distinguished? or just fucking old?

I am, by nature, an extremely phlegmatic and lazy person who is an active(??) procrastinator with many things. Why do something today, after all, when you can do it tomorrow?

This extends to many areas of my life. One, in particular is shaving.

I don't like to shave, especialy not daily. And I've never had too. I'm a relatively hairless guy. It takes me weeks to grown anything close to something resembling a mustache. It's impossible for me to grow a beard or even a goatee. I can't even grow a fucking "soulpatch," for Chrissakes. *sigh*

When I let my facial hair grow, I just get the general fuzzy, semi-scruffy look. And I've gotten OK with that. And sometimes I like to be scruffy and not bother with shaving.

But now, unfortunately, that will have to change.

Not because of a work dress code. Certainly not because I suddenly got a woman in my life and she hates scruff. Not because I've suddenly developed a fondness for my Mach-3 razor.

Because the white hairs have sprouted and are spreading like fucking spreading white hairs. Grrrr!!
This is a detail shot of the pic above. Click on it to get the full appreciation of the white spikes of hair on my jawline.

Please ignore the fine, downy hair on my ears — I'm worried enough about the white hairs.

Fuck. I'm officially old now. Nothing says old like white hairs, even with a cherubic, boyish face like mine.

A plethora of white facial hair at age 37. Fucking Bleah™

So now I have to keep closely shaved, both face and skull, or at least not let it grow out for more than a few days.

Random Guam Fact Of The Day:
• Who gives a shit about Guam right now? Hell-fucking-oh!! I'm going gray here, dammit!!!!

a bit of a quickie ...

I know, I know ... I'm running late with my posting ... again.

And I don't have much time to get it done. I've still got a bunch of work I've got to get done tonight. Some writing. More editing ... of mostly poorly written letters. Fucking bleah™.

Today was pretty crazy at work, just for the sheer amount of things I had to get done. A ton of work — yeah, I got some left, but totally whittled it down. Meetings. Reports to write. Documents to update. Databases to flesh out. The exciting stuff of journalism life.

And had to get it done early, because tonight was Quiz Night — a semi-annual fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity that consists of 50 teams of 6 in a team trivia contest. The last one, held around Halloween, was won by my team of newspaper employees; we were the returning champs.

Unfortunately, we finished third this year — two points out of first, one point out of second. And there were three questions worth four points total that we should have got, that we almost got, but guessed in a different direction. Yarg.

Still, a respectable showing. We beat the other PDN team (yay!) and I won bets by beating the teams of some of my friends. Heh.

I took my digicam, but unfortunately my batteries died on me and the result is no pics. *sigh*

Random Guam Fact of the Day:
It takes longer, and costs more, for Habitat for Humanity to build houses for people here in Guam. Why, you ask? Because the homes have to meet very strict building codes, some of the toughest in the nation. That's what happens when you routinely get hit by typhoons packing winds of 150 mph, up to 200 mph and change, and when you sit on the Ring of Fire, which means earthquakes galore.

a little music goes a long way ...

Has anyone heard of, or been following, the story of the Australian gold miners? They've been trapped under tons of rock for about 8 days now, surviving in a 4-foot by 4-foot steel safety cage.

Rescuers broke through to the two men after they were down there for about six days, via a 4-inch hole drilled through 52 feet of rock more dense than concrete. Though that hole, the men were given clean clothes, egg sandwiches, water, a digital camera and iPods.

OK … a digital camera? So they can update their "trapped in a mine" blog?

"Here, let me take a picture of you all cramped and crammed into this tiny space."

But what really made me wonder was this: What's on the playlist of those iPods? Here are some of my guesses. Feel free to add yours to the comments section.

• "Coal Mine" by Inside Out

• "Coal Miner’s Daughter" by Loretta Lynn

• "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)" by Jerry Reed

• "Sixteen Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford

• "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler (once upon a time there was light in my life, now there's only love in the dark)

• "Workin' for the Man" by Roy Orbison

• "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley (I'm caught in a trap; I can't get out)

• "Shout" by Tears for Fears

• "Only the Good Die Young" by Billy Joel

• "Lonely Teardrops" by Jackie Wilson

• "How Do I Live" by Leann Rimes

• "Help Is on Its Way" by the Little River Band

• "Five to One" by the Doors (five to one, baby, one in five. no one here gets out alive)

• "Down Under" by Men at Work

• "Dirty Laundry" by the Eagles

• "Communication Breakdown" by Led Zeppelin

• "Come a Little Bit Closer" by Jay Black and the Americans

• "Break on Through" by The Doors

because some are twisted enough to want it ...

the early Half-Nekkid Thursday post from Guam (it's Thursday here in 30 minutes).

eat your heart out, Rodan

Random Guam Fact Of The Day:
• Guam does vote for U.S. President — in a straw poll. We've chosen the winner going all the way back to Carter, if I remember right.

okey-dokey then ...

