ThinkingSkull.com

A “hobby” is something you work on occassionally but have no particular interest in actually finishing; it is something that happily takes up your time. A “career” is what you work on because you love it and enjoy doing what you love. Mere “work,” however, can indeed be a four-letter word because it’s what you have to do to pay the bills.

An opportunity has opened up for me that will certainly lend my career (ie happy work) more exposure, and that extra feedom will also allow some of my existing work to transcend a little higher than I originally intended. It will mean one more thing to keep track of, one additional responsibility, and even more critical eyes decending upon me; happily exhausted bliss.

No wonder I can’t get this stupid grin off my face.

Hurricane Charley bypassed the Jacksonville area with relatively little flooding or wind damage, but the small city of Punta Gorda, a place 100 miles south of Tampa, Florida, is now receiving the worst kind of national attention: it was ground zero for Charley’s coming ashore party.

Thousands are homeless; mobile homes don’t hold up well in 145 mile-per-hour wind gusts. Some only the have the clothes on their back, and many of the homeless include the elderly and retirees. For everyone who didn’t live in Miami when Andrew wreaked havok, this was a stern wake up call to heed the warnings and be prepared, because the hurricane season is just getting started.

Be prepared. Be ready.

Two simultaneous tropical storms, Bonnie (which is hitting Florida’s panhandle today) and Hurricane Charley (which is right behind it to the south and forecast to follow a similar track once it crosses the state) is a rare phenomenon. That two such storms hit Flordia within a day of one another hasn’t happened since 2000, but within 12 hours of one another hasn’t happened since 1906 (funny all the things that happened globally that year, hmm?)

There is also a rare possibility of Charley catching up to Bonnie, and if that happens, the two storm systems could collide, join forces, or just all around wreak havok. The possibility is still slim, but close enough to think about… either that, or I just like hearing the word, “Fujiwara.”

Everyone has seen those”truth” ads on televsions; even the manufacturers of cigarettes are “trying to help” (if it’ll save ‘em a few bucks in the long run). The message is clear that smoking is bad for you (and overeating, and drinking too much whiskey, etc).

Yet there are still these people who seem to get away with abusing themselves (like Wolverine from the X-men comics), people who do whatever, eat whatever, and drink whatever, somehow with the foresight that technology will miraculously stay just ahead of their health. Is it irresponsible to abuse yourself and remain overconfident that someone will be able to put you back together just so you can keep doing it?

My father appears to be one of these people; when asked about his soon-to-be triple-bypass heart surgery, he mumbled something about, “and maybe a little more than that.” Well, the operation went as planned (thank goodness) and he’s out, reportedly about to give up his habit (which we’ve all heard before).

Still, I guess it’s really true: “The Cigarette-Smoking Man” never dies.

You’d think the words “thinking” and “skull” would be pretty distinct. Unfortunately, no amount of clever tricks will allow Google to find your site until it decides to do so, and all kinds of other random stuff may come up first. Out of 60 links (that’s 6 pages of 10), not ONE of them was ThinkingSkull.com.

Finally, TODAY, it appeared. Better late than never, right?

It should be in the top ten now; try it by CLICKING HERE and see if it works!