Ephemeron

I heard this song on the radio yesterday, and wanted to share it.

Click to listen:

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Black Sabbath – Children Of The Sea from Heaven and Hell, 1980.

Black Sabbath – Children Of The Sea Lyrics

In the misty morning, on the edge of time
We’ve lost the rising sun, a final sign
As the misty morning rolls away to die
Reaching for the stars, we blind the sky

We sailed across the air before we learned to fly
We thought that it could never end
We’d glide above the ground before we learned to run, run
Now it seems our world has come undone

Oh they say that it’s over
And it just had to be
Ooh they say that it’s over
We’re lost children of the sea, oh

We made the mountains shake with laughter as we played
Hiding in our corner of the world
Then we did the demon dance and rushed to nevermore
Threw away the key and locked the door

Oh they say that it’s over, yeah
And it just had to be
Yes they say that it’s over
We’re lost children of the sea

In the misty morning, on the edge of time
We’ve lost the rising sun, a final sign
As the misty morning rolls away to die
Reaching for the stars, we blind the sky

Oh they say that it’s over, yeah
And it just had to be
Oh they say that it’s over
Poor lost children of the sea, yeah

LOOK OUT! The sky is falling down!
LOOK OUT! The world is spinning round and round and round!
LOOK OUT! The sun is going black, black
LOOK OUT! It’s never never never coming back, LOOK OUT!

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Popularity: 4% [?]

RETARDED
SYLLABICATION: re·tard·ed
ADJECTIVE: 1. Often Offensive Affected with mental retardation
2. Occurring or developing later than desired or expected; delayed.
Source : American Heritage® Dictionary

I overheard a conversation this weekend and it featured a very bad word to me.

Retarded. I can’t stand that word. I am dismayed that is has shown up in our slang once again. I have been hearing it a lot lately. It makes me cringe. The definition above from American Heritage labels it right off as Often Offensive and to me it is highly offensive.

I don’t pretend to think that everyone will suddenly stop calling things “retarded” after reading this. And yes, I will continue to cringe when I hear it. But maybe when searching for and adjective to describe a thing, person, or situation, if one person bypasses this one I will be happy.

It bothers me to hear the word retarded used to describe things. The things that are being described are not retarded. They are things. To me there is nothing that is retarded. There are people who suffer from mental retardation. And these people try to live life with disadvantages that those of us who do not suffer from mentally retardation can’t fully appreciate. Disadvantages that are furthered because they are thought of as second class citizens by many. Some of them succeed in life. And some do not. But they all try. What else can they do?

I have been a coach for my local chapter of the Special Olympics for the past 7 years. The Special Olympics provides year round athletic training and competition for people with Mental Retardation. I have spent a lot of time with people with mental retardation in those 7 years. I have gotten to know them. I have come to see what is means to be “retarded”. I have seen these people struggle to get concepts that we take for granted. I have seen people who have been institutionalized their whole lives and don’t even know how to shower themselves. I have taught people to shave for the first time in their lives. Neglect runs rampant amongst these people. Not that they don’t want to take care of themselves but many times it is assumed they can’t. “They are retarded. They can’t do it,” is a common thought. But, in most cases, they can!!!! They want to. They just need someone to help them.

And they are aware. Even when it seems they are not because of their disability. They know what’s going on around them. They hear what you say. They know what you mean. I’ve seen idiots cut on these people right in front of them thinking they didn’t understand because they can’t or don’t choose to speak and then seeing the hurt in the eyes of the mentally retarded person because they understood.

And it is not just the mental retardation these people have to deal with. The conditions that cause their mental retardation also come with a variety of health problems as well. I’ve seen Alzheimer’s disease come and claim these people far before their time. I have watched while uncontrollable seizures wrack these people’s bodies. I known a person whose heart valve was so bad that it literally disintegrated when the surgeon removed it to replace it.

There is one word that kept appearing in the couple of paragraphs above. People. Those with mental retardation are people. They go through the same range of human emotions that people without mental retardation do. They experience both the good emotions and the bad. A common myth about these people is that they are “so open and honest”. That is ridiculous. Yes, they do tend to be brutally honest, at times. But at others, these people lie, cheat, steal, and manipulate like champions. Give some of them a chance and they will use their “situation” to get what they want.

