2009 Meteor Showers

No, this is not a post about nearly 2,010 meteor showers; this is a post about a post about seven meteor showers you can expect in 2009. I love bringing you in-depth articles, as well as other blogs in which I think you will be interested, and this link does both in one fell swoop!

Enjoy!

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Hi There

We'll get back to our regularly-scheduled programming sometime this week. With all the holidays and this being the first of the month (bill-paying time) and all, it's just taken its toll on me and I'm not as productive as I usually am... which is only about 30% as productive as anyone else, so what can I say?

I was supposed to have been out of the house all day today paying bills because I never got to them over the weekend (long story), but I wasn't able to get to them today either... which means I'll be gone all day tomorrow, for certain. So instead of pushing myself tonight, I'll just let things be.

If I come across anything, I'll be sure to share it, but I'm continuing to work on the Dark Conspiracy material.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Morey's Piers

One of the first things you learn as a paranormal researcher or investigator is how to find interesting things in your own backyard. No matter where you live, something weird has happened close by - usually within an hour's drive or shorter - and it's up to you to find out more about it and decide if it's worth investigating. The same is true for attractions and entertainment venues.

New York is one of the largest, most famous cities in the world, and New Jersey is often in its shadow. The butt of many comedians' jokes and often associated with underworld elements, often overlooked is New Jersey's shoreline and boardwalk. It was the most popular vacation spot in all of America at the turn of the 20^th-Century, in fact! And Morey's Piers is among the top New Jersey attractions.

Morey's Piers should be a staple among any Jersey Shore beach Vacation package, with it amusement rides and boardwalk events. And its annual holiday sale is running right now, through January 9^th - every year from December 1^st to January 9^th, you can save up to 40% on season passes to both waterparks!

So while warmer places like Florida and California get most of the tourist attention, they also get most of the tourist traffic. The Jersey Shoreline is an historic American draw with something to appeal to everyone in the family. It is also probably closer to most than any of the aforementioned. Save money, save time, and check it out - it may be right in your backyard!

Mexican Warlock

Antonio Vazquez, the self-proclaimed "Grand Warlock," has predicted that American troops will pull out of Iraq and assemble on the Mexican border. He says American forces will do so in an attempt to expand our territory. He also says Britney Spears will continue to triumph in 2009.

In 2008, Vazquez predicted the pop star would die - along with Fidel Castro. He also predicted that oil prices would be stable.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Agenda

Hey guys, the holidays brought everything to a screeching halt. I have tons of stuff I am considering bringing you which I bookmarked along the way, so I will probably go through some of that over the weekend. Even though we are finally past the holidays, I don't expect things to pick right back up on Monday; it will probably take a week or two for things to get back to normal. Because I've taken so many days off, I'm working through the weekend, but casually.

I've been working on the website during the downtime. I may schedule some of the posts I make this weekend to post throughout the week just to stay on schedule. I already know January is going to be a busy month for me offline.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Service Animals

This is quite interesting and something of which I was not aware: apparently, there are all sorts of service animals aside from your general seeing-eye dog. There are guide miniature horses, parrots, even monkeys! Of course, these animals can be hard to justify bringing inside a store or other places, and New York is now considering a law which limits the "service animal" label to guide dogs because of this.

NPR discusses this issue, along with many supporting links. Incredibly interesting, I do have to say some of these "service animals" are questionable even to me. For example, one guy has a parrot that calms him down by speaking to him whenever he starts to have a psychotic episode. I guess a familiar, reassuring voice would be of service to victims of certain mental disorders (such as bipolar, which this guy has), but you have to admit it's a stretch.

Still, very interesting.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Web Hosting

Some of you may remember how many problems we had when The Weirding first came online. I had run a free website for years at that point, but the truth is, I knew very little about web hosting. I did some research, but the thing I was most interested in was price; I looked for the cheapest web host out there that had the features I needed. And I got what I paid for...

You do not have to go through what I did. For the first year and a half, The Weirding was up and down constantly and 99% of what I wanted to do with it did not work out. The service I chose had all the features I needed, but they failed to note they did not really have the capacity to run them. In short, they had the features, they just didn't really work... And the technicians could not literally tell you that - they would walk all around the subject, but never come right out and say, "We are working on that, but it will not work right now because we still have some bugs to work out" or something like that. I wasted months with workarounds and different methods, programs, scripts, and so forth - trying to get the site to do things the host already knew it would not do because of their shortcomings, but would not tell me that directly.

Start here, at Web Host Report. First read the beginner's guide to choosing a host. They have more guides like this to help you know what it is you should be looking for in a host and what features you need for what you want to do with your site. Once you have that figured out, check out their comparisons of webhosting companies. Don't go for the cheapest! Make sure to see what the hosting company's service is like first; the cheapest is not always the best, especially when it concerns webhosting!

This is a great site for wannabe webmasters and experienced ones, alike. As a webmaster, I highly suggest your research start here, at WebHostReport.com.

Happy New Year, Conspiracy Theorists!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM
THE WEIRDING!

(and The OddBlog)

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Astrological Help

I know many of you come directly to The OddBlog, but The OddBlog is actually a component of the larger site, The Weirding, which is primarily devoted to tabletop roleplaying games, comic books, pop-culture, and entertainment. This is not yet another shameless plug, I have an honest question I'm hoping some of you can help me with:

I am working on a roleplaying game in which astrological signs play an important part. I specifically want to know, if you had to choose between the three, basic fundaments of a person - Mind, Body, and Soul - how would you rate them, in importance or assertion, by astrological sign, with 1 as the best and 3 as the least.

For example, I am a Libra and (from what I know of astrology), we Librans are more creative than most of the other signs, so I would think it would be:

1. Soul
2. Mind
3. Body

Now, I could be wrong as to creativity being Libra's strength, but it works as an example.

If you have the time to spare, I would love for any and everyone to rate each sign's strengths and weaknesses from 1-3, out of those three characteristics (Mind, Body, and Soul). I really would appreciate it!

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Cluster of Quakes Hit Yellowstone

Scientists are closely monitoring Yellowstone National Park following a cluster of some 250 tremors. While "swarms" of earthquakes in the vicinity are nothing new, that many are; scientists are wondering if it is a sign of something bigger on the way.

A geophysics expert says one quake measured 3.8 - an earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale is severe enough to cause moderate damage. Of the cluster that occurred Monday, one measured 3.3, but most were "barely detectable."

In 1959, a 7.8 earthquake in the region triggered landslides which killed 28 people.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Pause for the Cause

It is once again a gorgeous, sunny, temperate day here - which is downright odd weather for this time of the year. Yesterday, it got up to 71º! And since I stayed inside all day yesterday and missed it, and literally everyone and their brother is outside, soaking up the rays today, it's going to be a bit before we get down to business here.

It's still falling below freezing at nights, and I didn't manage to get to sleep until about 8:00am this morning, so I will certainly be up. For now, enjoy the archives.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Lighting

Whenever people talk about redesigning their homes, they always talk about the big stuff - knocking out walls, repainting, building new rooms, and so on - far too few of them mention the smaller additions which can really make a house a home. Smaller details like faucets, cabinet handles, and light fixtures are almost as important when it comes to giving a home character, and they are a lot less expensive than major remodeling or redecorating.

In the present economy, major home renovations just aren't viable options for most people. But don't despair - a little money can go a long way if you put it towards those smaller touches.