Are you this Jelly? The Jelly below me______ Part 66.

Coffee? Is this question about me?

TJBM is so vain, they think the song is about them.

False. That woman freaks me out. I think she opens paint cans with her teeth.
TJBM always forgets to close the front door behind them.

No, but I forget to take out the trash.

TJBM will say “goodbye” to my old friend in my avatar that went to the great goose heaven last night at 20 years of age.

Ah! Finally…
Oh God Marwyn died? I’m so sorry, you and him were so close… Goodbye…
TJBM can feel sad when an animal dies.

Sweet old Marwyn is still kicking – it’s Sonora that passed.

I still miss old Bub, who was a dear old gray-bearded pit bull/rottweiler mix when he passed away at the ripe old doggy age of twelve. We think of him whenever we see a Monarch butterfly – it seemed like they were drawn to him. We have several pictures of Bub reclining in the backyard with a butterfly sunning itself on his back.

Our young pup, Russell, is a pit bull and Dachshund mix, and he has so many of Bub’s good qualities. The main difference is that Russell is very much a baby where Bub was always the Alpha In Charge. Russell isn’t going to protect the family from that shifty ol’ deliveryman like Bub did, but he does have a great way of cuddling into people (or other dogs at the dog-park!) to get them to stop play-fighting.

TJBM will tell a story of their favourite pet.

It was my wife’s cat, a truly exceptional animal and an uncanny judge of people. She had him for 5 years brfore I met her, and I thought it was all over because cats make me sneeze like crazy. But it turned out that I had not one single allergic reaction to him in 10 years of remarkable adventures. For years after he died, both the wife and I swore we could spy him gliding around the house from the corner of an eye. That cat would kill anything that moved and our house was absolutely bug free. TJBM has noticed that this is the srcond goose to undertake the great migration from a life of luxuriant and pampered existence with Coloma RIP

Haha, thanks stanley, yep, love those guys bunches and your kitty sounds awesome. I have 2 pussy cats too. What was his name?

TJBM wants to know what @stanleybmanly cats name was, AND, they want to know just what a Dachshund and Pit Bull mix looks like anyway?

Mr. Kitty, but he had nicknames like “Big Grey” and “the rug” TJBM is very curious about the Pit bull-weenie dog mix

This is Russell with his boy. He’s basically a mutant Dachshund, or a pit bull with 6-inch legs, depending on how you look at it.

He did get the best of both breeds, I think. Very mellow, but playful. Of course, as a hunter/terrier mix, he’s far too deadly to cuddle

TJBM is now satisfied with their knowledge of weird puppy breeds.

Yes, wow, I was picturing a wiener dog with a pit bull head or an extra long pit bull. haha Awww….too cute, both of them!

TJBM likes basset Hounds.

They are cute indeed but I prefer hound dogs
The Jelly below me loves swimming in the ocean

Yes, and body surfing.
TJBM has a pair of surf shorts.

Actually I do. They are green with pink flowers. I used to be a little surfer girl back in the day when I lived in San Diego. @Cruiser, good song!

TJBM likes blackberries with vanilla yogurt. Oh man…my favorite easy dinner.

Not my favorite. Actually remember eating yogurt with prune whip on the USC campus with my uncle and aunt in 1957.

TJBM remembers going to a restaurant before they were 10.

Yes. We lived in a small town, and occasionally we would have to go to a larger town nearby to see the doctor or dentist. On those occasions we would always be treated to a restaurant meal

TJBM remembers.

What I did a second ago: typing.
TJBM forgets.

I will never forget Prune Whip, lol

TJBM has now developed a fear of Prune Whip,

Sounded disgusting, I looked it up, it looks disgusting. Ew.

TJBM has unknowingly enjoyed a justin beiber song.

No one will fess up to that! TJBM disagrees

I guess I do disagree—can’t fess up if you don’t know! But also I don’t disagree, because I honestly haven’t enjoyed a Justin Beiber song, therefore, still no one is fessing up. But egah, I am so out of it with pop music that I’m not a reliable sample.

TJBM will sing a Justin Beiber song for us all!
or: TJBM will make up a word and use it in a sentence.

Since my kids are both grown, I haven’t a clue to a single Bieber tune. Can someone list a good one that I can check out on youtube? And the word? How about Beiberiffic? TJBM is Beiberfied.

Here is Sorry by Bieber. I have no idea if it is his best. It is one of his most recent, and seems self descriptive in a number of ways.ather find a rabid beaver
I am in no way Beiberfied!
TJBM would rather find a rabid beaver at their front door than a sorry ass Bieber.

I may be, but my classmates would prefer the latter.
TJBM is still a Believer (Bieber fan)

Never was a “Belieber”. Even my 16-year-old seems to have grown past it. Now it’s “K-Pop!”

TJBM has been to a concert recently.

Aye, but nothing Beiber related at all.

I saw Atheist, Trouble, Corrosion of Conformity, Obituary, Deicide, and Malevolent Creation just recently at the first-ever Florida Metal Fest. It was the first time Atheist had played live in something like 18 years. I’m looking forward to hanging out with those guys again.

TJBM has also been to a concert recently.

Itzhak Perlman, Ruth Eckerd Hall.
The Jelly below me saw the Beatles in concert.

No, but I saw McCartney & Wings in Phoenix. They were great!

TJBM likes licorice.

Actually, no. Red licorice but not a fan of black.

TJBM is greeting the day, slowly. haha

Yes. Stomach virus on a rainy day.
TJBM always paints in bright colors.

True, I;m a colorful girl. soory you’re sick @Espiritus_Corvus Gah…if I were close I’d bring you soup. haha

TJBM knows a replica of the Titanic is going to sail in 2018.

False but I am now interested
TJBM has a scarf on

False. I am still in my Eeeyore jammy bottoms with a pink long sleeved top on and black and pink socks and my wacky green framed and checkered reading glasses. A morning vision. lol

TJBM is a vision too beautiful for earthly eyes.

I’ve been called “other-worldly”, but I don’t think it’s quite the same.

TJBM has had “other-worldly” experience(s).

Indeed! When I was five, in the middle of a cavity removal, the doctors were replaced with aliens who started examining my mouth. I thought it was cool until I realized I couldn’t feel fear, and then I started to conceptually panic. I have very strong reactions to nitrous oxide. It’s not fun.

TJBM has something/knows something that is out of this world

Yes, my dear departed Sonora is now out of this world.

TJBM is off and running, without a plan, just running. lol

No running, just late.

TJBM can and will link to the cutest little beach shack.

Haha…overlap posting, no, not late, off and running, but no method to my madness.
THAT is mind blowing!

TJBM has a method to their madness.

Always, but it’s not often revealed even to me.

Now. TJBM can link to the cutest little beach shack on the net.

Well…not exactly shacks, but these are super cool! I have always wanted to stay in a glass bottomed beach hut.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqFaO8HeHMk

TJBM will stop and smell the ragweed today.

Interesting thought. I wonder how far I’d need to travel to locate a patch of the stuff. Let me google. That stuff’s official name is “Ambrosia” if you can believe it, and there are a bunch of varieties of the stuff. Now that I’ve had a look, I’ll keep an eye open when I pass one of the 2 or 3 vacant lots left in the city. Or maybe the parks. Neither of those will be today. Don’t know what Coloma’s been smoking, but this is her show & I’m quite willing to pass the onerous assignment on to TJBM

I didn’t smell the ragweed today, it’s still too cold here. But I was outside today, cleaning leaves from the downspouts.

And TJBY?

TJBM (or possibly TJAM) knows what it is like.

To what? Lose? Choose? Sing the blues?

TJBM still kind of giggles at the sound effects on the radio edit of that song.

What song? haha

TJBM had a nosebleed recently. Gah…horribel, just horrible.

No.
TJBM has a condition as obvious as the nose on their face.

Does baldness count.

TJBM has a road trip planned for a luncheon over the weekend.

No, I am ranch sitting and need to be around for the 11 horses, 4 dogs and the disabled chicken. haha

TJBM has seen the new movie ” The Finest Hour.”

No. Thanks for the recommendation :)
TJBM is looking for some weird movies.

Not exactly. I binge watched season 1 of Better Call Saul (netflix) TJBM has a fabulous weekend ahead

not quite, but might be resting.
TJBM is cold.

No…infact, it was 73 degrees here today and I am sitting around in a tee right now with the door still open at 9 p.m.

TJBM has had a neighbor from hell.

Very very true—the apartment above mine. The guy living directly above me blasts music at all hours of the day, the guy above my roommate one door over drops things all day/practices dribbling bowling balls. It could be worse though—the guys above my other two roommates do the love-making very loudly.

TJBM has a neighbor they adore.

