Went to Micke Grove Zoo today. I got there early So I had an hour or so to walk around. I got to see the pond areas and all the old oak trees. They are so pretty. I love how the massive branches stretch out in all directions all gnarly and bent, never knowing which way it will turn next. I also discovered a rose garden that I did not know was there. It was quite beautiful.

The reason I went today was to celebrate Ling's, the snow leopard, birthday. He turned the big 20 today. Which is really old for snow leopards, 22 being the oldest ever recorded, and since he only has a year or two left I thought it would be nice to celebrate with him. He got a nice birthday cake, made from blood, milk and meat and iced with cat food. He seemed to love it. They also had a new baby pudu!

Daniel and Christa were there too, along with Christa's kids and little sister. They had a blast with all the games and stuff.

Since today was all about Ling, I feel compelled to give some information on the majestic snow leopard.

Snow leopards occupy alpine and subalpine areas generally 3,350 and 6,700 metres (10,990 and 22,000 ft) above sea level in Central Asia. The Snow Leopard Survival Strategy compiled national snow leopard population estimates. Many of the estimates are acknowledged to be rough and out of date, but the total estimated population is 4,080-6,590. However, the global snow leopard effective population size (those likely to reproduce) is suspected to be fewer than 2,500 (50% of the total population, or 2,040-3,295).

The snow leopard cannot roar, despite possessing partial ossification of the hyoid bone. This partial ossification was previously thought to be essential for allowing the big cats to roar, but new studies show that the ability to roar is due to other morphological features, especially of the larynx, which are absent in the snow leopard. Snow leopard vocalizations include hisses, chuffing, mews, growls, and wailing.

Considerable predation of domestic livestock occurs which brings it into direct conflict with humans. Herders will kill snow leopards to prevent them from taking their animals. The loss of prey animals due to over grazing by domestic livestock, poaching and defense of livestock are the major drivers for the decreasing population. Snow leopards have not been reported to attack humans, and appear to be among the least aggressive of all the big cats. As a result, they are easily driven away from livestock; they readily abandon their kills when threatened and may not even defend themselves when attacked.

Sometimes, no matter how much faith we have, we lose people. But you never forget them. And sometimes, it's those memories that give us the strength to go on.

          I've been thinking about death a lot lately, thanks to Kimmy. It's kind of bittersweet and of course when contemplating death, it eventually leads to contemplating life. Your life.

      I wonder what happens after you die? Do you just cease to be? That seems like a fairly bleak proposition. You get one chance to be happy and then its over. But what if you screw up? What if you choose wrong or what if circumstances are against you? what about those who die as children. Did they really miss their one and only shot? How sad a thought.
      What about heaven or hell? Is there really such a division? If so, who decides who goes where? God? But whose God? The christian God? The Muslim God? A pagan God? A God of no religion devised by man? Do we decide our own fates perhaps? Perhaps our own reflections determine our final resting place.
      I have always been fond of the idea of reincarnation. Living life  over and over again, having several attempts while trying to learn the cosmic lessons of the universe and all that. I don't know which of these are true. I don't know what happens once you die. So, if I do not know, and I have no way of finding out, aside from dying anyway. I might as well pick the one that seems happiest and run with it.

   Though regardless of what the afterlife holds, one should strive to live a full and happy life. Something I tend to neglect. One should not sit around and just do nothing, at least not all the time. One should seek out happiness and excitement and live life to the fullest and try to leave something behind. I look at my life and I wonder. If I died today what would I be leaving behind. No children. No legacy. No work or humanitarian accomplishments. All I would leave behind is a few memories for a few friends. And lets face it. Five years, Ten years, down the line. I doubt those memories will endure. I love my friends but time eats away all. I will slip away into nothingness and cease to be at all.

Many curse death. They blame it, the call it unfair for taking the good and the young. But that statement itself is unfair. Death takes everyone. Good and Bad. Old and young. Black and white. Gay and straight. Christian, muslim and pagan. Death is fairness. Death is tolerance. Death is equality. Death is what so many of us aspire to be. 

Moving Is Oh So Fun

"You cannot forget if you would those golden kisses all over the cheeks of the meadow, queerly called dandelions." - Henry Ward Beecher

      Today we finally started moving. Nothing to big because it was essentially just me. So I got most of the dishware and glassware over, transferred the pantry and moved a few smaller tables and shelves. We woke up early and quite around one when it started getting really hot. Tomorrow Robert will be here and we can tackle the bigger things and unfortunately it’s going to be even hotter. I hate the heat.

      Summer, is my least favorite season. Although there are some good things like pools and swimming, girls showing a lot more skin and at least for the lucky kids no school. But the heat is just too much. Being a heavy guy and having a family history that’s prone to intense sweating, I don’t do hot weather well. Oh, I can handle it just fine, but I’m miserable the whole time. Guess I’ll just stick to dreaming of winter.

      Also, during the afternoon I went to the new house and spread some diatomaceous earth in the back yard. For those who don’t know what that is, diatomaceous earth is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white powder. It consists of the fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae and is wonderful for pest control. I have used it for worming our dogs and in this case I used it for outdoor insect control. We have seen just a couple of roaches around and, being next to the fairgrounds that’s not much of a surprise. But the backyard is practically infested with fleas and spiders, they are everywhere. So I laid down a barrier around the house and lightly dusted the yard, giving special attention to the more troubling spots. Diatomaceous earth kills insects by absorbing the lipids on the exoskeleton, causing a water pressure deficiency, essentially causing them to dehydrate.

