Hopeful Pessimism

May your devestating winter blues give way to your debilitating spring allergies*

2011-03-22T15:17:00.004-04:00

* Okay, the title wasn't mine, I paraphrased something I saw on someecards...

So I was talking to Boppie (who's currently worrying about wind-blown radiation) over IM the other day and we were talking about the mouse story, and we realized another level of horror from the mouse's point of view. See he thinks he's made it to relative safety and comfort or at least respite from the vicious killers trying to get at him under the secretary in the kitchen, and looking around he sees he is amongst other mice, and just as he's saying, "Okay, Guys, what's our next move? Guys?" he realizes they're not real mice at all, but creepy, artificial mice, in some cases cobbled back together from parts. It would be like being chased by a pack of serial killers into a mannequin factory. *laughter* No? Well, we thought it was tres amusing.

* * *

I came across this piece on the napping habits of several famous men, thus finding more evidence in favor of napping. Not that I needed more evidence. That case was firmly decided long ago...

* * *

I'm quite certain there was more originally, but that's all for right now. TiVo talk coming soon. And I really need to redo this blog... it needs a make-over...

Monday Morning Fun

2011-03-01T10:56:00.006-05:00

The following story is True. No names have been changed to protect anybody.

February 28, 2011. 10:41 a.m. EST

So I come downstairs (from the upstairs office) to get a bill I need to pay and throw a spring for Eris (because it's her favorite toy), because she's following me around because she's bored... and this doesn't usually add up to productivity for JAM... quite to opposite, it usually means a lot of "Eris, get down from there, " "Eris, I'm trying to type can you get off the keyboard?" "Eris, can you... okay, what? You need to sit on the arm of the chair and look out this window, right now?" "Argh. Why don't we get you a spring, sweetie..."

Thus I find myself in the living room to get the electric bill and then I find a green plastic spring to toss for Eris. Where's Eris?

I look around and I see she's wandered into the kitchen where she has joined Morrigan who's running back and forth by the secretary next to the window. Now what? I grab a flashlight and go into the kitchen. I get down on hands and knees and I shine the light under the secretary (which because of its woodwork has a number of openings on the bottom large enough for a cat's paw, and even a cat's face, but not their whole head, and thus, not their whole body...) As I'm doing this, I notice that someone (likely Morrigan, since toy mice are her favorite toy) has brought a black mouse and dropped it in the (wet) food dish. Ew. I extract it, hoping it hasn't absorbed too much water.

Then I shine the light under the secretary and see four or five more mice. Okay, I wondered where they'd been getting off to... So I get up and walk back in the living room returning with the stick we keep around for fishing things (mostly toys) out from under furniture (mostly couchs). Morrigan is still moving from one side of the secretary to the other, but it's not unusual for them to get excited about whatever the toy du jour is. Get back on the floor and start fishing with the stick. White mouse with obvious teeth marks in it, franken-mouse* that is white, powder blue and black, the grey mouse that had previously landed in wet food and thus was disintegrating from the inside out (cardboard core...) And, I think there was one more...

Bear in mind, I'm not looking anymore, I'm simply scooping with the stick, based on my memory of where all the mice were. There's one left. I think it was gray also, and it's in the far back left corner. *Scoop* *Squeak* No mouse. I try again. *Scoop* *Squeak* No mouse.

At this point though, the noise registers. Wait... why was there a squeak? Did I scrap the stick that firmly against the underside of the secretary? Pause. I mean none of their toy mice make a sound other than a rattle... Let me try that again. *Scoop* *Squeak* Mouse shoots out into the center of the kitchen and kinda screams.

Three cats (Morrigan and Eris are now joined by the ever-attentive Artemis) pounce... mostly into one another. Cats yell. I scream (hopefully not like a little girl). It's a mouse-mouse, not a toy mouse! What do I do? What do I do? Think, man! I don't want to grab the mouse, because I don't want to get bit (which can happen, but apparently -- I found out later from a favorite redhead -- is nothing compared to what a shrew will do to you...)

I grab a plastic cup and knocking cats away left and right from what is now the best toy in the whole world ever... And I realize, hell, mice are hard to catch. But this one was shaking SO much that I had the advantage because he wasn't running all over... it simply went to the corner of the cabinets and made itself hard to get, but I eventually got the cup over it.

Then I called the aforementioned redhead for animal advice, and... promptly got her voicemail. I leave a reasonably calm message for me under the circumstances and then return to the kitchen to realize that my cats really don't have object permanence down... I also brought a file folder and managed to get it under the cup and thus was now able to carry the mouse outside.

I put him down near a bush out front and he was just shaking, shaking, shaking. And I'm all, "Hey, little guy, get under cover... there's predators out here..." And he eventually stopped shaking... or at least shaking so much, and kinda wandered under the bush (he really did not seem to be in a hurry), no doubt off to warn his mouse brethren, "Hey, do NOT go in THAT place, man... it's crazy."

