Travis Barker and DJ AM

This comes too close to two of my worst fears- plane crashes and fire. I have been phobic about fire ever since one of my childhood friends got badly burned (while I watched). If you've never seen a fresh third degree burn, you DON'T WANT TO. There is no Hollywood horror movie that can really make you understand just how gruesome the reality is. I know that my friend had years of painful physical therapy and several surgeries, including skin grafts. My heart goes out to these two guys, truly, as well as to their families and the families of those who died in the crash. They have a hard road ahead of them. The following is an article taken this morning from www.people.com:

Travis Barker and DJ AM were among six people aboard a Learjet that crashed upon takeoff from a Columbia, South Carolina, airport after midnight Friday. The four others onboard were killed.

Barker, an ex-drummer for the rock band Blink 182 and the star of the MTV reality show Meet the Barkers, had performed at a free Friday-night college event with former Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell, Gavin DeGraw and DJ AM.

Barker, 32, was taken to a burn center in Augusta, Georgia, about 75 miles southwest of Columbia, and was listed in critical condition Saturday morning – as was DJ AM (real name: Adam Michael Goldstein), 35, say officials at the facility.

"Both Travis Barker and Adam Goldstein are in critical but stable condition," Beth Frits, spokesperson for the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, tells PEOPLE. "Goldstein was airlifted here and Barker was brought by ground transportation. So they arrived separately."


The Four Who Died
According to South Carolina's Lexington County coroner, Harry Harman, and deputy coroner, Brian Setree, the four others on the plane were killed. They are: pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, Calif.; co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif.; security guard Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles; and Barker's assistant Chris Baker, 26, also of Los Angeles.

"We are doing our own investigation as well as waiting to hear what the National Transportation Safety Board has to say," Setree tells PEOPLE.

Lynne Douglas, spokesperson for the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, tells PEOPLE the weather was beautiful when the Leerjet left the runway after midnight Friday.



"The plane crashed on takeoff and went through a fence near Highway 302, then crossed the road and went up an embankment before being filled with flames," she tells PEOPLE. "There was debris all over the runway. We are closed now and hope to reopen later today."


Sparks at Takeoff
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the Lear 60 – bound for Van Nuys, Calif., with six people aboard – departed shortly before midnight Friday, when air-traffic controllers reported seeing sparks.

Barker and Goldstein perform together under the name TRVSDJ-AM. Goldstein at one time was the fiancé of Nicole Richie.

After Blink 182, Barker formed the rock band (+44) and costarred on Meet the Barkers with former Miss USA Shanna Moakler, his wife at the time.

The Strangest Dream...

So, early this morning (Thursday) I had one of the oddest dreams I've probably ever had. Now I have to try and write it down before I forget it without trying too hard to make it make sense. Because it really didn't, LOL.

Okay, it was about someone on my (myspace) friends list, but it was really strange because it was about someone I've only met once and don't really KNOW know like I know some of you guys (from myspace). Which is just odd that I dream about someone on my friends list. (So, obviously this excludes Mike and Brady, since I know you both)

Anyway, in my dream, this guy's soul had somehow (I don't know how) gotten out of his body and disappeared.

Okay, not really disappeared. It was like it had gone for a walk or something (okay it literally had, but this comes in later). This person's body was still able to walk, talk, act normally without it's soul inside. So, for a while me and this other person (no one I know at all, a middle-aged bottle-blond woman with too much tanning bed time logged in. I had the feeling she wasn't actually as old as she looked, just sun-damaged) kicked around with 'the body' like we were just hanging out keeping him from getting too board or something, right? I don't know exactly where we were, but there were several one and two story building around, joined by covered walkways and such, old, square, functional schoolish-type building, kind of like the MacArthur campus in Opp (Boni? Hazel? You guys know what I'm talking about.) Only there were many more buildings than LBW/Opp and some of them had two stories with a elevator here or there and lots of big old open stairwells. Anywho...

So, we were hanging out with the soulless body, which was acting just like any other body with a soul, only after a little while it gets apparent that this other person with us, the blond woman, is actually trying to keep us from getting somewhere, or doing something. We couldn't figure out exactly what her angle was. She had kind of a sneaky, don't-trust-me vibe to her. So, me and soulless dude kind of wandered off from her (okay body disappeared around a corner and totally ditched us, but then I caught up with him later after I got away from blond woman...no idea...).

