Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Datil Daze and Homework Craze

AS BUSY AS ALL GET-OUT AND YOU WILL SOON FIND OUT WHY...

In the meantime, here's the bit of humor for this week:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1047241

Apparently, Massachusetts lawmakers are debating a ban on "spanking" in their increasingly-crazy jurisdiction. Wow.

I was on the receiving end of some good licks as a child, and I can't remember a time when I didn't deserve it. My children will receive the same...As long as too many crazed Massachusetts residents don't relocate here and outlaw it 8-0

*Disclaimer*: This is not to suggest that ALL Massachusetts residents are crazed, but apparently there are enough of them to cause this kind of stir. We don't want to hurt any feelings here on The Minorcan Factor.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Anomalous Ape Antics

A little town that I pass through every now and then on my way to various festivals (including the recent Florida Folk Festival) is getting its 15 minutes of fame this week. It seems that a strange ape-like animal has appeared around Glen St. Mary, and has everybody wondering where it came from. The story has been featured on Drudge Report, and is getting a lot of press. Here's the link to the article...

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/topstories/news-article.aspx?storyid=95548

This reminds me that I told you all that I would post my research paper about the Florida Skunk Ape on here a while back. It's not my best work, but I suppose I will post it anyway. Keep an eye out for that, and I will keep an eye out for smelly, hairy bipeds other than those who are related to me.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

HAH!

IN YOUR FACE, GREEDY DEVELOPERS!

If you scroll down a little on this page, you will see a picture of a sign that advertises a "41 Unit Approved Subdivision" for sale. I see this sign every day on my way to school, and I have wondered when and how this subdivision could have been approved. You see, I read the agenda and the minutes of every county commission meeting in my home county, and I never remembered having a development approved on this piece of land.
Just this past month, a meeting was held and that development was on the agenda.
They were....SHUT...DOWN!
The newly-elected county commission here is not lining their pockets with developer's cash (unlike the prior one,) so they have put a stop to development in much of the county. God bless them.
The real kicker is that one of the commissioners wondered aloud about why the sign out front said a "41 Unit APPROVED Subdivision" was for sale. He also wondered whether it needed to be referred to the state government as a matter of false advertising. HA HA!
Good for them. I love this county commission!

Monday, November 12, 2007

Sweet Serendipticiousness

As yall know, I was in White Springs, FL this weekend regaining my sanity. I am becoming increasingly fed up with the suburban lifestyle, and going to the Florida Folk Festival is a great way to quench my thirst for culture. Yeah, that's right, all these new hoity-toity bistros, cafes, and art galleries popping up around me are NOT culture. You often have to look closely for true culture in modern Florida, and this is one of the few places where you can be completely surrounded by it.
As my dad said about me at the Festival, "He's in Heaven."

I spent most of the weekend with "Uncle" Stuart Pacetti knitting and throwing castnets. I have now passed over 4 feet, 6 inches on my net, aiming for 7 feet. Lots of work to be done still.







I had a great time with the man I consider my 3rd grandfather, but that was not the highlight of my weekend. No, Mrs. Sarah N. Dipity had very nice plans in store for me.

Saturday afternoon, I sat under the sprawling oak tree where our castnet demonstration was situated. I had spoken with hundreds of people that day about the long, laborious, sometimesfrustratingsometimesrelaxing craft of castnet knitting. I had people of every race, nationality, and profession descend upon me, eager to learn about my craft and my culture. As you can imagine, I was more than willing to share. When somebody approached me, I generally gave them a nod and a quick hello, leaving them to watch me feebly attempt to work monofilament line into mesh, waiting to answer any questions they may ask. Like I had so many times that day, I noticed a couple of people approaching out of my peripheral vision. I looked up...

Whoa, that girl definitely looks familar. And do I know that goofy-looking guy with her?
"Hi," I said, continuing my knitting.
Can it be FC and his daughter, Emma? It sure looks like her, but I can't be sure the guy with the sunglasses covering his face is really FC.
I kept knitting, looking off to the side, trying to get a better look at them without staring. You know how daddys are about boys staring at their daughters. The guy knelt down and started snapping pictures with one nice-looking camera.
Yup, gotta be them.
"Gonna put me on your blog?" I asked.
"Yup, is that okay?"
I stood, we shook hands, introduced ourselves using names other than FloridaCracker and HurricaneTeen, and we had a good conversation. I've been a loyal reader of PureFlorida for over a year and a half now, and I feel like I have gotten to know FC and his family. It was thrilling to see them as living human beings and not just images and writing on a computer screen, though :-D



That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! More on the Festival in later posts.

Friday, November 09, 2007

Folkin' It Up

HurricaneTeen will be in White Springs, Florida all weekend for the Florida Folk Festival. I will be set up with Mr. Stuart Pacetti pretty much the whole time working on castnets, so if you're planning on coming out, be sure to pay us a visit; I'd like to meet some blogging friends. A cousin of mine, Sam Pacetti (Stuart's son,) is a headlining musician with his amazing fingerstyle folk guitar picking, and you definitely don't want to miss him, either.
If you can't make it, you're missing out :-D

I've got some interesting posts coming soon that you won't want to miss, including:
A newly-written poem
A article I wrote that was published in The St. Augustine Record
A trip to Durbin Swamp after a couple weeks of rain
Recap of the Florida Folk Festival...etc.

I feel like I'm advertising. I do not have a creative bone in my body right now. Sorry. Hope to see some of you this weekend!