My ramblings...

This is the me I want every one to see! Why can't I ?

So tonight was the lunar eclipse. I hope you all got a chance to go out and look at it at least once tonight. I spent the evening with my cuz looking at the moon, both of our dates backed out on us. It was knida’ cool though we haven’t spent any good quality talk time together in a while. I fixed dinner (which was excellent if I have to say so myself) and she brought her trig homework and we worked on it until about 9:30. After getting most of that done we went out and looked at the moon. I tried taking some pictures which you will see posted somewhere on this blog. They aren’t bad but not the best in the world, digital cameras will only do so much. I got several as it was going into the eclipse and almost totally eclipsed. The early stages it was just too bright for the camera and the moon was just a large white blot on the screen. Anyways, you can see the changes in the pictures I have posted and it gives you a good idea if you didn’t get to see it first hand. I was most definitely an awesome sight and depending on where you were and how long you watched you should have seen several shooting stars. I couldn’t even tell you how many we seen, but we were also under them for over 2 hours.

I guess I should clarify slightly some of the thoughts I was having yesterday. I really don’t want to be the ‘typical’ guy. What I want to do is allow myself to be the me that many of you know and love. I want to allow the "manly" (to steal Heather’s terminology) side that few get to see. The guy I was while camping they one that doesn’t come out very often. I am not sure how to let him show, how to come out of the shell. To be able to shed the shyness that I seem to be inflicted with would make a world of difference I believe. I have yet to learn how to over come this. I have gotten better over the last couple of years but still struggle with it around people I am not completely comfortable with. I do not talk much but if I get in the mood (or drunk) you better watch out I will talk your ear off. Even Aereal has commented that I don’t talk much, I can carry a conversation but starting one out of the blue is very rare. I guess I will have to try and work on this some more. Force myself to socialize maybe to overcome this flaw in my personality. Until then I don’t know how to make Aereal see this, as I carry a different persona for the different environments I am in. My home person is different from work, which is different from the dating persona. We all have these differences; I just feel that mine sometimes are extreme difference. How do you show someone another side when you can’t figure out how to bring it to the surface? Something to ponder…

Till next time

- Larry

Moon shot 3, Umbra phase, as the moon is almost completely eclipsed. Not high resolution pictures but the moon wouldn't come any closer.

Moon shot 2

Moon shot 1

I guess it is about time I update, got several things to talk about nothing major but updates with me and Aereal. So we went to Busch Gardens on Saturday, I personally wasn’t impressed with the park itself, but we still managed to have a good time. We went into several houses and the last one was the best but still very predictable. The scare zones had little to offer, but we did get to ride several of the coasters. All in all it turned out to be a good night. We were suppose to watch the lunar eclipse together tonight (technically) however she had to cancel on me. I guess something has come up, but there is still the possibility so that will have to wait for another entry.

I guess I really need to work on my ‘bad’ image and let it emerge more often. I am not sure how to let this happen, but I need to figure it out. I guess I appear too perfect, which is far from the truth. I am not sure how to describe this or exactly what has been said that leads me to this. I was communicating with her in email earlier, she sent out a pic that she drew and I commented that she had more patience than I did and that she did a great job. Well her reply, "You are sooo sweet! Don't let me corrupt you too much!". Ok, we all know that Larry is no angel, it doesn’t happen often but I can be an ass and well a typical guy! I am going to have to work on taking some of the polish off. Maybe put a few chips in the surface, it just isn’t natural for me. I know that I am not perfect, I know that I can be a typical guy, but how do I bring that out while on dates. I guess the first couple of dates were supposed to be polished and on my best behavior, but how do I show her that is not me all the time. I seem to lack spontaneity and forwardness at times. Case in point and she pointed this out, kissing, holding hands, basic signs of affection, I initiate very few of this items. As bad as that sounds it seems to be the truth, I am getting better, and I really can’t believe I am typing this for all of you to read. I suppose this all goes back to my lack of relationships and involvement with females outside of plutonic relationships. Perhaps that is also a problem, I have been involved in so many of these friendships that I have learned the desires of women and have perhaps subconsciously adapted to this. Granted a lot of my ideals have remained with me from childhood but maybe I have learned too many qualities of the "ideal" man. I really have no idea at this point, but I have to be come less innocent!
I really didn’t plan on writing that much, and really didn’t plan on writing what I did. I am going to close now that I am done analyzing myself and writing one of the most personal/deep blogs in a very long time if ever.

