Reality Me

Author: Doug McCaughan

  • From the mouths of babes

    Tommy moans.

  • Rocky Hill Clown Day

    Today is Rocky Hill Elementary’s Clown Day. This year Ringling Brothers came during Rocky Hill’s spring break so they missed their annual visit by the clowns. This year Daisy the Clown and Marty the Magician will be entertaining the children. I will do a brief juggling performance and then spend much time trying to teach 2nd graders how to juggle.

    This event is always fun and will leave me hoarse and sore. Should make for an interesting time tomorrow when I juggle for Children’s Mental Health Week at the zoo! Tomorrow’s event is from 10am-2pm. Michael Messing will perform magic from 11am-noon (although I think he will end at 11:30). I will juggle from noon to 1pm and, for those that have seen my show, this year will be different!

    The Comedy Zone is having a family day tomorrow. I was supposed to arrange to do a 10 minute juggling routine but never made contact with the right person. However, it is a smoke-free, rated G event for anyone looking to do something with the family after spending the day at the zoo–because if there was ever a day to spend at the zoo it’s tomorrow!

  • Frozen

    I have so much that I need to be doing at this exact moment that I can’t do anything at all.

  • Wishes come true and I bet reality comes crashing down

    Boyfriend and girlfriend make a bet. At stake? A threesome! Looks like boy wins but I bet their relationship doesn’t last a week afterwards. Win the battle, lose the war.

    So, here’s the story… I said to my girlfriend that any stupid website could get tons of hits, simply because people are bored all the time. She said that I was an idiot and couldn’t make a website that could get tons of hits if I wanted to. After a long argument (mostly centered around the fact that she called me an idiot) we made a bet:

    If I could not make a website to get 2,000,000 hits, I would agree that I was an idiot; however, if I could make a website to get 2,000,000 hits, she would have a menage a trois (that’s a threesome to you non french-speakers) with me and another girl. I thought she was kidding at the time, but then she said she was so sure of herself, that she would even put it in writing.

    At the time of this post–2,010,891–if you can believe the counter. The impressiveness of it is that not 9 hours ago it was around 600,000. Looks like it is going up at the rate of about 100 hits per second. By the time I finished typing this the numbers reached 2,031,379.

  • I lead, er, herd, some scouts

    Tonight’s den meeting was a blast! I really enjoy watching the scouts have a good time. We made 2 liter bottle rockets! They worked great.

    We used this design (may have to view it via Google Cache). Another good link and a variation (check out the launch mechanism on that one!). You can even add a parachute. I want to build the pvc launch pad.

  • How Warner Brothers!

    Rube Goldberg eat your heart out! (warning…this is a 12 minute video).

  • Time to watch Serenity again

    Serenity is being used to promote gender equality.

    The move is a direct effort to help raise funds for Equality Now, one of writer/director Joss Whedon’s favorite charities.

    Equality Now is an international organization which works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world through the mobilization of public pressure.

    [Source]

  • Save the Internet – MoveOn’s Petition

    Everyone should have heard about the Save The Internet movement and the proposed law that has all technologists in fear.

    Congress is now pushing a law that would end the free and open Internet as we know it. Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet’s First Amendment. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. So Amazon doesn’t have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to work more properly on your computer.

    Many members of Congress take campaign contributions from these companies, and they don’t think the public are paying attention to this issue. Let’s show them we care – please sign this petition today.

    MoveOn.org has put up an online petition. Here is MoveOn’s privacy policy:

    Privacy Policy

    We do not share the information you’ve given us with unaffiliated groups without your explicit permission.
    Petitions and Surveys

    For petitions and surveys you’ve signed or completed, we treat your name, city, state, and comments as public information—for example, we may provide compilations of petitions, with your comments, to the President and legislators, other targets, or to the press. We will not make your street address publicly available, but we may transmit it to members of Congress and to the President as part of a petition. This is a standard industry practice in such situations. In no such case will we disclose your email address or phone number, without your permission. We may also make your comments, along with your first name, city and state available to the press and public online.
    Sending Emails Via MoveOn.org Civic Action

    In certain cases, we enable you to send individual e-mails to the President, legislators, and other targets as well as Letters-to-the-Editor to various news publications, through our website. These messages are sent in your name, with your e-mail address as the return address and your full name and contact information is provided as part of the submission. These messages will only be sent out under your name as you approve them on an individual basis using our email tool. You are solely responsible for the specific message(s) you send using our email tool.
    Email from MoveOn.org Civic Action

    MoveOn will send you updates on this and other important campaigns by email. If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from our email list, you may do so by completing this form.