For myself, I had to realize that sometimes when the cats are staring randomly, it's not random at all... their senses are better than ours. Also, today I find myself staring at every toy mouse extra long... just to be sure.

It's never dull...

NaNoWriMo 2010

2010-11-04T23:28:00.003-04:00

So I'm doing this whole NaNoWriMo thing this November (or, you know, now...) and in reading their book (which, yes, I should have done at least a month ago) I learned that it's not uncommon to have other creative "surges" while one is trying to write a novel in 30 days.

That said, I'm not specifically saying I'm going to be more blog-attentive, or that I'm going to re-do the whole site. But I also wouldn't be surprised if I did.

Or at least thought really hard about it, when I should be typing novel pages...

I often wish...

2010-06-10T23:26:00.004-04:00

...that my "To Do" lists were more like some of these. (I like to believe Kat's are like that...)

This is one of those days I don't really have anything I feel I need to say (or nothing I feel I need to say that I suspect anyone wants to read... I mean, really, how long a continuous transliteration of a scream do I want to type anyhow?)

So in order to keep with my "can I post to the blog for a week straight?" challenge -- oh, yeah, that's what I'm doing, BTW, but I figured if I expounded upon that concept at great length I'd post once and that would be it... Let's see if I've gone and cursed myself now that I've said something...

Anyway, in order to keep up with the plan, I guess I'll just be sharing some random things that made me smile-to-laugh (somewhere along that continuum, anyway):

A new webcomic (well, not new, but new to me) -- mostly for Jado, because he likeys the webcomics...
The comic geniuses at the Reduced Shakespeare Company did a video for Sky1 TV (in the UK) and reduced the entirety of LOST (I think up to the last season). Enjoy. If you've never had the good fortune to see the RSC, well, local folks, they're playing the Kennedy Center for about 2-3 weeks starting next week I think. Go. You can thank me later.

Well, that's about it. They can't all be brilliant...

I'm sure...

2010-06-10T00:51:00.003-04:00

...your family isn't like this. I'm sure that if you replied to say, hypothetically, an email from your mom, in which she subtly complains about not being able to reach you on the phone, and you patiently explain that this is because your mom happened to choose in two, different weeks the two hours you had left your house at all to walk amongst the people and run your humble errands, and that's why you weren't there to answer the call, oh, and by the freakin' way, this is the 21st Century now, and if it was so blasted important to reach you, she could have called your cellphone, which, as she well knows, you have on you at all times. And I'm sure that if, in said email reply, you mentioned there was no reason to call anyway, as you had ABSOLUTELY no new news, and what drivel that could be passed off as "news" you included in said email, well, I'm reasonably certain that your hypothetical mom would not still feel the need to call you the next day, acknowledging right off the bat that she received and read the aforementioned email and then ignored its central treatise and called anyway to -- I kid you NOT at all -- to see what was new. And surely I must be correct in believing that if all this somehow did hypothetically happen to you as well, Dear Reader, that certainly your mom would have believed you the first three times you patiently explained that, no, seriously, there was nothing new, it was not in fact raining here, you did indeed have your rescheduled party on Saturday and not the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend as you'd already told her, and yes, people came to it, and no, you weren't about to list every person who attended and what they were wearing, because what are you E!'s red carpet coverage? And if all that, against incomprehensible odds, did occur along with, at rough estimate, four dozen additional questions and their patiently offered answers, surely there would not have been -- 28 or so minutes into the conversation and during the inevitable, 10-minute "wrap-up" phase of the call where she says goodbye a few times and then still manages to get out another dozen or so random questions, well, I'm just CERTAIN that one of them wouldn't be, "So, nothing's new at all, huh?"

Because really, what response would satisfy at that point to that question? "Okay, ya got me -- I wasn't going to mention it in the email or any of the first, three times you asked, but since you asked the fourth time and added the 'huh,' you broke down my willpower... It's true, I've been elected Czar for Life of the Secret Shadow Government. Oh, also, I'm a werewolf." I mean, seriously...

I guess my point is, my mom... excuse me, YOUR hypothetical mom, should have been a CIA interrogator (Hi, to our friends reading the ECHELON server feed...)

That has nothing to do with today's link (or perhaps, since the theme was repetition, it does?), which I believe I got from @Alyssa_Milano's feed (which is incredibly clever and thoughtful much of the time, and I'm sorry for being a little surprised about that...) like a month ago (and yes, I just got around to reading it today... for someone with nothing to do, I sure don't seem to get much done.)

*exasperated sigh*

Since Tuesday...

2010-06-09T00:05:00.000-04:00

...is the day we usually volunteer at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, I thought I would talk about animals today. (The AWLA is once again running their "pre-owned" cat specials in conjunction with four car dealerships in the area this summer. An idea they repeatedly give me credit for, even though it wasn't really mine, at most a group-think type of situation...)

