Me

I did something similar to this on my old blog and since I never got around to moving all that stuff over here, I have an excuse to do an all about me post...

Birthdate: January 2, 1970

Place of Birth: Hunter Air Base Army Hospital, Savannah, Georgia

Given Name: Gregory William Armstrong (Mom and Dad liked the name Greg and William was my Dad's middle name)

Current Name: Kelly Joann Armstrong (That was the name that Mom and Dad had picked out along with the given one. Mom and Dad liked the name Kelly and Joann was my aunts middle name. Taking it was the least I could do.)

High School: Countryside High School in Clearwater, Florida. Class of 1988.

College: University of Kentucky in Lexington. Class of 1992 with a degree in History.

Graduate School: University of Louisville in Louisville. Class or 2003 with a Masters Degree in Special Education, Moderate and Severe Disabilities with a Rank I in Autism and Assistive Technology. Graduated first in my class.

Career: Special Education Teacher in a Functional Mental Disabilities Class. Next year will be my 10th year of teaching.

Places I've Lived: Savannah, Manhattan Kansas, Petersburg Virginia, Anchorage Alaska, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Louisville Kentucky, Clearwater Florida, Lexington Kentucky, Louisville again, Snowshoe West Virginia and Louisville again.

Best Place I've Ever Lived: Snowshoe, West Virginia. Located 4848 feet on top of Cheat Mountain, I worked at The Red Fox, one of the nations finest restaurants. I averaged about 100 days a winter on the slopes. As much as I loved the skiing and winter, summer was in many ways the best part of living there. The crowds were gone and the weather was always nice and cool.

States I've Been To: Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Washington and Alaska.

Five States I'd Most Like To Visit That I Haven't: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Montana and California

International Places I've Been: London and other parts of England, Toronto, Windsor Canada, Calgary and Banff.

Five International Cities I'd Like To Visit That I Haven't: Melbourne, Hong Kong, Moscow, Tokyo and Vancouver

Airports I've Flown In or Out Of: Louisville, Lexington, Atlanta, St. Pete/Clearwater, Tampa, Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh/Durham, Washington Dulles, New York Laguardia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago O'Hare, Chicago Midway, St. Louis, Seattle, Anchorage, Calgary, Toronto and London Gatwick.

Subways/Metros I've Been On: New York, Washington, Atlanta, Chicago and London.

Mountains or Beaches: Mountains

East Coast or West Coast: East Coast of course.

Winter or Summer: Winter

Snow or Sun: Snow

Five Ski Resorts I Most Want To Ski: Mad River Glen in Vermont, Whistler/Blackcomb in British Columbia, Jackson Hole in Wyoming, Crested Butte in Colorado and Big Sky in Montana.

Five Quirks I Have: I always sleep with one leg out from under the cover, I always shave my right leg first and my left underarm first, I put my right shoe on first but tie my left shoe first, I put mascara on my left eyelash first and I always taste my side dishes before the entree.

PC or Mac: Mac of course.

Favorite Television Show: Now that Lost is finished, I'd have to say that my new favorite is The Big Bang Theory.

Favorite Radio Station: 91.9 WFPK, one of the three public radio stations in town.

Favorite Book: 1984 by George Orwell. It's truly frightening.

Favorite Movie: Impossible to pick just one but any top five list, no matter the day I'm doing it, would include Blade Runner.

Religious: Ah, No, not in the least.

Favorite Thing in Life: Dogs of course. No truer love exists than that of the dog for it's owner.

Craziest Thing I've Ever Done: On a whim, I quit my job, put just about everything I owned in storage, loaded up my car and moved to the mountains.

Strange Fact: I once had a one night fling with a girl who was a week away from her wedding. At the time, I didn't know she was getting married in a week, but it wouldn't have mattered. I wasn't the one cheating.

Strange Fact 2: I wasn't able to quit sucking my thumb till my mid 30's.

Strange Fact 3: While living in West Virginia, I came face to face with black bears, bobcats and coyotes and was never scared. A mouse runs in front of me and I scream like a teenage girl out of fear.

Greatest Fear: The very real possibility that I will one day be the last living member of my family and thus be all alone.

Greatest Hope: That when I die, someone will say that I did good, that the world is a better place because I was once here.

Final Resting Place: I've let it be known that when I die, I want to be cremated and have my ashes mixed with those of my three beloved dogs (Sammy, River and Shadow) where we will be scattered at Dolly Sods, West Virginia atop Cabin Mountain.

I Miss The 80's- Well, Maybe Not The Fashion

I guess we thought we were cool but looking back, a lot of it was pretty horrible though not nearly as bad as things were for us in the 70's. I give you some of the best of the 80's...

I suppose that every single teenager during the 80's wore acid washed jeans. They were quite popular but it still doesn't make it right...


Of course they weren't nearly as bad as Parachute Pants. I'm ashamed to admit that yes, I did have a pair. I remember the first day I wore them to school (7th grade) it was snowing something fierce and the school bus I was on slid off the road into someones front yard. I never did make it to school that day and it was a cold walk back home wearing those parachute pants...


