Okay, look, seriously, if you're a Star Wars fan, and you haven't listened to A Different Point of View, you need to. It's little vignettes about the SW universe... from the perspective of a Stormtrooper. Funny, smart, and thought-provoking!

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It's amazing how many things I think of that I absolutely have to do when I have an academic deadline looming, that aren't working on my paper(s). Oh, well... at least the laundry got done.

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It looks like I've talked childofsnow into coming up to Highlands War. Woo! And also, Hoo!

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I can understand it when I'm at a fast-food drive through, and place the order "Dr. Pepper, no ice," and receive Diet Pepsi, no ice. I don't like it, but I understand it. But how in the world does "Dr. Pepper, no ice" turn into "Mountain Dew, no ice"?

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Walmart is burning. Seriously. The Flagstaff Walmart is on fire... or was, about half an hour ago. They probably have it out by now. Great pillars of white smoke, fire engines everywhere, guys in Nomex suits... and I can tell you from experience, even on nice days, those nomex suits get hot fast. The only time I was ever happy to climb into one was on cold, cold winter days. And, of course, when I actually had to face a fire in the main propulsion space....

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I need to work on essays for Islamic History. But I may take a nap, first. Heck, they're not due 'til 10:30 tomorrow, and will probably take no more than two hours....

It looks like Show Low's going to burn. The fire has passed over Hop's Canyon, and is closing on the town.

Some of you who aren't from Arizona may wonder how Show Low got its name. A number of years ago, during the Old West period, two landowners who didn't like each other sat down to play cards for the whole parcel of land.

They cut cards; the one who had the lowest card won.

I lived in Show Low for a year, in my early teens. I mostly remember that it was a place where I rode my little brother around on my mother's bicycle a lot.

It was where a science teacher gave me the nickname "Carter."

My mother owned a quilt shop there for a while. It was a dream she'd had for a long time.

Now it looks like it's all going to be gone.

There's rain in the rest of the country... none to be expected here, though.

Today's the first day of summer, and the West is burning. There are sixteen wildfires burning in the American West at the moment; there are 'hot shot' crews coming to Arizona from as far away as Puerto Rico.

The "Rodeo" fire, up near Show Low, is predicted to reach 300,000 acres.

No rain in sight.

I took the "which Marauder are you" test, and aparently, I'm Remis Lupin. Rah for warewolves!

I was walking around campus yesterday before Art class, and saw a couple of t-shirts that amused me. A cute girl was wearing one which read, "Of course I love you; why else would I have an errection?"

A geeky looking guy was wearing one which read, "Don't assume I'm not into cheap, meaningless sex." Eh... okay, I won't.

Saw a bumpersticker that made me laugh because it was so completely geeky-funny. It was a bright red sticker, with white letters which read, "If this sticker is blue, you're closing too fast." I laughed and laughed, knowing that at least 75% of the people who see it on the street will have no idea what it's on about.

It's going to be another hot one in Tucson. The newsheads this morning were calling for 106 degrees Farhenheit. They also said that today is the 82nd day in a row with no precipitation in Tucson. Eight more days, and we'll beat the record set in 1905 for most consecutive days without.

There's another fire burning in Arizona, up near Show Low. Apparently, residents are being evacuated from town.

Of course, the way things have been going the last decade or so, this will all be followed by the most severe monsoon storms on record, and we'll have to turn around and deal with hundred-year floods.

Welcome to Arizona.

:: how jedi are you? ::

After my lightsabre musings of last night, this amused me.

Jana and I talked for a couple of hours online today, which was nice. We didn't really talk about anything, just kind of gossiped for a little while, talking about marathons and bicycle races, about piercings and her friend the piercer, and just... life.

It was very nice.

The guy from Hi-Tech hasn't shown up. I'm betting he won't actually show up today. If you live in Tucson, don't ever buy a computer from these people... they so don't have their act together!

sigh.

The Bullock fire is now up to some 23,000 acres. The spokesman for the forrest service says it's all up to the weather, now, whether they become heros for saving Summerhaven, or goats for letting it burn to the ground.

I'm hoping for heros, myself.

Speaking of heros... this morning, as part of the ceremony at ground zero, the pipes and drums of the City of New York played. They played, not Amazing Grace, as I halfway expected, but America the Beautiful. It brought tears to my eyes.

Of course, I'm a big fan of the pipes. I wonder if it's possible to get an album of the Pipes and Drums of the City of New York?

In other news... it seems there's a branch of the Cowboy R fan club in the Bay Area, California, and another, completely independent, in Cambridge, UK.

Next thing you know, there'll be commemerative brassieres!