There is a nest at the top of the tree in our front yard (the very same tree that's growing through our sewer pipe and has thus made the WC in the basement non-operational). At first I thought it might have been an abandoned nest from last year that the mourning doves took over (because they were sitting in it). They often do that -- they're not the brightest of birds. They often take over old nests or make very poor ones (think three twigs) and then they sometimes lay an egg or sometimes not and independent of the presence of the egg(s) sometimes hang out in the nest sitting on a (possibly fictional) egg(s) for a bit and then wander off when nothing hatches. Low birth rate, due to stupidity, apparently (sorta the opposite of people). We know all this, because we looked up info on the birds because one of the first years we had the house we had a hanging plant on our front porch and a pair of doves made a nest in it. In spite of the fact that we had to open the front door and every time one would fly away and the other would freeze like a statue. And in spite of their apparent failure, they came back the next year (same hanging plant) and tried again. Eventually we took down the hook from which the pot could hang.

So anyway, the mock-cherry tree has this nest near the very top of it, which just happens to be at window level here in the home office, where I spend much time in front of the PC. And I was reasonably confident I had seen a mourning dove sitting in said nest a week or so back. So you can imagine my shock early last week to see a mother robin feeding two babies (I think it was two -- they only pop up one at a time, and they are hideously ugly and thus hard to tell apart.) But appearances aside, I will often find myself pausing in my swearing at Microsoft or the PC or whathaveyou and glancing out the window to see what the bird or birdies are doing. I don't recall ever having this good a view of a baby birds before -- they're usually too high up to see...

Thus, it's with some sense of relief that I noticed today that the babies have developed feathers. Or down. Or something. They're not this sickly pink-orange color save their beaks and huge eyeballs anymore. In fact I can only describe today's witnessed behavior as "scratching their head on momma robin's chest" -- I'm sure that's not what they were doing -- that's merely finding a reference to describe what I saw. They actually make quite a bit of noise when she's feeding them.

The whole thing has made me wonder if last year's "tree climbing snake" (my M-i-L's worst nightmare) will return...

So anyway, that's all I have on birds right now. I did also come across this article from the NY Times on what pets teach us about marriage. Make of it what you will...

I'm counting this as Monday...

2010-06-08T00:14:00.000-04:00

...for my purposes...

This is a cute quiz about TV/comic book villains. There doesn't seem to be a way to embed it here, so I'll simply tell you that I missed five (5). A tip: don't list the villain's sidekick (like Calamity Jan... no, that's not a typo). Good luck.

If you want to read about ACTUAL villains that make me so angry I think the vein is going to spring out of my forehead, we also have this.

Now I'm going to bed. Blech.

So yesterday I was talking...

2010-06-06T20:53:00.001-04:00

...with Cousin A initially, about t-shirts at ThinkGeek.com, because there was one in particular I thought she would think was funny...

But then somehow (how do I wind up anywhere in conversation?) I wound up mentioning to Kristen (MLW's cousin -- Hi Kristen!) that ThinkGeek also had two "Heroines of Science" tees -- one for Marie Curie (who I said is the "go to" female when anyone is asked to name a female science from... not the past century), but they also had Ada Lovelace (the first computer programmer). Kristen's point (I believe), was "what, they only have two?" And my point, was, "well, how many can the average person name... or even the average geek." I was not, of course, evaluating the "rightness" of there being only two shirts or even that most people could only name 1 or 2 women scientists...

What I did NOT know (an amount slightly smaller than the area of the Grand Canyon...) was that for the first month, ThinkGeek is donating a "portion of the proceeds" of the sales of these two shirts to The Girl Effect. What's that, you ask? (Or perhaps you are more aware than I am -- it's not hard to be so...) It sounds kinda like it's like OxFam but focused specifically on girls in the developing world... (Don't get on me about using the word, "girl," either, because they do...)

*sigh* I don't think I'm explaining this very well. A couple of months ago, MLW and I were watching TV (shocking, I know...) and it was either a PBS thing or The Daily Show, but something made me hit pause on the TiVo and I had what passes for a quasi-profound moment around here, and said something like, "You know, the world is only going to get better when all cultures realize that women should be treated with respect. [pause]. No, that's not the word I want... when everyone realizes that women should be valued as much as men." As with most of my quasi-profound thoughts, I didn't have the solution, just a slightly better grasp of the problem for a moment, and then an overwhelming despair at the realization of the scope of the thing...

I guess my point is, these folks seem to have the solution. So go to their site and take a minute to watch their opening video (really cool, yet simple and powerful), and then maybe buy a shirt or just throw them some extra dough. It's clearly a good cause.

Thanks for reading.

So yesterday...

2010-04-08T16:31:00.000-04:00

...I got up later than I meant to (surprise... not) and then watched an old Smallville I had on the TiVo (no, I don't know why I keep subjecting myself to it either...)

Tune-up at the chiropractor. Grocery store (questioned why healthy cereal comes in smaller boxes than Capt. Sugar's Frosted Cocoa Bombs (now with Fruity marshmallows!) which seem to come in huge boxes... yep, who says I don't tweet about important stuff...?)

