Huh

I also like the word 'tuchus' - pronounced "took-us".

Oh, those wacky, wacky celebrities

Recently, I was reading an online news feed, and one of the headlines heralded the advent of Robert Downey Jr's new child, hinting at the peculiar nature of the little fella's name. So, being a diligent fan of RDJ, I clicked on the link to read all about it.

Exton Elias is the diminutive Downey's moniker, and that first name isn't as weird as it might have been. I mean, let's face it, some high-profile celebrities (and some more-famous-in-their-own-minds-than-to-the-general-populace celebrity wannabes) have come up with some incredibly odd, somewhat weird, downright stupid names for their offspring. For example:

Audio Silence - son of Shannyn Sossamon/Dallas Clayton

Moxie Crimefighter - daughter of Penn and Emily Jillette

Pilot Inspektor - son of Jason and Beth Lee

Kal-El - son of Nicolas Cage/Alice Kim (although I am surprised at the tame nature of this nutjob's choice)

Speck Wildhorse - son of John Mellencamp/Elaine Irwin

Sparrow James Midnight - son of Nicole Richie/Joel Madden

Bluebell Madonna - daughter of Geri Halliwell/Sacha Gervasi

Banjo Patrick - son of Rachel Griffith/Andrew Taylor

Kyd Miller - son of David Duchovney/Tea Leoni (more cute and kitchy than weird)

Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q - son of Bono/Ali Hewson

Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha - son (or pet) of Lisa Bonet/Jason Momoa

Daisy Boo (&) Poppy Honey - daughters of Jamie Oliver/Jools Norton

Reignbeau - daughter of Ving Rhames/Deborah Reed (a little gender-schmeared, poor kid)

Jermajesty - son of Jermaine and Alejandra Jackson (figures....what a strange clan of people)

Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen (&) Moon Unit - daughters of Frank Zappa. But let's not forget his sons, Dweezil and Ahmet. Personally, I think Ahmet got off easy.

I will refrain from ranting on, as I think this list speaks for itself.......sadly. There are so many questions one could ask, but if I got started I would never quit. Then there's the whole matter of how muddled my brain would be if I did ask "why ?" and ponder over any of it any further. So, let's quit while we're ahead and laughing, eh?

Thank you for the hilarity this morning, you wacky, wacky celebrities.

P.S. Call me Mrs. Mario

I did perform a tub-ectomy on the plumbing today, and the blockage is clear. The water is flowing and draining! A good thing. :)

A good thing and a sad thing about Pickles

First off, yes.....I named the Katydid. Her name is "Pickles."

'Why Pickles?' I hear some of you asking, a-n-d how do you know it's a she?

Well, I'll tell you. She was a lovely green and quite lively, so there were many descriptive 'names' that came to mind, but none of the typical monikers you would assign to a living creature (bug) in one's home really suited her.

We came to enjoy watching her move about - she wasn't at all as mechanical as I would have thought - and she could really move with some speed when she set her mind to it (without taking flight). Whenever she realized the lid had been lifted, she was off to the races, and she seemed more than happy to simply rest on the rim of the jar. We'd have left her that way overnight, but fear of chomping kitty jaws prompted us to replace the cover - with her safely inside - although, the lid was always ajar for her to have fresh air moving around.

Spritzing the inside of the container with water always resulted in a great show. You could hoist the jar over your head and watch as she sucked up puddles from the bottom or sides. Good-sized amounts of water vanished in seconds when she was particularly thirsty, and this happened more frequently after she'd layed her eggs! Her appetite all but vanished once the eggs were left on one of the sticks in her jar - and, oh, how I wish I could have watched that miracle unfold.

And that, my dear fellows, is how I know that Pickles is a "she-did" and not a "he-did."

Sadly, we allowed Pickles outdoor time again today, and on this second sunny, warm October day, she decided to bid us adieau and not return to the door or window for the first time in 5 days. We will miss her company, but we are planning on taking care of our new charges over the coming winter months, so that in the spring we might have the pleasure of watching the new little Katybugs hatch and begin a new generation of cool bug madness in our gardens.