- Larry

Ok, I am a certified geek! There is no denying it this time, not that I ever have. I had to place an order for some computer parts the other day for a computer a co-worker has asked me to work on. Well while placing the order I decided to do some shopping for myself. I bought a new video card, so I can run dual monitors with easy and I bought a new keyboard. Big deal right, sounds like fairly standard stuff. Most of it is with the exception of the keyboard. Number one it is a mini keyboard, about the size of a laptop keyboard (something I didn’t realize) but more importantly it is illuminated. That’s right my keyboard glows now. The keys are frosted/transparent and with the push of a button I can turn on the lights under the keys. Well, it just came in today and as soon as I got home I started looking through the box for this new keyboard. I had to hook it up and give it a try. So, what do you think, can you tell a difference?? That is right; I hooked it up and typed this blog entry. It is kinda nice, now I can see the keyboard without having to have light on close to my desk. I do wish it was full sized though, I guess I should have read a little closer.
Anyways, going to Busch Gardens tomorrow. I am really looking forward to Howl-o-scream; I hope to have a good time. I have to go to bed now, have an early start in the morning and a long night ahead of me tomorrow. I just had to try out my new keyboard.

- Larry

A lunar eclipse on May 15, 2003, photographed by Loyd Overcash of Houston, Texas.

I have finally passed the half way point of my night, this night has drug some serious ass. I haven’t had anything all night long and at best have will pull ten case numbers by sunrise. Anyways, onto life, I really have no complaints at this point. I have heard from Aereal, talked to her yesterday and very briefly today as well. I actually ventured over to Chiefland yesterday to see her. Unfortunately she got sick again after our last date. She was not completely over it when we went out and I guess the cold damn air of the beach didn’t help. I talked to her for sometime on the phone and could tell that she was bored out of her mind. I went over and we watched a movie called Equilibrium. I had never see or heard of it but it proved to be interesting. We finished the movie and chatted for a little while then I was off, she had to up early in the morning. We are going to Busch Gardens on Saturday; I am really looking forward to it. Not only do I get to spend time with a beautiful woman, but it looks like Howl-o-Scream is going to have something to offer.
On another subject, this next week we have a full moon coming up. Now this in and of itself is typically not that impressive; however, this full moon is also going to be part of a full eclipse. According to folklore Octobers full moon is also know as a Blood Moon. This was apparently derived from the hunters who tracked and killed their prey by the autumn moonlight. We know that the red tint is from the gases and pollutants in our atmosphere. This could prove to be a very interesting eclipse for this reason as well. Typically the moon will “change” colors during an eclipse this time it should be a brilliant red color. The eclipse is on Wednesday and should be clearly visible for all of us. The moon should be at its maximum coverage around 11pm Wednesday night. You will find times as well as the various phases the moon will go through on Wednesday night courtesy of the US Navy’s Lunar Eclipse Calculator. You should be able to see visible signs starting at about 9. I would strongly suggest that unless you have something supper pressing to try and get outside and see this. Wednesday will the last total lunar eclipse until March of 2007!! I know I plan on being outside to see it, hopefully with Aereal! :) I have put two links here one that has a lot of information on the eclipses in general and the other specifically on Wednesday’s event.

- Larry

General Info
Wednesday Info

Total Eclipse of the Moon
WILLISTON, FLORIDA
Eastern Daylight Time

Moonrise 18:37
Moon enters penumbra 20:05.5
Moon enters umbra 21:14.3
Moon enters totality 22:23.4
Middle of eclipse 23:04.0
Moon leaves totality 23:44.6
Moon leaves umbra 00:53.7
Moon leaves penumbra 02:02.7
Moonset 08:05

Happy Monday,
It’s actual coming to an end but you get the point. After sleeping most of the day I got up and headed to Gainesville. I needed to go see my counselor and figure out what I am taking this next term. I really don’t have a lot of choices most of the classes I need to take have a pre requisite that I haven’t met yet. So, that will be one of my classes. I got all of that out of the way and I can register the first of November. I am not looking forward to starting back but I need too. I am only 26 credits away from graduation. If I could take a full load that would be one year.