Yes the sheep and lambs in the field
TJBM has just enjoyed a good coffee

Coffee night! How great!
TJBM is immune to coffee.

Bah hahahahaha
hahahaha
hahahahaha

::breathes::

Ha.

Coffee and I are thick as thieves, in only the way a pleasant addiction can be.

TJBM likes their coffee like they like their men.

No, but my wife is just like my coffee…hot, strong, black and sweet!

TJBM is up way too early.

5am this morning. Too early for the way I feel.

TJBM played a musical instrument yesterday.

Yep! Dragged out my (late) brother’s old accordion, recently entrusted to my care. A Hohner®, it was purchased in the fifties; it had not been played since my brother fell ill in the nineties. It is the instrument I learned on, until I got my own circa 1960. Needs some slight maintenance, but it’s in pretty good shape!

TJBM has had something evoke nostalgic memories lately.

Well, constantly, with the Facebook Memories For You Thing.

TJBM just turned another corner in their life.

At least that’s what I think. There have been a lot of things happening to me lately, some good some bad, but they all seem to push me to a big change.
TJBM feels like a growing snake.

Haha…no, I grew to my maximum length about 10 years ago now. I am a mature snake, happy to just digest what I already know.

TJBM is moving like a Tortoise this morning.

Not moving at all. But it ends about now. Gotta get up go out and “fight with the snakes.”
TJBM has visions of pancakes

False, too many carbs, more like visions of yogurt and fruit.

TJBM is trying to keep their girlish figure.

Haven’t worried about my girlish figures since “my girl” had a girlish figure!—And I _still _ love her as much as ever!

TJBM has found their true love, or has dreams of doing so.

My true love is me, and I won’t let her down again.
TJBM is having tacos.

Good idea! I know just the place on the way home. TJBM is contemplating dessert & will now torment us with a description.

No, I haven’t had dinner and haven’t even though about dessert.

TJBM will attend Mass tomorrow with her or his sweetheart before having a nice lunch and some closed bedroom door time.

No girl and no church. The lunch will be thrown at the last moment. But there might be some bedroom moments.
TJBM will be somewheres besides church tomorrow.

Yes. For sure. Probably doing tax stuff.

TJBM isn’t expecting a thing for Valentine’s Day.

A thing? What kind of thing? haha

TJBM knows of what thing @Dutchess_III is talking about?

Maybe it’s the whale in the North Pacific who scientists have been hearing cry out for a mate for the past twenty years. His pitch is too high for other whales to hear him. They call him Mr. Lonely. He probably doesn’t expect anything tomorrow.

TJBM sang a song today.

Actually I did, I sang along to this song in my car today. Great tune.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8jDKlw_iZE

TJBM likes this song too.

Yes I do. Thanks, Coloma.

TJBM is feeling quite positive at the moment.

Yeah! I’m generally a positive-attitude kinda guy, and things are going pretty well for me these days.

TJBM is looking forward to the next few days.

Sure, but no particular reason.
TJBM found a good spot to be immature and do donuts on the ice.shhhh

No donuts but I am having an orange tootsie pop right now. haha

TJBM is a sucker for tootsie pops. get my pun? lol

Suck what?
TJBM sucks.

Haha.. Yes, I suck tootsie pops, suckers.

TJBM will tell us what they hear right now.

A car just passed by, but otherwise I hear this right now… it’s a very quiet evening!

TJBM will rewrite a movie ending that irked them.

At the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey, a giant fetus in a bubble silently floats in space.
Rewrite: 2 disembodied voices:

Dave: So… what was it about, Hal?
Hal: You have to read the book, Dave.
Dave: Can’t you read it to me, Hal?
Hal: Jesus. You’re all the same, you know that?

TJBM saw a really good film recently.

I came home one morning last week around 3AM to find “The Hustler” just starting up. I just love that wonderful film. It’s just a straight up masterpiece in so many ways. TJBM is battle ready to face up to Valentines Day. Soldier on!

Like I already have a lover :/
TJBM doesn’t care about Valentine.

not really
TJBM has heard of Viola Beach.

No, I haven’t.

TJBM is tired of earthquakes where there aren’t supposed to be any.

Haha…no, but I am tired of the summer heat here, I wish I could move somewhere where it never gets over like 82 degrees.

TJBM is wearing purple.

Um, no. Red, yellow, black and green. And toast crumbs.

TJBM is in a good mood about their finances.

A ” good mood” is a bit of a stretch, but I am saving a bit again. Hardly anything to get excited about though after having a nice nest egg forever it is quite pathetic to be excited about a thousand dollars now. haha Oh well..better than zero.

TJBM has undergone a great hardship in the last few years.

For the last 20 years. But it seems to be easing up finally.

TJBM does everyone’s taxes with Turbo Tax.

No, I have always used H&R blockheads. lol

TJBM thinks this country is doomed and wishes they could leave for a remote island.

No, I don’t think it’s doomed.

TJBM is glad football is over.

BINGO! That’s a real BIG bingo with me after all that nightmare Superbowl disruption. What a first class unmitigated pain in the ass that was. TJBM cannot bitch more loudly or frequently than I.

Haha, I could try, but mostly I prefer to bitch silently, to myslef. lol

TJBM is spending their day totally resting and doing no-thing.

Resting with family, and binge watching Avatar—The Last Airbender animated series.

TJBM is or will be binge watching something.

I just finished the first season of Murphy Brown.
TJBM is doing something today from the yesteryears.

I did the washing up by hand. Does that count?
TJBM is looking forward to Monday morning

Well, sort of.

TJBM has tried to live on assorted chocolate candies and peanut brittle all day, and it isn’t working very well.

Haha, not quite—but I have had chocolate and peanuts today!

TJBM finds themself especially talkative today.

Quite the opposite.
TJBM is sad when their holiday is over.

Oh Mimi do you mean Tet? Tell me, does your New year conform to what is known here as the Chinese New year. You know Mimi, we Americans who are old enough are familiar with your holiday for less than happy reasons. Your great general Giap had a lot to do with it.
TJBM will be watching Downton Abbey.

@stanleybmanly yeah, that’s Tet. Almost everything you know about the Chinese New Year can be applied to Tet, with some more things like spring rolls or sticky rice cakes. I don’t have much holiday here, just Tet and my summer holiday.
What abbey?
TJBM loves historical romance.

Well….I read War and Peace, but honestly, I ended up skipping over the War part and just reading the Peace part. There was a lot of historical romance and hysterical sex in those parts.

TJBM thinks people are way too obsessed with sex.

@Dutchess_III—I’ve lusted for you for years!—
NO, not at all!

TJBM thinks we should change the subject.

Whatever floats everyones boat. haha

TJBM is mad at a family member right now.

I am, I think… I’m mad at them for lying to me, although they didn’t mean to—they were lying to themselves, and so lying to me was just a side effect, but I’m still mad. I’m working on it…

TJBM is clipping or painting their nails… anyway something to do with their nails, I am sure!

Biting them. Terrible habit
TJBM has a bad habit

No, all my habits are good; their effects may be bad!

TJBM has some good habits.

I do. I get stuff done whether I feel like it or not. I don’t make excuses. Unless I’m dying. Which I’ve done before. Didn’t get much done then.

TJBM knows that dying for a while, even if you don’t actually die, can wreack heaky on your finances and schedules.

Dying is not conducive to life.

TJBM knows that death is a fact of life.

Yes. Nobody gets out of this alive.

TJBM has no trouble keeping up.

Only when I’m dying.

TJBM has noticed that many die-hard conservatives are starting to think twice about their hard core, erroneous beliefs, thanks to the nut case known as Trump.

Ha. I know. It’s been going on behind the scenes with the conservative intelligencia (Yes, Virginia, there really is one… or two) for weeks now. But Cruz scares them even more. Their dialogue reveals that Cruz is a loose cannon, a true outsider, untested and therefore untrustworthy. Trump scares them a bit, but at least he shares a common interest with them and they think he is really popular among the greater masses. They’ll back him in the final stretch if they have to, but who they reallyreallyreally want is Bush who is not performing as he should for some reason. Lo siento, little bro, they cannot afford to back a lame horse, even if he is the favorite.

Rubio is young, true blue Republican and on the right path, but also doing poorly. I think some would risk backing him if Bush and Trump didn’t work out. There are no other candidates as far as the conservative powerlords are concerned.

They must win this one and win big, like they did with Reagan so they can show the libs that resistance is futile. On the other hand, in a pinch, I don’t believe they fear Hillary as much as the press leads on. She is corrupt and corrupt they understand. She just happens to be in the wrong party. And she is certainly more attractive than Bernie and he is what scares the living shit out of them. Nobody believes he will win, but his popularity reveals a strong leftist-populist trend among the unwashed previously underestimated and not seen since Adlai Stevenson in ‘48. Not even McGovern was this far left. Bernie is the elephant in the room. They don’t talk about him much, but it is he to whom they are reacting. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t even consider someone like Trump.