Another day, another....day

That's about it.

I found a post I hadn't finished from a few days back, so I finished and posted it a short while ago - I hope you enjoy it. Shoot...for that matter I hope you can follow it.

Every once in a while I begin a thought and get a few lines 'on paper', but then get interrupted. (This is where the boys - or Jean - would insert "squirrel.") Sometimes it is a momentary intrusion and I can sit back down and pick up where I left off without a problem; other times there is a much longer delay in getting back to writing. On those occasions where it takes longer to get back to finishing an entry, the intent of my blog sometimes gets away from me and I end up scrapping the entry altogether rather than finishing it.

Let's face it, if the point you try to make has a real explicit purpose and you get off track, sometimes there is no picking up the scent again once the reasoning is lost.

I know, I know...too many mixed metaphors. See what I mean about losing your train of thought.

Squirrel!

Knee-jerk reactions

It's funny, isn't it, how our point of view changes over the years. We think of things (sometimes fondly, other times not so much) and remember them differently. Or, we think of our reactions to events and conversations with people, and how we would have done or said something differently had we only had (or taken) another 5 seconds before opening our mouths and reacting.

Regretful.

We humans are a regretful lot, and anyone who walks around saying they never regret anything they've done or said (or didn't do or say) is either lying or heartless (or full of excrement).

I am not certain living 'in the moment' is any better as a way to travel through life, but everything in today's society is so fast-paced and keeps us out of touch with really having to deal with people face-to-face and one-on-one for the most part, unless we put ourselves in to those predicaments.

Getting a meal and banking via the drive-thru, shopping online, texting and email, cable TV, on demand movies and sports, and on and on, all require little to no interpersonal contact. It's no wonder we don't know how to socialize appropriately any more.

The middle finger salute is now the normal response to a perceived slight of any sort, as are totally foul language and insults of all types, instead of simply letting go and taking a deep breath or pointing out the issue in a more calm, reasonable way.

Reactions are out of proportion and most times inappropriate to the initial slight. What has happened to society? Where have decent behavior and morality gotten to? Why can't those who initially behave badly simply say "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" instead of becoming incredibly defensive and thinking they were in the right? And why can't those who suffer the actions of boorish, stupid, irrational people put it into perspective before allowing something momentarily annoying from ruining their day and becoming a 'snowball' for themselves and all around them?

Knee-jerk reaction?

Not for nothing...

...but I joined Twitter. Don't ask me why, but I did. Ellen now has one more follower - stalkers in training, more or less.

Nucking Futz!

That's right, I said it. Nucking futz!

And if you keep staring at the screen like a guppy saying hello to the outside world, I'm gonna say it again.

It looks as though Faygo won't be loading the video entry until Monday sometime. It appears as though whomever approves entries before they appear on the website for viewing doesn't review over the weekend (wish they bothered to mention that in their web page with all of the garbage they did post). Seriously, something simple like: "Please note, all entries will be reviewed prior to posting to our contest page. We regret there may be a delay over the weekend." You know, something that says 'we won't be bothered to be diligent with your entry and update our site daily.'

Nucking futz and doggone it! Two days of voting time lost!

I guess I am not surprised as they did not even bother to state a deadline with the contest rules for the first 2 months the contest was open.

At any rate, the video of the Hooahs playing the Faygo theme song (fading into a rousing ending of the MSU fight song) was uploaded to YouTube for the band members to see, while we waited for the silly thing to be viewable online with Faygo. All weekend it's been garnering views - and I have to laugh, because between Saturday morning and now, it's been viewed over 260 times! Just imagine if those could have been votes online at Faygo instead of mere views!

Nucking futz!

Well, we have until December 1st to get votes in, and we only have to catch up to the first five places with 1000 votes cast (probably more now). Nucking futz!