Well, in an effort to drive some traffic to a couple of new erotic stories I'd recently posted, and to the pics on my photoblog, I basically didn't post anything of substance last night — just visual links to the aforementioned stories and photos.

The results: A resounding ... failure.

No significant — hell, no teeny-tiny — increase in visits or comments to DZEROTICA or DZER's Guam Pics (which is why I'm not even going to bother making them links). Only six total outclicks to both, combined.

In fact, last night's post also decreased traffic to the Diatribe. A whole 35 people came by ... and most left rather quickly.

Lesson learned.

Though it did make me question if there's any continuing purpose to having three blogs. Now that I think about it, I'm guessing that most people are like me — they have a regular list of blogs they visit, by bookmarks or otherwise. Why go to two other blogs by the same guy when you've already been to his "main" blog? And why stick around to check out what's there if the guy says "I've got nothing for you?" LOL

The rationale behind splitting my blog up into three parts — Diatribe, Pics and DZEROTICA — was, I thought, simple and clear. I thought it would actually make it easier for people to go toward themed or focused blogs instead of trying to wade through one monster blog that was a compilation of everything.

And then there's this: I've noticed that the vast majority of people only read the top post on a blog. Even if there's other new material below the top post. Even if, at the bottom of the top post, you write "another new post below." People tend to ignore the lower posts, even if they're brand-spanking new; they certainly tend to comment much less on the lower posts than the top post. I don't understand that rationale — I always scroll down a bit to make sure I haven't missed anything. But I guess that's just me ... and a couple others I can think of off the bat.

Back when there was just my one blog, there often would be multiple posts in a day — especially if I had pictures to post. So some of those posts would get ignored totally. Thus, the splitting. See?

Evidently not.

Oh well ...

Random Guam Fact Of The Day:
• The Organic Act of Guam, originally signed into law in 1950, serves as Guam's consitution. However, it's an act of Congress, and thus subject to legislative change. That's why Guam doesn't have the full rights of most U.S. citizens — no voting represenation in Congress, no vote for president (either popular or electoral).

it is what it is ... or isn't, as the case may be ...

I have nothing for you all today, not really.
No words of significance, nor images.

If you want pictures, try here:



If you want stories, try one of these:






Random Guam Fact Of The Day:
• Told ya — I got nothing for ya.

darlin' do you think it'd be all right, if I could just crash here tonight?

Why my post for today was late (hmm ... anyone see a pattern developing here? LOL)

• Woke up early (for me) and played NWN with My Favorite Person for an hour, then headed into work.

• Worked for two hours, came home for lunch and played NWN with My Favorite Person for an hour, then headed into work.

• Worked for six hours, then headed for an "emergency" poker game. Won about $150 over the course of the better part of five hours.

• Stopped to get Mickey D's on the way home — Burger King closes too early. Got a DQPC, no pickle. Drove home (to phone and ICQ messages from My Favorite Person, basically asking where the hell was I and why wasn't I at home to play NWN LOL). Ate DQPC, started typing here.

Wow. Take a break right here; that's a stunning amount of complex information for you to have to decipher and absorb. *insert eyeroll here*

AND NOW FOR SOME THINGS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
Just some other things I just wanted to "say:"

• Every poker player loves a bad poker player, especially those who don't know when to quit and keep trying "harder" (by betting more, and doing so more recklessly) to "get their money back." Every poker player loves a poker player who goes on tilt after a bad beat. Because it means more money for us.

• During particularly stressful periods at work, or after a fabulous, filling meal, I wish I was still smoking. *sigh* I suspect this will be true for the rest of my life.

• I'm too lazy to illuminate my post today with graphic images. Sorry.

• I seriously need to apply some poker winnings to getting some new clothes. Most of my work shirts and pants are too loose. Yes, even though I don't have an exact figure for weight lost since I quit smoking — I'd have to go down to the marlin scale at the Fisherman's Co-Op to get an accurate reading, I think ... LOL — it's a pretty decent amount. The first thing most people I haven't seen in a while notice right away that I'm less fat (I won't go with "more skinny" — that would be too facetious and ridiculous LOL).

I've had to add three holes to my belt and am close to needing to add one more. I'm down at least two pants sizes and two shirt sizes — I was at the point where I wore mostly 6XL shirts and even had to get some in 7XL. A 4XL T-shirt would be very tight. Now, I'm about a 4XL in dress shirts (a little snug, but they fit!) The T-shirt that My Favorite Person sent me is 3XL and it's actually a little big on me. All my pants are baggy.

