Now Playing: Hairy Man Road
Topic: Round Rock
Hairy Man Road, or Harry Mann Road, is now known as Brushy Creek Road. As the two spellings of the original name suggest, there are two different stories about the name.

The first says that there used to be an unidentified hairy man who roamed the vicinity, a la Lancelot, who went loony toons and ran wild in the woods for several years after the thing with Guinevere didn't work out. The second is that a man by the name of Harry Mann originally owned the property through which the road runs.

There used to be a low water crossing, so low it was almost a ford across the creek. It made for a beautiful view, but, as folks regularly wound up in the water because there was a very sharp turn onto it, it was eventually replaced with a bridge.

The overhanging trees, chuckling creek, and fern-encrusted bluff make it arguably the prettiest drive in Round Rock

Now Playing: Ah, The Memories!
Topic: Personal
When I was 18, I somehow came to the conclusion that true love had passed me by. I met a squirrelly and mildly entertaining little chap in Toronto's hippie culture, and married him. He was arrested for selling pot to a police officer. This particular memory is of his lawyer. The lawyer was a public defender, and I wish I could remember his name. I'll bet he has made a fortune as a defense lawyer.

Brian was 18, and his best friend, Willy, was a couple of years younger. Willy was young enough to have his case processed through the juvenile system. He had already pled guilty and been whisked away to Nova Scotia by his parents.

The first thing the lawyer did was to insist that Brian go back to school and get a job, a haircut and a suit. He then proceeded to convince a jury that 16-year-old, apple-cheeked Willy was the dominant member of the duo and Brian his unwitting dupe. The pot had been sold by the "nickel-bag," in an envelope, with the word "dope" written on it in multi-coloured letters. Brian would have had to be blind, as well as unwitting not to know what he was selling! Nevertheless, the first trial ended in a hung jury, and the second, in an acquittal.

That's a hell of a lawyer!

Now Playing: More Dead Kids
Topic: rants
In the little town of Zion, IL, two second graders were found dead in a park. The father of one of them has confessed to the crime.

The word "crime" is too tame to describe this heinous act. The killer, Jerry Hobbs, just got out of jail in Wichita Falls. He was on probation, which he violated by not attending anger management classes and drug abuse meetings which were a condition of his probation. He was sentenced to 10 years probation because he threatened his live-in girlfriend and neighbours with a chainsaw. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a chainsaw.

Anger management? Why not just shoot him with marshmallows?

Said live-in, whose name is Sheila Hollabaugh, had been attacked many times over the years by this man, yet she chose to stay with him, and chose to bring three children into the world using sperm donated by this cretin.

Catching up to the present, Sheila permitted Hobbs to move back in with her, her children, and her parents.

I am sure that, when he got there, he realized that she was getting on quite well without him, thank you very much, and decided to re-establish control of his woman and kids. Somehow, he believed (supposedly) that his daughter, Laura Hobbs, had stolen $40 from Sheila. Laura was grounded for this. Sunday, Mothers' Day, Sheila decided to rescind the grounding and let Laura go out and play. Hobbs didn't approve. He waited till Sheila lay down for a nap, and went looking for Laura. He found her with her best friend in the park. He told her to go home. She, poor little thing, had got way too used to his being gone, and actually talked back to him, refusing to go. She was 8. He hit her. He says her friend pulled out a potato knife to defend her. At that point, he hit the friend, grabbed the knife and stabbed the both of them; 21 times for Laura, and another 10 for her friend.

I strongly doubt that 8- and 9-year-old girls travel on bicycles with potato knives. I think the bastard took the knife with him.

He's a coward and a bully and needs to die. Sheila has got to be the most stupid woman I've ever heard of, and should be charged with child endangerment.

What in the Hell is the matter with these people?

Mood:  sad
Now Playing: Mothers' Day
Topic: Personal
Well, I've just had the crappiest Mothers' Day that I could ever imagine! Chandra didn't even call (though she did bring me a nice present on Friday), Vanessa called, but she mostly wants reassurance because she has surgery coming up on Wednesday, And Brendan totally spoiled dinner at Johnny Carino's.