Well, if we can get 300 views in just 2 days, I guess we can get enough in the next 14 days or so, provided Faygo gets off of their collective Mountain Mists and gets the darn video loaded into the public viewing arena!

It's nucking futz, I tell ya!

No way! Binary Day!

I just think it's funny/odd/a quirk of happenstance, whatever you want to call it, when the date and time provide us with little coinkydink things like................

Say it together, class!

Binary Day!

What? You've never heard of it?! Oh my, what rock have you been hiding under?

Look at the date and time of this blog entry. Yup!

It's eleventh hour and eleventh minute after, into the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year.

OK, so I know it's not 2011 ('11), but it is now officially 11:11 11/11/09. That's close enough for rock-n-roll, don't you think?

Overdue dinner menu

Chicken Pot Pie.

That's what I made for dinner last night because I thought the weather was so appropriate, and my tastebuds were calling out to me.

And wouldn't you know that the weather is about a million times worse today, and chicken pot pie really sounds good. Alas, the boys demolished it last night, and when I looked in the fridge this afternoon, I found a portion left in the container! That's right, one wedge! One!! And Karl just ate it.

Well, I guess their mama can cook, and I should be glad they have good appetites. I am simply surprised that pie didn't last a little longer, it was pretty big.

Handmade crusts, diced potatoes and carrots lightly pan roasted in butter and canola oil. Onions coarsely chopped to sprinkle as a hefty layer over the layer of vegetables and pre-cooked chicken, and a final liberal topping of peas before the seasonings were added and everything went into the oven for about an hour and a half.

Man! I am telling you the smell of that pie baking was enough to make me forget a lot of the rest of yesterday. From time to time I would look over at the girls sleeping on the bed, and Hobbes would lift her little face towards the kitchen and sniff the air. You could see it in her eyes when her gaze met mine...'when is it going to be ready to eat?'

Let's hear it for comfort foods!

For now, I am stuck trying to figure out what we will have tonight. Whatever it is, it is still in the freezer or yet to be conjured from contents of the pantry and cupboards. Now that it is 6pm, it had better become apparent pretty darned quick. Although, Karl has just eaten that last piece of pie, so he should be OK for a while, and Brian is out with friends for the evening - so he is on his own.

Mystery dinner it is, and I am thinking we'll have it on the European timetable, too.

Bon appetit, everyone!

Omens and jinxing

Do you believe in that sort of thing?

Jinxes......and omens, for that matter. Do you put any stock in them? Do you find yourself throwing salt over your shoulder should you accidentally spill some on the dining table? Do you feel compelled to ward of bad mojo and voodoo vibes if somebody else utters the phrase "Oh, that nevers happens to me," or "I haven't choked on a lozenge, yet," (for instance) while laying in bed with a cold?

You beg them to knock on wood to prevent fate from evening the score. But do they?

N-noOooOOOooooOOoooo...of course not. This is the type of person who dares the lightening god to hurl a bolt because they think they are immune to that sort of consequential punishment. So what, they spitefully sneer, if they are standing outside during a hellacious storm, wearing a suit of aluminum suit and proffering a long metal rod to the clouds.

"It's funny and the odds are in my favor...and besides, I am wearing rubber underwear and sneakers. Come get me!" they yell at the sky.

Because that hapless nitwit just provoked the challenge, I now must concern myself with the simple issue of walking down the street with him the next time it begins to rain, and wonder - am I standing too close to this marked man?

Ah well, just a funny thought that has followed me throughout my day since watching a new episode of House last night. Well, that, and I had a dream the other night - one of those repeat dreams where the situations, characters and specifics always come out the same (really weird), and you wake before there is resolution, only to wonder if this is something that will happen in time, and will I make the same choices when it finally does.

I suppose this means I need to add "deja vu" to that opening list as well.

Omens and jinxing and deja vu.

