The Featured Post Blog

A collection of the featured posts as they appeared on mo'time

by: rustymadgal (again, but this time as a private citizen)

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I pulled it off somehow. Could be the Mo'jinx, you know how when you mention something in your blog or in the many behind the scenes Momails or chats and it happens in real life?

There I was yesterday posting and wallowing in the Trailer Parks biggest pity party about my inability for the first time ever to get a job and all the shit the man makes you go through just to apply for the privilege of being turned down.

This morning started out no differently. Got up, hiked with Cavedog and emailed a few evil HRs for jobs I had applied for and heard nothing from. At this point I have nothing to lose so I wrote one HR that I saw the position frequently in the classifieds and promised not to be worse than any of the past people he had hired.

I also applied for a few more jobs online like they wanted and took the most insane personality test ever. Those questions can usually try to be tricky and sometimes the choices they give for answers dont fit but one test section made me pick between two choices.

I would rather

have marshmallow fluff stuffed in my ears or w$#k with someone sloppy and lazy

smell something awful or have one task to accomplish all day

be probed by aliens or fall down the stairs

I have no idea what they wanted, maybe that was the drug test.

After that the dark clouds blew in and we had our first rain in over two months. I drove around in my crappy economy car with the dried out wipers smearing pine sap all over the windshield picking up more and more applications.
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posted by: howard at 12:31 | link | comments |

by: rustymadgal

You're invited to a Mo'time Reunion!

Howard has tirelessly burned the midnight pixels emailing our Mo'time friends from long ago.

"Hey. Once upon a time you had blog on Mo'time. Remember? Well it's still there and it's only missing one thing - YOU! I am sending you this email because at least one Mo'timer, plus me, has been wondering what you've been up to! This is not one of those just-another-social-network trying to bother you kinda things. This actually a personal letter, a plea, sent simply because we miss you.

We're planning a Mo'time reunion for the month of April. Starting April 1st, surf on by to www.motime.com and dust off your blog. See what your old friends are up to! "One Mo'time", write a post and catch us up on what's new in your world -- no obligation or expectation to stay, of course, but a little update would be rather cool."
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posted by: howard at 18:25 | link | comments |

by: CarolenChina

I was sitting in McDonald's having breakfast watching people. My favorite past time, watching people. I noticed a little lady that had to be fresh from a village. How do I know, well, her dress for one. She had the tell tale red cheeks that had been close to blistering in the cold... but they didnt, no sore scars. Her clothes while clean and neat were not the days fashion. Her hands were rough and calloused. But the thing that stood out, the most...she felt out of place. She was clearly uncomfortable standing waiting for what I think was her daughter. She probably wanted to go down to the noodle shop and have mian.. but the little girl wanted to go to McDonalds and there they were. The village lady wasnt sure what to do with the fork or the pancakes that was set in front of her. I wanted to take her by the hand and go to the noodle shop...but I would have probably scared her, most likely she has seen few foreigners. So I just watched her instead. She wanted to go back to the village, it was written all over her.

I watched an old man getting his fortune told by a street seer. He was bent over and listening to every word the fortune teller was saying. His body was in a permanent lean....He had his hand cupping his chin as though  he was deep in thought, trying to put the pieces of info together. He was so deep into his listening the outside world didnt exist. I hope that his days will be filled with all that is good....however, I am not the fortune teller. I noticed lately, that the street fortune tellers are very busy...new year and all that.
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posted by: howard at 22:09 | link | comments |

by: Yoshick

Things That Ought To Seem Obvious, But Were Not At The Time

1.) If you keep making accidental eye contact in the bar with the barely legal dread-locked, pierced, pale-as-a-corpse, unwashed guy, while knocking back a bourbon that has 20% more alcohol in it by volume than other bourbons until last call swings around while continuing to make accidental eye contact because hey, he's in your line of sight, what were you supposed to do, it should be clear well before the moment that he attempts to do so, that he will follow you home and try to stay there. And while the phrase oh shit, it's him said rather loudly upon seeing him in the living room is normally enough to convince any other would-be suitor that you have no intention of even sitting next to him, much less sleeping underneath him, considering how one might get herself into such a situation, it should not have been surprising that he required much more than that in order to understand that he was not wanted. Damn you, Philadelphia.

2.) When you hear the phrase "You can drink anything that costs less than $300 dollars. I think that's only seven bottles between the three of us but we should be fine with that, right?" is not a bad way to end an evening, but it's a really bad way to start an evening. Also bad to hear? "Wow, did we drink all seven? No? There's the seventh! Thank God. I need another drink." Damn you, bubbly.

