Missy’s Neighborhood

I couldn't resist....

Night Elf Druid

Night Elves are the sexiest of the bunch.  They're the hot flower children of Warcraft: at one with nature, and dancing all the while. As a druid, you tend to be relaxed and accepting - though if there is something you don't want to do, then you won't do it - simple as that.  You're an easygoing and versatile person.

Find out your real-life WoW race and class at QuizGalaxy.com

San Diego Zoo
Originally uploaded by joce5623.

My nephews and niece are the cutest!

The boys are turning 7 this summer! The oldest niece is turning 8!

I'll stop right there before I really freak out! hee hee

Hope everyone had a great July 4th.

S/O and I joined my brother's family and friends for a picnic at the beach.  We went to a beach on the North East shore of Oahu where my brother used to take me to go body surfing when we were kids.  My brother now takes his children to the same place to take them body surfing.  My nieces and nephew are now 20, 11, 8, and 7 and they are all water babies.  I played in the surf with the seven and eight year old and they have no fear of waves or surf at all.  It was great!  What a nice way to spend a day!

I like fireworks shows, but I don't care much for huge thronging crowds so I tend not to go to whatever the "big" July 4th show is wherever I'm living. BUT!! Every 4th, I remember one particular fireworks show that'll be hard to beat...:

I think it was 1994 - something like that. I was living about a 5-minute walk from the ocean, in fact from the longest pier off the island, so the annual July 4th fireworks were always set off from the end of it, about 100 yards out from the shore. On the spur of the moment, I decided to go, figuring that if I wasn't liking the crowd, I could just walk home.

Got to the beach early enough to stake out a good spot, right at the edge of the water (having checked to make sure high tide wasn't due during the show!). Because I was so close, and because of the direction of the wind that night, most of the fireworks seemed to be going off right over my head.

fireworks overhead

This was before the advent of fireworks synchronized to music, so it was about 15 minutes of fireworks with traditional music being played on huge speakers. I spent that time with my head thrown back, with a huge goofy grin plasterd across my face, watching the show directly overhead, 360 degrees.

I can't remember what they call them, but you know those huge fireworks that blossom like chrysanthemums and then rain down in all directions? Those were the BEST. It was like I was right in the middle of them, completely surrounded by them, instead of watching them. It was extremely cool.

And then, when it was over, and the crowd began the shuffle back to their cars and the long waits in line to get out onto the road... I walked home. ~8)

For the record, in addition to being grateful every day for what so many people are doing to ensure my continuing freedom, I'm an absolute sucker for the celebratory aspects of July 4th, especially the traditional songs. I can't get through "You're a Grand Old Flag" or "God Bless America" without choking up. I will stay up till 1AM tonight to watch "Pops Goes the 4th" from Boston, because my city's fireworks show has attained some status of its own and now pre-empts the live broadcast from the Boston Esplanade. I love my home town, but nothing beats the Pops on Independence Day.

I'll watch the whole show in anticipation of "Stars and Stripes Forever", the moment that huge flag unfurls overhead at the crescendo of "Stars and Stripes Forever", and when it does, I'll tear up and I'll smile and I'll wonder for the millionth time how I got so lucky to be born an American and whether I'm doing enough to deserve it.

Black and Gold

Sam Sparro

Happy 4th of July! Or Happy Friday! which every applies to you and yours. I am being completely lazy today though I might take a walk to get some ice cream because it's perfect ice cream weather.

Have you heard this song "Black & Gold" by Sam Sparro. I have been loving this song and had no idea who it was until the dear Miss Felicious helped me out :) HURRAY! Now I can dance it out in my studio. Love it!

Enjoy! (check out the whole album too! it's great!)

03 Black & Gold

Sam Sparro

Kat, a pal of mine from high school just started dating a Major in the army and he recently returned from Iraq.  She's put together a pretty cool blog of her trip to Salina, Kansas to welcome he and is unit back from their yearlong deployment in Iraq.  Check it out here. 

Two members of her Major's unit, however, didn't make it back from their deployment.  About them, Kat writes: 

Two other members who trained with Mick were also killed in combat.  In January, the advisers were attacked by insurgents in Diyala Province and CPT. Thomas Casey and MAJ. Andrew Olmsted were killed.  MAJ. Olmsted had been writing a blog for the Colorado Rocky Mountain News and had a friend post his final blog in the event he was killed.  For a very honest and poignant view of the war from a soldier’s perspective, please read his farewell message at  livepage.apple.com     (andrewolmsted.com)

Major Olmsted's final blog entry is very much worth a read.  I second Kat's plea to read his farewell message some time over this Fourth of July weekend.  

S/O and I took our house guest out to Pearl Harbor to visit the Arizona Memorial yesterday.  Although I suspect that it is a pretty common thing that when you grow up and live in a city you tend not to visit the "tourist" attractions in your locale, I'm still embarrassed to admit that the last time I went to visit the Arizona Memorial was back in the fifth grade when my class visited on one of our field trips for the year. 

I have to say, the National Park Service has made a trip to the Arizona Memorial and Museum a very worthwhile experience.  Upon arriving at the visitors' center, you are given a ticket that gets you in to a small theater where a movie about the events of December 7, 1941 are explained and then onto a launch that takes you out to the Memorial itself.  Since they regulate the number of people that are out on the Memorial at any one time, we had to wait about an hour before our scheduled movie showing which is just about the perfect amount of time to walk through and look at the exhibits in the museum.  The upshot is that in about seventy-five minutes you get a very nice overview of the attack on Pearl Harbor and you get to visit the Memorial to pay your respects.  For me, personally, it was enough information, but not overwhelming.  I thought it to be a wonderfully planned experience for the average visitor. 

It must have been our lucky day, because we leisurely made our way out to Pearl Harbor, parked the car and walked into the visitors' center at about 2:20 in the afternoon where we received the VERY LAST THREE TICKETS of the day. In addition to that, the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk was docked right across the channel from where the launches to the Memorial were loading so we got a great view of a currently commissioned aircraft carrier.  According to S/O who has, apparently taken MANY visitors there over the years, the fact that a currently commissioned aircraft carrier was docked right across the channel was rather unusual as he had never seen one there in his previous visits. 

I think that visiting historical memorials is one of those things that you probably enjoy a lot more as an adult, than as a fifth grader.  As a fifth grader, I remember being excited about riding the boat and dropping our memorial lei on the water out at the Memorial, but that was about it.  I think that the meaning of it all will stick with me a bit better this time around.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

sweaters for two-headed men (click to view on Flickr)

ink & watercolour, 8x10 inches (SOLD)

I am not addicted to these YouTube Videos.

Now back to my ACDC/M&M programming. Enjoy!