So, I have no idea how I actually ended up in the big Easter egg hunt for this dude's soul, which was on walkabout around this 'campus', wondering in and out of the building and classrooms (yes there were classrooms) I don't know. I have the vague feeling that Body decided to just chill out and wait outside on a bench in the sun. I guess he figured out that he shouldn't be moving around too much, in case Soul did decide to come back? I don't know, his intentions were never expressed in words. We were together one minute, talking about nothing that made any sense, and the next I was hunting his soul, with the knowledge that Body would simply be waiting. *shrug*

There were also other people hunting this soul, which was really frustratingly good at hide-and-seek. Or more like peek-and-tease, because we'd spot it, and it would turn around and disappear around a corner or in a stairwell and be gone before we could get to it. It was totally messing with us, like it didn't want to be caught. There was no malicious intent, it just seemed like it was enjoying it's vacation from it's other half and wasn't ready to come home yet. So strange. It was almost playful, but not really. Not like a human is playful. This was very much a spirit, like a ghost or something, only it appeared very solid, and it seemed to just have it's own set of rules. I just know that there didn't seem to be any ill-will towards us for looking for it, but at the same time it didn't want us looking for it, either. It was like 'you have to do what you have to do, and I understand that, but I'm going to do what I want to do, and you aren't going to catch me'.

Which it never said. Soul dude never actually spoke. I did, at one point, catch up to him in one of the classrooms, where there were two other...people? Souls? I don't know. One was an older man, who I couldn't see clearly and who sat in the back of the classroom (yes, there were desks. Old-timey desks like we had in middle school, ya know? Not a chair and a table but an actual desk).

Anyway, I never got a good look at this other, older dude, who I'm sure was another Soul. It was like he didn't want me to look, so I just didn't. I have the impression of short hair, maybe dark but I'm really not sure. It might have been dark or just dark blond, I don't know. Again, I wasn't supposed to look at him, so I didn't.

The other presence in the room I could look at. He looked like a young kid. Like, preteen or early teen. Short, dark, curly hair, very pale skin, and something odd about his eyes. I'm not sure if the eyes were dark, I think they were, but there were dark circles around them, like the kid never slept, and they distracted me from looking at his eyes. He was very pale, and there was just something about his face... I'm not sure if he was a soul. Something about him, about the way he moved, was just wrong. I'm not sure he was ever human, which would make him what? a Not-Soul? I don't know. He had a strange smile and this kind of look to his face, like he could be very clever and tricky to deal with, but he didn't seem malicious, either. Just tricky like it was fun to be tricky, like he enjoyed being clever. Maybe not at other people expenses, but if that's how it happened, it wouldn't bother him to much.

Anyway, these three Souls (Don't-look-at-me, Tricky Boy and, of course, the soul we were all searching for) were in this room when I walked in. Tricky had written something on the blackboard, and the soul I was looking for had stepped up onto a table near the blackboard to read something Tricky had written at the very top, and was distracted and didn't realize at first that I was there.

I don't remember saying anything. I don't think anyone did. Once the soul-hunt started, there was no more talking in the dream. At least Body would talk. Sheesh.

Anyway, Soul looked around and realized I was there. And that he was cornered. I don't know why, but he couldn't 't just go *poof* or walk through and get away. He was actually really, really solid for a soul. Not see-through at all. He was just as solid and 'heavy', for lack of a better word, as Body was. All three souls were like that. Okay, come to think of it, Tricky and Soul were like that. I think Don't-look-at-me could have gone poof, if he'd wanted to. It was almost like he was just hanging out to keep an eye on the other two. I have a feeling that Tricky would have gotten Soul in trouble if he'd been left to his own devices. Not like bad trouble, but more like this-is-what-I-consider-fun trouble...

Anyway, Soul spots me, and hops down from the table and just looks at me. He can't get past me, and I just stand in the doorway, looking at him and Tricky, who's grinning at me now in a way I don't entirely like. I got the feeling that I was better off before he knew I was alive. I didn't think he'd hurt me, just cause me lots of little inconveniences for his own amusement. Flat tires, bad hair days, broken nails, that kind of stuff...

So, Tricky grins at me, and I'm thinking 'awe, man. This sucks. I'm on his radar now'. Soul hops back up on the table, straight from the floor just bounces up there like it's nothing, and starts to read again. (Soul has on a pair of blue jeans, a faded t-shirt, and a pair of shoes that aren't really shoes, aren't really boots, I'm not sure what they are. Not dress shoes, but dressier than tennis shoes. And hard souled. They are black leather. Just thought it was odd. I guess you notice weird stuff when people jump on tables...) He can't get past me, but he's not really worried about me, either. So, he decides to finish what he's reading. Tricky goes back to the board and starts writing again at the bottom, backing off from time to time to look at what he's doing before continuing on.

