You know what really sort of makes my skin crawl? When all four of my cats stare intensely at something in the room or just outside the window, and I can't see what the heck they are looking at.

Also, when slugs use their slimey bodies to spell out "RED RUM" on my patio. Man, I hate it when that happens.

Plus, that little button on the top of duck-billed hats. Don't stand on your head while wearing one. It really really hurts. A lot. I'm not kidding. I mean really hurts.

Today I heard a respected member of the Olympia community utter, "Even the gods have gas."

I bet most of you didn't notice that Bush waited until Mr. Rogers had died before invading Iraq using the false WMD ploy. If Fred was still alive today we wouldn't be in this mess.

The helium-filled porcupines in my house have started to lose their uumph, and are no longer bouncing gently against the ceiling. Instead, they sort of sadly hover at eye level. As you can imagine, this is quite a hazard when attempting to walk around the house. I have to wait until the next payday before I can afford another tank of helium, so I guess I'll just live with it.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Given my interest in firearms, and similar interests among certain other bloggers, I think this would be a good time for some serious communication among the community. I don't think that those of us with this interest are just going to let go of said interest. I also believe that some bloggers are uncomfortable with this subject matter. Speaking for myself, and hopefully others with this interest, I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable.

My latest thread on the subject I posted a rather loud warning in the title. My hope was to let people who are interested share in my interest ( I had fun with the camera ) and those who were not interested could simply breeze over it and go about their blogging...or roll their eyes :)

My question to you: Was this enough? If not, what suggestion (let's try and be constructive here) can you give? I'm going to try my best to be diplomatic in this thread, and hope that others will follow that example. This is something that I am obviously passionate about, and do not want my passion to hinder community involvement.

There will be a benefit for Briana Waters on Friday 2/29 in Olympia at the Eagles Hall! It starts at 7pm in the Eagle's Ballroom. There will be live music, great food and drinks, and a silent auction. The silent Auction closes at 10pm. The music and dancing goes late night!

The bands are Citizen's Band, The Pasties, Magmatone. Later on the bands are: Port of the Sun, The Cause of Thunder, and Doomhawk.

The Eagles Hall is located at 804 E 4th Ave. Directions from I-5: Take Port of Olympia exit. Take Plum Street until 4th Ave. Located on the corner of 4th and Plum.

Briana Waters is a loving mother who is in trial right now in Tacoma for the politically motivated arson at the Center for Urban Horticulture at University of Washington. This is an important case for Olympia. Come find out why and support your community.

More information at:

www.olycivlib.org

www.supportbriana.org

www.portland.indymedia.org/en/topic/greenscare

Large poster here. 

Let me be perfectly clear, I like Olyblog, and enjoy most of the people who form the community within her. With that in mind, I have some issues with some of the ideas on where to go from here, given certain feelings toward behavior.

Local media is great, I like reading it, and I like contributing when it works out that way. When I signed up on this site, there was NO requirement to produce local media. If you click on my username and flip through the threads I have started you will see that I have contributed to local content on this site. Not much lately, but I've been a little busy. Now, I'm not sure what Enpen does during the day, (or anyone else on this site for that matter) and I'm not about to make assumptions in that category, but I work 5 days a week, and am generally not off work until after 5pm. This puts a rather large cramp in my ability to go out and be a photo journalist. I also am overweight, and have a social life, again this contributes to that lack of local content on my part. Because I don't get off of work until after 5, going out and trying to be a photo journalist (until lately this would have been in the dark as well) just does NOT interest me. I do have the weekends, but generally those are in place for me to unwind, and running around town trying to snoop for a story, or taking pictures of random things, does not interest me.

When I first signed up here, not only was producing local content NOT a requirement, but I was informed that MY blog was exactly that...mine. As long as the content wasn't inappropriate, it was ok because it was like my own little journal. It came in handy and, if you read through some of my old blogs, I shared thoughts and stories, gained insight and perspective, had my "life questions" answered, it was/is great.

Went out past Matlock to play with guns near the old Simpson logging reload area. Rail tracks long torn out and gone, but an old, old railroad log car still sitting and rusting/rotting away in the brush, partly buried. Couldn't get a pic this time, but will try next time I go out there.

It was pretty cool to see an old piece of history like that sitting in and out of context. I didn't get out of the truck to examine it closer, but I'm guessing it had been sitting for at least 30-50 years based on the dirt and brush around it.

Anyone know much about the old Simpson logging rail operations?

EDIT Just got some pics from this morning's session, and a vidclip.  The video shows me shooting an M38 Mosin Nagant carbine, a Soviet WWII rifle.  Unfortunately the huge muzzle flash didn't show in the video :-(  The first pic is me with a New England Firearms "Buffalo Classic" in .45/70 with peep sights.  The second is me with a M38 Mosin Nagant carbine.

How often does it happen, and what are the procedures?  Personally I have some issues with unnamed docent(s) and beliefs about impartiality but I am not going to discuss that, as it is not something I care to, nor has it bothered me enough to start shouting about it.

I do have to wonder if maybe a regular rotation of docents would be a good idea...  nominated by the community, a three day voting period and then if the nominated person(s) accept they serve as docent for X number of weeks or months.... 

Mike (paisleyboxers) sent me the link to this comic. I think we should argue about fruit for a while. Who's with me?

The artist also has a blog.

What the green community should do in Olympia is buy land in the city, even if it is just a lot here and a lot there...(maybe a public trust?)...and...

...create green accommodations and lease-space for businesses in the centralized downtown core.

>I can remember living in Olympia in 1989-1996<

...and looking back I wished that I could have been part of a "community within a community" (even if that is just a green condo or green apartment complex), and I wished that I could have left a softer footprint in my comings & goings in & about town...

...having "infrastructure" like a green condo and green business plaza would certainly have made my life more convenient as a bicyclist and pedestrian, and as a perspective employee.

Ownership can actualize change, and I support green development in Olympia.

My docent forum idea sort of backfired, so I checked in with a docent for permission, then went ahead and deleted it.

Something along those lines will probably eventually be set up.

I know it can be frustrating to have things deleted, in this case I need to do so, apologies.