I still think that they will fix whatever the hell is wrong with their boy Bush and it will come down to Bush and Hillary next summer. And I don’t think there will be any substantial changes in the following four years. If Hillary wins and OMG suddenly gets late-stage statesmanshipmania, she will be stymied just like Obama has been stymied. If Bush wins, he will maintain the status quo and there will be peace on Pennsylvania Avenue… except possibly for the growls coming from that part of the Senate floor where the Junior Senator from Vermont sits.

TJBM heard guitar music today.

Not yet, but how ‘bout this lovely old tune.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT8zLTaKxeE

TJBM is going to have a date with Jerry and friends tonight.

nope
TJBM would rather hear this tune. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shnrnqx_wsY

That’s a great song too.

TJBM is a fan of 60’s & 70’s rock, some 80’s and most of the 90’s.

I’d say more like some of the 90’s, rather than most. The 90s gave us Aerosmith doing movie soundtracks. No bueno.

TJBM is a punk rocker.

I’m playing with rock!
TJBM is sleeping.

Yes I sleep fluther and now self medicate to keep my condition under control.
TJBM sings this song
doo dah doo dah

Jelly race is five miles long
Oh, doo dah day…

TJBM is going to bet their money on the bob-tailed nag.

But who’ll bet on the bay? On a five-mile racetrack!

TJBM knows other 19th century songs.

Of course. My favorite is Wor Geordie’s lost his penka

TJBM hates it when they lose their penka.

Yea, last time it happened to me, I had to ram me klaes prop right up the koondy!

TJBM hates it when they have to ram their klaes prop up their koondy.

Why do we always wind up in the gutter, people??!!

I kinda do hate that, unless the toilet is overflowing. Then I have no choice.

In the past, TJBM has walked into a room and into a lake where there should be no lake.

The statement confuses me more than I would be in experiencing the actual event. TJBM will selfishly switch the topic back to 19th century tunes.

When I was a kid, 1961 brought a big celebration of the Civil War Centennial. I saved my allowance (I think I got $0.30 a week) until I could afford to buy this album by the Smith Brothers (not to be confused with the cough drops!)

TJBM is confused by cough drops.

True, I’ve never really gotten them, generally a hard candy just makes me want to cough. They also are clearly not “drops”, they are very much solid objects.

TJBM only buys the jumbo size of tic tacs.

Nah. Druther have sum Goober Peas.
TJBM is gonna be about an hour and a half to answer, because they are brushing up on their history.

Nae! The bonny wee barra’s mine
It doesny belang tae O’Hara
Cause the fly wee bloke, he stuck tae ma rock
And ah’m gaunny stick tae his barra

TJBM wants to continue with the theme of Old Song times.

Well, I’m sick in the head and I haven’t been to bed since first I came ashore with me plunder. But I spent all me tin on the lassies drinking gin and my boots are looking out for better weather.

TJBM also has only sung that song while actually drunk and thus also can never remember the lyrics in the right order.

‘tis all for me grog, me noggin noggin grog…

Ah, no. But I did sing this one the other night, in a proper cockney drawl, while sipping black rum:

Come gather round and listen lads, and hear me tell m’ tale,
How across the sea from England I was condemned to sail.
The jury found me guilty, and then says the judge, says he,
Oh for life, Jim Jones, I’m sending you across the stormy sea.
But take a tip before you ship to join the iron gang,
Don’t get too gay in Botany Bay, or else you’ll surely hang.
Or else you’ll surely hang, he says, and after that, Jim Jones,
Way up high upon yon gallows tree, the crows will pick your bones.

Our ship was high upon the seas when pirates came along,
But the soldiers on our convict ship were full five hundred strong;
They opened fire and so they drove that pirate ship away
But I’d rather joined that pirate ship than gone to Botany Bay.
With the storms a-raging round us, and the winds a-blowing gales
I’d rather drowned in misery than gone to New South Wales.
There’s no time for mischief there, remember that, they say
Oh they’ll flog the poaching out of you down there in Botany Bay.

Day and night in irons clad we like poor galley slaves
Will toil and toil our lives away to fill dishonored graves;
But by and by I’ll slip m’ chains and to the bush I’ll go
And I’ll join the brave bushrangers there, Jack Donahue and Co.
And some dark night all is right and quiet in the town,
I’ll get the bastards one and all, I’ll gun the floggers down.
I’ll give them all a little treat, remember what I say
And they’ll yet regret they sent Jim Jones in chains to Botany Bay.

Aye, the crows will pick yer bones. This fine drinking shanty was recently disinterred by Quentin Tarantino when he inserted it into The Hateful Eight at about 1:20.

TJBM knows another good one.

Everybody must sing!
TJBM has dated low class sometime, and will share their tale of woe in song.

No I haven’t, so no I won’t.

TJBM will not admit that they shoplifted during the teen years.

Not in my teens, no. I did have a fleeting fascination with it in my early 20s. Very small stuff. I’d go in and buy whatever I was going to buy and also leave with a tube of lipstick in my pocket or a packet of sewing needles or whatever. Everything I’ve ever stolen on purpose probably adds up to less than $40. Not counting pirated music and movies, because duh.

TJBM would make a great pirate.

I don’t like anything about pirates, even boats on the ocean. I couldn’t go without showers either.

TJBM found a four-leaf clover when he or she was younger.

You will wait for that one

Has Stanley had some sort of break down? :)

Only in opitmism. Four leaf clovers rare.

OK, I’m nudging you to finish your turn…......................

TJBM _____________________________

Will take @stanleybmanly turn.

TJBM will share a deep dark secret.

Yes…but you’ve got to promise never to tell! There was a black cat in my coal bin at midnight!

TJBM will expose someone else’s deep dark secret.

I don’t know anyone with a deep, dark secret, at least that has ever been confessed to me, haha

TJBM has no skeltons in their closet.

Just look at my closet. See? No skeleton. Why do I have to hide a skeleton in a closet?
TJBM is a grave digger.

Sort of? I’m a bone collector. Sometimes I make crafts from the bones, and some I have taking up space on a shelf. Most of my bones are roadkill, or discovered by my husband under houses on construction sites.

TJBM has a morbid hobby.

While we wait for Seek to finish her response.

I walk through graveyards, read the stones and wonder what their lives were like. I’ve done this since I was a kid. The older, the better. Europe was a gold mine for this and some of the places were magnificent. There were ancient runes. There were old castle graveyards. There were small, but beautiful churches in the middle of nowhere in the countryside, hundreds years old with beautiful churchyard.

In the basements of even the smallest country church, the village around it having turned to dust, there were crypts of the important family members of the area. The people inside them were carved in life-size relief on the stone tops. Knights in full armor, Ladies in full costume. The commoners were buried outside in the churchyards. In many cultures, the person’s trade or profession was listed on the stone with the vital datum. Sven Bjornsson, ship’s carpenter, 1841 – 1887. Ingela Ek, Barnmorska (midwife), 1732 – 1758. On a cliff overlooking the island of Ven, in the middle of the Oresund Strait between Denmark and Sweden there was a little churchyard, the church long gone. There was a double stone right at the edge over the village below. It read Anna and Maja Stromberg, Twins, Deaf and Dumb, died in a storm with their father, a fisherman. 1872 – 1879. They are together and with God.

The Burial Ground in Boston Common was interesting. The American casualties from the Boston Massacre are there, as are some from Bunker Hill. They have a little area where they buried the British occupational soldiers. The enemy, buried with dignity. I noticed in one part a whole bunch of small gravestones. All the dates of death were in the spring and fall of 1721. They were all infants. Small Pox. Not far away, another patch of little ones. 1802. Typhoid.

Anyway, I this some weird affinity with graveyards, the archetecture, histories. I like to cypher out the stories. They are like the museums of free admission. Museums of the common man. OK, enough.

TJBM saw something strange today.

No, that was yesterday when I f0und a cool species of snake I have never seen before here.

@Espiritus_Corvus I love old graveyards too…have you ever been to Fiddletown cemetery, full of of pioneer graves, one of my favorite gold country cemeteries.

TJBM likes old cemeteries.

Oh yes. Sometimes they make me cry. I look for the oldest graves, and fantasize about the lives, how they may have ended, and what the town may have been like at the time. I once saw a terribly tiny grave. The baby lived only days. Her stone was small, with a flower engraved below her name, and otherwise plain. Next to her was the grave of her mother, who’d lived only a few weeks beyond giving birth to her daughter. Her husband on her other side, had survived decades beyond his wife and baby. I wept for his loss.
TJBM will lighten the mood.

