Musings on the Meaning of Liff...

Etsy

2008-07-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

I've finally opened the Etsy shop!

http://www.fussykitty.etsy.com/

When will this madness end?

2008-06-21T09:05:00.001-07:00

This has been an ongoing drama for the past two weeks...

We feed stray and feral cats in our neighbourhood. We have a small food bowl set up on the back porch where it is accessible to cats passing through. As of last count, we have 6 cats consistently eating from it, only one of which do we have any "relationship" with, the others are simply to skittish to approach. This one cat allows us to pet her, she comes and sits in our laps when we're in the gazebo, she drinks from our water ponds, she suns on our driveway... she can hang around for hours at a time. Sometimes in the middle of a rain storm I'll glance out the window and see her hunkered down on our back porch, other days (rain or shine) she'll be passed out in one of the lawn chairs we have set up in the gazebo. In short, she has become a fixture of sorts, and we are very attached to her! : )
But other critters are eating from the bowl as well, which was not a problem at first. Squirrels, birds, slugs, snails, reptiles etc. The birds have progressively (slowly, but progressively nonetheless) started causing trouble. The mourning doves and Everett birds (not sure what they're real name is, we always call them Everett birds... but that's another story for another time...) weren't so bad at first, they nibbled a little, usually taking only one piece at a time. But the finches were a huge pain in the neck... bitty birds equals bitty food, right? Their solution? To take all of the food out of the bowl, piece by piece, and fling it across the porch until they find a piece small enough. My every morning began with picking all the food off the porch and putting it back in the bowl for the cats.
And then the grackles showed up. They are absolute pigs, they come swaggering up onto the porch, cramming 5-7 pieces of food in their beaks, and fly off. Sometimes the same grackle will come back repeatedly. As you can imagine, we began going through food much quicker. Our solution was to move the food bowl into the gazebo for a few days until the grackles gave up... in the gazebo, all of the cats would be able to find it, but the birds would be less likely to go to the trouble of finding the passage through the mosquito netting (we leave a small section of the netting unzipped). Sooooo, the next morning I come out and there's a bird stuck in there. I unzipped the netting, let it out, and refilled the bowl. Less than an hour later, I pass by the window, glance out, and there is another bird in there!
After the third bird, I tried liberally sprinkling bird seed in a large mound near the gate, away from the gazebo. After the fourth bird, I put a small pile of bird seed in front of the gazebo. After the fifth bird, I placed a large boulder in front of the gazebo. After the sixth bird, I pushed the boulder closer to the gazebo, and pulled the zipper further down.
The next day, we were out of ideas, and just kept letting birds out. On the third day, we simply could not take it any longer, and one of the feral cats was unable to locate the food bowl, so we put it back on the porch. A few days ago, we began leaving an oversized plastic lid upside-down on top of the bowl, where the cats could easily push it off, but the birds were not smart enough. Unfortunately, this confused the cats too much, but fortunately this seemed to have discouraged the birds, and after we'd taken it off they'd been leaving the bowl alone... until today.
This Morning , I step outside to visit with the cat, and there are a bunch of Everett birds dive-bombing her!!! >: [ Apparently they have reverted to territorialism (yes, I know this is not a real word). I spent the greater part of the morning spraying them with a squirt-bottle. They finally quit caring, and so I put out a saucer full of birdseed. But now, apparently they don't want any stinking bird seed, they want catfood! I repeat: When will this madness end?

Western New York! PART 1

2008-06-12T19:07:00.001-07:00

So, I've been sick for the past two weeks, overlapping by one week with my two week vacation to Buffalo, New York. Here are some photos from Niagara Falls:

We started out around noon driving around an looking at some lighthouses (will post photos later), then headed on over to Niagara Falls. Here you can see the mist from the falls at a distance:

Before we went over to the park, we had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe (I picked up a cute T-Shirt in the gift shop). After lunch, we made our way over to the park and to the falls. Here are some preliminary ripples along the bank of the Niagra River:

The rapids as we get closer to the falls were amazing... this is only the second time I remember ever being near a waterfall, and the first was (in my opinion) not nearly as impressive:

Pretty cool, huh?