I did call Aereal today, she wasn’t home however. I left her a message and hopefully will hear back from her tomorrow. I did forget to mention that she gave me a rose the other night. A glass rose, “one that will never wilt”. I think that I will make the suggestion of a theme park this weekend. I haven’t decided which one to go to Bush Gardens or Universal. My head is killing me and I am actually a little tired. So, I will close and perhaps update again tomorrow.

- Larry

The second date, I am sure you are all ding to hear the details. Once again I had and so did she a great time. For some reason I keep getting home later and later with each time we go out. Anyways, I got over there and she was running late, only like five minutes so not a big deal. Plus, women can be late for dates, it is the guys that cannot! So I pick her up and off we head to Crystal River. We ate at this place called Crackers, not bad the service had something to be desired. Once we left there we headed to this little park/beach. They have this boardwalk/fishing pier that you can go out on that takes you some distance into the water. We went and stood on that for a little while and looked at the stars. There were several folks fishing on the other end so at time not the most romantic environment. We finally left the pier and headed for the beach area we had to walk through this small wooded area to get there which gave her reason to hold on tightly to me as she was startled by an unusual noise as we walked thorough. We kicked off our shoes and started walking along the waters edge. Since it is the Gulf coast the sand has something to be desired and was actually muddy at times. Aereal apparently could not handle the mud any longer so we ventured up the beach and rested on a picnic table. We sat and talked for several hours there listening to the waves. It was cool last night and as always there is a breeze on there water. This provided for several cuddling for warmth situations. I was going to bring a jacket, had every intentions on it but ultimately I forgot and she didn’t have any sleeves her self so I got to hold her on numerous occasions. We finally left and headed back to her house, her roommate was not home so that wasn’t an issue. We sat around again and chatted until the wee early hours of the morning until I had to leave before I fell asleep. I did get a kiss but as far as any more details are concerned you guys are out of luck. I don’t kiss and tell. I do know that there will be a third date and I am sure more after that. I decided to go ahead and take the second and date. I said what the hell, you only live life once. I know that she has/had a wild streak, and I am void of this, but maybe she will bring about a side that I didn’t know where was. I look forward to the next date.
- Larry

Ok, so I actually have news. I finally personally talked to Aereal; I talked to her yesterday afternoon prior to going to work. I thought I would give Erika a call so I did and well she tried to set-up a second date. I then told her that why don’t we go ahead and get you out of the equation and just have Aereal call me directly. I figured if she wanted to go out a second time bad enough she would finally give me a call. Well she did shortly after talking to Erika about it, we talked for a few minutes and got the formalities out of the way, what have you been up to and the such. After that we started talking about this second date, once we finally decided on a date she mentioned her desire to go to the beach before it got cold. Well the first thing that came to my mind was sunbathing and swimming in the ocean. Ok, I like the beach but I really don’t like doing either of the above when I am there. After expressing my concern we talked for a few more minutes about it and that wasn’t her plans. She was referring to a nice romantic walk along the beach at night. This I can handle and I absolutely love walking along the beach. So it is set, tomorrow we go to Crystal River for dinner and a walk. You may be wondering why Crystal River and not the Atlantic side since it has a tendency to be prettier. The main reason is location; Chiefland is so much closer to the Gulf and for us the Atlantic is just as close and we all seem to prefer it. Perhaps I will try and go to St. Augustine prior to the cold on a future date. Once again I am overwhelmed with excitement and nervousness. I am not as nervous as I was the first time, but this still isn’t a cake walk for me.

Oh, almost forgot, I got a card in the mail today. It was from Erika thanking me for the dinner we had the other day. Along with this was also a note from Aereal. She thanked me for the evening and is "so looking forward to going out with you again!" She went on to appoligize for not calling me and the lack of communication but wanted to set something up.

I would write some more but I have re-typed this entry three times now. I hit the power button on my battery back-up! Maybe some more tomorrow before the date.

- Larry

Words we can all live by from the wonferful Ziggy!

