed near here) , but I think YT is overestimating my interest in the movie:
(click for larger view)
tipple \TIP-uhl\ ,
verb;
1. To drink intoxicating liquor, esp. habitually or to some excess.
2. To drink (intoxicating liquor), esp. repeatedly, in small quantities.
noun:
1. Intoxicating liquor.
2. A device that tilts or overturns a freight car to dump its contents.
I'd probably have a stroke.
You Are the Breaststroke |
 You are a happy and content person. You try to enjoy every day and every moment to the fullest. You don't push yourself too hard, but you do try to stay consistent. Slow and steady does win the race, and because of this, you're miles ahead of everyone else. You live mindfully and intentionally. You take every decision seriously. |
To help clean up the oil spill.
For several decades, I've thought this method could be a help for offshore oil spills. As the man says in the vid, I've also thought the oil-soaked hay could be burned or "squeezed" to get the oil out and reprocessed. I've also wondered if cottonseed hulls or even cotton could be used in much the same manner.
The sad fact is that oil spills will most likely happen again in the future, although I hope and pray something like this latest catastrophe could be avoided or mitigated. Another fact is we NEED this oil; offshore drilling accounts for a large percentage of our total domestic production.
majuscule \MAJ-uh-skyool\ , adjective;
1. Of letters written either as capitals or uncials.
noun:
1. A large letter, either capital or uncial, used in writing or printing.
Armed Services Day
I know the above poster/graphic is old, but I liked it.
Support Our Troops!
From the Word of the Day
Pampa LifeStar heliport will be a 'lifesaver'
Several dozen people braved the weather Friday to break ground on the newest medical addition in Gray County that's being touted as a lifesaver.
Dr. James Hall, president of the Emergency Services Foundation of Texas, the parent company of Pampa EMS, said the $550,000 Gray County Heliport Facility to be built near the Pampa Regional Medical Center will house the LifeStar ambulance helicopter that now serves the eastern Texas Panhandle.
Two LifeStar helicopters serve the top 26 counties of the Texas Panhandle, the Oklahoma Panhandle, eastern New Mexico and the very southeastern part of Colorado. Last year, local LifeStar helicopters made about 896 flights, said Stewart Jackson, assistant director of LifeStar.
The majority of the heliport project, or $500,000, will be funded by the Texas Department of Transportation's aviation division thanks to a measure added to the state's general appropriation bill by state Rep. Warren Chisum. It gave Gray County the money to build the 8,000-square-foot facility at the hospital. Roughly $56,000 will have be funded locally as part of the grant stipulations, said Karon Wiedemann, director of grant management for TxDOT's aviation division.
Read the rest at Amarillo.com
We used to have a part Chihuahua that would smile like this. Her name was Tina and she was also part terrier, as I recall. I remember she and I both getting in trouble for rolling in the dirt. (Hey, she was doing it and looked like she was havin' fun!)
She used to go with us on vacations and one summer - for whatever reason - she was left home. (Dad's relief for his vacation was going to feed and water her) I remember her being so upset and trying to follow us. When we got home, she was gone. We figured a coyote had got her, but quite some time later she was found with some people down in Miami. They had found her by the side of the road, several miles from our house. A friend of the family had seen Tina at a neighbor's house and told my folks. Long story short, Tina was thrilled to see us.
In the meantime, Tina had "hooked up" with a poodle and had some strange looking puppies.
I don't remember what happened to Tina, if perhaps she did have an encounter with a coyote or just died of old age. We had two puppies out of her (EDIT to add more info, thanks to my Big Sis, read comments if you like.) and wound up with Sugar - Tina's tiny poodle-like grand-daughter - for years and she finally died of old age.
From the site:
Ham Dogger
Make a hamburger with a “hot dog” twist—even stuff it!
The hit of the BBQ! With Ham Dogger, it’s easy to shape a hamburger like a hot dog. Even use with veggies or ground turkey to create family-favorite twists on a hot dog! 
They’ll be clamoring for these clever hot-dog shaped burgers, so be sure to make a bunch! Use lean ground beef, turkey and even veggies to create a healthier alternative to preservative-laden franks...they fit perfectly in hot dog buns. The cylinder holds ¼-lb. of meat and shapes it like a hot dog. Makes it easy to stuff with cheese, avocados, onions and more to create a 6” gourmet burger with a surprise inside. Durable plastic; dishwasher safe.
The thing isn't expensive ($7.95) but it seems to me the "ham dogs" could be shaped with something else...like your hands? Still, a pretty clever idea and I wish I had thought of it.
Ham Dogger
Nifty virtual tour of -what I think are- Spanish impressionist paintings.
Virtual Museum
No, not a pretty woman, but an old dude miming the classic Orbison tune.
