I have to go to Wal-Mart and pick up some milk, a bobbin for my sewing machine, get a pedicure, oil change, and maybe buy a fish to keep me company..

Just a post with no real central thought, but instead some random drivel. Hope everyone had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving, I did...

I got up this morning surprised at how warm it was, so I went to the wall thermostat and clicked it off (and down a couple of notches for good measure). A little later, after a quick meal and a shower, I stepped outside to go and run some errands. Instead of the usual cold, biting and stinging, making my hands numb, and making me wish I'd have worn something I had not...It was WARM. So warm in fact I turned right around and went back inside the house to leave my jacket behind. I even thought about changing shirts to one a bit cooler. Hard to believe it's November. I know I live in Tennessee and it's not the coldest state in the States, but even here it's never this warm. I guess it's just another thing to be thankful for (like pocket Aces when you get lots of pre-flop action) to keep in the spirit of this holiday.

After the warm start of the day...I proceeded to do one of the most necessary and dreaded things I do each week...go to Wal-Mart. I truly did like shopping better pre-Wal-Mart when you had grocery stores, department stores, shoe stores, specialty stores, and on and on. I know it's not as convenient, but there is something about the atmosphere and feel to those places that provided a strange appeal for me. Unfortunately my deeply non-conformist self has had little chance but to give in and be assimilated into the devoutly devoted masses that worship (shop at least) at the Temple of Wal-Mart. If there isn't a Wal-Mart within 20 minutes of another Wal-Mart there soon will be. I think that stat is in the rules guide for determining where to buy the land and build the next one. With what Wal-Mart brings to the given community ($$$) comes more power than Carlos Casteneda hopped up on fresh peyote buttons and his animal guide/spirit to boot. Aside: I know it takes discipline (lots) and I have never really tried...the only animal spirit I have contacted on peyote is the neighbors cat who came over to snuggle with me while I lay on the front lawn pretending the Zodiac star alignments were melting and dripping star stuff on the earth that would lead to a breakthrough in mineral research, and allow the world to produce energy with minimal effort and cost. If only peyote trips were true. Looks like I forgot where I was or where I was going with this, which I did, but it doesn't matter as I wasn't planning a direction. I guess my point is that we have forsaken neighbor to neighbor business interaction (albeit with a little effort) in exchange for the corporate low cost cost ease of getting everything all at once, without trips to multiple establishments. Shopping for vitamins...Wal-Mart, shopping for spark plugs...Wal-Mart...shopping for the latest DVD...Wal-Mart, as well as...shopping for butter...Wal-mart, H2o Wal-Mart, underwear (boxers or briefs...I am mainly a boxers man, although I used to be briefs until I found the comfort of boxers...TMI, I know), etc..., rinse, lather, repeat! I really didn't plan to go on ranting about the unfortunate reality of omni-stocked, be-all, end-all stores, but I guess I lost control. Don't worry, my psychotherapist will analyze it for the both of us, and after I find it this rant was linked to the time I broke a shoelace in the second grade on the playground at recess and had to get my dad to bring me a replacement, then surely I can begin to gently push this traumatic episode out, and go on functioning like a normal, fucked-up person that I am. I do not mean to poke fun at the problems that force someone in to psychotherapy, so please forgive if you are offended. Enough about al that...BTW...I got all my stuff uneventfully (groceries and what were previously department/specialty stores) and returned home safely.

quickies...

- Talk about upsets, USF (University of Southern Florida, even though this makes little sense since they are in Tampa,, which is NOT southern, but more central...I digress) pulled out a win over a very talented West Virginia team...maybe WVU were looking past this game or just bummed about their first loss, this is a game they should have taken down. For those who had money wagered on USF, congrats. You should be eating well tonight.

- In Gatlinburg, TN. ( a "touristy", romantic getaway in the Smokie mountains, about an hour or so from my living quarters), a big family was enjoying a reunion of sorts and decided they would snap a picture for remembrance. They proceeded to organize on the steps of their 2nd story cabin and before the picture could be snapped even...the stairs collapsed sending 11 of them to the hospital, 5 fairly seriously, and all of them with scrapes, bumps and bruises.

- I have lots of shopping to do as I am not an organized, plan-ahead, or motivated Christmas shopper. Thankfully the only really important items I need (am bound by a endless heart felt love) to get are thos for my 2 daughters. At least that make out a very long and extensive list of what they want, exactly, and provide it to me as a road map. The shopping will get done, even if I take the short road, and order the majority of the items off the Internet.

- people are paying more for treats for their pets than it costs for a prime rib, drinks, and 2 appetizers at . Unreal!!!

- Dick Cheney is a crook, and his daughter is a lesbian (not that ther's anything wrong with that). I used to date a recovering lesbian, and I liked her very much!!! Still do to this day, though she is married and just had a baby now. Congrats HLN!

I guess that is enough for now, as they say down here in the South (although I don't, as I'm not from here...I still love it though) Take it easy y'all, don't be a stranger.