presence of mind:

An old man lived alone in Minnesota. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, who would have helped him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and mentioned his situation:

Dear Son,
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant
my potato garden this year. I hate to miss doing the garden, because your mother always loved planting time. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me, if you weren't in prison.

Love, Dad

Shortly, the old man received this telegram:

"For Heaven's sake, Dad,
don't dig up the garden!! That's where I buried the GUNS!!"

At 4 a.m. the next morning, a dozen FBI agents and local police officers
showed up and dug up the entire garden without finding any guns.
Confused, the old man wrote another note to his son telling him what
happened, and asked him what to do next.

His son's reply was:

"Go ahead and plant your potatoes, Dad. It's the best I could do for you from
here."

p.s. i'm growing mushy in my old age.

excerpt from maggie's blog:

9.23.04 OVERHEARD: BARFLIES AND HONEY
Scenario: Gina has locked herself in the bathroom at the Stone Crow on West 4th.

Girlfriend: Gina! Get out here!...GINA!... I am seriously going to kick your ass if you don't open this door... You're freaking me out...GEEEEENNNNAAA!

Female Bar Owner: How long has she been in there?

Girlfriend: About twenty minutes?

FBO: She had too much to drink?

Girlfriend: Oh yeah.

FBO: Gina, honey. You've gotta unlock the door.

Girlfriend: GINA! Let. Us. In.

FBO: If you don't unlock the door, I'm gonna have to call the police, and then they'll have to break the door in...

Girlfriend: GINA! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!

(The male bartender notices what's up and comes over to the door.)

Bartender: Her name is Gina?

Girlfriend: Yeah.

Bartender: (Adopts an incredibly soothing tone.) Gina, honey, I know you don't feel good. If you can just reach up and unlock the door, I can come in and take care of you... Just reach up and unlock the door, and I'll take care of everything...

Gina: Click!

Bartender: There you go.

people tell me that life is too short to waste on worrying about minor details and petty disputes. they tell me that i should be focusing on the bigger picture.

there's just one problem: the big stuff, by and large, is the stuff i can't do anything about. so there isn't much point in fighting hard against it. i either accept it or i let it drive me crazy.

the small stuff: now that's much more likely to respond to my efforts to manipulate it. if i let it get me exasperated, i at least get the potential pleasure of sorting it out.

i expect to be challenged.

i consider it important to prepare for hardship.

trouble, i know from experience, is fully aware of my address. it pops around every so often to see if i'd like a visit. at the slightest sign of invitation, it slips under the door and takes up residence on the couch.

sometimes, though, it is too busy elsewhere. it forgets about me for a while.

and that surprises me.

here's a question:

what is the first consecutive 10 digit prime number found in PI?

and here are the 2000 places of pi:

3.14159265358979323846264338
3279502884197169399375105820
974944592307816406286208998
628034825342117067982148086
513282306647093844609550582
231725359408128481117450284
102701938521105559644622948
954930381964428810975665933
4461284756482337867831652712
019091456485669234603486104
5432664821339360726024914127
3724587006606315588174881520
9209628292540917153643678925
9036001133053054882046652138
4146951941511609433057270365
75959195309218611738193261179
31051185480744623799627495673
51885752724891227938183011949
1298336733624406566430860213
94946395224737190702179860943
702770539217176293176752384674
81846766940513200056812714526
356082778577134275778960917363
71787214684409012249534301465
49585371050792279689258923542
01995611212902196086403441815
981362977477130996051870721134
999999837297804995105973173281
60963185950244594553469083026
42522308253344685035261931188
17101000313783875288658753320
838142061717766914730359825349
042875546873115956286388235378
759375195778185778053217122680
66130019278766111959092164201
989380952572010654858632788659
3615338182796823030195203530
185296899577362259941389124972
1775283479131515574857242454150
69595082953311686172785588907
50983817546374649393192550604
0092770167113900984882401285836160
3563707660104710181942955596198
94676783744944825537977472684710
4047534646208046684259069491293
313677028989152104752162056966
02405803815019351125338243003558
7640247496473263914199272604269
92279678235478163600934172164121
9924586315030286182974555706749
8385054945885869269956909272107
975093029553211653449872027559
6023648066549911988183479775356
636980742654252786255181841757467
289097777279380008164706001614524
919217321721477235014144197356854
81613611573525521334757418494684
385233239073941433345477624168625
18983569485562099219222184272550
25425688767179049460165346680498
86272327917860857843838279679766
81454100953883786360950680064225
1252051173929848960841284886269456
0424196528502221066118630674427862
203919494504712371378696095636437
191728746776465757396241389086583
26459958133904780275901

