I'm Busy

Here...Read THIS From The NY Times


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WHAAAAAAAATTTTT????

Look....I Can't Speak Right Now...


click here to see why

Things Are A Changin'

My Spare Time Is Dwindling


Dang it all folks, but I have to admit that I’ve gone out and started doing a bunch of stuff that’s cutting into my blogging time and more importantly—my NAP time every day.

In addition to trying to re-learn Calculus, something that I’ve already wasted about two and one half years of the prime of my life doing back in the late 1970’s, now I’m trying to learn the C programming language working on a Unix platform and thinking about installing LINUX on a PC box here in my office in order to have my own server on our little island.

I say “Screw paying someone to host web sites.”

Did you get all of that?

Not only are those technical issues clogging up the synapses of my brain, but I just let Blogger convert me over to their Beta release of their new software which gave me a bunch of new things I can do here on this blog, so if you log in one day and all you see is alien gibberish you’ll know that the new protocol is getting the best of me.

I’m not really going to change much here on the Coastal Companion blog, but I hate the font and layout on The Redneck Gourmet (something that I did in a hurry when the original blog template got mangled a couple of winters ago) and if I’m ever going to make any money from my blog efforts— The Redneck Gourmet is where I’m going to do it.

For that reason I’d like to spruce things up a little.

Thus far I am a complete and total failure as a webmaster. I can’t even successfully log in as the administrator to the Prenter.net site. My buddy Jim’s trying to talk me through it by E-mail, but I’m embarrassed that I couldn’t even get that far by myself.

Instead of Rocket Scientist, I’m feeling more like "Miny Me, The Micro Nerd" this morning…

More Responsibility

And Yet No Authority…


As if keeping up with two blogs on a weekly if not daily basis wasn’t enough trouble, now I have gone out and taken on a real website with a paid domain name and paid hosting services.

Would somebody please examine my head here?

Careful…don’t get too close…because I just might bite you (can anyone diagnose Rabies?)

You see, my friend Jim that’s been running the website Prenter.net was thinking of retiring and giving up the domain name, but since my grandparents and the rest of my father’s family lived there in that tiny little West Virginia coal mining town from the 1930’s until the 1960’s, I just couldn't set by and watch it (the website, not the town) die.

For the past seven years Jim has built and grown the site, and in the process he has reconnected people like me back to the simple time and a simpler place where my father was a boy scout and flew model airplanes and rode sleds down the hills in the “hollar.”

Every two years for the past seven they have a reunion and anyone that ever lived in the town or in almost all of Boone county, West Virginia is invited. I’ve attended the past two reunions with my two Uncles and my recently deceased Grandmother, and I find it pretty cool to meet people that knew my family before WWII.

So any way, when Jim announced that he was closing up the site, I stepped forward and offered my efforts and we’re going to manage things together until I get up to speed, and then after that I will be an actual WEBMASTER.

I know that you should be impressed...

Now on your knees…I command YOU to WORSHIP me…BwaaaAAAAhhahahahahah

More Blog Linkage

For All The Cooks and People Out There That Want To Cook


I’m afraid that I have to admit that I've been severely neglecting my cooking blog The Redneck Gourmet for much of this year.

Said neglect is the direct result of a couple of circumstances, the least of which being that I’ve stopped cooking.

It’s just hard to find anything new to cook sometimes. I guess that you could say that I’ve been in sort of a “cooking funk.”

Or maybe “Funky Cooking”? An old pop song comes to mind:

“Cook that funky cooking, white boy…” (a variation on some old 70’s song lyrics, perhaps…)

Any way, I just wandered over there to check out my reader stats, and I’m down about 50% since January because I HAVEN’T POSTED CRAP this year.

So sorry.

I really have been working on the cookbook version of my recipe file part time and I’ve figured out that writing a real marketable cookbook versus publishing a free blog website is HARD WORK.

I’m still trying to find my “voice” using the Redneck Gourmet concept with very detailed yet humorous instructions and things are basically going quite slow.

In the interim, I thought that as a service to my regular readers that I would point out a couple of other well done cooking blogs for your enjoyment:

First there is the very eloquent and successful Miss Clotilde Dusoulier over at Chocolate and Zucchini.com

Then there is my fellow rocket scientist: Cooking for Engineers.

Finally, there is a website that is sponsored by one of my blog parents called The Carnival of Recipes which produces an interesting collection of recipes on a weekly basis (usually published on Sundays.)

If you haven’t yet discovered the massive resource that the internet provides in research for everything from Avocado Dips to Baked Zucchini, then you’re missing out on the best 5% of the world wide web’s value.

Thanks Rodger

I Love Stuff Like This...




Go over HERE and take a peek.

Nine Eleven

From A Nine Twelve Perspective


As my regular readers know, I didn't write anything yesterday about 9/11. I felt so inadequate that I thought that it would have been a waste of your time reading my ramblings.

However, my fellow blogger and reader James Hooker (singer and keyboardist formerly of the band "The Amazing Rhythm Aces") posted a video and recording of a new song which he's written called The Canyons I Knew Well.

If you have high speed internet, click on the link and go take a look and listen.

I'm still busy designing city parks this morning.

UPDATE:

Now Mr. Hooker has his video and sound track on Youtube--here's the link (click the button on the lower left of the screen to not leave my site):



James wrote this song and produced the photo montage in 2-1/2 days.

I'm afraid that I have to admit that I couldn't do it in two and one half years...

An Island In The City

Working For Free Finally Pays Off...


Well folks, I walked out of City Hall about 8:45 AM this morning, almost forgetting the somber national tragedy that was being recognized at that time (9/11.)

I don't have much to say that hasn't already been said so many times, in so many places. I'll never forget where I was and what I was doing when I turned on the TV that morning and saw smoke coming out of the south tower.

Taking a big breath...

The good news is that I am virtually assured of having the money for my "K-Street Tree Project," and now the city has signed on board to pursue my "Island In The City" park redevelopment project that I proposed in our meeting.

Here's a crappy black & white scan of a xerox reduction of my original color drawing:

(click on the picture to enlarge...it looks a lot better full size and in color)

We meet again on October 4th to talk about raising another quarter million bucks. I may just be famous in some small way, at least locally, after all.

Politicking With The Politicians

More Smoozing At City Hall


Posting has been light virtually non-existent the past couple of days because I’ve been getting my final park/tree proposal together for the City of Brunswick.

I actually slept like a normal working stiff last night, and I was up early this morning getting showered, shaved, and all polished up for an 8 AM meeting with the Mayor and the City Administrator.

I don’t know if they’re ready to throw me into jail to shut me up, but they keep calling and asking me to come back to City Hall every few months so I guess that they’re interested in something I have to say and think.

Then again, they may want to slap me for yelling at the editor and a reporter at the local paper last month on their behalf. Since I’m not holding office, I can say things that should be said without worrying about getting re-elected.

If you don’t hear from me by tonight, will somebody please call a bail bondsman?

Yes...I Didn't Write Anything Last Night

But Keep Checking Back...And In The Mean Time...


Turn up your speakers, click on the button on the lower left, and watch Chris Bliss do This:




I'll be back later...