Dancing with the Stars first two weeks

OK, so Wendy and I have been watching a few seasons of Dancing with the Stars now, and I seem to have been pretty good at picking the candidates early on for who makes it to the finals. (Yes, we watch DWTS. Beautiful girls in skimpy costumes. C'mon.)

So, here's my writeup before the first dance off, and who I think has the best chances so far...

Top 4 (Finals) Based on Talent:
Gilles Marini, Shawn Johnson, Melissa Rycroft, and either Denise Richards or Lil' Kim - not sure on those two.

Chuck Wicks has a chance if he listens to his sweetheart more, and practices a lot.

The first out will either be The Woz or Steve-O, I suspect Steve-O is going to forfeit based on his injury. I'm sad to say The Woz, as he's kind of a personal hero. I feel a little sorry for Karina.

Belinda Carlisle is going to really have to step things up if she wants to stick around. She has a chance to get more practice at least, as I think she'll be safe for a week or two more.

Ty Murray, I just don't know about. He's got a lot of issues to work through, and Hightower has her work cut out for her. It's nice to see her on TV again though, she was one of my faves from So You Think You Can Dance season 4.

David Alan Grier - Hmm... Top 6? His attitude is off for me, so he won't be getting my votes. He's just a little to over the top.

Lawrence Taylor has a good shot to stick around for quite a while, but he's going to have to work really hard to keep up with a few of the people.

Last, Holly Madison - She might outlast Belinda, might not. The constant giggling is annoying...

So, let's see where they end up next week, and maybe I'll write more about it then.

It's always like this...

Using the pause button always seems to catch someone in a really strange expression... Why is that? I just don't quite get that.

However... That does result in some funny expressions.

What's with the weather??

You guessed it, it's snowing again here in Seattle. We woke up this morning to a light coat of fluffy white snow, with big fluffy flakes falling, just about like last weekend down in Auburn at what was supposed to be the 6 hour enduro race. (Called on account of snow after 2 hours.)

I drove Wendy to the church for her bell choir, and am now at a little coffee shop waiting for the Farmers Market to open (that's IF there's a farmer's market today...) Coffee to a Tea with Sugar, here on California Ave has decent decaf coffee, excellent deserts, and some great breakfast and lunch goodies for when you are in town.

Well, it's time to go check out what West Seattle Blog is talking about this morning, and see what their reaction to this weather is. Pretty effing ridiculous, if you ask me.

Imp chasing shadows

This morning I caught Imp sitting in the morning sun, watching the shadows of the birds on the wall. (Watching the birds themselves, also, but more the shadows. She thinks she can at least play with the shadows.)

Crossed the 150k mile marker

Last week, I rolled 150,000 miles on my little red Bimmer.

The collected Haiku works, Volume 1

I first learned how to write Haiku in grade school before my family moved cross-town and I changed school districts. It's about the last thing I remember about classes from then, other than having a crush on the teachers assistant we had then... another story for some other non-existent time, as I don't remember anything more than just having the crush. No name, red hair I think, that's about it. Anyway, on with the story...

Over the last few weeks, since I joined twitter, I've been re-visiting the form, and while some are rather rough, I think I've come up with a few nice pieces. Here's what I've written to date, and from here I'll start collecting another batch to put up at some unknown date in the future.

Without further adieu, here's everything in chronological order...

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Think it's getting late, A weary soul gains traction. Time to sleep tonight. 2/13/2009 Washing our cars today doing it in a green way using waterless 2/14/2009 Valentines Dinner: Chicken Cordon Blue tonight, for my lovely wife 2/14/2009 Happy Valentines, it's a good day to be loved, hope all find your love 2/14/2009 Valentines over, loves sweet kisses continue, another year comes. 2/14/2009 Sun rising in clouds, The Mountain is hidden, The day begins well. 2/16/2008 Commuting to work, a necessary evil, but not all that bad. 2/17/2009 Another day done, Much accomplished for this day, time to return home. 2/17/2009

Getting sleepy now, heading for the bedroom door, time to say goodnight. 2/19/2009 Heading off to bed, another full day ended. Please sleep well tonight. 2/23/2009 On my way to bed, I stop and think about you, always my true love. 2/24/2009 Starting wet and gray, a winter day continues, spring coming slowly. 3/3/2009 Rhododendrons bloom, signaling spring is coming, hoping weather warms. 3/3/2009 Thunderstorms approaching, the sky darkening quickly. Hope to get home soon. 3/3/2009 Waxing gibbous moon, clear skies are colder tonight, stars are shining bright. 3/5/2009 Cold morning, clear skies. Sunrise, city, seagulls cry. Daylight breaks early. 3/6/2009

Space Shuttle Discovery Mission STS-119 launches next Wednesday

For those of you that might follow (or would be interested in learning more about) the NASA Space Shuttle program, Space Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to launch at 9 PM Eastern on Wednesday, March 11th. There's a countdown clock on the page that will keep you up to date, and lots of other info on this particular mission.

I've been a space buff all my life, and have high hopes that space exploration will continue in my lifetime, even if I personally never make it off this planet. Not that I want to leave, mind you.

Growing up with the space program has been a fairly important part of what makes me "me". I hope that in the coming years the exploration of space continues to receive the funding and support required.

Right now, I feel like our civilization has reached the equivalent of a baby just learning to stand. We've had a few spills and scrapes. We are just starting to really learn balance. Now we are at the point were we can take that next step and start walking, or we can sit back down and go about crawling around our home on hands and knees through the rest of eternity.

Let's take that next step and see what's out there. I'm curious, aren't you?