Sometimes being a reasonable adult is just too much fun.

First, read all about it at Susie's. I got lumped into the category of right-wing Freeper trolls because I questioned a "poll". The author of the "poll" then claimed that it was "commentary". I guess that's one way of looking at it, especially if you get called on it by reasonable people. Of course, while trying to have a discussion of the points made, some moonbat wigged out at Susie and called her a Nazi.

Next, over at CD's place, I was accused of being a Hitler admirer by a conservative moonbat because I dared to suggest that people might disagree with their position because they actually believed differently. An innocent enough remark in my mind, but apparently enough to send one whackjob into attack mode.

Adios to both of those places (not Susie's, but the other two) because I just don't have the time nor inclination to listen to ranting and raving from either end of the political spectrum. I don't normally make a big deal out of delinking people, and I'm not really here either, because I never linked to the one place, and I'll just stop visiting the other.

I said it once, I'll say it again: right wing moonbats = left wing moonbats. Lesson learned (again).

Posted by: Ted at 10:50 AM | category: About Ted
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1 Some people have "hot buttons" and apparently abortion is that Sarah's; she also seems never to have heard of Godwin's Law. I think the problem here lies with the people who opposed Scott Peterson being charged with two murders instead of one because they think granting Lacey's baby personhood is an asault on a woman's "right to choose"--dismissing the fact that Lacey had already made her choice and the only reason the baby wasn't carried to term was Lacey was murdered. The polarization on this issue is getting a little ridiculous, though.

Posted by: Susie at April 13, 2004 11:33 AM (sf0L+)

2 I hope you don't blame me for that Hitler thing. I was just going after people who think that pro-life=anti-women. I didn't expect a full-blown Nazi comparison to show up.

Posted by: CD at April 13, 2004 11:36 AM (23BBG)

3 I'm not convinced that right wing moonbats = left wing moonbats, but moonbats = moonbats alright, and there certainly are right wing ones as well as left wing ones. (There are also apolitical moonbats. I've met them.)

Posted by: Pixy Misa at April 13, 2004 12:01 PM (+S1Ft)

4 CD, I don't blame you. But it's twice now that I've commented and gotten barked at. Ya know, instead of not visiting, I should just keep my mouth shut. Sounds like a plan my momma would've agreed with.

Posted by: Ted at April 13, 2004 12:28 PM (blNMI)

5 Moonbats on either side of the spectrum use a lot of the same rhetoric. Bush=Nazi, Pro-choice=Nazi. *sigh*

Posted by: Jennifer at April 13, 2004 02:33 PM (DdBLw)

6 ...it's twice now that I've commented and gotten barked at.

The other time wasn't when Larry the Liberal called you a fascist, was it?

Larry's...not exactly a real person. If you know what I mean.

Posted by: CD at April 13, 2004 02:43 PM (23BBG)

7 LOL Yep, Larry was it, and being called a fascist was the time. I do this for fun, that kind of nonsense isn't fun, so I stop doing it.

Posted by: Ted at April 13, 2004 03:22 PM (blNMI)

8 Pixy and Jen are right, a moonbat is a moonbat no matter what their stripes.

Posted by: Simon at April 14, 2004 01:44 AM (OyeEA)

9 I'm bad. Very bad. I had to go put my 50 cents worth in. (Hey! I think a lot of myself. Anything I say is worth a lot more than 2 cents. Besides, there's inflation to think about.) I guess I can't say the devil made me do it because that would make Ted the devil wouldn't it? :-)

Posted by: Lynn S at April 14, 2004 08:35 AM (GxGip)

10 Well... I'm certainly not going to say anything negative on poking fun at things while commenting on them. I'd lose half of my output if I stopped doing that, Ted.

I tend to agree with Susie - looks like you ran into someone who's hot button is abortion and who automatically equates pro-lifer with neo-nazi. Barking Moonbat material, allrighty.

I think you hit on why I comment on only the few blogs that I do, and mostly ones I know I'll read on a more or less daily basis. I don't have time or inclination to keep up with every argument, even though I'm not adverse to the odd flamewar.