gift for a godfather fan?

http://www.engadget.com/entry/7313209331031632/

for all you black-helicopters-in-the-sky folks:

get your conspiracy on!

http://teamlcd.nrgservers.net/pentagon.swf

warning: its a couple of minutes long.

Moleeds - A universal theory from Charles Fleischer

I like numbers.
Through numbers I have discovered the mathematical structure of the universe which I call MOLEEDS.
All things are moleeds, from galaxies to fairlanes, from quasars to trinitrons, from molecules to atoms to eves...
From Protons to neutrons to croutons.
All things are Moleeds.
Moleeds are based on the numbers 27 and 37.
Because one divided by 27 equals point 037...
Conversely one divided by 37 equals point 027...
It is on this reciprocal relationship between the numbers 27 and 37 that all things in the universe and therefore Moleeds are based.
"What the hell was he talking about?"
"I don't know."
"It sounds like he said Moleeds to me."
"Sounds like a lot of monkey womp to me."
37 is the key to understanding the secret of the Moleeds.
37.
Shakespeare wrote 37 plays.
There are 37 openings in the speaker part of the telephone.
The normal temperature of the human body is 98.6.
In centigrade: 37 degrees.
Wayne Newton works 37 weeks out of the year.
You're starting to see it now!
Moleeds.

my world may not be an ideal world but ideal things still happen sometimes. and my life may not be perfect but i do know what a perfect moment feels like.

i love you, dad.

and i miss you.

its been 23 years and my eyes still light up with hope. there are time when i do cry. then there are times when i laugh and talk to you - share my joy and excitement with you.

but i do know you're around - listening to me.

i feel your hugs when i'm down
i feel you pat my back in times of celebration.

i've tried to be a good daughter. i've tried to take the path of truth and honesty. i've definitely tried to do my best to make you and mom proud.

but i'm human. and i do miss having you around. and i do make mistakes. i just fervently pray that i haven't disappointed you in any way.

people who knew you often look at me and say "you're so pretty. you look very much like your father!"

ha! i crack up often wondering if you were "pretty". heh. sorry dad. unfortunately, i got mom's height. but i'm still dynamite.

and yes, mom says i'm like you in many ways. i party hard.. and i play hard. i was the captain of my high school softball team. and i was the captain of my cricket team. and i love prawns. and i love to race. and i go out of my way to be there for people i don't even know.

sometimes, when mom gets real upset with something i do, she yells, "you're exactly like your dad!" haha.

dad, last year, on my birthday, i went racing in an actual nascar race car (it was a modified chevy monte carlo). and this year, i went skydiving!

it was so beautiful - i cried like a girl. *sniff sniff* i'm sure you're laughing at that, huh huh?! let's wrestle! i'll beat you up, old man!

(just kidding. i still love you).

i've been doing a lot of strength training lately. if you think i'm all girly and slim and soft spoken, you're in for a rude shock, dad.

i'm muscular, fit, athletic. and i wear make up. heh.

i have 4 cats! can you believe that?! ishu and syd and their two kids - miu and ari. you'd love them. after rinky (my samoyed) died, i couldn't get myself to get another pet. but then, mom brought ishu home 3 years ago. she was the best birthday gift i could ever have.

i know i'm talking too much.. enough about me. how're you doing, dad? do you miss mom and i? i wonder if you're happy up there. i'm sure you're not. cuz your lil soccer tiki is out here. but i hope you're smiling. and i hope you know how much i love you. and i always think about you. every day.

you're my hero. my friend, philosopher and guide. and i will always love you.

sometimes, my life is like riding a bike on which the chain has slipped.

here's a really funny cricket joke.. thanks to aakash:

Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, now pretty old guys, 75 and 80 years old, are sitting on a park bench feeding pigeons and talking about cricket,like they do every day.