      For dinner I had some pulled pork and as much as I love pulled pork, today was not a good day for it. As hot as it was outside, it was a total sauna inside. I didn’t have my usual mix of spices that I use, so I improvised with whatever sounded good at the time. It turned out pretty good. I also had some mashed potatoes with gravy and spinach to go with it. Not the veggie I would normally have chosen to go with it but I am running low of veggies and it went better than I thought with the pork.

     I also ordered some organic Dandelion seeds today. I was rushing and ordered twice as many as I wanted, so I will be giving the extra to my sister Rayvin. I can’t wait to get them planted! I want to try some deep friend dandelion flowers and sautéed leaves and they add a wonderful bitterness to salads. I also want to try making a tea out of the roots. I have heard of be health benefits for years, but I have never tried them. Anyway, sorry if this went a little long. Take care.

Fun Day With My Surrogate Family.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive..."
- Anais Nin

      Well now, I’ve had a pretty good weekend. I came down to my friend, Rayvin's, house Saturday morning and we went to the street fair. We were a bit rushed because Daniel, Rayvin’s husband had to go to work. but it was nice for the time we were there, we saw some neat booths and stuff. Then we went to In and Out for a late lunch and I had my usual, a massive 4x4. After consuming my mound of meat on a bun we went back to her place and to be honest I don’t really remember what we did for the next several hours. It can’t have been anything very important or interesting. Eventually we made dinner. Some sort of steak and rice dish to clear out the fridge of leftovers. It was pretty good. Then Daniel got home and he had Kim with him. It was nice, I don't see Kim nearly as often as I would like.

      Then today we woke up reasonably early, cooked a nice breakfast, Kim did scrambled eggs and cheese, though there wasn’t enough cheese. There never is. But, it was still yummy. Rayvin made some biscuits and I made bacon. Glorious bacon. There are few delights on this planet that can compare to hacked up pig belly cooked in its own fat. After our glorious breakfast Daniel went to work and we helped so some housework and finish painting the room Rayvin’s daughter is going to be moving into. Then we went back to the street fair. We weren’t as restricted by time restraints this time around and got to see lots more. Rayvin’s daughter enjoyed the petting zoo which has a surprising number of animals. Then we walked around, saw many things and must have drank 5 gallons of lemonade between us. With free refills why not? We had a nice lunch at a Greek/American restaurant called Athens. I had a yummy feta burger. Then we bought some items that the girls wanted. Waiting till the last minute we managed to haggle some good prices on them. We came home and finished the room for Rayvin’s daughter. She should be able to move in tonight.

      All in all, it was a pretty good day. Got to hang out with some great friends, had some fun, and got a lot accomplished. I’m not really looked forward to tomorrow when this wonderful weekend ends and I must return home to my humdrum existence. I need to find myself a job and start having some fun again. Life is getting pretty boring.

From Dismal to Dandy

  

      Yesterday was bleak and boring. I was sitting around the house about to drill a hole in my skull simply to give me something to do. When out of the blue I got a phone call from my beloved sister Rayvin. She wanted to know if I could come down to Manteca and help her take the bus to Stockton because she simply had too much to carry while managing a baby and a rambunctious five year old. So, elated in finally having something to do I heading down to her house. As usual she wasn't ready and after much rushing about we finally left.  We walked the ten minutes or so to the bus stop, though with my niece complaining the whole way it felt like an hour, when Ray suddenly realized she had forgotten the papers that she needed to turn in. That’s right, she had forgotten the papers that were the entire reason for going to Stockton in the first place. So we headed back to her house and decided that it didn’t make much sense for me to pay for a bus back to home so it was decreed that I would stay the night and hitch a ride home with her husband on his way to work the next day.

      The rest of the night was relatively slow, we had various conversations on innumerable topics until her husband Daniel got home. This, including various texts with an old friend I haven't seen in a very long while keep my fairly entertained even though I had none of the usual electronic distractions I normally bring when I’m visiting. Unfortunately, there were numerous delays and interruptions resulting in a rather late dinner. But, despite the annoying wait, it was rather delicious. So thank you for the wonderful dinner Rayvin.

      Slept rather poorly last night. Couldn't get comfortable for the life of me. And when I did finally fall asleep I woke up numerous times throughout the night. Though, despite the lack of sleep I did manage to have a couple very interesting dreams that I won’t soon forget. I would love to share them with you as I tend to have some very bizarre dreams but I’m afraid that if I did, I would be murdered in my sleep. So you’ll have to take my word for it.

      Now, since waking the day has been fairly humdrum. Went with ray to take my neice to school, skipped breakfast completely. Conversed with Rayvin and  Daniel until he was ready to leave and came home to my beloved and gravely missed laptop were I have spent the last few hours putting this blog together.

       All and all it was a pretty good couple of days. Thanks you guys for having me.

Introductions Are In Order

     This is my blog. I am creating it because I am tired of my friends constantly hounding me to make one and frankly because I am incredibly bored at the moment. This blog shall contain the rare, interesting happenings of my life along with my thoughts, feelings or simply random things I encounter, be it on the Internet or in real life, that I find interesting or amusing. I don’t know how often I will update and I can’t guarantee that this will still be used in a week/month/year but I’ll give it a shot and see how this goes. So I hope you enjoy these little musings of a madman.

      First off, since this is my first post I think I should start off by briefly introducing myself. My name is Brandon. I am a 25 year old male that some might call a loser. But, I’m ok with that. I’m an arrogant, egotistical, selfish, maniacal, apathetic, demented, lonely and slightly deranged individual whom constantly has thoughts that scare even me. I am also a loyal, loving friend whom while not caring for a lot of people will lie, cheat, steal, murder or die for those few people so blessed with my affection. I am simply a lost soul searching for solace in a crazy screwed up world. Still interested? Good, Then stick around for more to come.