And then I found what may just be the Best Blog EVER (apologies to my friends who have blogs...) But this one has a regular advice column. (I could have a regular advice column, except I don't believe anyone has ever asked me for advice...) Now I found it because of a serious post on a serious issue, which I found far more compassionate than I am capable of being. But it's normally pretty damn funny (which I guessed from the serious post, because anyone capable of that sort of heartfelt sincerity is probably a pretty cool human being, who in my experience tend to be naturally funny...)

Also we watched LOST (finally, I'm starting to see that it makes sense...) and V (creepy, creepy, Anna...)

Today, Sologig.com (one of the job search engines I use) helpfully advised me: "Home Depot is hiring." Yikes.

THIS Friday, the 13th...

2009-11-13T01:19:00.004-05:00

...it's TOTALLY safe to go to your local animal shelter...

In fact, please help the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, "Change the Luck" for some of our black cats.

Change Their Luck!
Help us shine the spotlight on our often-overlooked darker kitties! Black or partially-black cats will be adoptable for a lucky $13 on Friday, November 13th.

So if you've been thinking about getting a cat, why not stop by and check 'em out.

This message brought to you by the letter "B" and the number "13."

------------
Update: 11/13/2009 -- 8 pm

When we were volunteering tonight, we learned that AWLA has extended the $13 pricing through the weekend! That's like almost a 90% savings over the regular cost of adopting! Come get that cat(s) now!

Ask Me About My Foster Kittens (Part 4)

2009-06-25T00:31:00.002-04:00

...in clearly a multi-part series...

As many of you may know, we just recently returned our fourth batch of foster kittens (whom we were fostering from April through well, just a couple of weeks ago). As part of what we do (not that we're asked, but I love the marketing...), MLW and I took pictures and created a document for the AWLA folks to use to help move our fosters (or "The Cheese Platter" as we think of them) into their forever homes. Thanks to the wonder that is Google Docs, I thought I would share.

It's cute pictures of kittens. Indulge me.

Old friends and new beginnings

2009-05-11T14:42:00.001-04:00

Did you ever get a call that reminded you how much a part of your life a person was?

Boppie (or MG) called me on Saturday, literally yelling about how spectacular the new Star Trek movie was. She was on her way home from seeing it on a first date ("How was the date?" I asked later. "He can only benefit from being associated with the experience," she replied.) and thought I was the only person who would appreciate the significance of how satisfying it was to see that JJ Abrams had not screwed it up...

And so we talked about Star Trek a bit (in fairness, I hadn't recalled that MG was that interested in Trek... I'm sure we saw ST:IV (yeah, the one with the whales) in high school -- I may have even made her suffer through ST:V, but it was one of the things I'd forgotten). And then we started talking about other things, jobs, careers, health, migraines, life, existentialism, our youth, growing up, specific bits from classes, the way they shouldn't teach math, our families, pets, blogs, and on and on. Two+ hours later we needed to go before her cellphone battery cut out.

I should mention, for those that don't know from earlier posts, that I have known MG since... we're actually not sure... either age 9 or 10. She is the person I am not related to that I have known the longest that I still talk to (unless Bonnie or Laura Wagner suddenly pop back into my life...) And sometimes, like any other relationship I have, I fall out of touch, but somehow we always manage to get back in touch even if it takes some doing. And when that happens, we are back in touch -- not in that Facebook way (not that there's anything wrong with that), but we can talk about things as if no time had passed.

Considering MG and I "met" or came to know one another so early in life was a tad peculiar since we attending different grammar schools (West Milford is a vast township and there were... 6 or 7 primary schools at the time, I think, not counting private schools). We were, however, both in the Township's "Gifted & Talented" program (which was later changed to "Learning Unlimited," because, in an early bout of PC language revisionism it was decided that one might be gifted or talented in other areas beyond, um, learning stuff, I guess...) So once a week, for about half of the day, they would take us out of our classes and ship us to a decommissioned school building to learn other things (art, science, logic, magic, biology, history, science, technology, etc.)

MG describes it as how we were "culled from the herd" once a week and "placed on the short bus" (it was, in fact, a school van in most cases), and we talked a bit in this call about the emotional and sociological ramifications of this. (I don't know if you've noticed, but kids do, in fact, notice little differences like when one is removed from the classroom for half a day once a week...) I don't think either of us would trade that time in "L.U." (and trust me I could do a whole post or two on just that), but in talking with MG I was reminded just how much it shaped our early years (though she seems more aware of it that I did...)

And I remember how if she asked a question in math class or in Chemistry, things were about to get interesting (MG did (and I expect does) not suffer fools gladly). And how we didn't go to my Junior Prom together (I blame Stypinski... it's easier that way...) and various Halloween parties, and so on and so on.

It was so much... fun talking with her. It was great to stumble down the same avenues of shared recollection, in some cases, things I hadn't thought about in decades, and then suddenly have bits and pieces come floating back. And yet at the same time to be able to talk about things we feel or experience now (like attitudes about jobs) and find that even though our shared background diverged years before we entered the workforce, we both have similar "takes" on things.

