Friday, October 30, 2009

Upstate Autumn

Gourds
The Misfit Pumpkins
Cider Mill Pumpkins
Endwell Country Road

With special thanks to my friend and fellow Binghamton Alum, Tiffany for the photos.

Good News Friday

Todays "Good News" is that November starts on Sunday.

The following Good Things are going to happen in November. . .

1) An extra hour of sleep is gained on Saturday night. Daylight Savings time starts Sunday, November 1 @ 2:00am Eastern time. So set your clocks back one hour when you go to bed Saturday and when you wake up feeling that much more rested, say a quiet "thanks" to Benjamin Franklin. After all, it was his idea.

2) Saturday, October 31 marks the four month mark of my residency program. One-third completed. That should be enough right there. . .but wait, there's more!

3) I have a four day weekend coming up starting November 7. A meeting and an appointment back home facilitate this. Lisa will be up from NYC and we have promised to eat cheese and apples and play board games to celebrate Fall.

4) On November 14 I am taking a roadtrip to the outlets. I love bargains.

5) THANKSGIVING! Food, family, warm fires, probable snow (because it IS Binghamton), assembling the Christmas Light display (think Clark Griswald) and more.

So be proud of yourself. You made it through October - with it's weird weather, wannabe "holiday" (better luck next year, Halloween!) and complete lack of purpose.

Welcome, November.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

RIP Farmville

I have decided tonight to delete my Farmville application on The Book.

I'm hanging up my overalls. I'm putting my cattle out to pasture. I'm selling off the supplies. I hope that my land is accepted back into nature. I would hate to see my plot of land be used by Corporate America to build the next WalMart Supercenter. Still, I can't take the committment, albeit a virtual one. The crops are demanding, the animals are far too fertile and those damn fruit trees always need harvesting. By the way, do real farms even have Elephants? And if they do, are said Elephants producing circus peanuts? I was always confused by that.

Goodbye Farmville. I'll miss your serenity. I'll miss your 4-hour turnover of Strawberries. They were superb, albeit virtual.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

The Ascent

Grab hold,
And take this hand that
Reaches out to you.

Look up
Into my eyes;
My spirit
Cries out to you;
Friendship is my thought.

Let us climb
The jagged cliffs of life
And fight the ascent of
Opposition together.

If I can lift you today,
You will look back
And grab the hands of a thousand more.

That is the way
The Great Spirit would have it!

-Howard Rainer, American Indian Poet

Friday, October 9, 2009

Good News Friday

Painless Dentistry. . . Happy Friday.