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Rock Ruminations

"The Rock" - Newfoundland's nickname, attributed to the granite and rocky landcapes which wrap around coastlines of the province. It is an affectionate term towards Newfoundland, and highlights the significance of environment. Ruminations - the act of pondering; meditation.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Statistics for October

Anyway, this past month there were 75 unique visitors: 65 first timers and 10 repeat offenders for an average of 2 visitors a day.

These visitors came from the Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

Until next month...

Tags: blog, blogging, blog

Friday, October 27, 2006

And I Thought One of Me Was Enough!

I got this from http://rebecca-goetz.blogspot.com/2006/10/yikes-would-other-rebecca-goetzes.html.



HowManyOfMe.com
LogoThere are:
238
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Apparently, some interesting tidbits:

  • There are 3,961,085 people in the U.S. with the first name Michael.
    Statistically the 4th most popular first name.
  • 99.55 percent of people with the first name Michael are male.
  • Names similar to Michael:
    • Micah
    • Mickey
    • Mike
    • Mitchell
  • There are 17,998 people in the U.S. with the last name Barbour.
  • Statistically the 1943rd most popular last name. (tied with 338 other last names)

Interesting indeed...

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

And Another...

Okay, I should have gotten this up yesterday, but it just didn't get done in time. The lady on the right is my Nan Barbour (dad's mother). She turned eighty-three yesterday.

Like my Pop, there is a great deal that I have learned from my Nan, the greatest lesson has been how to care for others.

Happy belated birthday Nan!

Tag: family, birthday

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Longevity

This is my Pop Humphries (mom's father). He is 90 years old today. This picture was taken two years ago this coming Christmas (i.e., Christmas 2004).

Born during the middle of the First World War, he's seen a lot in his lifetime. More than that though, after his second heart attack I watched him undertake what can only be described as an almos complete change in his lifestyle - from hobbies and actions to eating habits. For a man that had been so set in his way for years to undergo such a change was both remarkable and inspiring.

Thinking about being up in Newfoundland with him today makes me a little sad for home, but I know that he'll still be ther when I get up there sometime in 2007.

Happy Birthday Pop!

Tag: family, birthday

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Finding Closure

Well, it has been some time - three months in fact - since I had my final good-bye to my companion. That time has been one of trying to simply move things to the back of my mind and focus on other things because when I think about it, it still makes me sad.

Today I finally decided it was time to face it again. Good Shepherd Pet Services has a web page that lists all of their pets and their dates. Natasha can be found at:

The allow owners to write something to be added to the page next to their pet's name. Today I finally had the [insert appropriate word here] to sit down and think enough about it to send something off.
I can still remember when my friend told me that she had found the perfect pet for me. Little did I know at the time that this young stray would also become the perfect companion. For many years it was just Natasha and I, alone but yet together - keeping each other company and providing support to one another. She was playful and lovable, and seemed to know exactly what mood I was in and adapted her actions accordingly. Even in her final days, which must have been troubling and painful for her (not knowing what was happening to the body that she relied on), she was still my constant companion. Rest now my little girl, you'll always have a special place in my heart.
According to the website it should appear in a week or two. She deserved so much more, but this is the best that I could come up with.
Tag: cat

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Statistics for September

First of all, let me say that I appreciate those people who contine to come to this blog, even when I haven't been updating it that much in this past month. I have been busy working on my dissertation, a post-doctoral fellowship application, and five presentation at AECT and three at the Virtual School Symposium. I will be honest and say that October probably won't be much better, although as I have mentioned there are at least two entries that have been eating away at me that I'll need to make in the coming week or two or three.

Anyway, this past month there were 71 unique visitors: 63 first timers and 8 repeat offenders for an average of 2 visitors a day.

These visitors came from the Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Until next month...

Tags: blog, blogging, blog