Posted by: Ironbear at April 15, 2004 09:39 AM (bW9IA)

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Last night, I once again had the pleasure of DawnÂ’s company for dinner. SheÂ’s bright, witty, vivacious, and neener neener because you missed out.

She said something that stuck in my mind and got me to thinking. Dawn told me that she wasnÂ’t used to guys being gentlemen. You see, I open doors for ladies, including car doors. I held her coat while she put it on. I walk on the outside of the sidewalk. ItÂ’s basic manners that I learned from my dad, and now unusual enough to be remarkable.

Shame on you guys.

Update: I removed all the silly footnotes. It flows better without them, and obscured the fact that I actually had a point to make.

Posted by: Ted at 09:02 AM | category: About Ted
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1 Normally, if a guy pulls out a chair for me, I have to be wary if he's not going to pull it out from under me completely. I think we gals have been so desensitized to chivalry that it throws off our equilibrium when we're not being treated like shit. Or maybe that's just my personal experiences talking. You're a gem, my friend. Thanks for treating me like a lady!

Posted by: Dawn at March 10, 2004 12:05 PM (L6pam)

2 I used to try the old "stand up for a lady on the bus" routine until one woman slapped my face so hard it threw me back into the seat - stupid feminist.

Posted by: Ozguru at March 10, 2004 09:48 PM (/acvO)

3 Strange.. I do all manner of chivalrous things and have never ever heard a complaint, only praise (most often from grandmas). The trick is to identify the "feminists" and avoid 'em altogether.

Posted by: Tuning Spork at March 10, 2004 11:53 PM (9mpVW)

4 I've gotten the occasional dirty look for giving up a seat and such. Mostly it's surprise and smiles. I don't do it to be superior, I do it because that's the way I was brought up.

Oz, that was no lady that slapped you. I would've been tempted to punch her lights out.

Posted by: Ted at March 11, 2004 05:41 AM (ZjSa7)

5 When I used to take the bus to work, I noticed that men never gave up their seats, even when women were obviously pregnant and struggling to stand. I always was the one who gave up my seat for other women. It's memories like that that stay in my mind when we go into discussions of chivalry.

Posted by: Dawn at March 11, 2004 08:09 AM (Q0xHi)

6 Montgomery, Alabama in the 50's. My dad was a young kid in the Air Force, and he gave his seat to a pregnant black lady. The driver put both of them off the bus.

I've got one hell of an example to live up to.

Posted by: Ted at March 11, 2004 08:35 AM (blNMI)

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I didn't used to take these stupid quizzes...

Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre?
"Is that a scroll in your toga, or are you just glad to see me?"
You're smooth, okay, but you also need a girlfriend. Bad.

Which Weird Latin Phrase Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Saw this all over the place (and sorry if I've not included you).

Posted by: Ted at 06:47 AM | category: About Ted
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1 Well, thanks for includin' me, but I am surprised you feel that way and did not come up with the same result that I did. I guess my reponses indicated that I was displayin' somewhat less than a scroll in my toga. I guess it is time to start readin' some of those SPAMs I regularly delete without a view at their contents. Some seem to be hintin' I could take a pill to enlarge my ability to display somethin' in my toga to impress the Empress.

Posted by: Tiger at March 10, 2004 09:11 AM (G5PGV)

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I took the 'Peanuts' quiz (found all over).

( results in the extended entry) more...

Posted by: Ted at 11:42 AM | category: About Ted
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1 I'm Snoopy! Apparently he's a Gemini... ;-)

--TwoDragons

Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at March 01, 2004 03:52 PM (adijG)

2 I'm Snoopy too. Gotta be the Gemini thing.

Posted by: Dawn at March 01, 2004 06:05 PM (Q0xHi)

3 I expected to be Linus, but came up Shroeder. Must have been the music thang.
Oh... Gemini here, too.

Posted by: Tuning Spork at March 02, 2004 01:31 AM (CthYa)

4 I'm Rerun!

Posted by: Tink at March 02, 2004 09:47 PM (vBx7A)

5 Good Grief.

I'm Charlie Brown.

Posted by: Alan E Brain at March 04, 2004 09:19 PM (T518G)

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My "Big 30" Psychological Profile, because everyone knows you don't need years of education in order to disect my soul and tell all about me, just 155 questions.