And the drop:

Here you can see the falls themselves, at last:

And a little woodchuck right up near the falls:

I snapped this shot from the observation deck:

A little bit extreme in my opinion:

This is my favourite shot, I can honestly say that Niagara Falls is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life:

The Maid of the Mist boat tour:

Lol:

Canada:

The Falls again:

I took nearly 400 photos on this trip, so stay tuned for more! : )

Always Check Your Receipts!

2008-05-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

So, we went to _____ on Friday, and found some nice boxes and a tube of wrapping paper (vintage beer and ale label print). Two of the boxes were of similar design, but one was slightly larger than the other. The smaller one was marked down from $8 to $3, and the larger from $9 to $3. When I get up to the counter, everything rings up at the marked price except the larger box which comes up at $4, so the cashier calls the manager up. The manager goes over it a couple of times, then loudly comments on the fact that it is larger than the other box. Um, what does the one box have to do with the other? Are they not two separate objects? She then proceeds to inform me that the box should have been marked down to $4, and the $3 label was incorrect. I considered it, was it really worth saving just the $1? After a brief pause, I decided that the money had nothing to do with it. It was strictly a matter of principle. The label said $3, I think I should have gotten it for $3. I stated as much, and with many dark looks, they acquiesced. I'm afraid I tend to be a bit of a push-over in areas like this, so I was quite pleased with myself as I marched out of the store with my finds. I should have looked at the receipt.
That afternoon, I'm going over receipts and I pull out the one for this store. I purchased four items all total, and I notice that the receipt lists five. Much to my annoyance, I found that the cashier had not removed the item from the first time she rang it up. So in addition to paying the $3 for the box, I had also payed the $4 it originally range up at! I was so furious... as paranoid as it sounds, I know she did it on purpose.
So, next day we had to go back down to the store. Fortunately, I did manage to get my money back with little dispute.

Moral of the story, don't forget to check your receipts. : /

Gator Pics.

2008-04-28T19:07:00.000-07:00

I love gators.

Second Gator:

Someone dropped a flower in the water:

He annihilates it:

And the ducks look on, unperturbed:

You can see more photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paperbouquet/sets/72157604343957368/

Bwahahahaha!

2008-04-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

Your Vocabulary Score: A

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!

You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

I love blogthings.

Have you heard...

2008-04-04T19:10:00.001-07:00

... About the "Mad Crafter's Tea Party"? The Altered Art Appreciation Society on Flickr is holding a global tea party from the 12th to 14th of April for all artists to participate. Check out the Altered Art Appreciation Society's blog here for details: http://www.alteredartsociety.blogspot.com/.

Just thought you should know...

2008-04-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

Fruit-flavoured marshmallows are nasty.

What I read in a year...

2008-03-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

I know, it's been a while since I posted... so, want to see what I read between last March and this?

Spring 2007:

"Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life" by Alison Weir
"The Princes in the Tower" by Alison Weir
"The Wars of the Roses" By Alison Weir
"The Phantom of the Opera"By Gaston Leroux
"Queen Isabella" By Alison Weir
"The Children of Henry VIII" By Alison Weir
"Thomas Cardinal Wolsey" By Nancy Lenz Harvey
"Of Mice and Men" By John Steinbeck
"The Six Wives of Henry VIII" By Alison Weir
"The Sisters of Henry VIII" By Maria Perry
"Nine Days Queen" By Mary Luke
"The Poisonwood Bible" By Barbara Kingsolver
"The Wars of the Roses" By Desmond Seward
"The Wars of the Roses" By Robin Neillands
"Royal Blood: Richard III and the Mystery of the Princes" By Bertram Fields
"To Kill a Mockingbird" By Harper Lee
"Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Murder of Lord Darnley" By Alison Weir
"Elizabeth I: Collected Works" By Elizabeth I
"First Lady of the Confederacy: Varina Davis' Civil War" By Joan E. Cashin
"The Grapes of Wrath" By John Steinbeck
"Confederate Heroines: 120 Southern Women Convicted by Union Military Justice" By Thomas P. Lowry
"Women in the Field: America's Pioneering Women Naturalists" By Marcia Bonta