What makes them appear open is they tend to wear their emotions on their sleeves. Typically, you know where you stand with them emotionally. And the emotions tend to be strong and intense. I’ve seen joy expressed that made my heart soar. I’ve seen fury unleashed that made step back in fear. I’ve seen them be as devious as a rogue. I’ve seen disappointment and sadness that makes my heart break. I’ve seen funny things happen that leave my sides hurting from laughing so hard. I’ve seen lust that makes me want to get a hose. And I have seen unbounded love given freely and completely that makes me feel blessed.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

The Iraqi Information Minister gets a new job as a movie critic.

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i found that quite amusing…. i want one — for me lol

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Dead since 2001, apparently. Or, at least, that’s what you might’ve been led to believe had you stumbled upon this after CNN unintentionally made a number of pre-fabricated obituaries public for a very limited time earlier today. Note the link in his biography section in reference to his time as Queen Consort. Well, okay, so the latter half of the obituary was intended for Britain’s Queen Mother. But talk about irony.
For the other obituaries, including that of El Bueno, check thesmokinggun.com.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Rescued American POWs

The marines found seven of our POWs who had been held in Iraq, some since mid-march.

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Ever wonder what makes your favorite soaps and moisturizers work so well? How about what your dog is really having for dinner? Well, wonder no longer.
(Nancy, don’t click this!)

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Ok, so I had a very disappointing moment the other day. I was playing The Sims Online (TSO) and you are allowed to develop a sort of bio for your Sim. It is a free form text area. They suggest some stuff like favorite type of music, favorite quote, and other stuff like that. I decided to put just 2 quotes in my bio and nothing else. The quotes are:

“You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don’t help.”
-Calvin

and,

“Questions I know the answers too, I don’t need to ask, right?”
- Calvin

Both are from the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin and Hobbes is my favorite all-time newspaper comic strip. Calvin was king when I was in college. People made sure they got copies of the school newspaper for no other reason than to make sure they read both Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County every day. Even when I started to work, one of the first things I would turn to in the newspaper at lunchtime was Calvin and Hobbes. In fact, the very first thing I ever hung up at my desk was a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon clipped out of the daily paper. It went like so:

CALVIN: I used to hate writing assignments, but now I enjoy them. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog! Want to see my book report?
HOBBES: “The Dynamics of Interbeing and Monological Imperatives in Dick and Jane: A Study in Psychic Transrelational Gender Modes.”
CALVIN: Academia, here I come!

Calvin’s first statement was an eye opener for me. I never had a writing philosophy. Now I did!!!! And is made perfect sense. Why didn’t my college professors describe it that way?

That comic strip has traveled 10 years with me through 4 towns, 5 buildings, and more desks then I care to count. It is still on my desk at work as we speak. But that’s not what I came here to tell you about.

So, many players read these bios religiously. I am not one of those players. I usually prefer to make my own judgement. But reading them has come in handy a few times. So I was in a house practicing my skills and someone pipes up that they love my quotes and that he was a big Calvin and Hobbes fan too. So we were chatting about it a bit when someone else pipes up, “Who are Calvin and Hobbes?”

I just found myself in disbelief. How could they not know? I was thinking to myself, has it really been so long. And I was dismayed to find it had been. To me it was one of those things that was a fixture in my life and the lives of many of my peers at that time. But it ended on Dec 31, 1995. So to today’s generation, did it even exist? I was crushed.

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We get a lot of search requests for “trouble sleeping” so I thought I’d provide a few links.

What is insomnia and do you have it? Click here.

Now what? The ABCs of ZZZs from the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) is a good place to start. The NSF also provides links to support groups and other sleep and health-related organizations.

Some drugs that are prescribed for insomnia are Ambien or Halcion.

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Dear readers:

We have recently become aware of the sudden proliferation of misleading gardening advice in our Photoblog* section by an individual named “Horticulture Harry.” We wish to clarify that Horticulture Harry is in no way affiliated with this site, and that we cannot be held accountable for any personal injury or expense incurred as the result of his comments.

We here at Ephemeron.net pride ourselves on being one of the most trusted sources for cultivation and growing tips to be found online, and we are deeply concerned with preserving that reputation. We would like to assure you, loyal gardening enthusiasts, that we will continue to offer the most credible guidance possible, and that we greatly apologize for whatever inconvenience may have been caused.

Thank you, as always, for your support!

*Photoblog is no longer extant. Maybe it will be resurrected someday…

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