    For our complete privacy policy, click here.

    FreePress.net also has a petition.

    I’d like to emphasize that these petitions are great but nothing communicates to a politican as much as a handwritten letter, email, fax or phone call directly from you! Contact your representative today!

  • Finally! Where do you buy that car?

    A vehicle that fits our family.

  • Getting TV Programs Just Got Circular

    Get your Internet over cable; Get your television over the Internet.

  • Time for rest

    When you fall asleep in the middle of typing a line of code, it’s time for bed.

  • Jedi Breakfast

    Can Doug be a Jedi?

  • Parenting – The Ultimate Test of Mental Fortitude

    So how do you react when your 9 year old child disappears for 2.5 hours? You know he went to a friend’s house but he didn’t come home on time and you are certain of his location because the friend’s house appears empty.

    So he returns home and you try to remain calm but long ago the emotions built yup and you want to give him what for! But you hold it together while he describes that he went to another friend’s house; a friend you don’t know and who’s parents you’ve never met.

    Simple rule at our house: Let us know where you are. That is, if you change houses, tell us; call, shout, come home first, send a smoke signal but let us know and make sure we got the message.

    Here is where parenting becomes art. At the moment a child stands before you and like wet clay on a table, he begs to be molded. At this time, a child that was self-initiated to find himself something positive to do with his time waits to see if you teardown his self-confidence and instill the seeds of doubt with regard to making his own choices. So do you 1) yell and scold or 2) tell him "good job" and ask that he call home next time. Sometimes, with emotions churning, it is hard to do the latter and so wrong to do the former.

  • Definitions

    lec·ture Pronunciation Key (lkchr) n.
    1. An exposition of a given subject delivered before an audience or a class, as for the purpose of instruction.
    2. An earnest admonition or reproof; a reprimand.
    teach Pronunciation Key (tch) v. taught, (tôt) teach·ing, teach·es v. tr.
    1. To impart knowledge or skill to: teaches children.
    2. To provide knowledge of; instruct in: teaches French.
    3. To condition to a certain action or frame of mind: teaching youngsters to be self-reliant.
    4. To cause to learn by example or experience: an accident that taught me a valuable lesson.
    5. To advocate or preach: teaches racial and religious tolerance.
    6. To carry on instruction on a regular basis in: taught high school for many years.
    nur·ture Pronunciation Key (nûrchr) tr.v. nur·tured, nur·tur·ing, nur·tures
    1. To nourish; feed.
    2. To educate; train.
    3. To help grow or develop; cultivate: nurture a student’s talent.
    par·ent Pronunciation Key (pârnt, pr-) n.
    1. One who begets, gives birth to, or nurtures and raises a child; a father or mother.
    2. An ancestor; a progenitor.
    3. An organism that produces or generates offspring.
    4. A guardian; a protector.
    5. A parent company.
    6. A source or cause; an origin: Despair is the parent of rebellion.

    [Source]

  • I juggled..punish me now.

    Last night I juggled with the Knoxville Juggler’s Club. Excellent people! Very talented jugglers. I had a blast and when I came home I permitted myself some tv time with the wife, helped the beligerent 7th grader write an important speech for student council elections, then took a cat nap that lasted most of the night.

    Now comes the punishment. My body isn’t sore like last time…at least, not yet. But I woke to find my Linux development server being uncooperative. Doesn’t want to find the network. Could be a bad nic. With the deadlines I have this week I can’t afford a moment’s downtime! Muuuurph!

    Update: Dev server seeing network again!