Summer 2007:

"Titus Andronicus" By William Shakespeare
"Marie Antoinette: The Journey" By Antonia Fraser
"The Life of Elizabeth I" By Alison Weir
"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" By James Joyce
"King Henry VI Part I" By William Shakespeare
"Love's Labours Lost" By William Shakespeare
"The Comedy of Errors" By William Shakespeare
"The Sound and the Fury" By William Faulkner
"Two Gentlemen of Verona" By William Shakespeare
"Crime and Punishment" By Fyodor Dostoevsky
"King Henry VI Part II" By William Shakespeare
"The Stranger" By Albert Camus
"Henry VI Part III" By William Shakespeare
"King Richard III" By William Shakespeare
"Romeo and Juliet" By William Shakespeare
"King Richard II" By William Shakespeare
"King John" By William Shakespeare
"The Merchant of Venice" By William Shakespeare
"King Henry IV Part I" By William Shakespeare
"Great Expectations" By Charles Dickens
"Elizabeth of York" By Nancy Lenz Harvey
"Go Tell it on the Mountain" By James Baldwin
"Henry VIII: The King and His Court" By Alison Weir
"The Wars of the Roses" By William W. Lace
"Absalom! Absalom" By William Faulkner ***
"Henry Plantagenet" By Richard Barber
"The Last of the Plantagenets" By Thomas B. Costain

Autumn 2007:

"A Tale of Two Cities" By Charles Dickens
"The Wars of the Roses" By Anthony Cheetham
"Innocent Traitor" By Alison Weir
"Macbeth" By William Shakespeare
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" By Washington Irving
"Julius Caesar" By William Shakespeare
"The Taming of the Shrew" By William Shakespeare
"The Young Elizabeth" By Alison Plowden
"Hard Times" By Charles Dickens
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" By William Shakespeare
"The Book of the Duchess" By Geoffrey Chaucer (Edited by Gerard NeCastro)
"The Boke of the Duchesse" By Geoffrey Chaucer
"Othello" By William Shakespeare
"Much Ado About Nothing" By William Shakespeare
"King Lear" By William Shakespeare
"The Tempest" By William Shakespeare
"Pride and Prejudice" By Jane Austen
"Cry the Beloved Country" By Alan Paton
"The Greatest Gift" By Philip Van Doren Stern

Winter 2007-08

"Emma" By Jane Austen
"The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes" By H.G. Wells
"Complete Sonnets" By William Shakespeare
"Sense and Sensibility" By Jane Austen
"Persuasion" By Jane Austen
"Jane Eyre" By Charlotte Bronte
"Jurassic Park" By Michael Crichton
"Ivanhoe" By Sir Walter Scott
"Northanger Abbey" By Jane Austen
"The Lost World" By Michael Crichton
"All Quiet on the Western Front" By Erich Maria Remarque
"Jane Austen Juvenilia Volume I" By Jane Austen
"My Antonia" By Willa Cather
"Wuthering Heights" By Emily Bronte
"Anthem" By Ayn Rand
"Old Man and the Sea" By Ernest Hemingway

As you can see, I really slowed down over Autumn and Winter. Autumn was IQF and I was working on my TOGC project, I also had three clocks-in-progress. Winter I was suffering from a severe case of earring-making mania. So sad. But I expect to pick up the pace this spring. ^_^

2008-02-26T07:24:00.001-08:00

You Are 84% Intuitive

Your intuition is so spot on it's scary!

You can learn a lot about people and situations, simply by listening to your gut.

And you've even wondered if you can predict the future at times.

Just be sure not to always listen to your intuition... someday it could be wrong!