Obfuscation

I guess I am not really obscuring much, not so much as I am currently avoiding most things...at any rate.

Like right now, as an example. At present I would tell you I am doing dishes.

At three in the afternoon? you may query.

Well, yes. This is when I am choosing to curtail other activities in order to stand at the kitchen sink and immerse my mitts in extremely warm soapy water and eliminate the small accumulation of dirty utensils, pans, plates, bowls and the like. What's the matter with doing it in the middle of the day? I would ask you. It's not as though I have anything else more pressing to tend to on this dreary, WET afternoon anyway. I have nowhere to go, and little chance of getting there (wherever it may have been) anyhow...without transportation.

[rasperries to you]

You could have concentrated more on the fact that I am not really doing dishes at this very moment, rather, I am furiously avoiding doing them as well by sitting here on the computer and filling in my own blanks.

But, by the time you figure out what it is I have been trying to point out, I will have already returned to the kitchen and finished the dishes and moved on to another mundane chore.

Have I clouded the issue enough. Have I obscured rational thinking for you for the moment?

You're welcome.

Always watching

I feel like a lifetime observer.

Always an outcast, a misfit - never quite fitting in (not even in my own family), and I have felt this way my entire life.

To make myself a part of the happenings I employed a camera.

I have hidden behind the lens of a camera to view life, to be involved, to participate, to be 'there' and be welcome. Without one, I am invisible...feel unwelcome and highly vulnerable.

But this isn't always a bad thing (being that fly on the wall, that is).

Yesterday, I had a great time observing MSU's marching band get ready for their performance at the home game against Central - which, sadly, the Spartans did not win. But the band is remarkable!

The smaller pods of instruments (sax's, trombones, flutes, flag bearers and the mighty Hooahs, just to name a few) all splinter off, after an exhaustive rehearsal, to have breakfast with family and friends and relax. Then, they wander back to (wherever) to dress in those natty uniforms, only to reappear maybe half an hour later on Adams Field and warm up in their respective team pods - led by exuberant and intelligent team leaders. Once the warm ups are complete and photos have been taken, the entire band assembles in formation to tune up, run thru a couple of numbers, to finish applying spats and gloves and whatever else to their ensembles, checking pant creases and hatbands for sharp edges and unruly trim, and then they rile up the familial crowds - and themselves!

All of this before they begin a mildly rowdy half-mile march to the field to begin the game.

And wait til I tell you how involved the parents are - you would never believe how elaborate and committed (how insane) the breakfast preparation is to feed these kids out there along the fringes of Adams Field! It was really very cool.

I loved being a part of it, watching from behind my lens.

Hooah!

A little bit extra

Brian is feeling improved over this morning, and I am relieved. He now says he feels he has/had a 24-hour-variety bug because his neck/muscles ached a bit and he felt feverish, too. Now, it's a mild headache and a bit of ache-iness remaining.

The meter folks from Consumers did arrive this morning (a tad early) and had the move out completed ahead of the rain. They finished right around 1:30 - maybe a little later - and cleaned out the cut limbs from the forsythia for good measure. All very cool. I did my own cleaning (again)...so much mud tracked in from four sets of boots going in and out and up and down all that time.

It took a considerable amount of time for Flop and Cleo to be persuaded to come out of hiding after the trucks pulled out of the driveway, too. So much noise and commotion, and after yesterday's moving frenzy! Poor dears.

Will have to look at the new patch job the team left in the concrete wall tomorrow, in the light of day, to see how it held up with all of the rain that fell the balance of the afternoon and into the evening.

On another bright note, I finished installing the flooring in front of the door to the patio. It's only taken me [snifrigatadropfenhosier] to get it done - there. I still need to finish it in that back corner where the two windows facing the garden/backyard are (oh shit, yeah! And in the washer/dryer closet, too). Then I will be happy, and less cluttered.

I know I won't get it done before I go to FL, but there is a definite maybe in the works for when I get back.

