Z: Zounds, Zzzzzz, and Zebrafish

#atozchallenge - Z: Zounds is an awesome word indicating surprise or vexation. This book also lists - zoinks! which was used on Scooby Doo by Shaggy (awesome!). Then there's Zut Alors - an exclamation of disgust, scorn, or disappointment in French (when you say it, you should probably wave around an unfiltered cigarette - ha)
Z words deserve large font and exclamation points. Zebra - ha - too easy.
Zeal - Zeal without knowledge is Fire without Light - Thomas Fuller
Zen - yeah, find your own.

Final poison of the month - Zebrafish - Beautiful with vivid colors and elegant fins, this farflung fish (Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Red Sea) can cause respiratory distress and intense pain. Look but don't touch.

We've learned a lot this month about avoiding death by poisonous means. Basically you don't want to go to sleep - ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ - and not wake up. Good goal. Keep it in mind. Fortunately writing tends to keep us at our desks and away from deadly situation. Keep up the good work my friends.

AJ McLean is going to be a daddy!

A.J. and Rochelle © Giulo Marcocchi/Sipa

Backstreet Boy AJ McLean is well on his way to becoming a Backstreet Dad. The singer and his wife, Rochelle DeAnna Karidis, announced their pregnancy via a sweet YouTube video.

"I just wanted to say thank you guys for all your love and support. we recently got married, I was the most recent Backstreet Boy to take the plunge [...] Because we love you all so much, we wanted to share with you, for the first time, something very special... We're having a baby!" AJ., 34, and Rochelle were sat side by side as they announced the upcoming arrival of their first child.

The couple tied the knot December 17th, 2011 in Beverly Hills. The newlyweds then moved from Hollywood to the Valley, to a more child-friendly neighbourhood. It's unclear when their baby boy or baby girl will make his/her grande entrance.

Bang Bang

20 years ago tonight, Seattle experienced the mini-version of the riots in L.A.. After the verdict in the Rodney King case had been read & news of the reaction in L.A. had reached Seattle, people were breaking windows & looting, but mostly the city was conducting business as usual.

I had stepped outside the restaurant where I was the weekend manager to drop some bags of garbage in the dumpster. I heard a sound like a child’s cap gun go off followed by a quick bright sound & the sting of metal. A car drove away down the small curvy side street.

I looked a few inches away from where I was standing to discover a small dent in the dumpster. I leaned over & picked up the bullet, still warm, & held it in my palm. It all came together in brain, I had just missed getting shot by a few inches. I still have that bullet. It is in a display case along with arrowheads, pins, shards & assorted jetsam & flotsam from my life.

My little case of treasures is in the middle foreground in this shot of my work space

I feel that I have used up my quota of personal violence, having experienced being mugged, shot, shot at & fag bashed during my considerably long life. None of those events compare to the freight induced by the release, 35years ago, of You Light Up My Life, recorded by Debbie Boone, which stayed at #1 for 10 weeks & became the most successful single of the 1970s. That was personal violence that I can still not recover from.