How Intuitive Are You?

Returned from hiatus...

2008-02-25T14:49:00.000-08:00

Actually, I wasn't really on hiatus until I realized how long it had been since I last updated my blog. : )
A belated Happy Valentines Day, everyone! Valentines Roses:

Look at the candy heart I got:

What is the world coming to?

Masterpiece: The Complete Jane Austen

2008-02-11T08:44:00.000-08:00

Everyone is entitled to my opinion:

I missed Persuasion, but thought Northanger Abbey was rather poorly done. Mansfield Park was pretty good, but had some issues as well. Firstly, they don't follow the books very well, and several violations of the etiquette of that period arise. Under no circumstances would Mr. Tilney and Catherine Morland have kissed, neither would Edmund and Fanny... this would have been a great impropriety, very inappropriate. Also, Fanny would not have permitted Edmund to enter her bed-chamber, nor would Edmund have presumed to enter... much less when Fanny was washing her hair. Speaking of hair, did anyone else notice that her 'do' was not correct to the period? But everyone else was fine.

As for the drama, "Miss Austen Regrets", that was absolutely ridiculous. She was portrayed in a very undesirable light, in my personal opinion. I would also like to point out the extreme inaccuracy of the piece. Firstly, Mr. Brydges did not propose to Jane Austen, and never had any such relationship with her. This proposal-acceptance-refusal scenario took place instead with one Harris Bigg-Wither. Where Mr. Brydges comes into the story is Jane Austen's relationship with his wife's cousin's son (or something of the sort) Tom Lefroy. This relationship came to nothing. And, in respect to Mr. Hayden (the 'apothecary'), Jane Austen had no such interest in him, but instead had been encouraging a relationship between him and her niece, Fanny. And nowhere is there any evidence to indicate that her sister, Cassandra, discouraged her from accepting any proposal...

Please, no one think I'm being critical or a wet-blanket... this just really smoked my shorts! It just isn't right to portray someone so inaccurately, especially when evidence, history, records etc. point in an entirely different direction.

All that aside, Pride And Prejudice has been pretty good so far. : )

Altered Art Group Sea Challenge

2008-02-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

I'm Admin for the Altered Art group on Flickr, we decided to begin doing a monthly challenge, and January's theme was Sea. Check out the entries in the slideshow:

Participants:

PaperBouquet (Me)
Bettysoo
Vintagepix
Decorating4
Playingwithbrushes
Peregrine blue
Heyjupiter21
aLiCia PeLLon
Gardencandymosaics
Lisa templ-cox
Flowerpistol
Crazyfish_666
Creationsinglass
Eclecticelements

A Place To Bark- Animal Rescue

2008-01-30T19:04:00.000-08:00

Any of you who are in to Altered Art/Mix-Media Art are probably familiar with Bernie Berlin, author of "Artist Trading Card Workshop", and owner of "A Place To Bark", a no-kill animal rescue she runs in Tennessee. Please, for any of you who can make donations, she is trying to win a $50,000.00 dollar grant from the "American Giving Challenge" so she can build a shelter for her animals. Right now she holds the third place out of the top four, if she gets knocked into fourth she'll still be okay, but if she gets knocked into fifth, she won't get the grant. Words cannot describe how amazing her work has been. I wish I had read about this sooner, the contest ends tomorrow. There is very little time left!
Here's a link to her blog:

http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com/

To the "American Giving Challenge" page: http://www.sixdegrees.org/Top.aspx

To the donation page: http://tinyurl.com/3x3c3m

T-Rex

2008-01-28T11:08:00.000-08:00

This is my pet T-Rex:

Cat Food

2008-01-27T17:54:00.000-08:00

So, we keep a bowl full of food on the back porch for stray cats (squirrels, birds, and an assortment of reptiles and amphibians also reap the benefits) and yesterday night I went out to re-fill it. I took one look on the bowl and started to have a fit. At first I thought a cat had made a messy-messy in it, and I started to get really mad:

Apparently slugs are omnivorous.