Okay, guilty on the Members Only jacket as well...


Okay, guilty on another travesty, the friendship pins. For those who weren't around back then, you took these pins with the little beads and put them on your shoelaces...


Oh my, guilty again on the jeans rolled up as tight as you could get them...


Okay, this one I'm kind of proud of as I still think they are kind of cool. I probably had about a dozen different Swatch watches, sometimes wearing more than one at once...


I don't know what's worse, that I used to wear these (in my boy days) or that I still see them from time to time today...the knit tie...


Okay, now we get into the clothes I always wished I was wearing and that starts with the stirrup pants...


Followed closely with the oversized shirt made famous by Jennifer Beals in Flashdance...


I was always jealous of the girls who got to wear the Add a Bead necklaces. Mom had one and I would try it on when no one was home...


Just about every girl that I knew wore Ankle Socks at one time or another. Alas, I didn't get to...


When Madonna first burst onto the scene, teen girls everywhere tried hard to copy her look...

I Miss The 80's The Movie Edition

Some clips from movies that stood out to me...

Who can possibly forget Long Duck Dong in 16 Candles...The Donger need food...


One of the two or three best war movies ever, Full Metal Jacket...


One Crazy Summer...


Who knew that Sean Penn would become someone other than Spicoli...


I love the ending to Full Metal Jacket...


Until I saw The Hangover last year, I had never laughed so hard in a theater as I did during this scene from Planes, Trains and Automobiles...


Who didn't want to have a friend like Ferris Bueller...


Love the guys at the bar in Weird Science...


Heather's was one of the most biting movie of the decade...


Less Than Zero


Back To School...


Pump Up The Volume...


If you were alive during the 80's, you remember the constant threat of nuclear war. We all knew it was possible and actually quite likely but thankfully it never came. This scene from War Games is pretty intense...

I Miss The 80's The Music Edition

I'm a product of the 80's, having come of age during that incredibly whacked out decade. I graduated high school in 1988 and can vividly remember the big hair, awesome clothes, great movies and most of all, the music. I remember the first time I saw the video for Kids In America by Kim Wilde. I so totally wanted to be her in every way possible. I knew every word from the song and knew exactly how to pout like she did. Here are some of my favorites...



Kim Wilde's Kids in America (this was my all time favorite from the 80's)


The Go Go's We Got The Beat


Oingo Boingo's Dead Man's Party


Bananarama's Cruel Summer (Totally love the hair and clothes)


Wall of Voodoo's Mexican Radio


Blondie's Call on Me


Rick Springfield's Jessie's Girl


The Beastie Boy's Brass Monkey


Pet Shop Boy's It's A Sin

Summer Solstice

Today is the first day of summer for those of us in the northern hemisphere. For the past 3 months, the sun has been moving higher in the sky and the days have gotten longer and longer. We are currently at the maximum amount of daylight. Here in Louisville, that means the sun will shine for 15 hours and 52 minutes with the sun disappearing behind the horizon at 9:41 PM. Beginning tomorrow, the days will once again begin to get shorter as we move towards autumn.

In Louisville, the sun will shine for 2 seconds less than it did today. We won't lose any time in the evening till July 4th when sunset will start to get earlier each day. Until then, the loss is measured during the morning. Aside from the miserable weather we tend to have this time of year, it really is pretty awesome having the sun hang out till almost 10. By the first day of winter, it will be dark by 5:30 in the afternoon.

Here is a nice snapshot of the longest day of the year...


In Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost American city, the sun hasn't set since May 10th and won't again till August 1st. Further south, in Fairbanks, the sun does technically set for an hour or two but it only dips slightly below the horizon and it remains daylight all night. In fact, here is a cool snapshot of the current forecast for tonight in Fairbanks where it is forecast to be MOSTLY SUNNY with isolated thunderstorms...

What's The Matter? Jack Bauer Not Available?

From the You Can't Make This Shit Up department comes this little gem from CNN: Louisiana lawmakers have called for a Day of Prayer to stop the ongoing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. I guess Jack Bauer wasn't available to torture the well into submission. I'm going to go bang my head against the wall now.

16 Years To The Day...

and it is still the most surreal thing I've ever seen in my life. The Juice was on the loose on this date in 1994...

How Does Your Garden Grow Part 2

I posted some pictures of my emerging garden a couple months ago and thought I would share some updated scenes.

Here is a before picture of my raingarden...


Here is a picture from today...


Here is a picture of some of my flower pots just days after planting them...


Here is a picture of them today...


Here are some other views of the front yard...












Here is a picture of a few of my backyard flower pots...


Here is a picture of some of the bamboo I'm growing to hide my garage...


Another view...


And more...


This bamboo grew to this height in about a week...


Here is a picture of the side of my house where I get almost zero sun. I've planted ground cover and Hosta's, all of which are doing wonderful...


This last picture is my compost pile. I've got some really great compost that is just itching to get into a garden. I'm going to build some raised beds for next year and this compost will be great for the veggies I'm planning on growing...

