Countries I Have Visited
Wow, this map made me realize how much of a hermit I am. I've only been to 4 countries outside of the US (Mexico, Canada, Germany and France)! I needs to get culturized!!! I think my new years resolution for 2006 is to do a little more traveling outside the good ole U.S. of A.

States I Have Visited
I came upon this website while surfing tonight. This map shows all the states I have set foot in. Looks like I have 34 more states to discover. If you want to create your own map, go to the World66 website.

Update On Katrina
I've always been fascinated by hurricanes. They can be so beautiful to watch yet so deadly at the same time. Here is a radar image of my girl Katrina. She is still a strong category 4 hurricane. The good news is that Katrina is moving due north now and by the looks of it, will be passing just east of New Orleans. Bad news, she will be unleashing huge amounts of rain causing widespread flooding throughout the city.

Katrina Is Going Off!
That girl is about to go off on New Orleans! She is one big momma so it's best not to mess with her. So listen up ya'll... if you live in Louisiana and Mississippi, you best pick up yo sh*t and get the f*ck out!!! That girl will literally knock the wind out of you (no pun intended), ohkayyyyy!!! My girl Katrina is currently a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 175 miles per hour!!! This will be the big event to remember in 2005. Mark my word.

One Fish Two Fish
I recently got back into my old hobby of being an aquariumist. Not sure if that's a word but whatevs. I had my 55 aquarium already set up but I had not been keeping up with the maintenance. There was thick algae growing all over the tank and I still had a few fish calling the dump a home. Well, last week I cleaned it up it looks pretty good now, if I do say so myself. Today I decided to go to my local Petsmart to buy some fish. After spending over an hour at the store I came out with a Dwarf Red Gourami and an Orange Sailfin Molly. Here they are in the bag waiting to join their other tank mates. The Red Gourami is the one on the left and the Orange Molly is on the right. I have decided to name my new fish and I hereby Christen the Red Gourami as Uncle Red (in honor of Brian's Uncle Red) and the Orange Sailfin Molly as Molly. The next couple of days are critical for the survival of Uncle Red and Molly since being introduced to a new tank is one of the most stressful times for fish. Now, if I can only add this other specimen to my tank that lives across the street.....ohkayyyyyy!!!

Something Is Buggin' Me...
And that something is WASPS and HORNETS!!! I've had a severe infestation of these critters in the bushes on my back patio these past couple of weeks. One cannot sit back and relax without thinking that you're going to get stung so I've done some research on methods to eradicate them. Bug spray was not an option since it's very toxic and would also kill the beneficial insects that frequent the garden (butterflies, my friend the praying mantis, etc). So, the nice lady over at my local Home Depot suggested the "Rescue! Yellowjacket TRAP". It's a funky looking contraption that's easy to set up. All I had to do was insert the cotton ball in the attractant cup, pour the attractant juice over it, close it and hang it outside. We'll see if it works. Updates to come.

More tomatos from my plant! Lu hates tomatos!

Lucy and Brian
My boy Brian has been gone for almost 2 weeks now. He's been in Germany for drill duty and I can tell that Lucy is really starting to miss him. I mean, just look at this picture. These two bitches were meant for each other. I wish I talked cat so I could tell her that her man will be back in two days. I mean, she's been extremely needy these past few days and she's been sitting in front of the garage door, as if waiting for him. Two more days and life will be back to normal for Lucy and myself. Hurry home Bitch! -L

A Day At The Zoo
Yesterday I took a day off of work and took my sister's kids to the Milwaukee County Zoo. It was a nightmare getting there. I sat for nearly an hour and a half in rush hour do to a truck that caught fire on the expressway. Once I picked up the kids it was another long hour drive to the zoo. What turned out to be a miserable and cloudy morning turned into a beautiful warm and sunny day. It had been years since I went to this particular zoo. It was the kids first time to the zoo and we all enjoyed it very much. I asked the kids what the most memorable part of the day was and their response: "The elephant pooping and peeing in front of us (giggle)!" I'll admit, the dump was impressive. Anywayz, the kids also enjoyed the zoo's aquarium which houses an assortment of fish from around the world. For me, the aquarium was a welcome break being that I had just spent the past 3 hours, in 90 degree heat, chasing the kids from exhibit to exhibit. Overall, it was a good trip and the kids (despite the little one's reaction in the picture) are looking forward to going again next year. Peace out!

