Subject: (Offtopic) RETURN OF THE 6'2" CHEETAH! Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 00:23:53 -0500 From: Rindimo Reply-To: TLK-L@lionking.org Organization: L.O.S.T.--C.A.U.S.E. To: tlk-l@lionking.org Well... Did any of you miss me? Hee hee! Boy! 229 messages! THAT'S ALL??!! Well, I made this E-mail offtopic... because... that's exactly what it is. I figured I have experienced far too much to just sit here, and not tell everyone what I learned. Bear with me now, I'm a little tired, but I figured I might as well tell now before I begin forgetting even more stuff. Also... I may tend to just ramble incohesively about some things... but bear with me, there's some neat stuff in this posting... BTW... I'm NOT accident prone.... First, my journey began at four in the morning-- something I don't normally wake up at... unless I were to eat a bunch of White Castle, or Krystal burgers previously for lunch... Anyway, Believe it or not... I drove 680 miles all the way to Hot Springs Arkansas-- Boyhood home of President Bill Clinton Himself-- WIthout one mishap! Ugh. I even saw Clinton's little house he lived in. I kind of regretted I didn't cover the yard with Toilet paper. But I digress... Everything I've ever heard concerning America's highways was that Florida's were some of the worse. I know there are worse places out there in the world... They're called Mississipi, and Louisianna. Honestly... I've driven dirt roads that were in better shape than these highways I rode down. I know, I know.. they weren't THE main highways... ANd that there really are worse places... but it's gotta be tough to beat some of these few streches of road. Aside from my car chasis getting a beating... I noticed that the farther inland I went... the more the scenery changed. We went from Possums in Florida... to Armadillo roadkill in Arkansas. =) Yummy... But there was other differrences out there... Consider trees: All florida has are Pine trees, and palm trees. There's a few Oak tree species... But not so much as pine. Out in Arkansas, not only is the altitude greatly diversified... but there are all these beautiful deciduous trees out there: Maple, Birch, Oak... Beautiful trees that don't have a hint of turpentine... It was a wonderful change. However... My car is a four cylinder... a rather small one at that. And in One Hundred Eleven degree Fahreinheit weather... My airconditioning was renderred moot. Funny thing is... My overdrive gear was jammed... so I was stuck in Third gear the whole way there. Don't worry... The mechanic said that that was all right to do... Even with all those incredibly steep hills... I guess I might as well mention some of the interesting towns I saw on the way there... In Mississippi, there is a city called Yazoo. No lie. Alabama has Pascagoula. And here's a neat one for Duma... if he's still out there. Guess what, Cheetah fans? THere's a town out in Arkansas called Dumas. I wonder if that's the correct plural form of the swahili word for "Cheetah"? Oh well... Another thing, I just HAVE to mention... is an addition for those who do those silly "You might be a ____ IF..." type deals. Here it goes: "You know you're in Arkansas WHEN-- --You see a sign that says: 'Vote Skippy Leek for School Board Administrator.'" Well Skippy, I hope you win... But maybe changing your name might help you out a bit when you run for president... (I'm not making that "Skippy" thing up, BTW...) Heh... To tell the truth... there isn't much differrence between where I live, and Arkansas. Where I've been... both towns are old, and show it a bit. There are people that have just as many cars in their front yards as they do over here in my neck of the woods. Same thing goes with old boats. Beer and Cigarettes take up all the display space in every gas station... you're lucky to find a pack of lifesavers in there. Which reminds me... I was going to buy those little nestle chocolate balls... where they have a little plastic Disney character inside. I was hoping to find Simba... but then I rememberred the expiration date... and well... there went my will for chocolate... poor simba. =) Another thing I learned in Arkansas... Is they are A LOT higher above sea level than this Florida cheetah's pridelands... So it was soon revealed to me when-- on top of a mountain-- I ran up 21 stories of stairs to race the elevator on this sight-seeing tower. The elevator won. I actually beat the friends I was racing. Another thing I learned, was after doing something like that... It is wise to NOT chug a can of cold, Lipton Brisk Tea. Don't believe what the commercials say about that stuff. SO not only was I on the verge of passing out... I was also trying to hold down my lunch. Did I mention I did this in One hundred Twelve degree (Fahreinheit ) weather? In the hot, burning sun? Here's the closest I can tell you about what it feels like to pass out: First, you are sorta sleepy. For me... my breath was rapid and shallow. What the world appeared to my oxygen deprived eyes was kind of interesting. It was like the static from a television screen... only without the white part. put that over an ordinary picture... and make the picture appear in only hues of red, and purple. Viola! I almost puked, almost passed out... and there wasn't a single drop of alcohol around. PUH! ANd people take drugs for this??!! Well... despite all the fun... it was neat where we were staying. Our family friends have their parents living next door on this nice, secluded plot of land. Their parents were on vacation themselves, so we got their house. =) Free room and board. Unfortuneately, no cable TV... My mom's friends had three sons, and two daughters. I especially enjoyed hanging out with the guys. It was as if we were almost brothers. The funny thing was, that I was the only one that could at least grow some facial hair. They were envious of that... because they were two to four years older than me. Heh. Furry Cheetah... Both their daughters were into music... and one of them let me play her Saxophone. There's more to this little instance... but it needs to be told later. =) Well... it was no TLKoB... but I went to a play. Way out in the middle of the woods, is an outdoor "coloseum". It was a little christian show that did a spin on the prodical son parable. It dealt with people dressed as ants, and other little insect things in this show entitled "Ants' Hillvania" I had to admit, it was very cute, and humorous. But the thing that started something... was Bruce (the Family friend. THe dad of the three sons.)