Hi y'all. I've been watching CNN, as well as the Canadian news, on and off today....just remembering and feeling and getting weepy over and over again. I guess, for me, there's still a sense of profound sadness--as one human being for other human beings--especially when I see and hear the stories of personal loss--the loss of so many good mothers and fathers and sons and daughters--which the events of last year have imposed on so many lives. And then there's the realization that these people--those lost and those who miss and mourn them--were innocents, just ordinary people, going about their daily lives...just as we do every day. Anyway, don't want to become too maudlin about it but only to say I think I will always pause on this day to reflect and reconsider the purpose and direction of my life--and to count my blessings.

All this has led me to wonder, yet again, just where everyone has been and what's been happening lately. I can't believe the whole summer has flown and winter will soon be upon us--at least for those of us who live in wintry climes. By the way, Z., do you have a new website yet? I'm still accessing the board thru the link you provided some months ago. Tonight I'm raising a glass (or three) to better days ahead......cheers, nightsword

hullo, nightsword-

Z, and everybody...

long time no see.

my fault, not yours.

I resisted the temptation to have the telly on all day last Wed. except for a couple times, just turned it on briefly. saw Dubya's face both times, got disgusted and turned it off again.
I spent the whole week weeping on that date last year, and I thought I would just let that suffice.

impossible to ignore the day altogether, it seemed very quiet and the air itself was unsettled and edgy to me.
and four fly-bys by Air Force jets that morning along the front range, planes come up from the Academy in Colorado Springs, no doubt.
too overcast that day to see them, but I knew it was more than one, most likely four of them flying formation.....

we were driving into downtown Denver awhile back, and I was looking at the big buildings and finally blurted out to Bob "I can't look up at any big building any more without seeing a plane crashing into the side of it."
He had been thinking much the same thing.
I think it will stay with me like that the rest of my life...

I am trying to count my blessings while watching the US Bill of Rights continue to be gutted bit by bit.
talk about your unsettled feelings....

been an awful summer of heat and drought. we finally got some rain in the last week, maybe in time and maybe enough to save some trees and things that were definitely dying.

longer nights, cooler nights, cooler weather is all a vast relief.

planning on a new tattoo this fall (so very soon, I hope), the columbine book is finally in production, I guess it will be out next year, we have a new border collie puppy, name of Chess, and everyone is well.

anyone have some good music to recommend? what do you have in the cd player right now?

'sword--- you still seeing that sweetie of yours?

noogies to all-- da Moth

Nice to see both of you again! It's funny, just the other day I was wondering if any of us were EVER going to come back here, and then as if by magic, here we all are again.

Sorry, Night, I don't have another board yet. Things have been pretty tight financially and time-wise over the past few months, so I just haven't been able to get around to it. But as long as NEtwork54 remains operational, we should be okay as far as the nboard goes, at least. To give you some idea, I'm using the LIBRARY to access the board these days. Yes, these are hard times indeed. But the good news is, I finally got another job - this time working at one of the local movie theaters! It's alright, the work is certainly a no-brainer, but best of all I get free admission to as many movies as I can stand to watch. So that's definately a perk!

Now, as for the anniversary...sigh... Well, I spent most of the 11th at home, and popped on a tape I have of CNN's news coverage from that day last year. It'll definately be hard to let that date pass by unnoticed for the next several years...

Well, I gotta run - going to see fear.com tonight, as I have the feeling it's not going to be in theaters for much longer. Take care everyone, and I hope to see you both around more! Say, do either of you have any idea what's happened to Tom? Haven't heard from him in ages!

- Zaranyzerak

he's MIA, I guess.
last time I talked to him, he was on his way to Colorado for a family visit, that was last summer, I think....

hi, Z!

I hope your straitened circumstances begin to turn around soon.
wouldn't it be great if, in this world, our mindful endeavors and honesty and kindness were the things that were really valued, and rewarded with money?

I am supposed to be painting stuff for a couple of shows, but autumn melancholy is setting in (with it's typical symptoms of excruciating pleasure) early this year.
I am thinking of the Day of the Dead, I have to change my altar pretty soon, to look more seasonal. it really needs some bones piled on it......
and plan a trip to the cemetery to visit bob's grandparents, pour his grandpa out a good measure of whiskey and leave some butterscotch candies behind

it is snowing a bit on the Divide this morning, little more than an hours' drive from our house...

going to be a nice day today, sunny and cool.

moth, in haste

A big hello Z and moth! Great to hear from both of you again, although I can't exactly say that I've been burning up the keyboard either. This summer has zipped by-- what with being away for a good part of it {a friend's cottage} and trying to keep the garden going when I'm home. Hard to believe this is the first day of autumn--especially since we've still been having days with humidity ++++++.....but it's supposed to cool down now so maybe I can get the fall planting done and be done with the garden for a few months. For the first time in years I can honestly say, I'll welcome the break.

In answer to your question, moth, yes, Steve is still part of my life. More like comfortable shoes at this point....well, don't mean to imply it's become all dull and predictable...sometimes those shoes do a pretty mean tango if you know what I mean!

Sorry to hear you're still having financial probs, Z. Hopefully, that won't last too long. No circumstance in life is permanent. In fact one of my dearest, longtime friends--who is an interesting admixture of philosopher-insurance salesman-would-be scientist--said recently that, in his view, life is a challenge to our ability to continuously adapt...even when it appears that things are humming along smoothly, it's usually very temporary because sooner or later a situation will occur which requires us to adapt again.