On Demand
So I just found out that my local cable company has this new thing called Comcast On Demand. Well, it's new to me and it's pretty cool. Comcast has a huge list of FREE On Demand programming ranging from movies to music videos. I've spent the last few hours playing with it and let me tell you, it's awesome. It's almost like having a DVR built into the cable box. You can pause, rewind, and fast forward the available shows and replay it again as many times as you like. On that note, I think I'll have Luis Fonsi sing me "Quien Te Dijo Eso" again for the 5th time!!! I can't get enough of him! I meanzzz, can you blame me? :-) Didn't think so. Thanks Comcast!

A Poem About My Friend Paul by Lui5

My friend Paul grew up in Mauston,
Then he moved to the Estates of Hoffman,
There he married a boy named Rick,
Who supposedy has a huge big (bleep),
Paul loves to eat food just like me,
But soon after he always brews tea,
Paul likes to think his car is better,
But all he really has is a grocery getter,
Although many say he's a tad bit nelly,
He's liked by all cuz of his big belly,
When he farts all you hear is, "Pah pah pah",
His favorite song is Fantasia's Baby Mama,
When in need he will always call,
You can always count on my friend Paul.

WTF
I went to my sista's house the other day and was rolling when I saw her cat Benny! I meanzzzz, he looks like a cross between a cat and a French Poodle!!! My sista must have been high on something when she got his hair did. Poor Benny! He is going to get his ass kicked by the other cats in the hood if he goes out looking like this.
Sux to be him!

Update On Praying Mantis
Renowned Botanist and wannabe Entomologist Renee Boronka, from the Cleveland Museum of National History, has informed Lui5.com that the Praying Mantis I saw in my garden the other day, is indeed an alien. An alien in the sense that it is not from this part of the world.

Renee Boronka: "I've become very informed about the order. What we see in our gardens aren't "praying" mantids. They are Chinese mantids. Praying mantids are a species not know from our parts."

Mrs. Boronka was kinda enough to supply an address for more information on the "Chinese Mantid".
Thanks Renee!

Invasion From Outer Space???
I was watering the plants on my patio last evening and almost shat my pants. There, sitting on top of my germanium was this big ole bug staring up at me. It's head looked like your typical alien from outter space. It had big ole eyes with a tapered head down to it's chin.

He watched my every move as if studying me, as I with him. I have since learned that this bug is a Praying Mantis and it's actually good to have in one's garden since they tend to eat a lot of the pests that destory plants. I will name him E.T. and he's more than welcome to live in my back patio no matter how scary he is.

The L.A.T.E. Ride
Last week Brian and I went on another bike ride. This was not your normal ride because this took place in the middle of the night. Chicago's annual L.A.T.E. Ride was held July 9th/10th. We've been doing the 25 mile ride since 97' and every year, like this year, we've had a blast along with 10,000 other crazy insomniacs! We started about 1:30am and finished around 4:30am. It was a looooong 25 miles but we did it!

O.C.D.
I'm totally O.C.D.ing on this song I downloaded from iTunes this week called, "These Words" by Natasha Bedingfield. This song first caught my attention on the radio a few weeks ago. I hope she doesn't become a one-hit-wonder becaues I love her voice and the song!!!!! You go Natasha!!!

Harry Potter Is Here!
Finally! Harry Potter has arrived! So that gives me about 2 weeks of peace and harmony from those two. I'll ask Brian what his thoughts were on the book after he gets done with it. Ciao.

OMG. I love Harry Potter but I wasn't about to wait in line with hundreds of screaming kids at the stroke of midnight to gets me a copy of the new book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". Instead, I'm at home with my own 34 year old screaming kid...Brian. He's been checking his Amazon.com account to see where the copy he ordered is in route like every freakin hour!!! No joke!!! Can we say A.D.D. I think I'll just wait till the movie comes out, ohhkayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

This is a little bit old but on Sunday, May 29th, Brian and I joined 18,000 other peeps on bikes in Chicago's annual Bike The Drive. It was really neat being part of this huge group of cyclists taking over Lake Shore Drive and breathing fresh air instead of exhaust. We rode about 20 miles. My ass was extremely sore after the ride, being that I haven't sat on my bike since October of last year, but it was well worth it! Can't wait till next year!!!

MOTOWATCH: I caught this pic with my Motorola V600 this evening. It was a strange looking cloud trying to reach up into the sky. It was pretty cool. It's been really dry here in the Chicagoland area and what seemed to be a much welcomed thunderstorm in the horizon, fizzled out as it passed overhead. Oh well... guess I have to water my plants tonight.