Changes

2008-01-21T17:31:00.000-08:00

Video from YouTube. Title: Changes - Presidential Candidates feat. Bowie

Why Tea Should be Decaf.

2008-01-14T18:52:00.000-08:00

I think tea should not be caffeinated. I'm about to go to bed, and I thought I'd make myself a nice hot cup of tea. But all of my favourite flavours I have on hand are caffeinated. : /

Why would someone need caffeinated tea? Coffee is caffeinated and you can have that in the morning. You can also purchase decaf coffee, which I can understand if you are going to have a biscotti late in the evening. Then you can drink water, iced tea, and coke during the rest of the day. But tea is for the afternoon (when you don't need caffeine) or for the evening (when you also don't need caffeine).

The letter "U" is ruined!

2008-01-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

It has now reached the point where I can no longer stand the mere site of a stand-alone "U". Whenever I see it, I think of all the people who use it in the place of 'you', and I want to scream. I can understand minimal abbreviation, such as TX, FL, NC etc. for the states, I can even undertake (on very rare occasions) to use "lol" when it is fitting, as an expression. But when people begin using '2' in the place of 'to' or 'too', 'R' in the place of 'are', 'Y' in the place of 'Why', and (most specifically) 'U' in the place of 'You' , that is just plain unbearable to me. It is denigrating to the English language and derogatory to the gifts of speech and communication. : (

Poll Results: "Which One?"

2008-01-07T12:52:00.001-08:00

Thanks to everyone who voted!

25% voted "Yes".

37% voted "No".

0% voted "Either".

37% voted "What?".

13 Things About Me: Week 4

2008-01-04T18:47:00.000-08:00

I have eight cats.
I love literature... Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and William Faulkner are my favourites.
My all-time favourite book is "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. The first time I ever read it was March of 2006, and I've read it seven times since then.
I almost never take off my cross pendant.
I love animals.
I've always wanted to travel the world, particularly Africa.
I bought 3 packages of 165 head-pins the day before yesterday, and I only have about 75 left... : /
I'm collecting the state quarters and I'm up to 44... I'm missing Utah and the five for this year.
I want to visit Colorado some day, I'd love to do photography there.
I rarely wear any jewelry besides earrings.
I have 12 clocks in my studio.
I have so many decorative objects crowded into my studio, there isn't much room for me to work.
I'm too tired to think of anything else right now.

Leftovers, anyone?

2008-01-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

Look what I found smashed in the lower oven:

A smashed Bagel Bite (mini pizza) leftover from Christmas. It must have fallen off of the baking sheet as we were pulling it out of the oven. In my defense, I want to say that we hardly ever use the lower oven, which is why it was only recently found. Needless to say, we threw it out. :)

How Many Forum Members Does It Take To Swap Some Lightbulbs

2008-01-01T06:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a comment on my earlier post containing the "How Many Forum Does It Take To Change A Lightbulb" (Not Written By Me), I was inspired to write a continuation of the lightbulb saga, in which someone gets the idea that they should swap some lightbulbs! Everyone likes a swap, right?
Here goes:

*1* To post announcing that they would like to host a lightbulb swap.

*8* To post announcing that they would like participate in the lightbulb swap.

*2* To post announcing that they will be shipping their lightbulbs late.

*1* To not ship their lightbulbs at all.

*10* To post, blowing up into a heightened state of rage at the inconsiderate people (they didn't notice it was just one person) who dropped out of the lightbulb swap.

~~~
Right about here is a lull in which the swap host
receives, swaps, and ships out the lightbulbs. And it
begins again.
~~~

*1* To post and politely inquire as to the whereabouts of their lightbulbs... not meaning to cause any trouble of course...

*3* To post and announce loudly that they see no reason why the above should not have posted, seeing as the lightbulbs had "supposedly" shipped a month ago.

*5* To post, calculating exactly how much money the host had made off of them in the lightbulb swap (shipping fees etc.)

