Classes are done!

Well, I'm on my way to finishing my degree. On Sunday and today, I took the two one-hour credit geology field trips to finish out my bachelor's degree as a Bachelor of General Studies. All I have to do is take the quizzes online (I'll probably do that tomorrow) and score at least 60%, which should be pretty easy.

The classes were actually fun. Today's was a trip to sites across the northern part of the county, and it was interesting to learn about where I live. I'll probably look at everything differently now that I know more about the different types of rocks and minerals we have here and how and when they were formed. The previous trip was to a nearby reservoir. There we learned about some of the older types of rock formations and also stopped at the site of a sinkhole that has caused problems along the interstate over the years.

It really is pretty country, too. Everyone thinks Kansas is really flat, but those are the folks probably seeing it just from the interstate or the air. Get on the back roads, and there's some rugged, beautiful sites. One place we went to today was probably one of the highest points in the county. You could stand on the hill and see miles and miles of green hills and pastures and big, open sky.

After this, then what? I'm not entirely sure yet. Graduate school's still a possibility, but I need to find out some more info. I do need something different, though, because I just can't say I feel all that secure about my job. I'm almost certain that, at best, in three years my job won't be there. After all, who needs a page designer if there's just not as many pages to design? I really don't see newspapers the size I'm working at continuing to be published on a daily basis on paper. Online, sure, but you don't need a lot of people to put a Web site together, once it's there. So I guess I'm in search of something new. Just wish I knew what it was!

So long, George

I was really shocked this morning when I heard this morning that George Carlin had died. I mean, yeah, he was 71, but he just seemed like one of those people who would always be around, someone bigger than life. Someone this world needed. Maybe it's because I became a fan at an early age, when we got HBO when I was around 9 and he was already a huge name. I quickly got hooked on all the comedy specials and would stay up late on weekends and during the summers to watch them again and again and again and again.

It wasn't just the "dirty" stuff that appealed to me. Most especially with Carlin, it was how he was able to pick out the absurdities of life, our language and our world. And no one group was off-limits to him. He made me think. I didn't always agree with what he said, and didn't always like what he said, but I was always amazed that he just came out and said it. And I always laughed.

So have a few laughs, courtesy of the late, great genius:

Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.

The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."

Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?

When someone asks you, A penny for your thoughts, and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?

I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks so I wondered, what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?

"I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?

And there's some excellent clips of his routines here. "Feminist Blowjob" is one of the best.

New photos

Butterfly weed 6-08.JPG
Originally uploaded by junogle.

Took a few pictures around the garden this morning. Here's the butterfly weed that took hold under the pecan tree last year. It's really doing well there, along with the hosta. And out front, Mom's poker plants are looking just incredible -- so many blooms!