Cemeteries… The tiny grave reminds me of a story often cited as Hemingway’s: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” I haven’t spent much time in cemeteries myself (all my relatives are out of state), but passing by them is a somber experience.

Okay, I will try to lighten the mood.

When my grandpa was in the hospital after a hernia surgery, my dad kept telling him jokes, for some reason thinking (or not thinking) laughing would make someone with a recent stomach surgery feel better. My grandpa was saying “ow! ow! stop it, it hurts!” so my dad got very serious and said, “Okay. No more laughing. Think of dead nuns.”

For whatever reason that sent them both into minutes of silent convulsive laughter.

… If we’re looking for “light and airy,” I hear there’s this great question about farts… Or maybe that’s the wrong sense, maybe I smell it?

Hmm…. TJBM will do a less clumsy job at lightening the mood

Lighter
TJBM has a wonderful fictional place they go to to dream.

I have a lot. Too bad I can’t go back after one visit.
TJBM never gets old.

Uh… I would agree to that right up to last August. I seem to have hit some kind of wall. Recovery time is slower. Less energy in the afternoon. I’ve belatedly hit middle age, the ol’ back stretch. Hmmm. I guess it had to happen someday.

TJBM has a blog.

No, only what I write here and Facebook
TJBM visited a theme park last year

Gosh, no. I can’t remember the last time I visited a theme park. I usually write my own stories.

TJBM is dependable.

Depends on the person in need. Wait, did I say “depends”?
TJBM is preparing for something evil.

Preparing to suffer or initiate something evil? TJBM is also confused.

A little.
TJBM has played in the hay.

Yes, literally and figuratively.

TJBM has accomplished something literally that they set out to achieve figuratively.

Ummmm…. Well, I said “fuck this day, I’m going to drink gin and take a bath” and then I drank gin and took a bath so yeah, I guess?

TJBM is also flunkering because being comfortably numb is better than arguing with a broken record

Haha…not really numbing myself but yeah, I am butting heads with my daughters brickish brain right now. lol
TJBM has eaten somewhere off the wall today. I had lunch at a little 50’s burger shack called, are you ready? Whitey’s Jolly Kone LMAO! The onion rings were amazing!

I had fish & chips at a place in Pacifica that I always wanted to try. The place is always busy so I thought I would see why. Well everything inside is British including condiments. Fish & chips 10 bucks. They do take American money. Before ordering, I asked the question. “Am I allowed to choose cod or haddock? The very American counter girl answered “pollock” It’s what I expected. The fat fries were better than I expected, crunchy exteriors and the fish was cooked perfectly in a tasty batter. The portions of both fish & fries were generous. I’ll go there again.
TJBM knows the score

TJBM wishes they could taste all exotic food.

Not really. I like simple foods that I can identify and know where they come from and that they are cooked correctly. I’m really a lot of fun for a restaurant dining partner. I’m more than hard to please.

TJBM secretly would love to have a romantic fling with a beautiful South American.

Not really. I think I’m beyond that stage in my life…
TJBM has passed a life milestone recently

I think so. I also think I’m passing another milestone. It seems that life is preparing something big for me.
TJBM doesn’t care for the future.

No, I care big time. But I’m also able to hand some things off to the next generation rather than let them get to me like they used to. A lot of things are their problem now. I’m enjoying my retirement, so don’t bother me and get the fuck off my lawn.

TJBM didn’t get enough sleep last night.

Yes. Insomnia seems to be a more frequent visitor than in the past.

TJBM has a frequent visitor.

Yes, and that visitor is apparently “questions for you”
TJBM is considering breakfast

No I’ve just had lunch #GMT
TJBM has circumnavigated the earth

Many times, in a virtual sense, but actually, no.

TJBM has been to the next level.

I certainly thought so during the four five times I dropped acid, but there’s no way to really tell. I think the method best used to get to the next level of enlightenment is yoga and meditation. The positive effects are longer lasting, less taxing and there’s no downside.

TJBM can find and cite firm, contemporaneous, extra-biblical evidence of the Egyptian enslavement of the Jews as described in the books of the Torah and the Old Testament.

Maybe, but that’s research for another time. Good weather’s calling! I’ve got to get myself back to the garden!

TJBM is going to be gardening soon.

I’m gardening now.
TJBM lives outside of the box.

Yes, I do. I live on a ranch property and house-pet-horse sit and have zero desire to ever market myself ” out there” ever again. haha

TJBM does not like the modern game of life.

Perhaps, but the lessons of time and questionable habit of introspection have left TJBM with the realization that the game has always been a bitch.

Quite true.

TJBM needs a lube job to get their joints moving this morning.

No, not at all. I took sugar out of my diet and the difference is amazing. I do eat Raisin Bran (which has sugar on the raisins) and an occasional cinnamon toast). It was hard and I was extremely sick for nine days. Withdrawal is very real. Of course, I ate a tremendous amount of sugar on a daily basis. I’m much better now.

TJBM subscribes to a newspaper from a distant city.

I stopped buying newspapers years ago.
TJBM prefers the internet.

No, I like to read from paper. Looking at a lighted screen gets miserable fast. I much rather sit on my lanai with a book, magazine, or newspaper.

TJBM has tickets for a performance and hasn’t felt this excited in a long time.

Mary Poppins in April!!
TJBM likes to go fly a kite

Yesterday would have been a perfect day, with gusts up to 50 mph!

TJBM is used to dealing with high winds this time of year.

Rogerrr that, Strauss. I live atop a ravine that funnels relatively mild ocean breezes up my hill. By the time they arrive, they are often gale force.

TJBM takes life easy.

It’s been a long time since I’ve flown a kite. When the kids were little, we would build 5 foot box kites with fabric faces and fly them using 30 pound test fishing line. The kites would hang at home over the stair well, but we’d always wind up giving them away to some poor soul who fell in love with them. You could tell who they were by their determination in devising ways to transport the monsters.
TJBM should addressthe crow’s statement.

That’s my objective, though I have a lot going on I do get down time in the middle and think our work ethic is over rated. Everyone should stop and smell the roses.

TJBM can’t figure out a banking error this morning. WTF, I don;t get it. lol

Give it to me! I’ll figure it out!

TJBM actually has some free time today.

For a few hours right now yes. @Dutchess_III figured it out. PITA. haha

TJBM has lost weight recently. Yay..I can fit back into some of my smaller clothes again.

Yes, but most of it was muscle.

Harper Lee died today. TJBM is sad about this.

Not any more sad than I am about other iconic deaths in recent months.

TJBM loves hot baths on cold days.

Baños? We don’ need no stinkin’ baños!

TJBM hasn’t changed the oil in like forever.

If you mean in the car, it’s been three weeks.

TJBM expects to die young.

Too late and changing the oil in the vehicles is the one thing I do with religious dependability.
TJBM has more pleasant thoughts than death

Red wine thoughts at the moment. It is wine o’clock after all
TJBM likes a tipple

I’ve no idea what that might be.

TJBM had an argument today and said something he or she regrets.

Not yet. rolling up sleeves wanna give ‘er a go?
TJBM thinks Irish pick fights when feeling bored. ~

Laughing, no. Maybe down at the pub though.

TJBM cringes at the thought of most cold breakfast cereals.

Only because I have a cold-sensitive toothache at the moment. I am a child of the 90s, and fluorescent breakfast cereals comprised about a third of my childhood caloric intake.

TJBM remembers Fruit Brute.

I’ve seen a lot of the neons, but I don’t remember Fruit Brute.

TJBM would rather put their own fruit in their cereal than eat neon-crunchy bits.

Absolutely. My new addiction is vanilla yogurt with chopped walnuts. Amazing!

TJBM thinks the tiny box of cremains I got back today from my darling 20 year old goose in my avatar is quite poignant? The tiny box of Sonora. :-(

<Put hat off with solemn face>
TJBM shows respect.

Sure. Equal amounts to all humans.

TJBM is respected.

I think so. Nobody has spit on me lately.
TJBM has a fireplace.

Yes! One of the requirements when we bought the house 15 years ago.

TJBM is up too early for this Saturday.

Too early indeed. I had lesson today.
TJBM is hoping for the best.

Always! Hope for the best and expect nothing less!

TJBM considers optimism to be one of their areas of strength.

Well these days there’s scant separation between optimism and self delusion. TJBM “hopes for the best, yet expects the worst”.

No, I think it’s better to expect the worst first and then be pleasantly surprised when things go well. haha

TJBM is going to see a movie this weekend.

nope
TJBM likes their state’s lottery.

Sure! I have nothing against it. Still, I’ve never played, and don’t see myself playing any time soon. I guess I’ve got a pleasant acquaintance sort of “like” for the lottery?