Funny...but a little creepy, too.
mugwump \MUHG-wuhmp\ , noun;
1. A person who is unable to make up his or her mind on an issue, esp. in politics; a person who is neutral on a controversial issue.
2. A Republican who refused to support the party nominee, James G. Blaine, in the presidential campaign of 1884.
Yeah, right.
You Are Sympathetic Toward the World |
 You are a very kindhearted person, and you are definitely concerned about the world. At times, you feel like you have to take a break from caring... you get overwhelmed by your emotions. You may not do the most charity work, but it doesn't mean you don't notice all of the problems around you. Just continue to do what you can. Our planet needs more people like you - that's for sure. |
muliebrity \myoo-lee-EB-ri-tee\ , noun;
1. The state of being a woman.
As a rule, I generally don't post too many news items or much serious stuff at all, but this article caught my eye:
U.S. Supreme Court targeted by litigant in Texas Supreme Court
From the Texas Supreme Court Blog:
Well, you don’t see this caption every day: Brumbaugh v. Justice John Roberts, et al., No. 10-0314. The “et alia” includes eight other Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. (Justice Sotomayor is off the hook; this plaintiff’s suit still names Justice Souter.)
The court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of the case, and Brumbaugh has just filed his petition for review with the Texas Supreme Court. (There doesn’t appear to be any online version of the petition; self-represented litigants are not required to file electronic courtesy copies.)
Brumbaugh requested that the trial court declare certain Supreme Court rulings unconstitutional and restore civil liberties, stop or fix the drug war, outlaw all mind control technology, declare martial law unlawful, and collect $10,000 from each justice for dereliction of duty and fraud.
From our Word of the Day feed
This didn't ask what I usually had for breakfast; it asked which one appealed to me most. There was no way I was choosing oatmeal.
You Are a Hearty Breakfast |
 You are down to earth and mild mannered. You don't tend to make a fuss. You can be a bit stubborn at times. You know what you like, and you don't tend to change your mind. You like to stay in your comfort zone. You don't really like surprises or change much. You aren't complacent... you're just practical. Why mess with what works? |
From Neatorama:
There are some inventions and inventors you just grow up knowing about – Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone, Thomas Edison and the lightbulb (even though he really just improved upon it). But there are a lot of inventions lurking out there that you didn’t learn about in your elementary school history and science books – inventions from geniuses known for other creations and discoveries, and inventions from people you didn’t expect to be inventors at all. Here are a few of them.
This is a fascinating article. Among the inventions: Marlon Brando had patents to tune drums, Thoreau invented raisin bread, Margaret Thatcher helped invent soft serve ice cream and Zeppo Marx owned the company that built the clamps that held the atomic bomb in the Enola Gay.
Unexpected Inventions from Unexpected People
Who reads which paper:
1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.
3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.
4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.
5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country -- if they could find the time -- and if they didn't have to leave Southern California to do it.
6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a poor job of it, thank you very much.
7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
8. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who is running the country, as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.
10. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure if there is a country or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country, or galaxy, provided of course, that they are not Republicans.
11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.
Meowmania
Click anywhere on the page to get a new "meow".
Finally, I've found something to annoy the Beej when he annoys me.
Hat tip to Joanne over at I Have Seen the Whole of the Internet
Using your browser URL history to estimate gender
Use the tool at the above link to see if you can be profiled by sex according to your browser history.
According to the comments below the article and analyzer, this thing is pretty accurate. As is often the case, I bring down the average.
My browsing history:
Site Male-Female Ratio
youtube.com 1
wikipedia.org 1.08
amazon.com 0.9
facebook.com 0.83
blogger.com 1.06
imdb.com 1.06
washingtonpost.com 1.15
foodnetwork.com 0.63
drudgereport.com 2.08
hotmail.com 0.83
nfl.com 1.5
excite.com 1.13
startsampling.com 0.32
dallascowboys.com 1.56
megamillions.com 1.27
angieslist.com 0.77
wiley.com 0.89
I had just checked angieslist after seeing an advert on TV (no listings for this area) and had plugged in "wiley" into the address bar to check the spelling for a previous post. (It's spelled "wily", duh) I had also checked the Mega Millions site because I had a ticket for the $200 million+ jackpot. (and as hard as it was to get into the site, so did 200 million other people) The rest of the sites I visit nearly every day.
My results:
Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 54%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 46%
So I guess this means if I want to get in touch with my feminine side, I won't have to go very far.
vamoose\va-MOOS\ , verb;
1. To leave hurriedly or quickly; decamp.
2. To leave hurriedly or quickly from; decamp from.
You Are Wise |
 You enjoy a good book. You like to get lost in someone else's world for an afternoon. You are a deep thinker and a flexible person. You are open to new ideas and to change. You are very upstanding and honest. You do your best to be true to yourself. Brainy and knowledgeable, you are very independent. You have a lot to be proud of, but you're not a showoff. |
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