Of course, at some point I get distracted by what Tricky's doing. Which is exactly what he wanted me to do. I get too close to him, and Soul gets past me without me noticing. Darn it. Tricky and Don't-look-at-me stay where they are, one sitting and one writing on the board, while I go back out to keep hunting for Soul.

I was so close! Dude, I hate getting frustrated in a dream!

Anyway, it went on like that for a bit, different people, most of them I didn't know, a couple I did, all wandering around these different buildings, looking for Soul. At one point, I talked to Body again, just for a second. He was in one of the buildings now. looking as well. I think he'd gotten board sitting on the bench. I'm sure he couldn't leave the area with Soul on the loose... Anywho, Soul spotted Body and ducked into a stairwell to avoid us. Body was talking to me and didn't see Soul, but I saw him. We gave chase (okay we totally walked. No one ran in this dream. Isn't that weird?) But when we got there, Soul hid behind the stairs, and it was almost like that was an off-limits area. I knew he was there, but I couldn't go after him there. It was like home base in hide-and-seek or something. Body and I both knew he was there, but we couldn't tag him.

We had to wander off, and give him another chanced to hide. Isn't that CRAZY?

Anyway, we never did catch him. I mean, I'm sure (I hope) that Body and Soul were eventually re-united, but they weren't while I was dreaming. Bummer. No closure

It's weird. I totally know who Body was, even though he didn't actually look like the person I knew he was. Oddly enough, Soul DID look like this person. Yes, that's right. They didn't look alike. Not until the end of the dream. The last time I saw Body, he did at that point look like the person I'd know all along I was dreaming about. Anyway, I digress. I know who Body was, but I don't know who the blond woman was (I didn't like her. I think now she was trying to keep us from realizing that Soul was gone, and then she was trying to keep us from looking?) I don't know who Don't-look-at-me was. Just that he was an older man, meaning older than me. Somewhere between 40 and, I don't know 60 or so? I don't know. I couldn't look at him, duh. And I don't know who, or what, Tricky was. But Tricky the one that's kind of bothering me.

He reminded me of Cody in Charles De Lint's books. A trickster spirit. Maybe he wasn't evil, really, but I had the feeling he didn't have the same moral compass that most people have. And that he could be troublesome if he didn't have enough to keep him occupied...

Anyway, it was just really, really weird and I though I'd share. I almost never have dreams about people I (kinda sorta not really) know.

New Job (I Hope)

So, I went for an interview today and was offered a job. Which is great. I need a job, badly.

Unfortunately, I have to pass a credit check to get this job.

It's probably not hard to guess from that 'unfortunately' that my credit is not good. Really, really not good. I was told it wasn't that extensive, that I might still be okay, but it will be at least 2 days and maybe up to a week before I know anything.

I also have to go take a drug test in the morning, but that's no big deal. I'm not worried about that, even a little bit. Or the background check. But man, a credit check... that sucks.

Yeah, I've made a lot of mistakes. My credit is crap because of my mistakes, and no one else's. Right now, if someone tried to get credit in my name, they'd get laughed at, anyway. So, I don't really have to worry about identity theft, LOL. Still, just because your credit isn't good does not mean that you're a thief. I mean, think about it. I was a bookkeeper at my last job. And if I'd wanted to, I really could have robbed them blind. I didn't.

And, if I was a thief, more of my bills would probably be paid. Because I would have money.

I mean, I don't like owing people money. It sucks. But for right now, it is what it is.

Maybe I'll squeak by. Maybe. I wanna have faith, I really do. But what I REALLY need is to work...

Restless night

Well, I barely got any sleep last night. I think I got in bed around 2:00, but I couldn't fall asleep right away. I'd taken the dogs out for their last stroll around the yard and as I waited for them to finish their business, I looked up and noticed that the moon was full.

Where does the time go? Last time I looked up, the moon was only half-full. But days pass, no matter what we do. I really should look up more often.

My next thought wasn't a good one. Yes, time passes. Unfortunately, some things linger. Like a certain time of the month that, for me, comes around the full moon and just seems to never go away. If you don't know right away what I'm talking about, then you don't want to know. So don't worry about it.

I headed back in, reasonably satisfied that the carpet was safe for another night. I get in bed, TQ gets in her chair and curls up, but she doesn't really sleep. She stays fairly alert during the night. She's a pretty good little guard dog. All 40 pounds of her. Max gets behind my chair (I'm sleeping in an easy chair. Don't ask.) I lay back and settle in, but I start out tossing and turning. I'm just not sleepy. Not at first.