Yes, moth, it would be a very different world if mindful endeavors etc. were rewarded and not necessarily always with money. Even rewarding kindness with kindness or honesty with honesty would make a huge difference. I mean how often do you perform an act of kindness and it isn't even recognized for what it is? Or suppose there were a law of the universe which made it impossible for anyone to lie to an honest person?

Now, where in the world is Big D.???? cheers, sword

Well, things are starting to look up! I've got an interview tomorrow with (oh, the irony!) A Collection Agency! Hey, it pays well and it's full time, so lemme at it. I hear that's onen of the single most brutal jobs one can get, but I'm willing to give it a shot if only on the off-chance it might allow me to get out of debt.

Okay, I'm short on time, just wanted to pop in and say hi.

See you on the other side...

- Zaranyzerak

Hi Z! I assume the irony whereof you speak is that you have had firsthand experience on the receiving end of a collection company? Not surprising. I think everyone over 20 has had that experience at least once! And yes, they can be nasty, relentless brutes. You don't strike me as fitting that category AT ALL but you did mention sometime or other about being into making movies-- so maybe you can treat the job (assuming you got it) like a character part--just polish up your brass knucks and start fine-tuning a sinister tone in your voice. What I find just as ironic about your news is that a job with a collection agency would help you get out of debt to a collection agency--now there's got to be a movie idea in that! Think about it! Gotta run for now. Keep smiling--well, at least when you're on you're own time.........cheers, nightsword

Hi Z! After posting last night I got to thinking about collection agencies and I remembered an experience I had years ago. I thought the tale might cheer you up a tad--I forget what the overdue account was (probably a credit card or some such) but anyway I was being hounded and I was being hounded night and day, or so it seemed. The guy was beyond mere obnoxious, he was also dense in that I kept telling him I had all intentions of paying the debt as soon as I had the means to do so. Somehow my assertions just never seemed to sink in and he kept treating me as though I were the worst and most untruthful lowlife in the world. This really upset me at the time because I was genuinely trying to resolve the matter but just having difficulty doing so--and since then, having had a little more experience of the world, I can think of so many other situations where one might consider a person a lowlife but having financial probs/getting in over your head definitely doesn't make anyone a terrible human being...it happens and it happens to everyone at some point in life.

Anyway, I digress. This guy upset me so much for awhile and then I just got angry. So I had my revenge. As you probably know when an account is turned over to a collection agency, they retain a percentage of whatever they collect--I mean that's how they make their money, right? So when the day came that I had the money to pay off the bill, I refused to send the cheque to the collection agency. I sent the full amount to the creditor and the collection guy got zip, a big zilch for all his efforts! Something to keep in mind.....keep smiling (at least I hope you're smiling at this).......cheers, nightsword

{{feel like I'm talking to myself here...mumble...mumble}}

Just wanted to ask if anyone else is watching the new show, "Firefly," which is on Fox and Global on Friday nights here??? If not, I recommend. It's written, produced, etc. etc. by the same guy who did Buffy and Angel. Although only 500 years in the future, it kinda makes me think that this is what Han Solo's life would have been like if he hadn't met the Princess. Not that they fight an evil empire per se. To give you a sample of a storyline + unexpected moment of humor:- the story last night involved the captain of the Firefly ending up married (without his knowledge) to a young nymphette type. One of the characters on the ship is a preacher (Ron Glass from Barney Miller) and he tells the captain if he lays a hand on this sweet young thing, he'll go to hell...a very "special" hell which is reserved for child molesters and people who talk at the movies.....y'all take care.....cheers, nightsword {{sigh...mumble...mumble}}

missed the very first episode, but saw most of the second and the whole third.
and liked it a LOT.
more than I expected to, from the promotional spots on the tv.
John Doe, I've liked, too.
isn't Dark Angel coming back?

I'm typing up the few haiku poems I have, trying to round them up, scattered throughout a dozen spiral-bound notebooks (which is what I write original stuff in).

watching the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Burton's version, I really like it, loony head-lopping fun.


moth

Hi moth! Glad to hear I'm not the only Firefly fan. Like you I was prepared for something LESS than what the show turned out to be. What a nice surprise--not just another Star Trek ripoff but something that's not only a new twist on an old theme but well cast and well written to boot.

As for Dark Angel, I don't know. I haven't seen any promos for it but often older series have their season premiere much later than new series.

I also watched the first episode of John Doe and liked it. Since then, however, one of our Canadian networks has started showing a period drama, The Forsythe Saga, at the same time. Period dramas aren't normally my cup of tea {{I don't even like tea--strictly a coffee gal!}} but I read the Forsythe novels, by John Galsworthy, years ago and now am very interested to revisit the story. I'll probably catch John Doe in reruns during the Christmas hiatus.

If your tastes are as eclectic as mine (which they seem to be) I'd recommend the following new series (based on the first two or three episodes I've seen) as worth a try:-

Hack, with David Morse, who plays a cop who was caught on the take, turned good guy/comic-bookish hero. Not amazing but definitely better than the reviews on it suggested.

Boomtown--VERY different. The story is presented from multi-perspectives. The lead cop is a very dark, disturbed character.

Without a Trace--Of course I've adored Anthony LaPaglia since Murder One. If you like riveted to your seat suspense, this is the show. I especially like that the stories are NOT predictable but have more than one twist that keep moving the story in another direction.

Anyway, thems my favs from the new season....cheers,

nightsword