There was a podcast episode I listened to, where the entire town pooled their money and bought a bunch of lotto tickets, to split the winnings if they won. And they did! I think. I can’t remember the podcast, though, and I listened to it too long ago to recall many specifics.

TJBM finds gambling exciting. Or gamboling. Either one.

I like both but restrict myself on the wagers
TJBM Predicts the future

Yes at cosmic levels, in high school I predicted 25 coin tosses in a row correctly. That is 33 million to one odds.

TJBM can remember taking a math class junior high on “squares, cubes and higher powers”

Yep, sure do. That was the year I fell behind (discovered girls) and had to spend my Saturdays at the convent doing math or get kicked off the sports program.

TJBM has never washed a window.

Haha…no, I have washed quite a few, infact, the inside of my cars windshield needs a washing but I am procrastinating.

TJBM wishes someone would detail their car for them free of charge.

I don’t have to wish, four times a year when I have service done at the dealership. I ask for a “wash and wax” they also include Armour-all on the inside and outside. No extra charge.

TJBM has painted a car with a compressor and it came out great.

Oh please don’t remind me of the day we sold our car. Bad memory :(
TJBM used to be in a situation when they had to give up a comfort.

Wrong.

TJBM is worried about his or her tax return.

Nope, it’s a long story but no. haha

TJBM had a marathon 3 hour conversation with someone today.

No, it was two weeks ago and it was five hours. It was with a former jelly too. :)

You forgot to ask the next question. haha

TJBM is forgetful.

I would be a big liar if I said I wasn’t.
TJBM has seen a lot of changes here lately and is optimistic.

That is true! Especially with the magnificent duo of @PhiNotPi and @Mariah! Even more lurve to them!! Seems like suddenly we’ve recharged—I haven’t been back many weeks but the first few were pretty quiet, now I can barely keep up with questions between my homework!

TBJM is feeling the lurve

Not really, haha.

TJBM would like to become a show horse photographer.
<—-I took this today of a friends horse that is for sale.—

No, but lovely looking steed.
TJBM likes to watch trotter races.

Sometimes yes, Standardbreds are very nice tempered horses.

TJBM is h-u-n-g-r-y!

Yes! How did you know!—Eating an early dinner though, so I won’t be in a moment

TJBM is caffeinated

Only in the mornings.—We’re having chicken salad sandwiches, green salad and tater tots for dinner here.—-

TJBM had a busy day.

No, but tomorrow I will. I have just been offered another job and I will start tomorrow.
TJBM would like to go to the place in @Coloma‘s photo.

Yes, the Tahoe area is beautiful.

TJBM has gone fishing in Lake Tahoe.

No, but I have fished many other American lakes, including Pyramid lake near there. I’ve also fished the Atlantic. I have fished probably a dozen rivers. You’d think by now I would be pretty good. Mostly I drown worms.
TJBM will tell an exciting fishing story of an excellent catch.

Not really. I fish for food and prefer shell fish, like conch. They aren’t as fast as regular fish. Every once in a blue moon I’‘l bring in a shark. The ones young and dumb enough to get hooked run about four to six feet. I usually cut them loose as they can devastate a deck and anyone who gets in their way. There is much easier pickins out here. You really don’t want to eat too much shark anyway. When someone on board wants shark steaks, I hit it with a bang stick before bringing it over the rail. A bang stick is like a broom handle with a regular 12 gauge charge at the end that goes off when you bang it on a shark’s head. They soon stop thrashing and you can then safely drag them over the gunnel. That’s about as exciting as it gets.

TJBM is looking forward to this afternoon.

that brought me to an abrupt stop. Am I looking forward to this afternoon? I think I’m ready for it, but it’s like a fireman’s gig. You just NEVER know what the day will bring. I need to be fitted for a fkn suit required for an upcoming wedding & I keep putting it off, but it’s gotta be done soon! I’m NOT looking forward to that.
TJBM is relatively free of cares.

Pretty much. I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about shit, that’s for sure.

Boy, I know that one, @stanleybmanly. Big PIA.

TJBM is all excited about the new guy.

Great questions! “The force is strong in this one.”
TJBM once posted an answer to the wrong question

It happens!

TJBM will agree that sh*t happens.

yep, sometimes an avalanche of shit. lol

TJBM has little patience for nutters.

Then I along with you are surely doomed.
TJBM is fascinated with (or is it by?) migrating birds.

Yes. They are fascinating.
TJBM knows that on a dark desert highway…

…..cool wind in my hair, warm smell of colitas rising up through the air…

TJBM has checked out but cannot leave.

gail called
TJBM grows pensive

I grow and grow and grow pensive.

TJBM is stressed out over good things happening and their dog is farting as we speak and stinking up the room.

And I thought I was the only one who blamed the dog!

TJBM always blames the cat.

LOL! The cat made brownies and didn’t clean up the mess!

TJBM would not own a pitbull.

Maybe if it could make brownies.

TJBM knows that TJAM is famous for brownies.

I think everyone has a special brownie recipe, I know I do. lol

TJBM loves pickled cauliflower.

Love? No but I like it
TJBM has tried cornichons

I have no idea what those are…let me look it up…oh, tiny french pickles..sounds great!

TJBM has a tiny french pickle.

How dare you. nice parrot, matey
TJBM is trying to beat me to this answer

And I almost did, but my pickle is neither tiny nor French.

TJBM is in a pickle.

Most of my pickle is that I’m so far away from @Coloma‘s brownies.

TJBM agrees a road trip is in order.

It certainly feels like it. I’ve got traveling shoes really bad right now for some reason.
TJBM is digging all these new questions.

New Irish atheist dude? I’m practically in love.

TJBM agrees.

Man, demi-sexuals are soooo easy.
Yes, he is a godsend. (Oops.)

TJBM wants something different tonight.

As long as it doesn’t involve a conspiracy theory sure, bring it on. lol

TJBM is skeptical of conspiracy theorists mental health. haha

Ye4s, though sometimes conspiracies happen, and then there is a sorting process, or just turn our backs.
TJBM will argue a point into the ground, just to have something to do.

No, my hardcore debating days have faded, I;d rather have peace. haha

TJBM is a peace loving sort. Low noise, low drama, low impact from others.

Definitely. You just described my lifestyle perfectly.

TJBM is interested in ______ at the moment.

Music—What else is there /

TJBM has heard or experienced the music of the spheres.

No. But whenever the phrase pops up those words bounce around in my head, and I wonder where Pythagoras bought his dope. In our household, the ghost of the wife’s cat takes the blame for all the disappearing cookies and brownies. There’s an elegant little crystal box that sits in front of his big portrait photo, and one cookie or brownie from each baking episode is placed within it to appease his restless spirit. It always disappears within a day and neither the wife nor I have ever caught him at it. It’s amazing! The dead cat also gets the credit for broken dishes or glass ware, or whenever we lock ourselves out,etc. “M K did it”
TJBM has beautiful Spring weather.

Oh yes! Just came in from sitting in the sun on the porch in a sun dress. Hovering around 70 something, bright, sunny and an azure blue sky.

TJBM likes spicy brown mustard with horse radish.

Wonder what it tastes like… like horse?
TJBM wonders how @Coloma‘s avatar was made.

Horseradish is a spicy root, usually ground up and spread on other foods. Something like wasabi, but different enough to be it’s own thing. Mustard is a vinegar based sauce made with mustard seeds.

@TJBM and I would both love to hear about the parrot avatar.

I would! I would!

TJBM also wants to know about the parrot!

Aye. If she don’t tell the tale soon, ‘tis mutiny fer this tub. Strauss to the gun lockerrrr and arrrrrm the crew! I’ll take the wheel! Arrrrrrrrg!

TJBM is either with us, or against us!!!!.

I be w’ye, Cap’n Crow!

TJBM is familiar with Old Crow.

I am, but I prefer old goose. lol

TJBM sings this song every morning.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHptn_3RyYE

WELL NOW I WILL!… Hm. I’ll have to buy a toaster.

TJBM doesn’t own something that most people do.

I live in the southern US, and I don’t own a gun. I think that puts me in a minority.

TJBM has too much stuff.

No! There is no such thing as too much stuff I JUST NEED A BIGGER HOUSE!
This is my food song

TJBM has a Twinkie stash.

I’m on a diet
TJBM has a healthy BMI

You know, the thing says I’m actually overweight. Less than 140 lbs, and my bmi is like…. Actually, I forgot the number already. But yes, overweight.

TJBM agrees that BMI a jerk.

Fat is the jerk in my opinion. Why can’t I eat anything like my skinnymalinky husband and have a BMI of 19 like he does??
TJBM enjoys some form of exercise

Yes. Sleep training!
TJBM doesn’t like exercise.

