SiteMeter (which you don’t have to deal with me raving about much longer, promise) has shown me readers from all over are actually visiting this lowly excuse for a blog and personal grandstanding forum.

Bonjour to my first international visitors that I actually know of!!! Il etait bon vous voyant!!

It was winter…in the mountains…it was cold. The town was made of wood, but like a fortress. I was screaming at the townspeople to get inside the confines of the town square, where I pulled the gate shut behind me and secured the doors. They were of all ages…in the dress of mountain folk from the early centuries. I wasn’t sure what language I was speaking. The gates wouldn’t stay secure and NO ONE was helping me keep the doors closed. I pleaded to them but they were all too scared…all huddled together in the middle of the town square, the children at the center. The door was opening and shutting just enough for their hands to get smashed when I closed it again…. Despite my efforts I couldn’t keep them out for long…and two of them were on the other side. Female vampires. Screeching, clawing, making the air colder at my feet, sending a fog under the gates. Then going silent as if to wait in jest.

Then I woke up.

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Tomorrow is my first day of my new job. 9 out of 10 agree that it’s a great place to be. 1 out of 10 called it a horrible place to be. 9 out of 10 aint bad. I have to admit I am both excited and nervous. I’m sure there will be a mound of paperwork. And then there’s having to remind them that I’ll need to be out for two days in August for my brother’s wedding.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT: Click on comment and tell me all about your horrors and glories on that very first day. I can’t wait to read it.

Who knows…I could hate this place, but I think I’m gonna love it. Just gonna have to see. Ya nevah know!!!

I just installed SiteMeter today. I put in the code on my side-bar and *bang*, another Mac-user looked at Subway State from a monitor with 1440 x 960 resolution in Whittier, CA.

Wow. I had no idea SiteMeter would be so thorough. I wonder who my first international caller will be….. Â

FRIDAY, July 28 (HealthDay News) — A synthetic version of a protein found in scorpion venom has passed its first test in a treatment for one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer and is headed toward trials against other tumors. Read More Here

SUNDAY, July 30 (ABC News) — HIV hides out inside people’s intestines, researchers say in a report that offers new understanding of the incurable infection. Satya Dandekar, the chairwoman of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California Davis Health System, and her colleagues say the study is the first to explain why the drug cocktails taken by HIV patients so often fail to work completely. Read More Here

THURSDAY, July 27 (San Francisco Chronicle) –Â GlaxoSmithKline said Wednesday that its experimental bird flu vaccine delivered the best results shown so far among the manufacturers who are racing to develop an effective inoculation against the deadly avian virus. Glaxo said an additive it included in the vaccine boosted its power, allowing the use of significantly lower doses while also producing a higher rate of response than the vaccine candidates of competitors whose data have already been reported. Read More Here

SATURDAY, July 22 (Medical News Today) — Multiple Sclerosis patients who receive a brief course of Mitoxantrone, and then Cupaxone, experience a reduced replase rate of 90%, according to a five-year study carried out at The Walton Centre for Neurology, Liverpool, UK. A further ten controlled studies are being launched at 10 centres in the UK. A reduced relapse rate of 90% means the difference between being bedridden and holding down a job and actively raising a family for many MS patients. Read More Here

pleonasm \PLEE-uh-naz-uhm\, noun:

1. The use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; as, “I saw it with my own eyes.”

2. An instance or example of pleonasm.

3. A superfluous word or expression.

Well…last night I got to see a bunch of people I haven’t seen in ages, and it was great. I tried new drinks, tasted non-alcoholic beer (gross)…and while I thought I was recovered and okay. But by the time I left the building, I was briefly a different person than the one that walked in. And I’m a little embarassed. But you’ll laugh when you read this, I hope. I am now.

What was that straw that broke the camel’s back, you ask?  Well bless his lil heart…he couldn’t have known anything that had been going on…but someone I used to date who I haven’t seen in 6 years walked in with a friend of mine. I almost didn’t recognize him, but I vaguely recall the words “yep, I know Aaron…he was my first boyfriend” coming out of his mouth and that hit me like a ton of bricks for some reason. And make no mistake kids, it’s not because I wasn’t over it.  It’s more because I had a rush of memories all hit me at one time and it was less than optimal timing. Let me analogize… Yes, it’s actually a word.

When the human mind has any sequence of events occur, it is like water hitting glass. Eventually the water runs off or dries. But when the series of events are more like hailstones…even the toughest glass is still just glass. And for a minute, I managed to lose face entirely in front of my friends.  I was visibly hurting. I don’t do that in public. I’m very good at not letting you know how I really feel when I deem it appropriate. Call that deceitful if you want. I call it being a guy in a bar. We all go to places like a bar to escape what’s outside.

Well I proved to myself (and anyone else who managed to see my face drain of all color) that even I, the great and powerful 27 year old who has the might of calm for miles…has a mind of glass like everyone else. Last night it didn’t crack, but the sealant on my pane of glass finally erroded in one corner. It’s a good thing that a certain friendly adversary of mine was there to correct me and patch the hole quickly and efficiently.Â

I had forgotten…that he had just been through nearly the same hailstorm as me. And he put me back in place like a pro. But then this certain friend did something I never should have let him do. He bought me a red-bull & vodka to “calm me down”. HA!!!! The ONLY reason I said yes was because I must have been drunk. Sadly, as I am one who feels bad for doing this with a gift, I did not finish it. Instead, I walked around the block with my boyfriend so he could walk off some of the alcohol. Then when we went back in, I eventually confessed that I wanted to go home. I fell asleep watching Under Siege.

This morning, as usual when I drink it…I woke up feeling the red-bull coarsing through my veins like gasoline in a car. I’m not a big guy. It’s not a great feeling. But ya know what a great feeling is? I have great friends. Love ‘em all. We all have different purposes in each other’s lives, and last night we all fulfilled them together. Whether it was saying hi after 6 years or briefly catching up from a week prior….one thing we all understand is that some people need Windex…others need new sealant…and some just need repair.

To quote my boyfriend…there can be no pleasure without a little bit of pain. Hence my finally changing the face of the site. They say red is a power color. Well…I feel my power returning. It’s most definitely a new day.

(Part the readers won’t get but someone will if someone else contacts him, which I think they will since I don’t know how to….  It wasn’t your fault I had a crappy night. Sorry we didn’t get to talk more.  I’m glad you still have the drawing.  What I forgot to tell you is…I discovered that my name was spelled with incorrect symbols on the necklace…so I wonder if the drawing is too?)