3.) Despite the fact that I have an impressive amount of upper body strength, no one who weighs more than forty pounds should run across a hallway and attempt to jump into my arms. Especially not when the person running towards me is five inches taller than I am, and heavier, as her height might suggest.
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posted by: howard at 15:33 | link | comments (2) |

by: InMyLife

It was a small, relatively minor surgery, as these things go, but anything to do with his heart, his big, beautiful heart, sends me over the edge. This time, however, was different. At the last minute, his dad was able to get off work, and I had to work...what a switcheroo. But having his dad there with him made all the difference to me, and I was able to kiss our son before he was wheeled off and leave the hospital before he came out of surgery, and I only blanked out once on the interstate.

So this time, I got the information second-hand, a call that came while I was in the classroom, a call that made my students stop their group work and fall into complete, unabashed eavesdropping. A call that made me sigh with relief, tear up a little, and finally, finally, say a silent prayer of thanks. And then I went back to teaching, and this time I could fly through the day. I had wings.
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posted by: howard at 12:14 | link | comments |

by: bluematrix

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

eliot was a businessman who had a benign brain tumor removed near the prefontal cortex part of his brain. he remains intelligent and seemingly rational, with a wry sense of humor. but he now has trouble making decisions, keeping appointments and has squandered his life savings on bad investments. but these things don't bother him and he keeps making the same mistakes over again.

the university of iowa doctor who treated eliot has determined thru psychological testing that he has almost completely lost the ability to experience emotion due to his injury. and while the amygdala part of the brain processes fear, research is showing other parts are critical for registering emotion, like the prefontal cortex.

science is finding that emotion is a key element of learning.
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posted by: howard at 12:21 | link | comments |

by: dpassmore

The dogs give thanksgiving...

As I write this, Penn State's only astronaut-faculty member sits at the next table at Otto's Cafe on the Penn State University Park Campus with his coffee and giant blueberry muffin. Rain falls steadily outside, but there is no rain in space. All is zero gravity sameness. I am sure he did not have to tie a tie and dress in a suit during his time in orbit.

The dogs enjoyed themselves at the kennel on Thanksgiving. When they returned, they romped around the back yard, where Ann, my daughter, took their photos.



That's Cody, the gray-blue greyhound, on the left; Oreo, the newest greyhound, sniffs to the right.
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posted by: howard at 10:53 | link | comments |

by: Lewana

[The featured post is back!]

Travel in West Africa can be quite daunting if not risky at times. It takes tough nerves, guts and planning to explore sub-sahelian Niger beyond its capital Niamey. The moment you are leaving the relative comfort zone of the city for a river tour, you can expect no more doctors, mechanics, pharmacies, and shops - not even potable water.

French-born Jean-Claude Berronet, who has made Niamey his retirement home, is definitely the man to organise a river safari to W National Park.

Indeed, I was very lucky to hear about Jean – Claude's Niger River Tours for he does not no marketing, neither in Niamey nor overseas. Still, bush drums here in Africa work miraculously well in this part of the world. It was partly thanks to a friend’s phone message –– asking me whether I wanted to join a couple of tourists doing a two day pirogue tour along the river towards W National Park. As you would expect, I jumped at the opportunity for I had just read several interesting articles written by Joost Brower, soil scientist and founder of the NiBDaD (Niger Bird Data Base - www.birdlife.org.uk )

Especially Brower’s articles in the Bradt Tourist Guide (the first guide in English printed in 2006 about Niger) about Niger’s rich birdlife had caught my imagination. His inside knowledge about Niger’s biodiversity, agriculture and environmental issues wetted my appetite for an adventure that promised camping in the wilderness, exploring native villages and - most importantly - observe and discover the rich and varied wild–life of the unique wetlands that run along the Niger River.

So – quite unprepared and still a little jet-lagged for such an expedition at 7 o’clock on Friday morning I found myself in a “mangotier”, a shady garden filled with shady mango trees, stepping gingerly on board a large pirogue.
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posted by: howard at 22:49 | link | comments (1) |

by: your humble servant

It has come to the management's attention that there is some dissatisfaction within the ranks about the moniker "Unlogged visitor" that appears in the comments of those sad souls that won't take the measly 2 minutes that are required to register and pick a nice name for themselves.
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posted by: howard at 17:02 | link | comments (9) |

by: DJGroovySlug

Yes, that's me, in all my glory, gracing the headlining blog blurb in the Washington Post's Express' Blog Log feature, where they quote random blogs on local and national events. Which means: I'm a published author.  If you'd like me to sign your copy, I'm okay with that but if you see me on the street, I'd appreciate it if you respect my privacy. 

Really, don't let this affect my relationship with you.  I'm still a normal gal!  Just writin in my blog, making wacky comments about life.  I'm like a sitcom but only better because I can make you brownies.
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posted by: howard at 16:43 | link | comments |