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my Mothers birthday and though it wasn't a perfect day (inside story), it was still great getting to spend it with her. I hope you had a wonderful birthday and know that I love you very, very much. Thanks for being so special.

Love,
Kelly

Well That Doesn't Look Good

This should be fun...

Insanity

In a sane world, a disaster like that being played out in the Gulf of Mexico would spur this country to commit to fundamental change in the way we live. Sadly, we don't live in a sane world and it's becoming increasingly clear that those most affected by this disaster (aside from the millions of animals that will die), the residents of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are more than eager to double down on offshore drilling.

What the fuck is wrong with this country? Seriously folks, what the fuck is wrong with this stupid fucking country we live in? It's enough to make my head freaking explode. Simply insane.

RIP

I weep for Planet Earth. Do we not realize that we have no where else to go? If there is a God, have mercy on our souls.

Not Helping Matters

When I read shit like this, it just makes my blood boil. For way too long, the folks who identify as transgender or TG have done more to set back equal rights than the religious right ever could. When I was trying to work things out with work, my biggest obstacle was trying to overcome the negative stereotypes put forth by the crossdressers, genderqueer and those not interested in correcting what was wrong at birth. To way too many people, the image of those of us who are trying to fully transition to the gender in which we should have been born, is that of "the guy in a dress."

It was only after convincing them that I had no desire to go public with this, no desire to be a poster child for a cause and no desire to do anything but keep my job, all was fine. It's been three years and the whole thing has been a non-issue. So, when I see stupid shit like transgendered men, and that's what they are if they insist on doing shit like this, prancing around topless on a beach that isn't topless, well, fuck them. No one who is serious about transitioning and having surgery to fix things would ever go on hormones and then act like a guy at the beach. That they were actually prescribed hormones just takes the cake...

Rehoboth Beach in Delaware isn't a topless beach – but a few transgender men caused a stir by treating it like one. Police say passers-by complained after the men removed their tops and revealed their surgically enhanced breasts over Memorial Day weekend. A lifeguard asked them to put their tops back on. The men initially refused, but covered up before police arrived.

I'm sure it's only a matter of time till Autumn Sandeen of Pam's House Blend jumps to their defense as he is want to do.

3 Years

Three years ago today, I was undergoing around 7 hours of surgery on my face. I don't remember much about that day, my last clear thoughts were of sitting in a chair and taking a pill to calm me down, but not a day has since gone by that I haven't thought of it. At the time, my Mother and I were totally convinced that we were doing the right thing and that it would be money well spent. We had confidence in Dr. Zukowski and believed that we had very realistic expectation so of how things would turn out. In short, it was a life changing event and for the better. Or so we thought.

Three years later, it remains the single biggest regret and mistake of my life. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about what a horrible mistake I made that sunny June afternoon. When Mom and I drove north to Chicago two days earlier, we were both a bit nervous but also pretty excited. I honestly had no illusions of greatness and to this day, I stand by my conviction that I had realistic expectations. I had viewed countless photographs of previous patients, talked to as many former patients as possible and done as much research as was humanly possible. I knew what I was getting into and what to expect.

Only what happened was as far from what I expected as could possibly be. Do I look different? Sure I do and if there has been one benefit it is that I do look younger, but the bad things have far outweighed the good. Three years out I'm still in a bit of pain, nothing severe, but a constant dull ached that reminds me of what happened. My nose drips continuously in the winter and stays clogged in the summer. I get nosebleeds for no apparent reason. My forehead feels tight and plastic. I still have damaged tissue lumps under my chin and jaw. The scar from my trachea shave looks horrible and it's almost impossible to smile.

As if that weren't enough, the whole point of the surgery was to make my face appear more feminine, something it hasn't done. When I look at pictures of some of his other patients, friends I have made online, I just want to cry as I don't understand what happened with me. Several of them are quite stunning and my results are in no way comparable to what they got.

It's all enough to make me wonder what the hell happened. By all accounts, the surgery went well and I made a pretty good recovery. Mom and I followed all of the post-surgery instructions and I've been back for several small touch ups and revisions. Still, for whatever reason, it just didn't work. I could live with that if that were the only concern, but the physical discomfort and pain have simply been too much to bear.

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wish I could undo all of this, go back in time and not have this surgery. I so badly want my old face back, the sensation of being able to smile, move my skin and be free of pain. When I look in the mirror, all I want to do is smash it to pieces, so filled with rage to I become. I hate Dr. Z for what he did to me and I hate myself even more for what I did. There are often times when I wish that I had died on that operating table, so miserable has this all made me. Alas, I did survive and now I must live with what I have wrought.

The Photos BP Doesn't Want You To See

What is it going to take to make people take to the streets? What will it take to make Oilbama take control of all BP North American Operations? What will it take to finally make this country realize that we have to change the way we live? If this doesn't do it, then the only thing that will is Peak Oil and trust me on that one, we really don't want to go there as that is going to result in the deaths of billions of people. It really is time for the human race to go quietly into the night...