But mostly, it was nice to be reminded that people sometimes are thinking of me and are inclined reach out and let me know that. Sometimes I feel like traffic only goes in the other direction. Selfish of me? Yes, but then you are reading my blog, aren't you...

Well, enough of my ravings (on this, anyway); I owe MG a message on what I thought of Trek...

* * *

Which brings me to Part Two of this post, in which I explain my relationship with Star Trek.

I can't tell you when I first saw Star Trek...

Funny story, I once asked me Dad what he was doing when I was born -- this was back in the day when fathers waited in -- you guessed it -- waiting rooms (Kids, check out the I Love Lucy episode where Little Ricky was born -- it was like that but with less smoking and in color...) He told me he was sitting in the Waiting Room watching TV. Naturally, I asked him, "Well, what were you watching?" He said, "I'm not sure, I think it was an old episode of Star Trek." At the time (when he told me, not at my birth...) "I remember thinking, well, that would have been on WPIX (Channel 11) out of New York... I wonder if they keep their broadcast logs that far back... could I possibly find out what episode was playing...?" Yeah, it's like that. Or it was.

I remember growing up I had Star Trek toys. Little 9" Mego dolls (this was before "action figures") and the whole bridge playset. They've remade both of these set-ups for nostaligic people my age, who didn't keep the originals like I did (even if every phaser belt broke...) I had a phaser that made noise and projected silhouetted flash light beams on the wall (so you could show the enterprise or a Klingon battlecruiser and whatnot) -- they make better ones now, of course. And I remember (as a child now, don't forget), regretting never getting the Star Trek utility belt I would sometimes stare at on trips to Child World (yeah, you can look that one up too...) And I'm sure it was something we played "in pretend" growing up (though I was too young to think to imitate Shatner's cadence of speech).

It was somewhere around age 12 or 13 that I really started to go over the deep end about Star Trek. I just "really got into it" -- I don't remember why (it certainly couldn't have had anything to do with my OCD tendencies...) WPIX (yep, them again... or more accurately still...) had the syndication rights in NY (and NJ is in the NY market). And they were showing them every night at 11 or 11:30 pm. And we now had a VCR. And yes, I taped them all. And watched them all. And discovered I had favorite episodes. And learned minutia about them. And that might have been enough... remember, this was all pre-Web, pre-Internet (well, for me anyway, I didn't get online until '89...)

But then I went to a convention. My dad was nice enough (did I ask? I really don't remember...) to get me tickets for Xmas one year to "the Spock Family" convention in NYC. Leonard Nimoy, Mark Leonard, and Jane Wyatt were all going to be there. It was... an experience, some of which I was prepared for ("Wow! Model phasers!" and "Oh, look! Those guys are dressed as Klingons! Crazy!") and some of which I was not ("Wow, my old toys are worth hundreds of dollars?!" and "Hmm, this vendor seems to have drawn pen-and-ink sketches of Kirk and Spock... with long hair... embracing... but why would they?" -- again, this was before the Internet -- I hadn't heard of slash fan-fiction yet (and that was OK by me...))

And that would not be the last convention. No, there were many others. I read all the novels. I started playing the roleplaying game (not terribly odd, as I liked roleplaying and I liked Trek, it made sense to me, and I had friends that were into both at the time). And I suppose I could have gone further still, but for some reason, I think I was pulled back from the brink. I developed other interests (girls, for one), and I seem to recall a trip to Europe or two, getting a job, and learning to drive somewhere in there.

And suddenly, Star Trek was just another interest. I remember by the time we decided to add the TV to the room in college, that I brought all my trek tapes with me (what else to keep in the bottom drawer of my desk than a gazillion video tapes), and Geoff and I would on occasion (the wild and crazy guys we were) watch an episode or two. It was also when I got into Star Trek: The Next Generation (ST:TNG) which I wasn't really enamored of when it first started one or two years earlier.

But trek was always there. I remember gathering after the '94 Drew graduation and watching the series finale of ST:TNG. Throughout the other series DS9 and yeah, even parts of Voyager (though that's when my interest started to lag) I could always stop back in and see how things were going in the Trek universe.

But ultimately for me, Star Trek would always be the original series and the original cast. In a sense, I thought of them as old friends too, after a fashion... the teaser trailer for Star Trek VI (in 1991 --or the last movie made with the whole original cast) really summed it up nicely for me. For those who don't want to roll the video, let me quote:

For one quarter of a century they have thrilled us with their adventures, amazed us with their discoveries, and inspired us with their courage. Their ship has journeyed beyond imagination. Her name has become legend. Her crew, the finest ever assembled. We have traveled beside them from one corner of the galaxy to the other. They have been our guides, our protectors, and our friends...

Corny? Yeah, a bit. But moving at the same time. Pause for a moment and think about how much Trek has influenced the world we live in today. Shatner hosted a show not that long ago on Discovery (I think) called William Shatner Invented the Universe (or words to that effect) that traced how most of the stuff we take for granted today (cellphones, anyone?) were inspired by Star Trek...

