A few weeks ago we loaded up the family and headed to one of several family reunions we have each summer in Ashe County, North Carolina. This particular reunion was in the park behind the Ashe County Public Library in West Jefferson. If memory serves me correctly this was the Hartsoe Reunion and in the shelter next to ours the Weavers-- more kin-folk-- were having their reunion as well. My ten year old niece, Laura Cheyenne, discovered these Pipevine Swallowtail Butterflies and borrowed my camera to take a few shots. I often see these butterflies in Ashe County, usually close to water. More recently I saw several along the banks of the New River (Southfork) at Elk Shoals.

Here's a whole gang of Battus philenor butterflies. One of the best online resources of North American butterflies and moths is hosted by Montana's Big Sky Institute-- a part of the state university system there.

Hey, what kind of butterfly is that? She just had to take my picture too.

Finally, here's a little search engine tip: You know how your digital camera always assigns numerical names to your photos? If you'll change those numerical names to words that describe your pictures then you'll get more referrals from search engines. Why is that? Because search engines can only read text and can't see if a picture is a blue butterfly or a yellow tiger.

I heard from Blues guitarist, Scott Perry today. Scott's still telling everything he knows. If you're anywhere near Roanoke, Virginia you'll want to stop-in at the Roanoke Farmers' Market (Google map) and catch Scott and mandolin maestro, Tom Ohmson from 11AM until 2 PM. And if you can't make Roanoke, Scott will be at the grand opening of Black Snake Meadery. It's wine and honey, Ya'll; couldn't get any sweeter.

And for those of you who are nowhere near southwestern Virginia, you can always find Scott's CDs online. I highly recommend you lend Scott your ear.

First the bad news: Posting will slow here at BloggingPoet.com, LaureatesKids.com, and the rest of the Blogging Poet Network. The reason: I've got to take some time to get my newest book off to the printer. It's actually two books bound together and I know all of you will love both titles.

Oh yeah, that was the good news.

And here's a tip for users of OSX. Apple has .pdf creation built-in so you've no need to buy that expensive program to make .pdf files printer ready.

When my Daddy died a couple of years ago he left my mother a beautiful full-sized Mercury Marquis-- the top of the line car from Mercury. The car is a '98 model and was Daddy's dream car-- the car he waited a lifetime to own.

Now I know the car is a gas hog when compared to many other cars but it's driven so rarely that it's only got 60,000 miles on it and over 50,000 of those miles were before Daddy died. It was only recently that I replaced the original factory installed Michelin radials and they were far from being worn out I simply felt concerned about Momma driving on old tires.

There is a problem I've been concerned with for quite some time, that being that the plastic headlights are really faded. It's gotten so bad it's as if they're stuck on dim. I thought about replacing them but that could run into hundreds of dollars even by doing the work myself. I know some people polish headlights with a buffer but 1. I don't own a buffer, and 2. it's really easy to ruin the lights if you don't know what you're doing. Besides, have you priced a buffer?

Anyway, I was looking around this morning when I found a company just down the road in Charlotte, North Carolina that sells a product they claim is the best in headlight cleaning and restoration. Is it any good? I don't know but for $15.99 they claim your old faded headlights can look like these: So what do you think-- should I go 120 bucks for the buffer or take a chance on 16 bucks? Which would you try first?

My apologies for the slow loading of BloggingPoet.com today. Several of the advertisers with servers located in the Southeastern United States are suffering from power outages due to last night's tropical storm which causes slow loading times for all of their affiliate sites. As this means dollars lost to them I'm sure they'll make repairs as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.

Well it seems the Republicans are again setting a fine example as the "family values" party. This time it's Tennessee Presidential hopeful, Senator "Doctor" Bill Frist who lied in a written statement to the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners. From today's news:

"In a license renewal form filed with the board earlier this year, Frist certified he had met the state's continuing education requirement — 40 hours over the previous two years." Read it and weep

Turns our Senator "Doctor" Frist never went back to school at all which begs the question: If a man would lie to keep a medical license he no longer uses or needs then what else would he lie about? I dare say the answer is scary.

Aesop agrees, "It's a hard job being President... er, I mean, a fisherman."

And Jack T. Mule just sent me another chapter from his autobiography, Sweetfeed. Only two more chapters and it's done.

Looking for some of the best online amateur video ever? Check out Lulu TV. I just finished watching Bagman: Profession Muertrier-- funniest blood and guts flick I've ever seen!

And why would anyone waste their time contributing to U-Tube when Lulu pays for your videos?

From the BPN (Blogging Poet Network) XXX department we learn of a new marketing plan for the oil industry being tried out in Australia. From the story:

"SYDNEY - Hot and bothered by rising pump prices? Australian brothels are offering clients discounts based on their gas bills.

Brothel owners claim the system works much the same way as supermarkets which offer shoppers discounted gas prices by presenting their grocery bills when they fill up their tanks.

“If you come in and spend time with one of our lovely ladies, we’ll give you a discount of 20 cents a liter,” Kerry, manager of Sydney brothel The Site, told Reuters on Wednesday." Read the rest.

Sure, they claim they're not associated with the oil industry but who else besides rich oil tycoons can afford hookers these days?

This Is Going Too Far! Is this how we treat the people who work for peace.

Since when did private corporations have the right to deny people their rights? Did someone elect Jet Blue Airlines the ruler of the world while I was taking my nap? And why is it the management of Jet Blue selectively enforces their passenger rules harassing some passengers while letting other slip by? Remember America: After the voices of dissent become silent there will be no more voices-- not even yours.

Links via Ashraf.