(in the extended entry)

I saw this one over at DeMythology, and Glenn talks about a different one that he took. more...

Posted by: Ted at 11:53 AM | category: About Ted
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Found this over at Coyote's Bark.

Your Brain Usage Profile

Auditory : 53%
Visual : 46%
Left : 52%
Right : 47%

Ted, your hemispheric dominance is equally divided between left and right brain, while you show a moderate preference for auditory versus visual learning, signs of a balanced and flexible person.

Your balance gives you the enviable capacity to be verbal and literate while retaining a certain "flair" and individuality. You are logical and compliant but only to a degree. You are organized without being compulsive, goal-directed without being driven, and a "thinking" individual without being excessively so.

The one problem you might have is that your learning might not be as efficient as you would like. At times you will work from the specific to the general, while at other times you'll work from the general to the specific. Sometimes you will be logical in your approach while at other times random. Since you cannot always control the choice, you may experience frustrations not normally felt by persons with a more defined and directed learning style.

You may also minimally experience conflicts associated with auditory processing. You will be systematic and sequential in your processing of information, you will most often focus on a single dimension of the problem or material, and you will be more reflective, i.e., "taking the data in" as opposed to "devouring" it.

Overall, you should feel content with your life and yourself. You are, perhaps, a little too critical of yourself - and of others - while maintaining an "openness" which is redeeming. Indecisiveness is a problem and your creativity is not in keeping with your potential. Being a pragmatist, you downplay this aspect of yourself and focus on the more immediate, the more obvious and the more functional.

I was nodding right along with this up until the indecisiveness bit at the end. I'm decisive when it counts, but I don't feel the need to make every decision in every situation. Easygoing is not the same as indecisive. As for creative, well, I think I am. Wanna see a booger snowman? Talk about creative!

Posted by: Ted at 10:16 PM | category: About Ted
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Thanks to the Gray Monk, via GDay Mate, another map-generating site, this time of the world showing the countries I've visited.

(in the extended entry) more...

Posted by: Ted at 08:38 AM | category: About Ted
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Thanks to Daniel, I now have a personalized US map showing all the states I've visited (in red).

Being in the military helps, especially if you drive from one assignment to another.

For those eagle-eyed individuals, I do not have teleportation superpowers, Texas has airports.

And I may have driven through Arkansas on a trip from Minnesota to Mississippi, but I'm not positive, so I didn't mark it.

It's in the extended entry. more...

Posted by: Ted at 07:50 AM | category: About Ted
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My friend Kyle is a scathingly brilliant caricaturist (props to the first person to identify the reference there), as evidenced by the cartoon of me in the extended entry.

He drew it a couple of years ago, and it still makes me laugh.

I hope he burns in hell. more...

Posted by: Ted at 08:05 AM | category: About Ted
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1 Gonna join Bloggers with Boobies?

Posted by: Susie at January 04, 2004 10:18 AM (0+cMc)

2 Beefcake. BEEFCAKE!!!

Posted by: Ted at January 04, 2004 10:40 AM (2sKfR)

3 Cheesy poofs!

Posted by: LeeAnn at January 04, 2004 11:40 AM (HxCeX)

4 I won't be worried until Mookie posts something about you telling her to 'respect your authorateeaah'!

Posted by: Kin at January 04, 2004 12:21 PM (FPO9K)

5 "I'm big boned!"

Posted by: Dawn at January 04, 2004 07:35 PM (0zfIx)

6 more to love, right Ted?

Posted by: jim at January 04, 2004 10:57 PM (lN8eP)

7 u guys suk at drawin morons!! boo

Posted by: bopop at June 09, 2005 11:19 AM (QTxUN)

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A photograph of one of our dogs, in the extended entry. Just because. more...

Posted by: Ted at 08:05 PM | category: About Ted
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This is a song I wrote in 1979 or Â’80. I was in the Air Force, stationed in Grand Forks, North Dakota with the Strategic Air Command (SAC). It definitely reflects my life and mindset at the time, considering where I was and what I was doing. ItÂ’s a little dated now that the Soviet Union is no more, but I think it still works. I wish I could post the music with it (and you should be glad I donÂ’t know how to post audio). Anyway, the various snippets of Christmas carols are mostly sung to their original melodies and rhythms, and the background is a simple glockenspiel line or finger-picked guitar.

