Well, they are when you play Sudoku. It’s a really cool numbers game. You can find the rules here. I first saw it over on Joz’s site. Later I saw it at Mikey’s place. WARNING: The game is highly addicting!!

Interesting, kind of meandering Friday Five this week…

1. If you had all the money in the world and could choose to own anything, what you would get and why?
I’d get my own island in the Pacific; away from the coast but about the latitude of Mexico. Of course, I’d have to get a plane to fly there, a boat to trip around the island and a house built on the island. That’s what I’d REALLY like to have, though.

2. If you were to do something that scares you, what would it be?
If something scares me, really deep-down scares me, I am not going to do it.

3. What was your first pet?
A wonderful black labrador retriever called Midnight.

4. What’s the farthest you’ve traveled?
Not sure. Which is farther from Chicago: Riviera Maya, San Diego, New York or Tampa? Been to all these places.

5. If you were a season, which one would you be and why?
I’d be autumn. I love it. What could be better: baseball World Series, football in full swing, basketball in pre-season, warm days, cool nights and wondrous colors.

Extra one: If you were a song, which one would you be and why?
Not really sure. I don’t know if one song can encompass it. It would have to be a LONG song because I’m so old, right?

Thursday’s here! Thursday’s here! It’s time for the Thursday Threesome!

Onesome: Painted - Hey! Are you getting all painted up on Monday and going out and about? What are you dressing up as? …or are you staying home and handing out goodies? …or sitting in the dark and wishing they would all just go away? Come on {g}!
I’ll be staying home and handing out goodies. I used to go out with the kids when they went Trick or Treating, but since they’ve gotten older I haven’t gone. (sigh!)

Twosome: Garden - In the garden of your mind, where do you go to relax for a few moments? Off to the beach? …to the mountains? …to a different world? …or maybe a stroll though an old Victorian landscape?
For Christmas last year, Breezomatic gave me a print of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. I used to keep it at work and when things were “closing in” I’d just stare at it for a bit. Now it’s at my desk at home, but it serves the same purpose.

Threesome: Gnomes - Okay, we have to know: what do you think about garden gnomes and pink flamingos and such? I mean other than there seems to be a local ordinance that you have to have at least one or the other in your front yard if you live in South Florida?
Can’t stand ‘em. I LIKE looking at grass; a nicely mowed yard is a thing of beauty (even though I hate mowing yard). To clutter it up with crap is just silly.

I missed it last week; Deltus got it up a bit late and I didn’t take the time to go back afterwards. Oh well. Onward with Are you more…

01) A ’sitting in a chair’ television watcher or a ‘laying on a couch’ television watcher?
I’ll do either. I usually sit at the end of the futon/couch that we have in the family room. However, I will lay down and watch TV late at night. (I even have been known to fall asleep watching TV while laying down!)

02) One who thinks the concept of masturbation should be taught in schools (bonus: what grade?) or one who thinks the concept of masturbation shouldn’t be taught in schools?
I don’t think it should be taught in school. While I’m not against masturbation (God knows I did that enough as a teen) I don’t think school is the place for ANY sex education. If your child gets their sex education at school, then I believe you are a bad parent. Sex education HAS to be taught with morality and the parents are the only ones who should be teaching their kids morality.

03) A lottery player or a lottery abstainer?
Lottery abstainer. I believe what Thomas Jefferson is credited with saying: “The lottery is a wonderful thing; it’s a tax on the willing.”

04) One who drinks pop/soda/cola on occasion or one who completely avoids pop/soda/cola?
Occasion? How about drink of choice? Well, other than Killian’s; but I can’t drink Killian’s at work!

05) Welcoming the arrival of cooler weather or dreading the arrival of cooler weather?
Welcoming it. I love autumn. I think it’s the best time of year. Football is in mid-season, baseball is in the World Series, basketball is in pre-season, the days are warm and the nights are cool; and I really like the “turning of the leaves”.

06) Decadent or humble?
As the song says “Oh, Lord, it’s hard to be humble; when you’re perfect in every way!” But I’m still humble.

07) One who will only fart in a bathroom when in public or one who will fart wherever in public if you think you can get away with it?
For me gaseous expectoration from the anal orifice (farting) is something that happens all the time. I usually hold it until I’m in the bathroom or alone, but I can let an SBD fly at pretty much any time.

08) Ambitious or comfortable?
I’m pretty comfortable now. I used to be ambitious when I was younger. I think as you get older you get less ambitious and more comfortable.

09) Georgie Porgie (of pudding and pie fame) or Little Jack Horner (of corner-sitting fame)?
Jack Horner (and NOT this Jack Horner) because Georgie Porgie kissed the girls and made them cry. I don’t kiss that many girls (only 1 for quite a while now).

10) An Oprah lover or an Oprah hater?
Even worse, an Oprah indifferent. I could care less about Oprah and all her shows/millions.

Ahh yes, the 80’s. This week’s Take Me Back Tuesday is all about the 80’s. (Yeah, I know that all of my choices are from the early ’80s.)