I predict "before the end of the year!" You can take that to the bank.

Anyhow, my day is done and my brain is fried. I am off to bed and relaxation - I had forgotten how much stretching was involved in installing flooring. My legs are telling me off! LOL

Stupid on-line 'gathering' sites

I hate to even name them, but you know what I mean (Facebook, MySpace...). What an infinite waste of time, and so many people seem to spend endless hours out there - and a lot of what it is they enter is obscene or poorly written...or, even meaningless.

It's got to be a generational thing - boy does that statement make me feel older than I am.

This must be why I don't garner a whole lot of responses. [smirk]

S'ok, though, I am not that (type of) needy. Thank you, God. ;^)

I like the content of what it is I contribute to be uplifting (or not), intelligent, gramatically correct, inclusive of punctuation and lacking typo's, and it just seems as though the plethora of younger folks typing out there just want to pound on the keyboard and enter some garbage, simply to raise some eyebrows or get some sort of knee-jerk reaction. For some more 'seasoned' people with something to say, something on their minds or something meaningful to share with family and friends, the use of these sorts of forums has changed a little.

I would like to say they have evolved, but that wouldn't really be the case.

The main crux of them all (the sites, that is) seems to be to collect as many "friends" on your list as possible (oh, and to give out your information and contact info or that of your friends and family, via 'tests' and challenges). You don't even have to know people to add them - or to have them add your name to their list!

A small number of folks have somewhat useful/informational profiles and communications on their pages (BRAVA!), but SO MANY more (I would say roughly 92%) are just tripe and pandering.

So, look at me, everybody! Woohoo! Watch me! But not because I am on Facepageblogoshererificworld with 647 followers. Read this because you know me and have an interest in my life, and in my sons, my extended family, and because you want to know how I am impacting the world - and how it is impacting me. Or, simply because you just want to say "hi".

Peace out, Holmes (or is it "home"?).

Word.

Dis-ing

There's "enchanted," and "disenchanted."

I understand "agreeable" and "disagreeable."

I know what it means to be "disengaged" after having an engaging experience.

"Associated" - "disassociated."

I even acknowledge "proportionate" and "disproportionate," because they make sense.

But can anyone tell me...what is it to be "gruntled" in order to become "disgruntled"? How do you achieve a state of gruntleness from which to become disgruntled?

Anyone?

Cowabunga!

Du-u-u-u-u-de!

Sometimes, it just needs to be said.

An update on the Cleo front

For those of you wondering, Cleo is feeling better, although it remains to be seen whether her stone is smaller or gone.

She is no longer in need of the towel in the bathroom to urinate, and is using the litter box full time, again. Yea! The last couple of weeks her urine output has been good, and without any visible traces of blood either in the stream or spotting afterwards, and this is good, so I started weening her from towel use, and she is now comfy and back in the box.

All of this doesn't mean she likes using the box, and after breakfast she heads into the bathroom to look for a bathmat left on the floor - poor dear. Old habits (and new ones, too, for that matter)...

Oh, by the way, she caught a pinkie last week, and had a great time reveling in the status of mouser of the house! Bought her a toy mouse and she beats the tar out of it daily, then brings it to someone for praise and a treat when she feels it is dead. You should hear the mournful caterwauling when she feels her mission is accomplished and no one is around to see!

Thanks for asking.

Yabba Dabba Dooooo

Just felt like saying it...no reason other than I think it sounds funny.

"Ointment" is another word that causes me to giggle.

Oh, and any word that sounds - or syllabically reminds me of 'phenomenon' - gets me humming a tune that I remember from a skit once done on the Muppet Show. Ask my kids, they'll hum it for you (so will I, for that matter).

"Rectum" has had an odd place of honor in our household of late. You really had to be there. Suffice to say, playing the "rectum game" was hours of fun over the weekend, and still manages to pop in and out sporadically. You 'recties' will understand.

Note to self: start list of titles, cuz they was funny.