Well, I don’t like the being outside in the heat part, or the shin splints part, or the muscles hurting the next day part. I like the stretching part, but that doesn’t burn too many calories.

TJBM would cut off their belly fat if it wouldn’t bleed.

After about two months of working out every other day or so, you actually get addicted to it. Up till then, it’s like hard labor without the hourly wage.

No, I’ve been lucky in that department. Not drinking beer or eating a lot of sweets help, I think. Being active is a must.

TJBM would like to ________ today.

Eat
TJBM was born on a Monday and is fair of face

Nope, I am Saturdays child, with far to go. haha

TJBM has an owie. I scraped my knucles on concrete yesterday, omg..it hurts so bad.

Hangnails are usually laughed about, but I have one right now, and it seems that finger is bumping everything I come near. It is making me bananas.
TJBM is going to have a banana now.

Banana and Mango. With breakfast granola.

TJBM has a new idea.

I always have new ideas I am just not good at implementing them a lot of the time. haha

TJBM might say they’re a dreamer.

Did I say I love sleeping? And can someone sleep without dreaming?
TJBM will say goodnight to me.

Goodnight Mimi…sweet dreams.

TJBM has a black and blue zebra striped coffee cup.

Mine is white and gold stripes…
TJBM hates Facebook’s new emoticons

Don’t use fb, haven’t seen them, so I don’t know.

TJBM avoids social media (with one of two obvious exceptions).

Except for fluther I don’t do social media. Dropped my FB acct. in 2011 after a year or so. Meh, too much drama a dull self focus.

TJBM has had a pet parrot.

We used to have a budgie. The strongest memory I have of this little guy is he used to call my brother in the morning: “Jack! Get up! It’s ten after seven! You’ll be late for work!”

TJBM likes to communicate with their pet(s).

Yes, I am the horse whisperer and the goose whisperer and the pussy whisperer.lol

TJBM knows that blowing in a horses nostrils is a greeting gesture.

Yes! I read that in a book called Conversations with a Horse. It really melted Shy. It’s like telling them that you want to be friends. Like the horse equivalent of a buss. I’ve discovered that they are a lot more sensitive and communicative than I originally thought. It’s a mind blowing new world. I’m riding Shy bareback now so she can read my muscle movements and intentions and she responds with hardly any effort on my part. It is amazing. Like Horse ESP. More stuff here As a new owner, I’m blown away by this beautiful animal.

TJBM has a favorite kind of animal.

Top 3, cats, geese and horses. :-)
@Espiritus_Corvus Yes, it is so fun to learn how to communicate with our animals. Do you have a picture of Shy to share?

TJBM would like to take a riverboat cruise on the mighty Mississipi.

We did that already when I first got her – the red roan with three white sox and white blaze on her forehead, remember? I’ll see if I can dig one up out of the old laptop.

I gave a lot of thought about doing that at one time in a houseboat. Bimidji to New Orleans. But the navagational obstacles, fees, and dangerous barge traffic in cross-currents just weren’t worth it to me. Being pushed by a swift downcurrent with limited onboard power can really make steering a problem as well. It takes a highly skilled and experienced person to navigate that river. The days of Twain are long gone. I prefer open coastal sailing.

TJBM has a pretty good idea who next summer’s Republican presidential candidate will be now that Bush dropped out of the race.

Nope, it’s all too much to keep up on. Let the presidents fall where they may. haha
@Espiritus_Corvus Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I don;t remember, another pic would be great, refresh my memory perhaps.

TJBM has sore ribs and doesn’t know how they got them.

Not sore ribs, but spareribs from my friend’s industrial grade smoker.
TJBM thinks this thread is so long that my phone now struggles with it.

No. I just do something else until it comes up.

TJBM can multitask.

@stanleybmanly Your dementia is showing again. lol

Yes, quite well, if not slightly spastically. haha

TJBM has resolved a conflict with a family member recently.

Sadly, no. And probably never will.
That is Cheyenne in my avatar.

TJBM is thinking that winter may be already over.

Well…it’s warm and sunny this week but I’m hoping El Nino has one last blast to share out west here.
@Espiritus_Corvus She is lovely, I don;t remember seeing that picture before.

TJBm is having sandwiches for dinner tonight.

No, loaded baked potatoes.

TJBM will share with us their favorite toppings for baked potatoes.

Oh, man. You’ve hit on one of my favorite foods. I cut that sucker criss-cross and pop ‘er open, all white fluff and steam. Then I dump a fork load of real butter in there and mash it in a little, then lots of black pepper, lots and lots of chives or finely chopped, fresh scallions, then a hefty fork load of sour creme, then real bacon bits. A little more mashing and voila! I’ve just turned one of the healthiest foods in the world into a heart attack on a plate. But it is to die for. And I suppose I will.

OOps. Got distracted and almost forgot: TJBM will describe their favorite cut of steak and how it should be prepared.

I love potatoes; I made potato soup tonight with kielbasa, veggies and lots of herbs. I like baked taters too; butter/sour cream/chives are my standard. Sometimes I cut them up and put grated cheese on them.

TJBM has watched the film, Field of Lost Shoes.

No, never heard of it. Sounds intriguing though.

@Espiritus_Corvus Oh man, almost time for my yearly steak. T-Bone please, grilled and topped with loads of sauteed onions and button shrooms. My heart be still, as yours may be from that balked potato. haha

TJBM feels like splurging on something decadent now.

I feel like it. But I saved for it the whole year, and it’s not like I’m buying something illegal.
But I don’t want my family to find out about the whole purchase.
TJBM has just spent a large amount of money.

No, but I’m saving some from last payday to add to some next payday for a small self-indulgence.

TJBM occasionally treats themselves to a small self-indulgence.

Frequently. Waiting for anyone else to indulge me is a boring, disappointing waste of time.
TJBM is a fan of self gratification.

Absolutely! I have 2 massages coming my way soon.

TJBM is a fan of body work.

\

Mmmmm. “I don’t know Ace. It may not be no deal!” Body work as in plastic surgery?

I have a friend, a licensed masseuse, who gives the most amazing massage experience with perfumed candles, quiet music, low lighting, excellent ambiance. She gives you either deep or Reiki type massages, or Swedish, or whatever she thinks you need depending on how your muscles feel to her and your state of mind. She ends it with a kind of laying on of hands thing from toe to head, then she leaves you alone in a kind of hypnotic state for about an hour. She’s also into all sorts of folk medicine, herbs, teas, spiritual stuff and even a bit of quackery—crystals and pyramids and shit—but she is the best masseuse ever and her heart is into it. Her apprentice would give hand and foot manicures before the massage, if you wanted. The whole thing took about two hours. You feel like a million bucks when you walk out of there. It’s really amazing. I used to go to a chiropractor once a month and then straight to her afterwards. It was one of the highlights of my month.

TJBM is going to do something different soon.

I hope so, I’m ready for a change again.

@stanleybmanly No, not plastic surgery, gak…body work as in massage.
@Espiritus_Corvus Oh yes, bliss out to the 10th power. I like all of those methods, I’m a pressure girl, lots of pressure and I also love reflexology work.

TJBM has gotten up but is not going yet.

Yep, up but not quite at ‘em!

TJBM is looking forward to a road trip.

Not anytime soon, but I love road trips.

TJBM has a birth defect.

I was born with a huge blood-red birthmark covering my left eye and cheek. It was successfully removed with extremely painful dry-ice treatments when I was three.

TJBM knows how they feel when they Put a candle in the window…

As a signal to smugglers? The wife’s birthday present this time is an afternoon of champagne, chocolates and massage for her & a girlfriend at the Claremont hotel. The wife is SO decadent-my kinda woman!
TJBM will be glad to see the weekend.

Yeah, temps in the 70’s!

TJBM is looking for temps in the 70’s (F).

Something under 85 would be nice.

TJBM had to compromise on something recently and is still wondering if they did the right thing.

Yes, I had to compromise with my uber stubborn and hard headed daughter ( gee, wonder where she gets that from? lol ) in a tiff and just concede that I misunderstood her when I am pretty damn sure I did not. Not a right/wrong dichotomy so much as just keeping the peace, mostly we get along great but sometimes…sometimes.

TJBM knows the saying ” If you think you are so enlightened spend a week with family.” haha

No, and I don’t think it has any effect on me because I’m staying with my family all day.
TJBM is a <insert your thing> dweller.

Gee! I dunno…suburban?

TJBM knows the answer.

42

TJBM understands why anyone who read The Hitchhiker’s Guide can’t help but give that sort of response to that sort of request. It’s kind of like a bad tic.

Also, TJBM has a hitchhiking story! (I was of a generation for whom hitchhiking was explained as “never try it,” so I must experience it vicariously.)