Name three of your favourite songs from that decade.
1. Pride and Joy (Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1983)
2. Panama (Van Halen, 1984)
3. New World Man (Rush, 1982)

Name three of your favourite artists from that decade.
1. Stevie Ray Vaughan
2. Van Halen
3. Rush

Name your three favourite albums from that decade.
1. Texas Flood (Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1983)
2. 1984 (Van Halen, 1984)
3. Signals (Rush, 1982)

Saw this on a number of other blogs and thought I’d do it also. DAAAAAMMMMMNN!!!!

Happy Anniversary, Geoff and Roberta!

Friday - Friday Five - All about autumn (my theme was just in time!) - here we go.

1. What do you like or dislike about autumn?
What’s not to like? The leaves turning to red/gold/brown to make a wonderful collage of earth tones. The weather gets a little cooler so it isn’t so hot during the day and that the evenings get nice and cool for good sleeping weather. It’s football season, which means school spirit and tailgating. I repeat, what’s not to like?

2. Have you raked leaves into a pile just to jump in them?
Did it a lot when I was a kid. I did it with my kids when they were young. I don’t rake leaves any more - the willows in the back yard are the only trees I’ve got and their leaves are mowed under.

3. Have you ever carved a pumpkin and how did it turn out?
I still carve one pretty much every year. They don’t turn out great, (I’m not really artistic) but they turn out well enough.

4. Have you ever eaten anything made from pumpkins other than pie?
Of course. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cake, pumpkin bars, pumpkin malts (home meade, of course). My favorite (after pumpkin pie with LOTS of Cool Whip) is pumpkin bread - without nuts is better but it works with nuts too.

5. Where is a good spot to see the leaves change color where you live?
Pretty much anywhere. There is a state highway that runs along the Mississippi River to the Quad Cities that has a view that is absolutely breathtaking. We can go south towads Navoo and it’s just as stunning there as well.

Man, this week is drawing out longer and longer. It’s ONLY Thursday. The only good thing is that it’s time for the Thursday Threesome.

Onesome: Butterflies - ‘Tis the end of butterfly season, at least here in the Northern Hemisphere (hey, we have readers and respondents in the Southern); what are looking forward to seeing around the yards and neighborhoods in the next few months. (…besides snow, unless that’s all you have staring back at you during the Winter months!)
I’m not looking forward to what is starting here. We have those freakin’ Asian Beetles that look like Ladybugs. And we have bajillions of them. Two years ago the back yard looked like there was fog or smoke or something; it was those freakin’ beetles. They’re already fouling up door jambs and lights and such. Yuck!

Twosome: are - Are your sports teams doing okay this Fall? Baseball is down to the final stretch and it’s time to chose up sides! …and football is darned interesting at the six-week mark? No interest? How about curling {g}?
The Iowa Hawkeyes are doing amazingly well this year. Yeah, there were some high hopes at pre-season, but we had a largely untested offensive line and NO starters from our defensive line. Add to that the fact that all four of our down defensive linemen were either drafted or invited to camps (two are playing major minutes as rookies) and you have a major defensive loss. But right now they are 5-2. Iowa State has sort of tanked after beating Iowa. They have lost three straight and now sit at 3-3. Division 1-AA #13 Northern Iowa has only one loss (to the Hawkeyes). So things are looking pretty good right now.

Threesome: Free - What is your favorite “freebie”? That ‘buy one, get one free’ sale? …the ice cream cone from your local shop on your birthday? The samples at Starbucks? Inquiring minds and all that…
The last “freebie” I got was probably what I’ll be getting in about a month or so. Every year at work around Thanksgiving we get a certificate for a frozen turkey. Pretty cool when we host Thanksgiving!

Saw this on Mikey’s site who got it from Girl who got it from…. well, anyway, here it is. All about me:

1. Name someone with the same birthday as you.
   Who to choose from? Andy Warhol, Michelle Yeoh, Kevin Mitnick, Geri Halliwell and Asia Carrera were all born on the same day as me.
2. Where was your first kiss?
   Non family member? I was in sixth grade and did it as a dare on the playground at school. Oh yeah, I didn’t hear the end of that one.
3. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else’s property?
   No, not seriously. But I have done a lot of ‘TP’ing in my day!
4. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex?
   Well, I’ve spanked my daughter if that counts.
5. Have you ever sang in front of a large number of people?
   Yeah; I was in choir in school.
6. What’s the first thing you notice about the preferred sex?
   TITS! No, seriously, their eyes. They have been called the ‘window to the soul’ and when a gal has lively eyes it’s hot.
7. What really turns you on?
   TITS! Well, not really. To me it’s got more to do with WHO she is than her goods. If she is confident and intelligent without being stuck on herself, that gets my blood boiling.
8. What do you order at Starbucks?
   Not a damn thing. I don’t drink coffee and besides, the nearest Starbucks is about 35 miles away.
9. What is your biggest mistake?
   Spending some years teaching. I liked it in the beginning but later it became an albatross on my neck.
10. Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose?
    Only if you call playing basketball and getting so sore the next few days hurting yourself.
11. Say something totally random about yourself.
    I like watching ‘chick flicks’.
12. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity?
    Nope.
13. Do you still watch kiddy movies or tv shows?
    Of course. I loves me some Tom and Jerry cartoons - they are the best. Also, I watch Disney every so often.
14. Did you have braces?
    No, but I probably should have.
15. Are you comfortable with your height?
    I’ve grown to be comfortable with it (pun intended). I’m 6′7″ and when you are that tall, weigh about 160 pounds and all your friends are 5′11″ (my situation in high school) you get VERY self conscious about your height.
16. What is the most romantic thing someone of the opposite sex has done for you?
    When KC organized a semi-surprise party. No one had ever done that for me before and she did it all for me. (Yes, I DID marry the best woman in the world)
17. When do you know it’s love?
    Well, it took me about an hour. After I’d talked with KC for an hour I knew it. That was 31 years ago; we’ve been married 27 of those years and I’m still hopelessly in love with her.
18. Do you speak any other languages?
    I know enough Spanish to get myself into trouble.
19. Have you ever been to a tanning salon?
    What for? When I’m in the sun, I tan; I very rarely burn. Why pay for something I can get for free with no effort?
20. What magazines do you read?
    On-line I read a lot of tech magazines. In print I usually stick to The Sporting News or Sports Illustrated, but not regularly.
21. Have you ever ridden in a limo?
    Lots of times, but I’ve never paid for it.
22. Has anyone you were really close to passed away?
    Yeah, of course. You don’t get to be 49 without that happening.
23. Do you watch mtv?
    I haven’t watched it since they quit playing music videos.
24. What’s something that really annoys you?
    Geez, ya want a list? How about bad parking, drivers that don’t use common sense, overt stupidity and bad manners for a few.
25. What’s something you really like?
    Chocolate, eating, sex, basketball, softball, fellowship.
26. Do you like Michael Jackson?
    When he did ‘Off The Wall’ and later ‘Thriller’ he was great. Once he went into the ‘turning white’ funk where he had all the surgery and such he just was too far out there.
27. Can you dance?
    I think I can dance after I’ve had too much to drink. To paraphrase a movie: white men can’t dance.
28. What’s the latest you have ever stayed up?
    I pulled a lot of ‘all-nighters’ in college. I’m not sure why, but about once or twice a year I stay up all night for no reason at all.
29. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room?
    Not in an ambulance, but I have been driven to the emergency room at high speed.
30. Do you actually read these when other people fill them out?
    Of course. How do you think I end up putting one on my site?

Now that the Autumn theme is done for my site, here are the tools I used to create it:

• Google - It’s where I start. I use Google to find a photo with the elements I have in mind for the header image. This one was a bench (obviously), a sheaf of cornstalks and autumn. Then I sift through and find the perfect non-copyrighted picture to crop and use for the header image and footer image. I also use it to find free dividers that I use between entries and such.
• Firefox - Sounds silly to those who don’t use it, but Firefox actually helps me design the site. It is better with CSS and XHTML than Internet Explorer and there are cool extensions that make my designing easier.
• ColorZilla - A Firefox extension. When I open something in Firefox (say, the selected header image) I can activate ColorZilla and mouse over the photo. ColorZilla shows me the exact RGB values of the color where the mouse is. Very easy to get the exact color for text, complementary colors, etc from the photo so all matches perfectly.
• Web Developer - Another Firefox Extension. There is simply too much for me to describe here. It allows me to check on any element of any part of a web page. Great for web developers as you can see the element name and figure out how someone else did something on their page.
• Irfanview - I use this to manipulate the photos, resize them, crop them, etc. I also use it to resize dividers and other such items. Pretty much anything done with images I used Irfanview.
• ZPaint - I used this to create the background image of the sidebar titles. Easy to create 3d looking buttons and such of exact colors. Also, it’s freeware!
• I lean heavily on the XHTML validation site and the CSS validation site to make sure my code validates properly. I want to stick with the standards (unlike IE).

Well, I use these and a lot of elbow grease and determination in order to get the site looking like I want. It takes more than luck to put up a site when you have a particular picture in your mind’s eye. Kudos to people like Zoot and Joelle who do this kind of thing all the time. While I like the challenge of doing it myself for myself, I would have a hard time doing this for others.

From the Take Me Back Tuesday web site: All right…let’s see if I can think of something a little more player friendly for this week.

Name three songs with music or music related words in the title.
1. Listen To The Music (Doobie Brothers)
2. The Ballad of Resurrection Joe (Rob Zombie)
3. The Anthem (Good Charlotte)

Name three artists with music related words in their name.
1. Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine
2. Soundgarden
3. Supertones

Name three albums with music or music related words in the title.
1. Songs In The Key Of Life (Stevie Wonder)
2. Just Push Play (Aerosmith)
3. Music for Hangovers (Cheap Trick)