I was surprised, to say the least, when Chloe decided to join me. Chloe NEVER sleeps with me. And, her presence keeps Mina away. Mina and Chloe are sisters, but they don't really get along all that well 90% of the time. Mina is my usual bedfellow. She curls up on my side and helps me sleep. Chloe, who is my tree-legged cat, tends to have the opposite effect. I'm not sure what exactly happened to her. When I lived in Elba, she disappeared for nearly three months. I thought, after month #2, that I would never see her again. I'd given her up for dead when she reappeared on my doorstep one night, skinny as hell and walking on three legs. I still don't know what happened to her, but today she's a fat, happy, three-legged, in-door cat.

Who doesn't sleep with me.

She likes to sleep with my brother. Right next to his head, purring LOUDLY. He, understandably, is not a fan of this. But Chloe always seems to find a way to get what Chloe wants.

Of course, it's Saturday night, and my brother is at work until 3:00am. So, Chloe settles for second best.

Me.

Unfortunately, she doesn't curl up next to my head and purr. I could have dealt with that. She curls up between my knees and makes a good, silent lump there. Like a big, furry, grey and orange stripped painted lump of cement.

A pretty good obstacle for someone as restless as I am. Even when I'm sleeping, I move a lot. When I'm trying to get to sleep, I move a lot. But Chloe is stubborn, and doesn't move with me, and she doesn't get down. And she has three legs, so I have to be careful not to just give her a random kick and send her flying. Most likely, she could still catch herself, but because the joint in her back leg is so jacked up (she still technically has four legs attached. One just isn't functional for more than a crutch, or for balance) I worry about her hurting herself if she falls from any sort of height. So, I'm careful. And awake.

Why don't I just put her down, you say?

Because I'm a sucker, that's why. Ever since Chloe reappeared from the dead she's pretty much gotten her way in anything. Except going outside. That's the one thing I don't let her do anymore, and she pouts a little. She's a Siamese mix, and Siamese cats invented pouting when they don't get their way. So, I try to make it up to her when I can.

Eventually, she gets down on her own and wonders off, and I'm free to toss and turn until I finally drop off.

For about an hour. Then Little B comes strolling in, (greeted joyfully but quietly by my little guard dog, who knows the sound of his truck and doesn't panic) on go all the lights, and he proceeds to start to put away groceries that he's bought (at like 4:00 in the morning. Really? Really.) So I get to lay there and listen to the sound of plastic bags making that funky plastic bag noise as they're emptied and shuffled and moved around and rubbed against each other and Ugh! And then, when he's done, does he go to bed? No. He puts a pizza in the oven and starts to do dishes.

Great big enormous dish-washing-pizza-cooking-plastic-bag-shaking-asshole. What's worse is, he seems to actually be trying to be quiet, which only makes everything seem louder.

Really. I used to have two roommates, a long time ago in VA. When one would start to talk while I was sleeping, the other would hiss *shhhhhhh* like a freaking librarian. Guess which noise used to keep me awake. Go ahead, guess.

I think sleeping people can assimilate normal, human, non-threatening noises. But when someone TRIES to be quiet, well...that's just being sneaky. And sneaky is bad. And someone hearing someone else being sneaky is, in my opinion, more likely to wake up. Make any sense? Anyway, it does to me.

Sometime around this point, Chloe re-joins me. Lovely. At least she picks the arm of the chair. She's obviously waiting for Little B to hit the sack, at which time she'll surely abandon me. Yippie. Can't wait.

It takes probably another hour to get to sleep. Which would put me somewhere around, what, 5? Which would explain why I slept till 10:30 this morning. Something I never do. Of course, as soon as my feet hit the floor, the rest of me nearly follows. Curse of the full moon is upon me. *Sigh*.

I'm going to take a walk, I think. Try and get the vice around my tummy to loosen up a little.

Well, Later days...

Here is another link to an exceptional artist by the name of Thoth. He 'prayforms' live in New York's Central Park and he's wonderful.

He is at www.skthoth.com/music

Charles De Lint

I wanted to share a link with you to the website of one of my all-time favorite writers. I think he is wonderful, and my opinion (of course) is the only one that matters! ;-) I often quote him on my page. In fact, the quote I have on there right now about magic is his. Some of his books are YA and some are Adult (not pornographic, but as in 'meant for adults') Check him out if you are a fan of urban fantasy (or any kind of fantasy, really). His take on Native American legends, and most especially Coyote, is very... well, it's interesting. And highly entertaining! Definitely read 'The Ivory and the Horn' if you ever get a chance. Any of his Newford books are exceptional.

