Looking at this journal, I see I haven't written in it since last Thursday. There have been ups and downs since then, but I just wasn't in the mood to write about any of it. We've had two people call about our house for sale; we put a small sign in the yard, and have done NO advertising. So I guess those calls do indicate we can sell it if we want to. But it sure is hard to think of moving from a place you've lived for 20+ years!

We also looked at the small white house again, and I still like it. But we just haven't decided to make an offer on it yet. We are still actively looking, and found one possibility about ten blocks from here in a nicer neighorhood. It is full brick, three bedrooms, with a huge enclosed carport with screened breezeway that would be perfect for the cats. And the price is about the same we're asking for this house. I guess we'll keep looking though...

I've been on my bike ride every morning this week, and the weather has been either very cold or extremely warm for this time of year. Today there was an Easter-Egg hunt going on in the park, so I rode on the streets instead. I prefer the park, but don't mind the street if necessary.

I spent most of today cleaning out my old file cabinets. I decided it was time I got rid of a lot of old work (already on computer) and just a collection of stuff (research notes, etc) that I will never need again. I also tossed a bunch of stationary paper and postal writing material, like envelopes. I used to write a lot of postal letters (to inmates and other friends) but no longer do that since I have access to email. So I got rid of a great deal of stuff, and made it neater in my study.

Here's an interesting article excerpt from the New York Times about how the world wide web is not as much fun as it once was. I DO agree!

As the Web Matures, Fun Is Hard to Find

Just 11 years after it was born and about 6 years after it became popular, the Web has lost its luster. Many who once raved about surfing from address to address on the Web now lump site-seeing with other online chores, like checking the In box.

What attracted many people to the Web in the mid-1990's were the bizarre and idiosyncratic sites that began as private obsessions and swiftly grew into popular attractions. . .

How did the Web arrive at this juncture? Some people say that the rush to make money, in which profits mattered more than passion, was a significant driver.

The Web's commercialism dismays many longtime surfers. "Everywhere you go someone is jumping on you to buy something," said John Walkenbach, an author in San Diego, who has written books about software. "It's like walking down the streets of Tijuana."
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Enough for tonight. Maybe I'll try to update more frequently.

Another Thursday night, my only night online. And I'm feeling a bit lonesome, rare for me, since I've become a loner. Still, I also have been feeling nostalgic...for times past, happy and sad, upsetting or not. Mostly I recall lost loves, lost opportunities...or even just the moments that I know are gone forever.

What is one person anyway, that all the memories and living can be wiped out with death. For I do believe we perish at death, there is NOTHING but flesh and blood and then oblivion. What point is there in struggling for success, for rewards or anything at all...when we are simply, in the verse of a popular song, "Dust in the wind..."

Ah, well, so it goes...and goes...and goes...until it is all gone.

Humans...a speck of energy in the senseless, vacant void of the cosmos. A little noise and then...NOTHING.

I'm in a better mood today, though still not feeling great. It's difficult to remain depressed during spring, and we certainly are having an early spring here. The world is coming alive, brilliant green and yellow colors painting the yards, the neighborhood...so what sometimes looks unsightly during grim, drab winter months is camouflaged by the budding birth of renewel.

Had a wonderful bike ride this morning, droplets of the misty morning making it damp and cool. We've been having a bit of fog early, and it makes for a nice ride in the park. More of a misty dampness than deep fog, which usually burns off by noon when the sun comes out.

I actually am reading a novel, and believe I'll make it through this one {Lovers & Liars, by Sally Beauman). I loved her novel, "Destiny" and thought I'd give this one a try. Lately I just can't seem to get involved in a novel, and put it down after the first chapter or so. But this one seems to be holding my interest, and it would be good for me if I could immerse myself in a fictional world again.

And now for a link/excerpt to an article about a near-miss of an asteroid that wasn't even discovered until it had whizzed by earth!

Whew! Stealth asteroid nearly blindsides Earth

By Richard Stenger
CNN

(CNN) -- A sizable asteroid zipped near our planet this month without anyone noticing because it traveled through an astronomical blind spot, scientists said.

The space boulder passed Earth within 288,000 miles (461,000 kilometers) -- or 1.2 times the distance to the moon -- on March 8, but since it came from the direction of the sun, scientists did not observe it until four days later.

The object, slightly larger than one that flattened a vast expanse of Siberia in 1908, was one of the 10 closest known asteroids to approach Earth, astronomers said.

"Asteroid 2002 EM7 took us by surprise. It is yet another reminder of the general impact hazard we face," said Benny Peiser, a European scientist who monitors the threat of Earth-asteroid collisions.

If it pierced the atmosphere, the approximately 70-meter-long rock could have disintegrated and unleashed the energy equivalent of a 4-megaton nuclear bomb, researchers said.

"If it were over a populated area, like Atlanta, it would have basically flattened it," said Gareth Williams, associate director of the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

The rock is considerably smaller than dozens of potential planet killers 1-kilometer in size or larger that lurk in the inner solar system.

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Oddly enough, there was another asteroid that also missed earth just a couple months ago...about the same distance, I think. Could this be a new pattern? If so, bend over and kiss your a___ goodbye because sooner or later, one is going to hit us!

Spent most of Sunday looking at houses/property within the city and in the county/rural areas. Nothing spectacular stood out, but we did find a few potentially interesting places. We're still searching, but I doubt we'll ever move; living here for 20 years, it would be very difficult to leave/move!

We're still having beautiful spring weather, but almost TOO warm. I've had to run the air conditioning already, so you can imagine how soon we're going to have summer! I went on my long bike ride this morning, despite the fact I didn't sleep well last night. I drank some coke with the evening meal -- big mistake, as the caffeine kept me awake! I cannot tolerate caffeine that late in the day anymore.

Not much else to report, except I'm still depressed. Don't know why...just a phase, I hope.