He has spent the weekend doing a project that was assigned weeks ago, and due tomorrow. Consequently, he wasn't thrilled about taking time to go out to eat, but didn't want to say anything about it because he knew he would get lectured about leaving things until the last minute. So his attitude was poor, and his table manners worse. When queried by Jim about his sulkiness, the truth about the project came out. Jim (of course) couldn't resist the lecture, and Brendan said "You don't have to be such a prick about it!" Jim could not have been more upset if Brendan had slapped him. He recoiled in much the same way. Of course Brendan refused to apologize; the meal had been ordered, so Jim didn't want to leave, and we ate in a very uncomfortable atmosphere. Brendan did apologize to me, but that only made his refusal to apologize to Jim more glaring.

He did apologize a couple of hours later, as I figured he would, but things may be beyond truly repairing.

I feel like such a failure!

Now Playing: Children Are A Blessing
Topic: rants
Just a note for parents: your children are a blessing. Treat them accordingly.

Don't go away for the weekend and expect your teens to take care of each other. When the cat's away, the mice will play, and the rats come in for dinner.

Investigate your prospective dates. This is the information age. Such things are possible. Isn't it worth it to find out that Mr Right is a sex offender BEFORE you bring him home to meet your children?

Don't send the kids off to play in the toy aisle while you shop. It's not fair to the sales clerks who must clean up after them; and it makes them prime targets for a snatch.

Don't drop them off a mile from home so they can walk back and "cool off." Sorry, folks, but I have more faith in a few swats than a lone walk, for disciplinary purposes.

Don't let your teens use your home for drinking parties. I don't care how diligent you are about taking their car keys, it's still just plain stupid.

Don't let them drive high-powered sports cars. They think they're invincible. Why give them toys that foster that illusion?

The 18-year commitment you make when you have unprotected sex may seem like a burden at times, but, if you're not ready for it, use birth control or abstain.

Our children deserve better.

Now Playing: SBC--Global cock-up!
Topic: rants
Through some banking glitch or other, I lost my DSL. Tried to get it back...was told it would take 24 hours. After that, was told, the next business day, for sure. That would be Monday. Was told on Monday that it would be later in the week. Was told on Thursday it would be back up by midnight. Was told Friday that it would be on by 5 PM. Got a message later on Friday that said I had to order it all over again on Monday, and it MIGHT be on by the following Friday. Got home from work on Friday in time to sit, on hold, for 35 minutes, until office hours were over.

So I called Road Runner, and asked them how quickly they could get me connected. They told me Tuesday. Guess what? It's Tuesday, and I have internet access! Thank you, Time Warner!

Mood:  don't ask
Now Playing: Why I Wear a Tinfoil Hat
Topic: rants
Here is my tinfoil hat. Tinfoil hats are a necessary protection from the insanity that runs rampant on many crime message boards these days. They don't have to be this fancy, but it doesn't hurt. I wear mine a lot when visiting Court TV Boards, or the Scott Is Innocent site and its companion message board: TalkAboutChit.

Court TV's latest darling is Mark Lunsford, father of murdered Jessica Lunsford of Homosassa, FL. Mark is the broken-hearted father who is out to change the law to require better monitoring of registered sex offenders. A good idea, admittedly.

However, Mark's hands are not clean. Jessica's mother hadn't seen her in five years, and had no idea where her daughter was. Mark, at 41, was living with his parents and making a habit of spending the night at his girlfriend's place. And, of course, leaving the front door unlocked so he could get back in the house in the morning, to get ready for work. Apparently, his parents didn't trust him with a key. He had no idea there was a houseful of crack-heads across the street, one of them being the sex offender who has confessed to kidnapping and raping and killing Jessica.

But, Mark is the current poster-boy at CTV. There is even a URL given, where we are invited to donate to a fund to get Mark a new Harley with Jessica's picture airbrushed on the gas tank. This is over and above the tacky website set up when she was first discovered to be missing, which has a Paypal button where people can donate to help with Mark's "expenses." Separate from the legitimate reward fund, of course.

When Jessica's body was found, Mark hopped on a (borrowed) motorbike and headed off on a run in Jessica's memory. Go figure!

Mood:  blue
Now Playing: Jessica Lunsford Murder
Topic: rants
Statistics say that an abducted child is likely to be killed within three hours of the event, if it is a "stranger abduction."