Long story, long, it was a tough act to follow. Big shoes to fill. The notion of someone else playing Captain James T. Kirk? The mind rebels. Shatner's got his own church for gods sakes...

On the other hand, JJ Abrams knows his stuff. Alias? LOVED IT. LOST? Spectacular (even back when I sorta understood it). Fringe? Weird, but sure do like it. I even loved Mission Impossible III (and this was while Mr. Cruise was losing it...) So if anyone stood a chance...

Great googily moogily this has gotten long. I know this is the kiss of death, but I think I need to finish this later. Stand by for the thrilling conclusion...

Rumors of her demise...

2009-04-17T23:40:00.001-04:00

(Forgive me, this post was delayed by my trip to St. Louis earlier in the week).

I'm not 100% sure as to the how or the why, but apparently there were some rumors after my last posting. MLW is fine, though she did have a bad (non-atypical for her) reaction to the antibiotics that they put her on.

Yes, this necessitated a visit to her doctor (who gave her a new and NON-hive-inducing antibiotic), but no, she didn't have to go back to the hospital. No, her leg didn't fall off, and no, she hasn't caught any strange, cat-borne diseases. (She did, however, manage to skip work one day this week...)

We thank you for your concern, but she's healing up nicely (and was showing her wounds to all concerned when we were at the shelter on Tuesday).

In a related story, pictures of the kittens coming soon, along with names, I imagine.

But first, a multi-part series inspired by my trip to St. Louis.

A Change of Plans

2009-04-12T02:51:00.001-04:00

Or "How Being a Nice Guy Means You Miss Your Concert and Get to Go to the Emergency Room Instead..."

I should start by explaining that Easter has never been at the top of my "favorite holidays" list (yeah, I have one... what of it? I have lists for everything). I'm not into the religious aspect, I'm not a big eater of candy (or plastic eggs or marshmallow chicks...), and Spring is ranked 4th place on my "list of favorite seasons" (see? told ya...) That said, this weekend wasn't that big a deal, though I did have some plans that I'd made a month or longer ago.

Those initial plans involved a field trip with some folks from work to go on one of the monthly paintball excursions (I missed every, single one last year... and I was the one who gave the the idea in the first place....) Then on Wednesday or Thursday the plan got postponed because of the weather (who wants to go run around in the rain and the mud? The answer to that question, incidentally, is "Andy," who was quite upset that we postponed, but that's another story...)

So I came up with alternate plans. I found out from the ADSW mailing list that there was a free concert at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. It sounded pretty cool (and was free), plus there was an exhibit there that also interested us. Awesome.

Then on Friday my cell rings near the end of the day. I don't recognize the number, but it's local so I answer it. It's D. from AWLA -- would we be interested in fostering a momma cat and her fresh out of the oven six (count 'em... six...) babies. Recalling that as recently as a month ago MLW said that if we were going to foster again, we'd go for an adult cat, I told D. I'd check and get back to her, but I wasn't really sure. Much to my surprise (well, sorta), MLW totally said, "Yeah, sure." Okay, because they won't be a lot of time or effort I'm sure... for three months or so... But whatever.

So today (Saturday) after diddling around a bit, I went over the shelter to pick up the latest batch and their supplies. It took longer than I was expecting (which again, based on my past experiences was silly, but then, that's what I do... mis-estimate time) and by the time I got home and we got everyone situated where they were supposed to be, it was too late for us to get into DC. Ah, well... no harm, no foul... Maybe I could get in a nap...

I was finishing up something on the computer (the story of my life). MLW goes upstairs; she wanted to check on things, since we heard a the metal gate fall down (we'd gotten a rabbit pen -- a collapsible set of metal fences that we use to hold the rabbits at the shelter. I had thought we could use it to sort of block our monsters from getting into the bathroom while at the same time keeping the foster cats in, even though the kittens are not really locomoting yet...) And then a few minutes later, the screaming started. There was a yell, something to the effect of "Damn it!" which in this context usually means a cat got past where it was supposed to be able to go. And then things got worse. And the screaming intensified... human screaming, cat screaming, I was pretty sure I heard something else in there too.

"Guess I'd better get upstairs," I thought, taking the laptop from my lap and placing it besides me, just as the phrase, "I need some HELP up here..." came wafting down the stairs. Running up the stairs, I go.

What I see is indeed a bizarre and disturbing sight. I run past Morrigan and Artemis, who are both poofed*. MLW is standing, with her back to the guest bathroom (which doubles as "Foster Cat HQ" in Schloss O'Mazur), she's got the folded up gate in-between her and Loki (our oldest and resident Grumpy grump) who is also poofed and is growling and striking out in her general direction. One of her (MLW's) legs I can plainly see is covered in blood. Artemis runs into this view (still poofed) and rapidly smacks Loki in the nose three or four times, then tears away. This happens at least twice.

