The journey continues...

Brian Bilbrey September 8, 2012

Myth

My first class this Fall session is a last GER class, this one about myths and (mostly) Mythology. Frankly, it's an agony for me, because my interpretation is that Myth is fiction that has outstayed its welcome. Sure, they're compelling stories and all that, and as such useful for modern novelists and filmmakers to retread such stories and distribute them as "content" (a word I despise) to the cattle of our consumer society. They're especially good for that because people aren't educated nearly as well anymore. But analysis of myth, and and the making up of whole cultures, a whole…

Brian Bilbrey September 2, 2012

Tired of School Brian is Tired...

There goes the weekend. I spent much of it trying to stub out the next 6 weeks of work for the Myth in the World class that I had to take. Why so much? Because the bibliography is due first! #WTF ??? Sigh. While this class is interesting, frankly it's a waste of my time. And now they want me to do my own plagiarism submissions? Can I give myself my own grades, too? I pay more, I get less, and I have to do their work for them. I *almost* wish I'd done more classes at a time, earlier,…

Brian Bilbrey August 26, 2012

Rainy Day

A rainy day here in Bowie, Maryland. Not continuous, but some impressive downpours in the course of dropping half an inch of rain. Still, better than what's facing the Korean Peninsula this week. I read elsewhere that they're likely to get well upwards of 20 inches of rain from this storm that's 1,200 miles across... Wow! In other news, everyone here at the Hovel is happy that Marcia's back home, after she spent a week in Michigan visiting with relatives and attending the AQS show in Grand Rapids. I picked her up at BWI last night, and Lexi was dancing…

Brian Bilbrey August 19, 2012

Winding Down Summer

Today I pulled another batch of tomatoes out of the garden. How many? A gallon of salsa, and another lobster pot of red sauce, that's how many. I also dug up all the rest of the potatoes, about 30# worth. Today started with the shopping, then I was mowing from 1030 to 1200, and then gardening and cooking until 1930 - a full day's work. The garden is pretty sad, in truth. Between school and spending two weeks partially under the weather, the garden truly hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. The worst sin: Tomatoes have gone bad on the…

Brian Bilbrey August 18, 2012

So This Happened...

So this happened: Frankly, I've been tempted by BMW ever since I spent a few days driving a 325 while visiting with my folks a couple of years back. But it took this long to execute on the temptation. The Prius was such a sane, safe choice: great gas mileage, some fun bits of technology built in, and ... great gas mileage. But while it is only three years old, it was starting to get rattly and junky - primarily plastic things on the interior failing. The driver's seat starting to come apart. Stuff like that. And frankly, it's not…