Jessica Lunsford was missing over three weeks before being found right across the street.

I know it rained a day or so after she was taken, which could play havoc with scent dogs, but I still have several unanswered questions.

Like, why didn't the dog bark? How did the perpetrator get her out of the house without waking anyone? We're not talking about a mansion, here; just a double-wide mobile home. Why did she take the stuffed dolphin? Why didn't the dogs find the body (or parts) under the mobile home across the street? Why did the perp's sister, with whom he was staying from time to time (in the house across the street), cover for him?

It's very hard to understand how she wasn't found sooner. It's horrible to know that our children are not safe, even in our own homes.

And who has the perp fondled, molested, or otherwise messed with, that didn't report it? He was last known to interfere with a child in 1994. I don't believe he has been a model of innocence for 11 years, and suddenly committed a crime more horrible than any he has committed before.

In 1979, he committed a burglary which included his putting his hands on a child and trying to kiss her. So, why has he been on the loose so much, with so many opportunities to repeat and escalate his offenses?

I think the prevention of crimes like this has at least two aspects. First, parents need to be aware of who their neighbours are. I know you can't just go up to someone and say, "Look, I know you are a registered sex offender; please move." But, if there are sex offenders living nearby, parents need to be more vigilant. And, second, we need a realization that the people who commit these crimes are not going to stop. Sure, they want to get out of jail, so they will say all the right things: yes, I'll go to counselling, yes, I promise to stay away from children, yes, I'll register every time I move, but how many of them abide by that? We have to realize that somebody who commits a crime of a sexual nature upon a child is a very sick individual, and does not deserve parole. I think that the very first grope should get a stiff sentence, no parole or probation, and the second should get a lifetime lockup.

Now Playing: Grammar and Spelling
Topic: rants
When I was a know-it-all teen, I used to argue with my father about the English language. He was of the opinion that English had peaked in Edwardian times, and had been going downhill ever since. My stance was that language is a process, constantly changing.

Here I stand, now, with my finger in the dike, like the little Dutch boy of legend. Oh, I know my grammar isn't perfect, and I sometimes get confused between English and American spelling, but I do try. My kids always called me the Grammar Police, and I like the title.

I was watching a trial on Court TV yesterday, and couldn't concentrate on the arguments because neither the prosecutor nor the blood-spatter expert could get out a sentence without an "uh." These are educated people. College degrees. In professions where they should have had some sort of Speech training, sometime during their expensive educations! Do they just not care?

A couple of pet peeves: there are several forms of the word "to." It has been so long since I was in school that I don't remember the names of all the parts of speech, but I do know when to use "to," and when to use "too." I'm very surprised at the number of people who don't!

Let's take a look at "between/among." "Between" is for two, as in: "I had to decide between the cheesecake and the pecan pie." "Among" is for more than two, i.e., "He had a difficult choice to make, among several colleges that accepted him." If you look closely at the word "between," you'll see "tween." Do you not see something there that looks like "two?" I do.

"None" was originally a contraction of "not one." Hence, it is singular, as in: "None of us HAS all the answers."

"No one" is two words; no hyphen.

The word "lay" requires an object. "I shall lay out my clothes for tomorrow, and then lie down."

"I couldn't care less." All over the web, I hear "I could care less." Well, if you COULD care less, then you DO care. "I could NOT care less" is correct. Have we forgotten that "couldn't" is a contraction of "could not?"

"Amount." I love this one. "Amount" is used for quantities that cannot be counted individually. For things that CAN be individually counted, use "number." "There is a large amount of sand on the beach," is correct. "The number of refugees puts a strain on the available services," is also correct. "The amount of DVDs on the shelf" is abysmally ignorant.

Enough for now. I will be revisiting this topic. Please take notes!

Now Playing: Students
My husband is a middle school theater teacher. A very good one. He teaches the basics of theater--terms, pantomime, improvisation, readers' theater--and how it relates to life. His students have so much fun that they take their talents and skills out into the community. Two of them were in a recent production of "Man of La Mancha," and a third, in "Once Upon a Mattress." Over the years, many of Husband's students and former students have graced the stages of several local theaters.

This, to me, is success!