The Year Santa Started World War III

Deck the halls with jingle bells, jingle bells, and lots of Christmas cheer,
I remember all the fuss at Christmas time that year.

Our spies had found the Russians out,
Discovered quite a trick,
On Christmas eve a missile dressed as Santa Claus would hit.
Washington would be aglow,
With more than Christmas cheer,
WouldnÂ’t need no Christmas lights, the next ten thousand years.

Ho Ho Ho, Fa La La La Laaaaaa,
And a silent night,
WeÂ’ll intercept that phony Santa and blast it out of sight.

Christmas eve had rolled around,
And everything was set,
Our missiles were all poised to strike at Rudolph the Red Threat.
We tracked it on our radar,
And let our missile fly,
It hit and as we watched in awe it lit up half the sky.

Wise men ‘round the world agree,
That on that holy night,
We intercepted something and we blew it out of sight.

Radar screens began to light up,
All across the land,
It soon was plain to everyone that doomsday was at hand.
Kids still talk about it,
As the yule that never was,
America had shown itÂ’s might and nuked poor Santa Claus.

Dashing through the snow,
Up on the rooftop reindeer pause,
With Uncle Sam as Mr. Scrooge we nuked poor Santa Claus.

A lesson quite apparent,
No need to dig down deep,
Just need one to wage a war, need two to wage a peace.
“Do You See What I See”
is a motto for all men,
God intended Christmas as a time to start again.

Ho Ho Ho, Fa La La La Laaaaaa,
ChildrenÂ’s Christmas dreams,
First Noel reminds that nothingÂ’s as bad as it seems.

Partridges and pear trees,
Holly decks the halls,
Peace on earth to everyone, and God bless one and all.
Peace on earth to everyone, and God bless one and all.

Posted by: Ted at 07:10 AM | category: About Ted
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1 I LOVED that! You hit on such a nugget of wisdom with "Just need one to wage a war, need two to wage a peace." *chills*

For some reason, I could hear Johnny Cash singing the lyrics in my head. Can you sell this song to a record company? I do think it's that good!

Posted by: Dawn at December 23, 2003 09:54 AM (L6pam)

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Jennifer has posted my answers to a whole heap o' nosy damn questions. I ran the questions through the gender-determiner, and discovered that all of them were written by females! Boy howdy, that made me feel good.

Next, a quick stop at the syntax/rhetoric-analyzer, and I found out that all those females were really just two. I still felt ok about it.

A little further digging and parsing, and all I can say is: Thanks Mookie. Thanks also to Bill, because your style gives you away every time you whiny little bitch.

Heh. I still feel good. :p

(For the humor-impaired - or those that think I am - that was a joke. Thanks for all the questions. Seriously.)

Posted by: Ted at 08:55 AM | category: About Ted
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aka 100 Things more...

Posted by: Ted at 08:39 AM | category: About Ted
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1 Fantastic list..one of the best i've ever read!

More about #5 , I love stories about ingenuity and stupidity.

For #86, I think you should have your remains shot off into space, which can be done these days. Sending you out on a rocket somehow seems fitting.

#99 no offense, but is your wife trying to tell you something??

Posted by: jim at December 01, 2003 12:03 PM (RCjGK)

2 It seems one of my suspicions about you may well be true.

Posted by: Victor at December 01, 2003 01:33 PM (L3qPK)

3 Victor, you didn't read past #2, did you?

Jim, if my wife were pointing out guys she thinks I'd like, I'd be a lot more worried.

Posted by: Ted at December 01, 2003 02:09 PM (bov8n)

4 #14 and #24: the same five years?

Posted by: chris hall at December 01, 2003 02:12 PM (zH1Gw)

5 Ha, ha. How'd you guess?

Posted by: Victor at December 01, 2003 02:48 PM (L3qPK)

6 I'm impressed and a little jealous... I can't imagine 100 things about me, even if I just made stuff up.
Maybe I'll just steal yours. Like blog Monopoly rules or something.