This all comes from simply eating healthier — not healthy, just less bad. I eat 10 times more salads than I used to eat. I eat more fresh fruit and even canned fruit. When I'm craving a snack, instead of chocolate or doughnuts and stuff, I usually go with nuts or fruit. I still indulge in good food, and often in bad food, but by simply making an effort to not do so all the time, I'm losing weight. I really need to find an exercise regimen that "fits" me — who knows what could happen then?

• I hate it when I buy groceries — especially meat — thinking I'll be cooking at home over the next several days, and then end up having to work in the evening or go out for a couple of poker games and I end up having to throw it out because it turns color and looks a bit dicey.

• I need to get off my ass and finally hold my "yard" sale. I got off to a good start — identifying things to get rid of, cleaning it up, putting it aside in a box. But somehow I never get around to finishing this project up. It's because I'm a lazy procrastinator, for the most part; it's my nature. At least I acknowledge it. ;)

• There are two relatively new posts up at DZEROTICA. When you get a chance, check them out.

• There are two relatively new photos up at DZER's Guam Pics, including some very nice hibiscus images. When you get a chance, check them out.

Random Guam Fact of the Day:
• There were Japanese stragglers still coming out of the jungles of Guam in the early 1970s — almost 30 years after World War II was over. They held to the Japanese code of no surrender, and some thought the war still was going on. This happened all across the Pacific.

How DZER missed a day ... and other momentous news ...

Some of you may have noticed (all ONE of you LOL) that I didn’t post yesterday (Saturday my time), which is unusual for me. It’s very rare for me to miss a day. Which should tell you something about the kind of day I had.

It was busy and a bit tiring. I didn’t get to sleep till about 3 a.m., which was bad news because I had to be up by 7:15 a.m. — had to be out of the apartment by 7:30 in order to make it to the golf course for an early tee time (8:30 a.m.). It was a great day for golf, especially considering the fact that I was playing with two of my favorite golf partners. And, I ended up shooting a 90, which is pretty good for me. I would have broken 90 too, if I hadn’t really fucked up two holes in which I had birdie putts that ended up turning into bogeys. *sigh*

So, I come home after that, pretty tired from the exertion and the lack of sleep. I took a shower, rested up a bit, then headed to the post office. And, to my very happy surprise, a package shipped to me by My Favorite Person had arrived, after being sent out Monday, stateside time, via Priority Mail. That may not seem like a big surprise to most, but Priority Mail usually ends up taking a good 7-10 days, normally. The package included presents — Christmas, birthday and Valentine’s Day, all packed into one. YAY!!

So I called MFP to let her know — because that is our understanding (ahem) — but was on my cell phone and I was heading into work, so she said she’d call me when I got into the office. I was on my way there, with need to put in a couple of hours at work to cover for a vacationing subordinate. So she calls and I open each newspaper-wrapped item, one at a time:

Two Jack In The Box balls.

A bottle of pepper-instilled vodka, made for me by MFP,
together with a cactus shotglass (Christmas).

Three jars of famous spaghetti sauce, again made for me
by MFP, with her own hands (well, hopefully with some
kitchen tools and not her actual HANDS) … (also Christmas).

One very cool T-shirt (birthday ... I think LOL).

The MMORPG “Neverwinter Nights” (birthday)
… which I’ve only played for a few hours and
already I’m addicted too. LOL

And a feather, chimpanzee-festooned Valentine’s Day card
(with a salacious, sexy, sensual and absolutely naughty
message inside … thanks baby!).

So I worked for several hours, then came home and installed “Neverwinter Nights” and got started with it. By 9:30 p.m., I was pretty tired and laid down — and was knocked out till 5 a.m., much to the anger and majorly pissed-offedness of MFP, who woke up at 6 a.m. on her Saturday to play with me. LOL ... I eventually did get up for good around 9 a.m. and we played for several hours during the day.

So, anyway, that’s the story of why I didn’t post yesterday.

Oh … and that other major blogging milestone I talked about? This is it: Post No. 400.

Though it’s not really a milestone, when you think about it. All it means is that I post fairly frequently and regularly. It’s not like I’ve been blogging for a year, or reached 100,000 visitors or anything like that.

And it’s only my 400th post on DZER’s Diatribe. The total number of posts I’ve made, counting the ones on DZEROTICA and DZER’s Guam pics is 559, at the time of this posting — and I plan to post some new pics to DZER’s Guam pics a little later tonight, and maybe even have a new post or two over at DZEROTICA.

So nice round number, but not really a milestone. Sorry for getting all of you loyal readers (12.79 and climbing!!) jazzed up for something spectacular, because this wasn’t. LOL

Random Guam Fact Of The Day:
• There is extensive evidence that ancient Chamorros knew of and valued steel well before the Spaniards came in 1521, and there is no iron on Guam or any of the surrounding islands to make the crafting of steel possible. Theories are that ancient Chamorros, despite having only large canoes (proas) by which to travel the seas, traded with civilizations that produced steel (likely China or elsewhere in Indo-Asia).