*13* To post protesting this revolt and declaring the above posters to be inconsiderate, and to proclaim that the host is such a wonderful talented person.

*The Host* To post and say that they did ship the lightbulbs some time ago, everyone knows the mail has been slow lately, and to please be patient.

*1* (OP) To post and say they didn't mean to cause this controversy, they just wanted to know where their lightbulbs were!

*3* (Mods) To post and announce that everyone needs to stop discussing this, and that if they have anything they want to say about the lightbulb swap, to please contact the host.

*11* To post, completely ignoring, (or overlooking, I cannot say) the mods' posts, and continue bickering over the lightbulbs.

*4* To post and try to change the subject.

*5* To post more about the stupid lightbulb swap.

*1* To post and announce that their lightbulbs have arrived.

*8* To post and announce that they knew all along that the lightbulbs were on their way (at least 2 of them had earlier stopped just short of condemning the host as a theif and a liar.)

PS Happy New Year everyone!

Five Seconds of Fame

2007-12-31T10:35:00.000-08:00

The Dramatic Prairie Dog:

2007-12-29T18:47:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't it be gross if Kool-Aid came in gingerbread flavour?

How Many Forum Members Does It Take To Change A Lightbulb?

2007-12-28T16:52:00.002-08:00

Found this on a forum I'm on, and thought it was funny. And true. : )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*1* to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been
changed

*14* to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the
light bulb could have been changed differently

*7* to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs

*1* to move it to the Lighting section

*2* to argue then move it to the Electricals section

*7* to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light
bulbs

*5* to flame the spell checkers

*3* to correct spelling/grammar flames

*6* to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb" ... another 6 to condemn those 6 as stupid

*2* industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is
"lamp"

*15* know-it-alls who claim they were in the industry, and that "light
bulb" is perfectly correct

*19* to post that this forum is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a lightbulb forum

*11* to defend the posting to this forum saying that we all use light
bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this forum

*36* to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this
technique and what brands are faulty

*7* to post URL's where one can see examples of different light bulbs

*4* to post that the URL's were posted incorrectly and then post the
corrected URL's

*3* to post about links they found from the URL's that are relevant to
this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group

*13* to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too"

*5* to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy

*4* to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"

*13* to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs"

*1* forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and
start it all over again.

2007-12-27T07:23:00.000-08:00

I want one of these to stick in the garden.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T12:58:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! : )

13 Things About Me: Week 2

2007-12-19T13:11:00.000-08:00

I have four piercings in my right ear and one in my left
I learned to knit with chop-sticks... I keep forgetting to get some needles at the craft store.
I really love penguins. When I was 3 I was determined to have one as a pet one day...
I also wanted a turtle at age 3. My parents dissuaded me from this, and gave me a fish tank for my fourth birthday.
I don't like watching TV.
I seriously love photography. One time we went to this wooded park with nature trails and I filled our digital camera up with photos, over one hundred and fifty. I then had to delete a lot of them to make room for more. I did his at the beach once as well. : )
I can not work without music. I always have something in my CD player whether I'm working on a project or cleaning the house. It goes the other way as well. I can't just sit back and listen to music, I have to have some sort of hand-work to accompany it so I don't feel like I'm being lazy... crochet, knitting, bead-work, writing, sketching, cutting (clip-art), etc.
I'm not really a big computer person, but I love HTML. It fascinates me and I play with it a lot.
I think Douglas Adams was brilliant.
Dr. Seuss and Lewis Carroll seriously drive me nuts. I never read Alice in Wonderland all the way through, and I do not like green eggs and ham.
I can't stand using plastic in my art. Not even in jewelry... I don't wear it very often either.
I don't like cocoa puffs. I think they're disgusting. Though the chocolate pebbles are okay.
I think fat-free milk makes no sense. It is little more than flavourless, slightly-clouded water.

Quotes

2007-12-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

Some of my Shakespeare favourites:

How poor are they who have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees.