Sachin turns to Sourav and says, "Do you think there's cricket in heaven?" Ganguly thinks about it for a minute and replies, "I dunno. But let's make
a deal: if I die first, I'll come back and tell you if there's cricket in heaven, and if you die first, you do the same." They shake on it and sadly, a few months later, poor Sachin passes on.

One day soon afterward, Ganguly is sitting there feeding the pigeons by himself when he hears a voice whisper, "Sourav... Sourav!" Ganguly responds, "Sachin! Is that you?" "Yes it is, Sourav," whispers Sachin's ghost. Ganguly, still amazed, asks, "So, is there cricket in heaven?" "Well," says Sachin, "I've got good news and bad news." "Gimme the good news first," says Ganguly. Sachin says, "Well... there is cricket in heaven." Ganguly says, "That's great! What news could be bad enough to ruin that!?" Sachin sighs and whispers, "You're going to be the opening batsmen on Friday.

hehehe.

http://members.tripod.com/~just4sharin/naked.jpg

copy and paste it in your browser.

this has scarred me for life! i couldn't stop laughing.

to me, inspiration is rather like food.

i need my fresh supply each day. i can't fill my tummy by remembering yesterday's meal. i can't always chase away the blues by recalling some happy times in the past.

i need to experience something real and new.
i need to do something positive.

9/11/2004:

went skydiving. i have no words to describe the experience. all i can say is that i cant wait to jump from the airplane at 13,500 feet!

i've become a skydiving addict now.
and no one can save me.

i'm drooling over this!

the sex was so good that even the neighbors had a ciggarette!

astronomical bubbles
of
words unsaid
feelings unspoken
laughter unheard
hearts untouched

pretty, white daisies

and a big basket full of just them.

he remembers. he always does.

you're so hot
teasing me
so you're blue
but i can't take a chance
on a chick like you
that's something i couldn't do

nothing can harsh my mellow now..

mmmm

1 in 5 berlinners want the wall back!

here's the scoop..

i think att will carry this semi cool new phone.

it runs a wince version.

one dream at a time.

somewhere, on the circuit board of my life, there's a loose, live wire. and it's capable of carrying quite a current.

he: will you ever grow up?

me: i hope not!

he: why?!

me: that would be really dull. a while ago, i was perilously close to acting in a very sensible, grown-up way.. fortunately, i shook myself out of it.

he: you're impossible.

a letter to ET:

Dear ET..

unexplained radio signal from deep space!

read more..

protestors using upoc during RNC:

www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/09/02/textmessaging.protest.ap/index.html

unfortunately, they've got it all wrong about upoc. upoc isn't famous just for celebrity sightings. i'd except cnn to get its facts right!

random:

The phrase "Often a bridesmaid, but never a bride," actually originates from an ad for Listerine mouthwash in 1924.

feeling hemmed in.

conscious of a hundred problems.

cognisant of a thousand things that i resent - or feel intimidated by.

i expect the worst.

i steel myself for trouble.

i assume that someone wants to make my life difficult

or that a disappointment is waiting round the corner for me.

and i just realized that's so pathetic.

she: i had no choice.

me: what you mean is that you couldn't see what choice you had.. which is not the same thing.

2:00 am - 5:00 pm

interesting work hours.

email:

wonder if you're in as yet..

thought i'd say hi.

i've been up all night.

couldn't sleep.

had a conference call at 2:30am.

that lasted till 3:40am.

showered and got dressed.

left home at 4:30am.

got to work at 5:30am.

and i'm zoning out now.

its fucking 2:30am and i'm on a fucking conference call.

who's awake at that part of the morning?

(except me)