Anyway, here is the link: www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/index.html

I hope that works...

MY FIRST BLOG POST

Yes. All in CAPS. I know some people equate this to SHOUTING over the Internet. Why? Does the volume suddenly go up in your brain when you read in all caps? Hum. I guess not for me, but obviously for some people. So, since some people consider it so offensive, of course I try not to do it too much. But, sometimes I just can't help myself.

So, this is my first blog here. I have a Myspace blog, www.myspace.com/coyoteblu74 (add me if your on there. I love new friends). I stumbled upon this blog site by googling Mike Rowe (my future husband and sweet baboo, I adore you) and finding a blog about him by Heather (the shake-shake? Is that right?). I read her blog and the following comments amongst a fit of giggles. So, I'm not the only one who loves Mike Rowe. Well, of course I'm not, but in my own little world, there is no one else but Mike and I. (Mike and Me? Who cares. We aren't exactly worried about grammar in my little world).

If you don't know, Mike Rowe is the host of 'Dirty Jobs' and the voice on many other shows, like American Chopper and Deadliest Catch. He is not only lovely, his voice gives me happy shivers.

Am I obsessed? No, of course not. I'm firmly grounded in reality. I know I'll never meet Mike Rowe (or get to do the naked spoon with him, either. *sigh*) but a girl can dream, can't she?

I posted the first of many pictures of Mike on my Myspace page, and my very first comment was from my friend Lori, calling me a freaking stalker. With love, of course. (I'm not dangerous, Mike. I swear. At least not to you. No one else is really safe)

Oh, and I have to get this in here, since I'm thinking of Myspace (and talking about stalking people). Please, if you have a Myspace page, visit my friend Warchild there www.myspace.com/warchildone Listen to his music and please add him! I have met him, seen him perform live. He is wonderful and very gracious and deserves all the help he can get to make his dreams come true. But then, doesn't everyone?

Well, this rant is quickly spiraling out of control. I have the attention span of a four year old with ADHD. And having had (and still having) ADHD, I know what I'm talki...oh, look, a kitty...

So, what about me?

I'm 34. I don't mind telling anyone. I really don't understand these women who insist on staying one age forever, or who curl up into the fetal position when age is mentioned at all. Well, so what? Something should explain how wrinkly I'm getting. A few more years and I'm going to look like a bleached raisin. How do you try and tell someone you're 25 when you have a pot belly and crow's feet? Silly, if you ask me.

I've spent the last 15 years or so working (on and off) with horses. A path that has quickly lead to nowhere. I adore horses, but for most of us who work at the lower end of the racehorse world, there isn't much of retirement plan.

So, about five years ago I jumped ship and started working with Paso Finos. Pretty much the same deal there. A dead end on a dead end farm. I love the Paso breed, they are wonderful animals. I've also loved the TB racers and the occasional Arabs that I've worked with. They really don't deserve the reputation that they get, especially the Arabs. When handled correctly, they can be quite loving and even docile. When badly handled, an Arab horse can be a true nightmare. Definitely not a good horse to pick for a starter animal, unless very well trained.

I would say that I'm digressing, but to do that I think I'd had to have had a point to begin with. I started out talking about Mike Rowe, and ended up with horses. Two things I obsess about?

Mike Rowe on a horse. Ah....

Sorry, I went to my happy placed for a minute there.

So, anyway, at the moment I am an unemployed job-hunter living with my little brother and quickly running out of money. In short, I am a loser in most people's opinions.

But then, most people don't really know what life's all about.

Because who, at the end of their life, is going to lie on their death bed and think 'gee, I wish I'd worked harder at my boring, mind-numbing job?' I can tell you it won't be me.

I'll probably be lying thinking 'gee, I wish I'd watched more Anime. Can someone put in a DVD?'

Yeah, I'm one of those. Naruto, Bleach, Trigun, Inu Yasha, Trinity Blood... I read Shonen Jump, too. It's all my friend Brady's fault. He got me hooked on Ranma 1/2 when we were in the military together and it's been downhill ever since.

I'm hopelessly addicted to the Twilight books, I love reading Sherrilyn Kenyon, MaryJanice Davidson, Charles De Lint... Yeah, anything not stuck in this reality. I'M stuck in this reality. Why read about it, too??

Okay, well, I have a job interview Tuesday. See, I'm not a complete loser. I HAVE been looking. Mostly because no money=no food. Never a good thing. Plus, this looks like it could really be a decent opportunity. 401K and all. So, all thoughts and best wishes are appreciated! Thanks!