~William Shakespeare

I pray thee cease thy counsel, which falls into mine ears as profitless as water in a sieve.

~William Shakespeare

I wish you well and so I take my leave, I Pray you know me when we meet again.

~William Shakespeare

In a false quarrel there is no true valour.

~William Shakespeare

Praising what is lost makes the remembrance dear.

~William Shakespeare

Another Dumb Conversation...

2007-12-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

I'm writing a sort of a paper on grasses. I keep going round and round in my head. I can remember Carnivore is a meat eater, and Omnivore eats plants and meats... but which is the one that eats just plants???

Me: *repeats above question aloud*
Sister: You mean an Herbivore?
Me: Yes, that's it! Thank you! All I could think of was 'vegetarian'.

Cleaning...

2007-12-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

We were cleaning up the folding table where we were about to serve food, conversation as follows:

Me: Here, I have a infectious wipe.
Sister: ...
Me: ...
Sister: And infectious wipe?
Me: I meant a disinfectant wipe.

How to Power a TV using a AAA battery.

2007-12-14T18:46:00.000-08:00

Found this on YouTube... kind of cool.

Quote from Mark Twain

2007-12-13T17:05:00.002-08:00

I believe this was prophetic of what Text and Instant Messaging was going to do to our society's literacy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For example, in Year 1 that useless letter "c" would be dropped to be replased either by "k" or "s", and likewise "x" would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which "c" would be retained would be the "ch" formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform "w" spelling, so that "which" and "one" would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish "y" replasing it with "i" and Iear 4 might fiks the "g/j" anomali wonse and for all.

Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants. Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez "c", "y" and "x" -- bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez -- tu riplais "ch", "sh", and "th" rispektivli.

Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spikingwerld.

~Mark Twain~

No Interesting Blog Fodder : /

2007-12-12T18:57:00.001-08:00

13 Things About Me

When I was 8-years-old, I had these two skeleton paper dolls I made named "Phillip" and "Phillippa" . When my older sister made me mad I'd tell her I was never speaking to her again, then would hold long dramatic conversations with Phillip and Phillippa.
I keep getting "herbivore" and "vegetarian" mixed up.
I have a mirror paranoia. Whenever we go out I avoid public restrooms and dressing rooms because I'm convinced they're two-way.
Black labradors make me nervous. I have this recurring dream of being chased down the street by an abnormally large black lab, about twice the size he should be.
I really like dried squid and seaweed rice crackers.
I don't like eating in public.
I *love* people-watching. Sometimes I'll accidentally comment aloud on someone once they're out of earshot and my companions will look at me like I'm nuts, then I'll realize they weren't paying attention. This is one thing I love about my older sister: she's great at people-watching. We spend an inordinate amount of time muttering back and forth in undertones when we go out together.
I don't like standing near anyone taller than me unless they're close friends/relatives. How's that for irrational?
I don't like bullies. Especially the ones who pick on those weaker than themselves. It makes me want to scream...
I don't like pink.
I have a soda can collection.
I talk to my cat.
I don't like having my picture taken.

...

2007-12-11T18:45:00.000-08:00

I think the chicken crossed the road because she couldn't stand all of the other nim-nods any longer...

So, do you want to hear about...

2007-12-09T13:25:00.000-08:00

...The super cool deal we got on Pirates of the Caribbean "At World's End"?

So, we went to the grocery store just outside our neighbourhood yesterday evening to pick up a few things for dinner. They had a stand set up at the entrance with the DVDs, and when the employee standing next to it spotted us debating whether to purchase a copy she told us that if we bought it there we would get a package deal... free stuff to go with the movie.

First item, totally relevant. Everybody likes a drink while they watch their movie.

Second item, I'm not a big fan of it myself, but I know a lot of people associate movies with popcorn, so this is do-able.

And then there's the third item:
What's with that?

Poll Results:

2007-12-07T16:44:00.000-08:00

11% of the population eat one container of ice cream in one sitting.

22% of the population eat two containers of ice cream in one sitting.

