Behind the 8-Ball

Oops! Missed the fact that Heather had tagged me. This is the most popular one going on out there right now.

List 8 attributes of the perfect partner.
Well, beyond the somewhat obvious–female, breathing, human, relatively healthy, of legal age…

1. Should be able to play the piano. She must understand music. Period. Not in the “oh, did you hear that new song on the radio” type of understanding. But in the knowledge of making, listening to, and appreciating the art. She doesn’t have to be a performer though.

2. Should be able to play golf. Golf is huge in my family. There is a long lineage of professional and accomplished amateurs in my family (unfortunately, the line stopped at my doorstep). There is no way to understand the family without understanding the game. There are numerous lessons in life that can be learned from the game of golf. Go watch “Tin Cup” to understand. Then “Caddyshack”. She doesn’t have to excel, but she has to play.

3. Should be able to play poker. Again, there are numerous skills learned in poker that translate well into real life. My grandmother taught each of her grandchildren how to play poker by the time we were eight. She understood the importance too.

4. Should be able to drink and appreciate beer. Not wine. Not hard liquor. Beer. Microbrews. Imports. And she should know when to say when. Other alcohol is OK, but beer must be appreciated.

5. Should be able to laugh at herself, as well as me. She can’t be so full of herself that she can’t have fun, either at her expense or at mine.

6. Should be able to carry on an intelligent conversation. She must be aware of the world around her. Current events, common sense, basic knowledge. All important. She should be a kick-ass Trivial Pursuit player.

7. Must be honest, truthful and trustworthy. Self-explanatory. Communication is also quite important here too. If this area is at all weak, it’s a deal-breaker.

8. Must be willing to learn, willing to adapt, willing to accept. She should be an ever-evolving being. Things will change over time. She must be able to do that too. At the same time, she must be totally dedicated to me (as I would be to her).

I should probably mention at this point that I would hope that I would have to mirror the same attributes. Any takers?

Dad Update

Well, hell. The short story. Mom calls me from the road. Dad had a routine check-up this morning (Mon) for his pacemaker. They promptly set up an appointment with the doctor who put the thing in him, because it’s still not working right! Not a “send-him-down-next-week” appointment. No, it’s a “go-home-grab-clothes-drive-300-miles-to-Billings-because-you’ve-got-problems” appointment. He still has an atrial fibrillation (???) that they can’t get rid of, so they might go in for the third time in 6 weeks to adjust it. Maybe they should just install a zipper in his pecs.

It’s still not a life-or-death situation. More of an inconvenience. And a pain in the ass. And the chest. I’ll keep you updated.

EDIT: Mom just called. They’re on their way home. Dad’s even driving! They ran a battery of tests and think they’ve figured out the electrical problem that’s been causing concern. As always, many thanks for the prayers and good thoughts!

Oh, yeah….

Rachel dragged me to the movie Sunday afternoon.

Chick flick.

The K-Y Warming Gel ad that ran before the previews seemed apropos.

Thought you guys would figure it out–Brokeback Mountain.

MISSING IN ACTION!!

MISSING: One very large blue Hawaiian shirt.
Last seen: 12/30/05
Location: Nashville, Tennessee area
Condition: Unknown
Aliases: None
Recent Contact: None
Ransom Demands: None to date
Known Associates: Osbasso, Samantha, Emily, Kelly, Bsoholic, Tish, Eric, Lizabeth, Just.A.Girl, Mob Rules Horns, Nashville HNT Girls, Moose, Summer, Alison Krauss, Crystal, YoJ, Dr. Pineapple
Last known pictures:

If spotted, do not try to rescue. Suspected abductors considered possibly unbalanced. Intentions uncertain. Consider them to be somewhat on the wild side. Contact Osbasso at the usual places. There is no reward offered.

Tagged – Fours

I was tagged by Faustina. Mel–I’ll get to your tag soon (it’s a tough one!).

FOUR JOBS YOU’VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE:
High school music teacher
Minor cog in state government machine (Dept. of Revenue)
Executive Director of a cultural non-profit organization
Manager of independent music store

FOUR MOVIES YOU WOULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:
The Quiet Man
The Ten Commandments
The Shining
Young Frankenstein

FOUR PLACES YOU HAVE LIVED:
Helena, MT
Wallace, ID
Missoula, MT
Polson, MT

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH:
Law & Order SVU
M*A*S*H
Masters Golf Tournament
Most of it’s crap–I don’t watch much.

FOUR PLACES YOU HAVE BEEN ON VACATION:
Nashville, TN
Washington, D.C.
Seattle, WA
Portland, OR

FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS:
Spaghetti
Pears
Pizza (Howard’s Pizza–the best!)
Thick bbq’d steak, medium rare

FOUR PLACES YOU WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
Panhandle of northern Idaho
Dallas/Fort Worth
Oregon/Washington coast
Ireland

tagged to: No tags on this one. I think I’m the last person on the internet who hasn’t done it!

Birthday comin’ up!

She only needs 19 more to go!!!

One of our longtime HNTers is going to be celebrating her 25th birthday on Sunday. She’s also just a couple hundred visitors away from hitting the 25,000 mark. She would really like to hit the mark by her birthday. SOooooo……

We need everyone to go see Clara* and wish her a Happy 25th!
(still don’t know what’s up with the asterisk….)

Randomness on the Day After

Very first thing to do–thanks to Red from WildVisions for actually posting my HNT. I had a rehearsal and couldn’t do it myself. I didn’t hear any complaints, so I assume she did well.

