I was sitting on the sofa surfing through the TV channels and came across the original series Star Trek. Of course I had to stop and watch. Few things will stop me dead in my TV tracks like Star Trek. The original series and the Next Generation series are tied at number one of my favorite ST series — the other series, I can pass on.

I’ve seen every episode of both series, more than once, but they still thoroughly entertain me. I can identify an episode (not by name, but by plot) within 10 seconds, at any point in the show. This talent amazes Cowgrit, but “real” Trekkers would say I should be able to name the episode title. I must admit I am just that bit short of ubergeekiness.

Anyway, this episode I was catching had me stumped. I watched several minutes of it and realized that I had never seen this particular episode. How is that possible, I thought. Really, I was stumped over not knowing this show. There’s only around 80 original episodes — not as many as it sounds, when you consider I’ve had almost 40 years to catch them all — and I watch them any chance I get, so to have missed one in all this time, well, it surprises me.

Then, as I’m watching this one, I notice the obvious computer generated space and ship scenes. The original show didn’t have CG — no 1960s show had CG. What the hell is this? I commented on it to Cowgrit. She listened to me, but I don’t think she really understood what I was meaning.

The show was good, but I was almost discombobulated by not recognizing the episode and by seeing the non-original graphics. Is this a trick? What was going on? I could feel the little brain cells in my head frying from the confusion — which is ironic considering the episode’s “villain” and plot.

After finishing this post, I’m going to search the Web for information on what the hell I just saw. I was excited to get to see any episode of Star Trek, and I was surprised to find one I hadn’t seen before, but I’m also unnerved by the new graphics. I don’t know whether to say “Cool!” or “The hell?”

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

Calfgrit7 is studying fairy tales in school this week, and a homework project he had was to create a magic wand. We had two weeks notice, so we had plenty of time to discuss and plan what kind of wand he wanted. We also included Calfgrit3 in the project.

I explained the magic wand concept and asked them both what they wanted their wands to do. They wanted the wands to summon a dinosaur pet. Calfgrit7 wanted a meat eater pet and Calfgri3 wanted a plant eater pet. So I took their desires and went to The Home Depot and A.C. Moore for the supplies.

We spent an evening and a morning creating the wands, and I ended the construction by gluing the dino toys on as they directed.

The one on the left is Calfgrit7’s Allosaurus wand, and the one on the right is Calfgrit3’s “dinohorse” wand (CG3 pronounces “dinosaurs” as “dinohorse”). The colors on CG7’s wand is a volcano scene wrapped around the stick.

When I procured the wand materials, I made sure to get enough for Cowgrit to create a wand of her own, too. She did a great job with constructing and painting hers, but the magic she chose was not dinosaur related. Hers is supposed to make boys and men clean the house. Sadly, for her, so far, she has to imagine the magical results as much as the boys have to imagine their pet dinos.

Special Note

Happy birthday, brother!

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

I stopped in a public restroom to blow my nose — residual flu effects — and I noticed this ball of toilet paper on the floor. It was a tightly packed sphere bigger than a golf ball.

It mesmerized me for a few moments. Who did that, and why? Someone pulled out a length of toilet paper and rolled it up into a tight ball. It wasn’t a loose ball, it didn’t look like something done absentmindedly. It wasn’t just squished up by closing a fist. It was tightly rolled, round and firm. And then dropped in the corner beside the bowl.

Now I could imagine someone sitting on the toilet, bored, and playing with the only thing available. But what kind of personality puts that much effort into rolling a ball of toilet paper? And then they just dropped it on the floor. Were they afraid it might stop up the plumbing? Were they proud of the project and didn’t want to flush it away?

Why does this little rolled up ball of paper in a restroom stall fascinate me so? No, I didn’t touch it or kick it, but as you can see, I did take a picture of it. And now I’m writing a blog entry about it. Does this make me more strange and weird than the person who created the “art” to begin with?

Or does this just mean I don’t have crap to write about, and . . . I didn’t mean to make a pun, but that sort of was . . . and I’m grasping at straws (paper)?

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

When I went to the doctor’s office the other day, I got there early — before they even opened the doors. I was parked in a space right in front, beside a man and woman in their SUV. They were both smoking cigarettes while waiting. That scene made me chuckle — I bet they weren’t there to be checked for lung cancer. (I’m easily entertained.)

Once the clinic staff opened the front doors, eight people went in immediately. Only one other person there looked sick, and boy howdy was she pathetic. She was probably between 18 and 25 years old — it was hard to tell, as she was bundled up pretty fully — and another, older woman was with her (her mother, perhaps). This poor girl was just eat up with something terrible. Her eyeballs were red, her eye sockets were black, and her face was pale. She was shivering, she was coughing, and at one point she started crying. The crying is the only thing that convinced me she wasn’t a zombie.

I felt sick, but she seemed to be absolutely beyond ill. When they called her name, she could only slowly get up out of the chair and shuffle to the office door. Her mother (I’m going with that assumption) helped her like she’d help a 90-year-old woman. I was real sorry for that young woman — whatever she was going through was far worse than the little thing I was feeling.

But the situation also made me wonder just how safe is going to a doctor’s office — I sure as hell wouldn’t want to catch that while waiting in the lobby. I could almost feel the germs radiating off her like neutrons off of plutonium.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com