Well now I am faced with a dilemma. I found out earlier this evening that Aereal is interested in a second date now. Do I accept and say the hell or do I just avoid it like the plague? I had decided that she was not going to want to pursue a second date so I closed that chapter already. When I called Erika this afternoon for something totally different, I wasn’t even going to bring Aereal up, she told me of her interest in a second date. She has apparently had a sinus infection and not been feeling well for the last week or so. So now what??? I really don’t know, I did have a good time but then again we are looking for different things in a relationship. Has she changed her mind? Should I go just to make a new friend and be an occasional date or just cut my losses now and get out while I am ahead? If I do decide to go, then I have all the decisions of where to go and what to do? How do you top an awesome first date? Now I have to try and go to sleep tonight with all this crap whirling around in my head.
- Larry

Well it is officially Friday. I have just awakened from my slumber; I really slept too long again. Although it is Friday and the start of the weekend it might as well be the middle of the week since I have no life. I was going to mow the grass but just as I started outside and I could hear the rain a falling. Now it sounds like it has stopped, or course I have geared up to do inside work now. Anyways, I know I haven’t updated in a couple of days, work was actually busy and when I wasn’t busy I was trying to pick up the slack from when Ben left. Since I did work the last two days there wasn’t much going on in my life besides sleep and work. I am on a shift now that is slightly more productive than the one that just left me, but there are the personal aggravation issues with some of the guys I work with. I am not going to get into all of that since we seem to be getting along fine recently. In other news, you have all heard the phrase “Space the finally frontier…” if you haven’t if is from StarTrek. Anyways, civilians have officially conquered this frontier. The X-Prize was won the other day by StarShipOne. Some of you, well maybe most of you have no idea what I am talking about do you? The X-Prize was a challenge established world wide to see what privately funded company could send a pilot into to space return safely to earth and then re-launch the same vehicle within a week. This vehicle had to carry the pilot and have room to carry two additional people (sandbags were used to simulate the weight of two people in testing). You may ask what is the significance of this, well this could very well usher in the space tourism industry. Russia did a little bit of this to fund their space program a year back, but this would be private entities like Carnival cruise lines for space (they wouldn’t be that big, at least not yet). Now these guys did not go as high as the space shuttle they did not enter earth’s orbit but they did experience weightlessness. They built a glider basically with a rocket engine in the back of it. They used the same basic principally as the first jets used back in the 40’s. The carried SpaceShipOne underneath another plane and then launched it from some 40k feet. That is probably enough of all this, you guys are I’m sure struggling to stay awake, so I will close. Just thought I would give you the heads up on things to come.
- Larry

Hay guys,
I said I would update tonight, well what is left of it. Didn't get much accomplished today but I never really do on my first day off. I did go get my hair cut, something that I have been trying to get done for the past week and a half. I had lunch with a friend and went to the man's mall, Home Depot. For some reason time slips away from me so quickly in there. I wanted to go and pay my car off, since I only have one or two payments left but I didn’t make it to the bank in time before they closed. My dad asked me to go to south Florida for him tomorrow. I really don't mind but it is a long drive especially by yourself and pulling a heavy load. I guess I will go just to help them out. I need to finish my storm clean up and light my piles to burn but perhaps I will get some of that done when I get back and on Wednesday morning. A quick survey of my garden today revealed that I have some of my crops already coming up. I should see more over the next couple of days. I checked online today to see when registration for spring starts and found something very interesting. Well registration opens the last week of October, I currently have no holds (surprising) and well I don't have a registration time. UF assigns everyone a time that they can start registering. The more credits you have the sooner you can register, well I didn't get a time, only instructions to call the Registrars office. I hope this does not turn out to be a nightmare for me. Well part of the stipulation for me updating this evening was if I had anything interesting to say and since I have run out of things I am going to bed. I will leave you with a quote that I found and fell in love with recently, some of you may already be familiar with it but it provoked my thoughts when I read it. Until next time...

- Larry

"Not all who wander are lost."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

My day is finally coming to an end and it is Friday, at least for me. I have just over one hour left in my shift and I realized that I had not posted an update to my blog. I really don’t have much to update perhaps that is why I haven’t. Still no new news on the Aereal front, I will probably call Erika sometime this afternoon. Other than that there I haven’t had anything going on. I did finally get my garden planted. Now I have to go and finish storm clean-up. I rode around the property today and realized that I had more trees down than I thought. That should occupy most of my two days off and perhaps a big chunk of my next weekend. Oh the excitement in my life. Anyways, gotta go, still have a few things to do so I can go home on time. I will try and update this evening if I have anything interesting to say.

- Larry