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Moose wanted me to clear up an assumption made in some of the comments. The Christmas gift I got from the girls was not a random, blog-fan sort of gift. Moose is my bestest, dearest friend, and Just.A.Girl has been a close friend for a few years. While my ego would be hugely stroked if I got gifts from some of my readers, I certainly don’t expect it. However, if you must, you can always send stuff for the “collection”…..

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There continues to be a steady stream of newbies to HNT. I find the whole phenomenon amazing….

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On a serious note–I received two emails yesterday, as well as seeing the question raised on a new HNT site, regarding some sort of designation to alert the reader that you’re going to be seeing a little more than the standard “safe” HNT post. None of them suggested toning things down–not at all. In fact, two of them mentioned specifically that they enjoy those posts as much as the next person. Just that sometimes it’s an unexpected shock! I needed to take a day to come up with a response, and here it is:

1. Most people would agree that some sort of warning isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But it should be a voluntary action.

2. A designation of NSFW (not safe for work) could be used, but that begs another point–what are you doing looking at HNTs while at work? This is exactly why the U.S. continues its economic downfall–too many people spending time at work looking at HNTs!

3. A suggestion for readers–there are some HNTers that consistently are more open with their half-nekkidness than you. You know who they are. If you’re someplace where that could be a problem–wait until you get home!!

4. I’m not going to tell people how to regulate their own blogs. It becomes a censorship-type issue. What one person feels is “safe”, might offend the next person. A picture of bare shoulders in a shower could be quite tame to one person–to another, they may feel that’s too much. And don’t get me going on the subject of censorship!!!

5. But Os! Why don’t you make a separate site for HNT? I can’t keep up with things the way they are. The last thing we need is a separate site. Webmasters, passwords, permissions, perverts–I don’t want to deal with them. Besides, it takes new readers (and old ones) away from your own sites. And you lose control of your own pics. The day that you decide to take them all down, you can. On a common site, you lose that ability.

6. To those who wrote me, I hope I addressed the issue to your satisfaction. Bottom line–HNT will never be censored or required to carry warning labels. If an HNTer wants to warn their reader, that’s their prerogative.

EDIT: I wasn’t really looking for a whole lot of discussion on this one. I was just throwing it out there so that you might see what others are thinking. Please don’t take a hostile tone on this! And if I come across that way, I apologize. It wasn’t my intention!

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Look for a post regarding the Most Ridiculous Holiday Ever Invented, and how it will affect HNT!

Mystery Guest Revealed…

With her permission (and because she’s working tonight and can’t do it herself), I announce to you that the Mystery Guest this week was none other than the lovely Foxglove (many of you thought it might be F3m1, but it isn’t–note the lack of tattoos!). Be sure to check her site, Foxglove’s Formulary, and wish her a Happy Birthday!! She’ll be glad you did!

A Wild Vision

“I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may, – light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful” – John Constable

Mission Mountain HNT

No, this isn’t about that “other” mountain movie. The Mission Mountain Wood Band was a Montana band from the 70s that reached a cult status in the state among any hippie/college student that was ever fortunate to have heard them. Especially if they attended the Aber Day Kegger in Missoula (man, those were the days!). That would include me. Sort of a rock/acoustic/jazz/bluegrass sound. Think Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, but with heavy early 70s rock influence. Today, you might think of a Phish/moe./Leftover Salmon sort of groove. Far ahead of their time, to say the least. They have had a couple of reunion concerts since breaking up in the early 80s, including one this July in Helena. I had the pleasure of taking both Moose and Just.A.Girl to the concert. I was a little wary about whether they’d like it or not. A bunch of old drunk/stoned hippies getting together in a rodeo arena. My fears were unfounded. Moose wrote a post about it here.

While I could do a full post (and might!) about the band, the concert and their music, the biggest news of the night was that they were working on a 5-CD/1-DVD box set from their heyday. For 25 years, there was only one album available by this band, and I know I’m not the only one who owns more than one copy of the LP due to wear and tear! Now they were going to release their masters, TV appearances, movies, etc. in a box set! Probably in early December–just in time for Christmas! At $100 a pop. I had every intention of buying it, but then the trip to Nashville took up all my financial resources, and the best I could do is hope that they would still have some left in the spring when I might be able to afford it. Imagine my glee when I checked my mail today and received this:

Along with a note:Merry Christmas a bit on the late side!
Love, Your Girls (Moosekahl and Just.A.Girl)
Is there really any wonder why I am totally in love with these two?? Thanks, girls!

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Today’s Mystery Guest will be celebrating her 30th birthday on Saturday. She joined in with HNT about halfway through, and because a good friend of hers was doing it too. In fact, they’ve both appeared on each other’s sites at one time or another. The only other hint I’ll give is that we’ve never seen this particular side of her. A picture from a different angle would probably give her away. Be kind with the comments! She may let you know who she is Thursday night.

Nope, not F3m1

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A request from a couple of HNTers, particularly for the newbies: Just for the day, could you turn off the Word Verification? It really is a time waster, and with so many roses to smell…

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Early posters would include ????, DaMasta, Jonathan, Deadly Female, kb and Tish. I’m also again hosting Red from WildVisions until she gets her site problems worked out. How can I argue with such beauty and grace??

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If you haven’t done so, be sure to let us know where you’re at by getting on the Frappr map. There’s a button over there in the sidebar to do that!

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Anyone interested in being the Mystery Guest, be sure to send in your picture by next Tuesday! osbasso (at) gmail dot com. Remember, this has nothing to do with the booby shots for the “collection”! Though you can send those to the same address…

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DON’T FORGET TO STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES!!