Posted by: LeeAnn at December 01, 2003 07:45 PM (HxCeX)

7 The guy from 90. The Indian Shaman. He's one of my god fathers (notice one of. I have two. No god mother). If both mom and dad somehow kick the bucket per se, i want to go to him. Or my brother, or sister. My brother is under the water a lot. Hehe. Robyn, my sister, is just an air head. hehe. BUt hopefully they wont kick anytime soon.

Posted by: Mookie at December 01, 2003 08:26 PM (2sKfR)

8 Victor, 'great minds' you sick pup.

Chris, different five years, but I still do the laundry.

LeeAnn, it was harder than I thought it would be. I'd be sitting in traffic and think of something and didn't have a pen to jot it down. That's partly why it took so long to finish.

Posted by: Ted at December 01, 2003 08:34 PM (2sKfR)

9 "26. My last woodworking project was a wall vanity and mirror. There wasn’t a single screw or nail used."
Now, that's impressive!

"56. Once I helped kidnap a bride coming down the steps of a church. We grabbed her, threw her in our car, and spent the afternoon driving from bar to bar and avoiding the groom. We dropped her back off at the church that evening, drunk off her ass. (Yes, one of us knew her)"
Please expound on this tale!

"63. As a kid, spaghetti-o’s was my favorite food."
Dang, I can still taste 'em!

"78. Nothing is sexier than a woman wearing glasses."
Oh!! My ex used to put on here glasses when she was feeling a bit randy just because she knew how I'd react!!!!

Posted by: Tuning Spork at December 01, 2003 09:26 PM (c+t5E)

10 This was great and it inspired me to do a cornucopia of Tasberry. Maybe tomorrow.

Posted by: Tasberry at December 02, 2003 09:36 AM (SWUUN)

11 77. When I was born, I looked like Alfred Hitchcock.

Bingo! All newborns look like Alfred Hitchcock.

78. Nothing is sexier than a woman wearing glasses.

And nothing else Very true.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 02, 2003 09:44 AM (jtW2s)

12 Did you feel,ah, unloved, in yer military career? Someone commented on SgtStryker's blog that he'd been an AF SP; that the AF people hated him because he was a cop, and the non-AF military hated him because he was AF.

Posted by: Justthisguy at March 01, 2004 03:03 AM (77KTH)

13 Everyone looked down on SP's. Luckily, at the SAC bases, about 1/3 of the base population were cops, so it didn't seem so bad. As for other branches, the only 'joint' assignment I had was at HQ Defense Logistics Agency, so everyone there was on the ball. I gained a lot of respect for each service there.

Posted by: Ted at March 01, 2004 08:04 AM (blNMI)

14 Good God, man, you know I came here from yer daughter's blog, and before that from the Geek with a .45's blog. You lunatic! That list! Owhell.

Posted by: Justthisguy at May 24, 2004 02:07 AM (s0SzT)

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Hi. I'm just a guy in his early 40's, with a wonderful wife of 22+ years and 3 kids. My son (the oldest) is in the US Navy, serving on an attack sub. Daughter one is going to college out of state. Our youngest daughter is still in high school.

I was born and raised in Northern California, before it became the 'Silicon Valley'. My wife is from Baltimore. We met in North Dakota. We waited a year to get married so she could go back and finish high school.

I joined the US Air Force out of high school, and never went back to California. We now live in Virginia, which is where I was when I got out of the Air Force after 13 years. I work as a computer consultant.

My dream is to get away from this area and become a teacher. Maybe when the last kid is done with high school.

I'm registered Republican, but I vote for whoever I damn well want, for my own reasons.

I don't drink often, but when I do I prefer Dewers White Label scotch. Rum is medicinal, not a libation. Tequila is for getting drunk (pass the lime, hold the salt).

Hobbies: Rocketry, reading, gardening and landscaping, cooking, woodworking, and playing the guitar poorly.

Favorite author: No contest: Robert Heinlein. Harold Coyle is good too, as is H.P. Lovecraft, Orson Scott Card, and I could just go on and on....

(anything history too)

Music: I tend towards hard rock, but pretty much anything including Big Band, classical, jazz, R&B, country, etc. I like a lot of what's on today.

Posted by: Ted at 09:41 AM | category: About Ted
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