I think I foolishly, inquired as to what happened, while MLW is basically screaming for me to get him (Loki) away from her. So, wearing a short sleeve shirt (no arm protection!), I move towards Loki. I make sure he sees me, and I hold my hand out and I just hope he does not bite too hard. Much to my (later) surprise, I realize he let me pick him up and carry him away without so much as a scratch. I hold him tightly and take him into the bedroom.

MLW comes through and says she's going to rinse her leg off to see how bad the damage is. After a moment or two of holding and soothing words, I let Loki go, he retreats to the far side of the bed. Meanwhile, Morrigan and Artemis take turns running in and out of the doorway, alternately poofing. At this point I notice that Eris (who usually has not the slightest compunction for her own well-being or safety) has been hiding under our bed during (I presume) this entire episode.

I go to attend to MLW. She is, looking kinda queasy (adrenaline always does that to her)... and quite frankly her leg looks like she was mauled by a small, yet demented shark on crack. "What happened?" I ask again, in an effort to try and understand the carnage I'm now inspecting.

As best as we can tell, Artemis knocked the "fence" down, probably in a failed effort to climb it, which made the crashing noise. MLW went in to check on momma cat. Momma cat hissed at her and MLW decided, "okay, I can take a hint" and backed out the room. But as she backed through the door, Momma charged her, taking a brief, drive-by chomp/scratch combo. Encountering the metal fence, she turned and ran back in the room. MLW closed the door. Problem solved, or so the uninitiated might think...

Now much as I try, I'm no cat expert. Cats are mysterious creatures, cloaked in riddles, wrapped in enigmas. And in the case of our four, dipped in a little crazy sauce for that extra "SHAZAM!" that makes life interesting... Maybe momma was exuding pheromones. Maybe fear has an tangible smell. Maybe my little ones don't like change. Maybe Loki was happy being an only and every time we bring in a foster group he fears we're going to give him just a little bit less of our time, his food, or love or that for some reason (and I don't know why he'd think this...) we're going to add to the O'Mazur pride and he'll have more little monsters to deal with. I dunno. All I know is that he went all Chompy McBiteypants on MLW's lovely leg. I mean, "ouch."

But it's good; it's good for me to practice my first aid skills. I really don't get much opportunity to use that merit badge knowledge if it weren't for MLW. So much surgical grade rubbing alcohol and 15 or more band-aids of various shapes and sizes later, MLW had more or less stopped bleeding. (Later I realized there was blood on the carpet and she'd gotten some on the wall, but one thing at a time...)

So while 95% of the bites were Loki, for whom we could vouch for, shots and paperwork-wise, I figured I needed to report the bite from momma shelter cat. So I called SD, my favoritist of my AWLA peeps. We talk. And talk. And then there are other calls. And conference calls.

On the plus side, no one was going to need to get a needle. On the downside, both SD and D. insisted that MLW go to the hospital. To emphasize their point, they each broke out five or six, "I saw this one person get a cat bit -- tiny little kitten, barely broke the skin... they had to amputate his whole arm.." stories. I love those stories. We had already decided (well, I had anyway... MLW can be funny about this stuff...) that she needed to go see her doctor on Monday. But they were insistent, and hell, we didn't have anything else we were going to do tonight anyway (I kid...)

So one exciting visit to INOVA Alexandria Hospital's Emergency Room later (only took about an hour, and I only saw one person with a nearly severed finger) -- this, curiously, being both of our first visits to an emergency room (if you don't count dropping off and picking up) -- and a subsequent stop at the CVS to pick up the antibiotics, well, I believe MLW will be walking again...

No, seriously, everything is fine. And Loki seems okay these days. And we've set the gate up in sort of an airlock, kind of set-up so we should be good from here on out. And the babies, while still in "mutant bear worm™" stage are kinda cute.

More details and possibly names and photos (of the kitties, not MLW's wounds) to follow.

What did you do today?

* = "poofed" is a word we use to describe the body-language and posture of a cat that is either scared or angry. "Poofing" can just occur in the tail or even part of the tail and can start from the tip down or base up. The hair along the spine can also get involved.

Now I remember!

2009-03-29T21:35:00.004-04:00

The other thing I wanted to share was that our Robot Doom blog is gone crazy with activity. I don't know if it's depression at the end of BSG or what, but MLW is posting nearly daily installments of terrifyingly true robot news...

Go check it out.

True story

2009-03-28T23:14:00.003-04:00

So MLW, comes over to where I'm sitting with two glasses of water in her hands. A bizarre hand-dance takes place where I don't know which glass she's offering me. Left, right, left again. Finally, I take a glass and I say, "Did I get the right one?"

MLW: What do you mean?
Me: Did I get the one you put the poison in?
MLW: ...
Me: *chuckles*
MLW: Silly man, the poison's in both glasses. I just take the antidote every night.
Me: *gulp*

* * *

So, naturally, that has nothing to do with what I was here to post.