I do. As a teen in the early to mid-70’s hitch hiking was pretty common place. I once took a ride with an older guy, probably in his 50’s and I was 16-ish. He drove a convertible Mercedes and was a neurosurgeon and smoked some weed with me. Nice guy, no weirdness, and as much of a risk that hitch hiking can be my experiences were all positive.

TJBM is a flower child at heart.

Yep. I did most of my hitch hiking in the 70’s as well, although some happened as early as ‘68, and my last was in ‘86 or ‘87, I think. Oh, the stories I could tell!

TJBM has some stories they could tell under the right circumstances.

Just go to the chatroom and talk with me. Thoughout the conversation some random things about me will be slipped out.
TJBM wishes one day the chatroom would be crowded like the old days.

T remember a crowded chatroom once, and you were there, Adi, ibstubro, gosh, who else? I believe syz popped in and a few others were in and out, but for a while it really buzzed. Yes, it would be nice to do it more often. Maybe we could schedule something once a week?
@Coloma , who broke out the weed, you or the Doc?
.
TJBM would like to hitchhike if it were safe.

@Here2_4 that would be a good idea. But who will support it apart from me?
No. I’m not into hitchhiking. The nearest mountain is miles away, and most of the mountains have been converted into resorts. No fun going around so artificial scenery.
TJBM lives near the nature no, anyone but @Coloma ~

Even though I’m in a suburb of Denver, there is access to a lot of nature; parks, hiking trails, nature preserves and more, and I can see a lot of wildlife on a regular basis. We’re talking about deer, antelope, raccoon, the occasional fox, coyote, and the ever-present prairie dog.

TJBM sees wildlife on a regular basis.

Yes I live in a rural village
TJBM stops to smell the roses

I’m learning to. No roses up here, but lots of Frangipani. For all practical purposes, they’ll do.

TJBM is planning a trek in the outdoors as soon as the weather breaks.

I had a trek at lunchtime. Only to the shops, but I chose to go to the far away ones and clocked 2.6 miles.
TJBM likes to window shop

Sometimes, but I prefer to actually go out and buy something when the urge hits me. haha

TJBM just got a cool little something. My friend gave me a winged cremation locket yesterday for my little goosie pal that passed away a few weeks ago and was cremated. The design is perfect.

TJBM has allergies today.

No. I’ve always been lucky about alergies.

TJBM is thinking about a four-day train ride from SF to NYC with other Flutherites.

Thinking, dreaming, fantasizing, but not doing, unless one of these Lottery tickets I have in my pocket hit. Then we charter buy a car or two.

@Yetanotheruser A fleet of fluther limos. I’ll bring the champagne.

TJBM just got some major exercise and is now thinking maybe they might go out for an ice cream. How’s that for projection. lol

Haha! Not major exercise, but I did get to run a husky that is new to the animal shelter near me—just around and around a bunch of times on the track, but it was fun. He was so insanely hyper before the run, and when we got back he was panting and slurping up water, so I felt like I had accomplished something! No ice cream for me, just straight chocolate!

TJBM thinks running is always better with a canine buddy.

Never been a runner. But almost anything outdoors is more fun with my canine buddy…although she’s almost 15, and tires very easily these days.

TJBM thinks it’s a sad fact of life that we tend to outlive our pets.

Very, and even sadder now that we are getting older to think that if you get a new pet it could very well, out live you.

TJBM knows about these amazing critters.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0swUc492hU

Ah yeah! I know those guys. Some of them can even detect tuberculosis. I found them roughly the same time when I knew rats can be kept as pets. Another reason for wanting a pet rat.
TJBM wants to keep an exotic pet.

I’ve had pet rats, they are wonderful little guys. Does my goose count as an exotic? haha
I had a parrot once.

TJBM has ridden an elephant.

nope
TJBM hasn’t bothered with any rides despite going to a water park.

When I was younger I loved all rides that didn’t go round and round. I loved water parks too. As I’ve gotten older I have a paralyzing response to finding myself higher than a second story so I’m now really afraid to get on most amusement park rides. It hasn’t been too long since I’ve been on a horse.

TJBM once had a real disaster with fire.

Haha..yep, I literally caught my curtains in fire during a passionate love making session with an ex boyfriend about 12 years ago now. I lit a candle for ambiance on a wicker shelf unit in my bedroom and the sheer curtains fluttered over the flame and Whoosh! Luckily my lover was a hero and snuffed out the flames but talk about anti-climatic. lol

TJBM has had a bad experience with electricity.

No. All of my house disasters have been with water. Glad @Coloma survived her fire!!!

TJBM understands the rule that all women should own a red leather bag.

Don’t understand it, but it’s too common and too inconsequential (IMHO) to argue about…that and the ” little black dress”.

TJBM owns a little black dress and/or a red leather bag.

Oh honey, I have both. :)

TJBM pays an HOA monthly assessment.

@MollyMcGuire and I bet you absolutely rock them!

No HOA here! That would have been a deal-breaker when we were looking.

TJBM would have a deal breaker (other than financial) if they were looking for a home.

Yes, Neighbors closer than 5–10 acres away, preferably 20+.

TJBM is not a tract home kinda person.

Had to google that but it seems I do live in a tract house. We would say housing estate in U.K. Here is a row of houses similar to the one I live in. We are surrounded by fields and countryside so it’s not that bad
TJBM Is planting something this weekend

Literally or figurately?
TJBM does most of the shopping online.

For technology, and some clothes. All tech is either imported legally or available on a very small, unorganized black market made up of independents working off boats. It’s better to just find the best price for the item on Amazon, pay the duty at the post office and stay out of jail. I consider it as paying rent as a guest in a foreign country. A very nice foreign country.

TJBM is pondering their strategy for the rest of the week.

Yes, Rather a busy week ahead, and I am working things around so they all fit.
TJBM owns something made of human hair.

Yes, and it remains on my head at all times.

TJBM owns an article of clothing made of dog hair.

No, but I have cat hair on my clothes sometimes. I have a white cat and a black cat so nothing is safe. lol

TJBM has a big hairy pussy. cat

I swear, after all this time, I hadn’t noticed that you have REALLY naughty aspects about you. TJBM has learned valuable lessons about books & their covers.

Who am I to judge?

TJBM considers themselves to be non-judgmental.

Ha. This discussion came up on another site recently. I don’t even know what being “non-judgmental” means, or if “non-judgmental” people actually exist. I even go so far as judging people hypocrites who consider themselves to be non-judgmental. I find that these people are of weak character due to having no ethical compass. Unreliable. They are simply unwilling to defend their convictions, or worse: afraid to form any, or even worse: lie about having convictions.

I do judge. What I try to do is judge fairly. It’s a matter of survival to develop a good sense of judgment.

TJBM is traveling tomorrow.

No, but I am traveling today, traveling back to bed to indulge in a well earned day of extreme laziness.

TJBM had spaghetti for breakfast. haha

@stanleybmanly We make “pussy” jokes about the cats all the time here, naughty, naughty.

Oh no, never!

TJBM often thinks of a professor or teacher who had a particularly strong influence back in youth.

nope
TJBM is afraid of the Bucket woman.

Are you referring to Hyacinth Bouquet? The least you could do is get her name right. Yes, I would run from that woman as if my hair were on fire. In Hitler’s next life, Hyacinth will be his mother.

TJBM had an interesting dream last week.

Hmm… well, it’s not on my top-list of interesting dreams, and it didn’t have a very developed plot, but I do remember it. A celebrity made a cameo in a minor tangent of the dream, which is odd—they’re only the second celebrity I think I’ve “met” in a dream ever. They were, inexplicably, part of some sort of traveling beauty salon. The rest of the “salon” workers had horrid vacuum-like hair styling tubes, I am sure inspired by videos like this, and I adeptly avoided them, but the celebrity had a curling iron like a normal person…. They were much better at curling hair than I am! Not that I’m very good. The beginning of the dream was a vaguely humid summer day, at some place that was a cross between a school, community garden, hotel, and dog park… there was some larger “threat” everyone was whispering about, but before it could materialize the traveling beauty salon showed up, and then I woke up.

TJBM had an interesting dream last week.

I had one of those dreams that made me angry when I had to wake up, and I’m considering if I should take the dream as an idea since it has so much protential. In my dream I was a boy with very strong telepathic power in a world where everyone had telepathic power. I was a friend of a normal girl and a boy with no power at all. Only my friends knew I had stronger power than anyone else, but somehow the secret got leaked to some bad people. They started to hunt for me, and I had to run away with my friends following me to support me. It was very strange because in that world everyone had power and my power was just stronger than others, so why did they had to go after something they already had? I remembered running to various dark and abandoned locations and had battles with the bad guys. At one point my girlfriend got killed. At the end of my dream I had an intense battle and managed to flee into an abandoned house. There I had a mental breakdown and was comforted by my boyfriend. Then I had to wake up. Aaagh!
TJBM had an interesting dream last week.