44% of the population eat one bowl of ice cream in one sitting.

22% of the population do not eat ice cream... how can you not eat ice cream?

Thanks everyone for voting, and look out for new polls coming in!

Kitten in his box

2007-12-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

This is too cute... it reminds me of when our cats were still kittens. :)

By the way: these videos aren't mine, I found them on YouTube and thought I'd share them. :)

Yahoo Power User

2007-12-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

I just thought you all should know that I'm a Yahoo Power User and received the Golden Inbox Reward. ^_^

Flickr Pool! ^_^

2007-12-05T18:22:00.000-08:00

I've just started a Flickr Photo Pool for Art Clocks. Mostly Mix-Media, but Metal-Sculptures are welcome as well. : )

http://www.flickr.com/groups/mix-media_art-clocks/

Pop-Tart Observations.

2007-12-04T13:19:00.000-08:00

As if the excessive quantity of sugar and carbs in pop-tarts wasn't bad enough, they've now come up with this:

Limited edition pop tarts, each having its own Christmas/Winter themed image. It looks innocent enough from the outside of the box, but when I opened the package, I could hardly believe the horror my eyes beheld. First, we have the gingerbread man:

Do you see it? His left eye has been gouged out. And when I go on to my second pop-tart, we find out how...

The evil undead snowman(look at his face carefully and you will see how closely it resembles that of a skull) has removed the gingerbread man's eye from its socket with the handle of his broom. And do you see the decapitated head he's holding under his left arm?
Absolutely atrocious.

Ethan

2007-12-03T14:50:00.001-08:00

Shhh... he's meditating.

He likes yoga.

He only drinks diet.

Rolling around is great exercise.

He gets plenty of good sleep.

PBJ Sandwich Art

2007-12-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

This is really cool. :)

The Babies

2007-12-03T09:09:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd share a photo of the kittens when they were babies.
The orange ones are: Spencer, Noah, Ethan, and Joe.
The black one is Chloe.
The Grey ones are: Morgan and Sarah.
Aren't they super-cute? ^_^

Ethan

2007-12-01T13:13:00.000-08:00

Here are some dumb photos of my cat, Ethan. He thinks he's a model.

He has a very big head and is really cute. ^_^

How to Charge an iPod using an onion and electrolytes.

2007-11-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

How weird is this?

Sleepy Kitten... too cuuuuuuuute. : D

2007-11-30T17:51:00.000-08:00

This is just too absolutely cute! : )

By the way: these videos aren't mine, I found them on YouTube and thought I'd share them. :)

No surprise here... : )

2007-11-30T13:19:00.001-08:00

You Should Be an Artist

You are incredibly creative, spontaneous, and unique.

No one can guess what you're going to do next, but it's usually something amazing.

You can't deal with routine, rules, or structure. You're easily bored.

As long as you are able to innovate and break the rules, you are extremely successful.

You do best when you:

- Can work by yourself

- Can express your personality in your work

You would also be a good journalist or actor.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

The Spinning Dancer.

2007-11-30T10:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've been seeing a lot of people post asking "Which way is she really spinning." So I decided to post and take some screen shots... retentive, I know, but maybe this will clear some things up:

Examine both of the above shots very carefully, and you will be able to see that they are of neither her left, nor her right side. The image was designed "just so". It is, in fact, both.

And on to the front and back shots. Again, you will see that it is neither her back nor her front, but both. : )

Update: Further examination leads me to believe that she is not spinning at all, but instead "morfing", for lack of a better term. If so, then as the image is morfing, the brain registers it as "spinning". From there either the left or right side takes over, and causes it to spin either counter-clockwise or clockwise. :)

Link to the Spinning Dancer: http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22492511-5005375,00.html?from=mostpop

Ghost Caught on Camera

2007-11-30T10:21:00.000-08:00

2007-11-25T17:43:00.001-08:00

I decided to get a Blogger account so I could have a Flash Flickr badge... Wordpress won't let me.