-- who saw some of my pictures in my artpad... challenged me to draw the "CommandANT" (the Ant Leader) from memory. Well... at 1:00 in the morning... I did a pencil sketch of him. I then colored him with colored pencil in the morning. I know a certain Saint Sauve` has done this with TLKoB... I believe... ;) I wish I could have scanned the picture into my computer.... But Bruce was so amazed over it, he had me frame it, and wrap it up for-- Tom. THe CommandANT was apparently, some close friend of theirs. So he has a Charles Barta Original. =) Everyone loved it. THey weren't the only ones surprised about it. I guess it just goes to show, a good artist is his worst critic. I thought I did a so-so job. Guess where he hanged the picture? It wasn't the mantle above the fire place... But his desk was right next to it. =) By now... all the cast of the play has seen it... He kept showing everybody. Tom has a Cabinet shop near his house. and every friday, he cleans it up, and sets up the sound equipment for The Jesus Coffee House. Every Friday, him and his boys... and anyone else who can play an instrument... will come to his little coffee place to play christian songs. other people come to listen in, and have a good ol' time. This is where the saxophone part comes in. Once Tom learned I not only knew how to draw... but could play the Sax... Guess where I was? COme on, guess. I was in the middle of the stage, right in the front. Thank goodness most of the time all they do is just "Jam". I can hold my own, when I play by ear, and know what key everyone is in... It's sheet music that'll do me in. I haven't read any in years... I haven't had that much fun in a long time! I even wore my fedorah, and sunglasses to look like one of the Blues Brothers! =) Yet again... people kept complimenting me on how I've done. Didn't they hear the way I played off my mistakes? Perhaps they took pity, because I had to use telephone wire for a strap to hang the sax from my neck. Thank goodness, this was a little backwoods place. It actually sorta went with the place... Ah well... the plot thickens... When TOm saw my picture of him... He was ecstatic. He wanted to see some other pictures I had done. (The First time I saw Tom WAS in the play. I relied on my MEMORY to draw him... Okay, stop laughing...) Most of you have seen some of my work... I do better with the furry kind, instead of people. But anyway... The pictures were at Bruce's house. So... since everyone was going to the coffee shop... Me and one of Bruce's boys ran back to his house to get them. After playing with the Band started by Tom's two sons, "Sodium Chloride" ("We are the Salt of the earth..." that's where they got it.) I then showed Tom my pictures... Previously, I've told the list (or SOMEONE) the story how in seventh grade, my artpad was snatched, passed around, and I was ridiculed. Then, last semester in College, my artpad was snatched, passed around, and I was praised. NOW... my art was passed around... AND I GOT AN OFFER!!! =) Apparently... all Arkansas has for artists.. are those realistic impressionist poops floating around over there. There's a need for people with my talent, an others similar to it over there, I guess. =) So soon, the Shadow Hawks Martial Artists will have a mascot at last. To tell the truth... I don't even care if I get paid... To learn with this opportunity will be enough. =) The trip home was uneventful... except NOW it finally cooled down... sheesh! I was going to participate in a paintball war, and it was called off due to the heat. Here, I was finally getting the chance... and it cools off on the way home. Oy. It was sort of neat, though. Upon returning back to our land, our parched "pridelands" had Lightning, and RAIN! It was just like Simba's return! Only, we didn't have to kill Scar... So here I am, a little tired, but by far, extremely happy that I went on a whim with my mom. =) Not only was it a beautiful place out there... but the people were of a beautiful sort themselves. I never felt such hospitality in my life. It was as if everyone were old friends or something. =) Still... Home is by far, one of the best places to go to, too. =) And so here I am... I'll try to reply to anything noteworthy... But bear with me here. =) God Bless you all! -Rindimo P.S. Yeah, it may not be politically correct, but hey, at least I'm blessing you. ;) --  The Tiger is made to kill and hunt, The Lion too, but more towards fight. The Leopards and Jaguars were made to climb, And Cheetahs made for earthly flight. But there is one creature of forgotten lore: Shrouded in mystery, be that it's trade, Of other virtues, it has all four- Respect the Puma, and what God made. -Rindimo E-mail Address: Rindimo@bellsouth.net *If you can read this, then I am still an eligible bachelor!*  Founder (and only member) of: The L.O.S.T.- C.A.U.S.E. (League Of Simplistic Technology- Causing All Unforseen Solutions Evident) K.I.S.S.: Keep It Simple, Stupid. (Long neglected scientific principle)