I’ve been having these dreams about houses. It’s always the interiors of the houses, but all of them involve rooms with spectacular views, though in the dreams I’m always involved in some sort of busy work requiring me to roam through the rooms gathering up parts or something. I’m very centered and deliberate in this activity, whatever it is, but there are always distractions, doorbells and phones ringing (which I ignore). Sometimes the distractions are people in the rooms jabbering away, but I rudely proceed with the gathering task and leave the room for the next room with a spectacular view. Weird
TJBM had an interesting dream.

Not in a long time. I think my subconscious is bored with dreaming. Mostly my dreams are incomplete snippets of nonsense. I have had a few similar to those house interior things, but odd. I am looking over this or that new house I just bought, and I find people. It turns out that some weird detail I have missed or was concealed from me included that the deal included another family. I try to be rid of them, but it will only happen if I simply leave. Even those dreams are short lived and incomplete.
TJBM is bored with dreams.

Yes, enough for now. Maybe it can be revived later.

TJBM can name 3 politicians that were Social Democrats.

Not right off the top o’ my head.

TJBM can name 3 species of fish that they like to eat.

Largemouth bass, rainbow trout, catfish.

@Espiritus_Corvus Would ye be thinkin’ of Stephen Donnelly, Catherine Murphy and Róisín Shortall?

TJBM knows that if a pair of large bass (one male and one female) were placed in
a one acre pond with an average depth of five feet where they
produced a normal number of young (20,000). and if all the
offspring survived for three generations (considering that only onehalf
of the offspring (female) would lay eggs), about 2 billion fish
would result. and that if these fish average one pound each, there would be
2 billion pounds of bass in the pond. The described pond would
contain about 14 million pounds of water. From this one pair of
bass with complete survival of fish for three generations, the fish
would not only completely replace the water, but would be piled
about 715 feet above the original level of the pond.

Henry Wallace, Eugene Debs, Margaret Sanger. Cod,haddock, catfish. All either battered or breaded, and all deep fried.
TJBM has concerns about his or her country.

I do, like electing some conservative instead of the correct person.
TJBM has a Rafael Cruz dartboard.

Nope.

TJBM has a bow and arrow.

No, but a blowgun and some darts. I am rather an impressive shot with it.
TJBM blows.

LOL…in what context, bubble gum or big bananas? haha

TJBM has to go grocery shopping.

No, the spouse usually does that.

TJBM has sometimes delegate inconvenient tasks to another

As a nurse, I was real careful about that. I found I got a lot more cooperation from my nurses’ aides and orderlies if I did some of the nastier work when I had time. The number one complaint among nurses’ aides is that RNs won’t wipe bottoms—which is true for the most part. I had no problem proving them wrong, then I’d go off and do something that required a bit more expertise which I felt they should be aspiring to. As a captain, I like to hand over the wheel to a worthy soul now and then and show the deck that the old man can still reef a sail or set a jib in a freshening wind.

TJBM saw a beautiful sunrise last week.

It was a clear morning, and although I don’t have an unimpeded ground level view of the eastern horizon, I did happen to look out an upper bedroom window, and was treated to a blue sky with orange streaks of cirrus, with the sun floating over the runway.

TJBM has experienced something wonderful recently.

Well, I got my VR goggles! It’s a TRIP! I just experienced a brontosaurus walking up on me and staring at me.

TJBM just feels like sometimes “I’m sorry,” just is too lame, so they don’t say anything.

I feel that. I suppose it’s kind of like “I love you” in that respect—both often overused/abused/misapplied, yet there are certain circumstances where we really mean it and don’t have a better phrase? But sometimes too it just doesn’t seem nearly enough… Of course, I’m one of those people who says “sorry” conversationally, habitually, despite my efforts to stop myself, so I guess I’m contributing to the problem… sorry!

TJBM uses, or knows someone who uses, an unusual filler word. Like “like” or “um,” except not nearly that ubiquitous.

For instance, I knew someone once who said a quick half-volume “things” as a filler, maybe a condensed version of what used to be “and things.” So instead of saying: “The cat, um, jumped onto the counter and, um, knocked over the glass of water I’d just set there, um.” They’d say: “The cat, things, jumped onto the counter and, things, knocked over the glass of water I’d just set there, things.” I never even noticed until somebody else pointed it out to me, and then I started wondering how we fell into particular filler-words to begin with…

Um…sometimes, yes, like now. :-p

TJBM is sauteeing something right now. Gotta go.

I have a friend who uses “actually” as a filler word.

I baked my pork chops today.

TJBM is still sore from leg day.

What’s leg day? haha
No, amazingly I am not sore today but I am a lot of the time being ranch women.

TJBM can smell their dinner…oh my…soon, soon…

already had mine
TJBM is tired of people telling them to go to church.

Always have been, my “church” is the church of nature, keep your hymn books and collection plates, thanks.

TJBM is all warm and cozy right now after a long day.

Heading that direction.

TJBM is annoyed by sleep interruptions.

Lately I’ve been sleeping straight through the parties upstairs, which is nice, but for some reason my phone keeps interrupting my sleep at precisely 7am every morning with some obnoxious ringtone melody… and then it pretends that I wanted it to wake me up! The gall it has!

TJBM will anthropomorphize some household object for our general jelly amusement.

Anthropomorphized machine gun!
TJBM knows how to dodge a bullet.

I managed to dodge quite a few in my lifetime, metaphorically speaking.

TJBM speaks in metaphor.

Speaking from the heart, metaphors are gold.
TJBM Saw a pretty flower during the weekend… no, saw a pretty flower, really looked at it.

No flowers here; it’s still winter.
TJBM can’t wait for spring

It seems to be here, although March is statistically the snowiest month around here.

@Here2_4 Here’s a song I’ve always loved, and is full of metaphors from the heart.

TJBM is feeling something good in their heart right now.

I’m not awake enough to really feel anything yet, give it time, give it time. haha

TJBM will tell us what color their house is painted.

Did I ever mention I have a holiday house in France :-P? It has beautifully painted shutters (painted by me of course) in a lovely shade of blue
TJBM has blue as their favourite colour

Always has been. My siblings know it. My wife knows it. My kids know it. My friends all know it.

TJBM has heard that favorite colors can tell something about personality.

Yes, I like bright bold colors because I am a bright bold person. haha

TJBM loves finding cool decorative items for their house.

Nah, I’m pretty utilitarian as far as living space. Now my wife is more the decorator/designer type, and the decorating she does is all right by me.

TJBM likes at least some of what their S-O/roommate/whatever does for decoration.

I use to love how my wife did interiors. Among other things, she taught me the importance of subtly repeating certain colors and motif throughout a room or a house (who knew?). It was astounding what she could do with empty space. I learned some things from her for sure.

TJBM can’t seem to stop doing this one thing over and over.

Yeah, FLUTHERING!

Sometimes TJBM reminds themselves to just.step.away.from.the.laptop!

Haha…right now it is the opposite, I must step AWAY from the laptop, my afternoon job is beckoning me to be on time and I have stops to make on the way.

TJBM will bid me a fare thee well.

goodbye
TJBM wants to join Snapzu.

I have no idea what this is, really no interest.

TJBM has no idea what I mean by knock-down texture.

Sure don’t.
TJBM can explain standup music but awaits a definition of knockdown texture.

I assume standup music is music that when heard gets one to his or her feet in quick order. That’s my best guess anyway. I know the definition of knock-down texture. It is happening to all of the walls in my house right now.

TJBM has had a horrible experience with a utility company lately. (I most certainly have, myself)

No.
TJBM has a monster to feed.

Yes! A hollow-legged teenage daughter
TJBM is glad it’s Friday

Not really; I’m pretty much sort of almost retired. I really like the weekdays better for doing errands. The kids are in school and their parents are at work. :)

TJBM has chile on the menu for next week.

Perhaps, I have been cooking up a storm this last week.

TJBM is on a baked potato jag.

Oh I could be! I’ve got potatoes in my cupboard—well on my shelf with the dish towels, because that’s where I’ve got space—that I can bake them right up!

TJBM is on a cleaning spree

That was a couple of days ago.
TJBM has a hair up them about something.

I’m proud to say I have not yet committed matri-in-law-cide, but the devil on my shoulder is becoming more persuasive.

TJBM has a strong conscience.

And he sits on my right shoulder and whispers in my ear when I’m about to do something wrong.

TJBM has a strong temptation.

Who doesn’t?
TJBM has a strong need.