Random superhero news -- according to CNN.com these "tough times" (and I assume by that the fact that I don't have any money my accounts...) lead to the rise of superheroes. Meanwhile there was this article from The Onion. Finally, this short film (which is in Norweigan, btw...) is a cute little 8 minutes and well-worth watching.

* * *

Of course, I have more stuff to talk about, this thing already published itself by mistake once. We'll have more soon, I hope, even if we have to go back in time to get it there.

Why am I up this early on a Saturday?!

2009-02-07T08:48:00.005-05:00

Why NYCC, of course! Saturday is likely to prove a BUSY day, since they announced last night that the Saturday and Weekend passes are already sold out (supposedly for the first time, but I thought the same thing happened last year...) Saturday is usually the "anchor day" around which they center a lot of the "name" guests. And finally, since we know we have to trek across the river and have dinner in NJ tonight with my family, it's going to be a long day... But before we get to the joys of Saturday, let's talk Friday...

* * *

As you may have already read, I was felled by a migraine last night, and MLW was kind enough to post a guest post for y'all. However, as she pointed out, I wanted to include slightly more detail than "JAM is nauseous," so...

Friday, Part 1:

The Con is for "professionals" (read: industry and retail) people only for the first half of the first day. So we knew we couldn't get in until 1 pm. So what do two people in New York City do when they have an entire half day to work with? Well, if those two people are MLW and myself, you sleep in, of course!

Whoops! MLW is giving me the "Come on, YOU're making us late!" look (I know it well, because I always am). I'll have to continue this later. (Yeah, yeah, I know... I tell a mean story...)

NYCC First Day

2009-02-07T00:31:00.003-05:00

Well, Jonathan had grand plans to blog and link and go nuts. Instead he decided to have a migraine and almost puke on me over dinner.
Here's a giant bobble head instead.
-Jennifer

Bill Cosby was right...

2009-02-05T22:04:00.005-05:00

...kids do say the darndest things and all that...

The following is an actual conversation between a dear friend of mine and her seven year old daughter...

7 year old [quite out of the blue]: My greatest fear is that I might lose someone close to me.

Her Mom [thoughtfully]: Aww... Mine too, sweetie. Mine too.

JAM [walking through the room thinks]: Wow, that's really insightful for such a young...

7 year old: My second is spiders.

* * *

In other news, coming soon, well, now, actually, the first in our multi-part series from this year's New York Comic Con (the 4th annual, but technically it has a complex history, so really it's the 4th annual under the present show organizers). We've come the past three years (thus missing the alleged riot in Year One), and every year I say I should blog about it. And every year it either takes me two months to get to it (when MLW finally uploads the photos) or I never even mention it.

So this year, I brought my laptop (I'm sure I've done that other years too) and MLW brought the stuff that connects the camera to it. And I'll be blogging about it every night. (I know, I know, you can hardly wait... or care...)

Today was the trip up, and with only minor problems with our girl Jane (that's the voice we use on the GPS) and a later start than I would have liked due to work not being able to not talk to me, it was largely an uneventful trip up. Even Delaware ("the delay state") wasn't a big deal. Granted I would have liked a longer nap, but it's also always nice to talk to MLW without there being any distracting TV's...

The only downside was that with a late start and with the traffic we ran into once we were in the City (which was nothing to report by NYC standards...) by the time we got to the hotel (the world-famous New Yorker) it was already too late to go to the "pre-show party" at the local Dave & Buster's. Ah, well, that's showbiz, I guess.

I did learn, as I was checking in, that the Westminster Kennel Club dog show is happening on Monday and Tuesday, and apparently the days before are made up of meetings, lectures, training sessions, etc. I suddenly realized half of the tiny bags I was seeing in the lobby were full of dogs. (As are many of the rooms. While the lobby seems to have been a no barking zone, I'm a tad concerned about the neighbors...) I met a nice woman from Dublin (by way of Florida apparently) who had some sort of terrier (I didn't hear which kind and there are like a million) and a couple from Nevada who had a... smooth-coated Chihuahua (?) -- all I know is the guy whipped out his cellphone faster than lightning and started showing me pictures of dogs and puppies. I admired politely, and hoped I don't sound too much like him when I talk about the O'Mazur Pride...

Anyway, then we hit the Tick-Tock diner for dinner (it was after 9...) and well, now we're back here in our tiny, tiny room (I'm sure in the 30's they were huge) and MLW is flipping channels to beat the band... Tomorrow is a slow start, because the con doesn't let in civilians (non-professionals) until the afternoon (the morning is just for industry people).

More to follow... (this time for real!)

Oh, I see, you thought I meant...

2009-01-06T23:13:00.003-05:00

...THAT week... no, apparently not. Holidays, blah-blah-blah.

Let's try this again.

Care2.com is running a contest ("America's Favorite Animal Shelter: A New Year of Hope for Animals") through January 31st where you can cast your vote for your favorite local animal shelter or rescue group. The winning group gets a grand prize of $10,000 (and there are lots of runner up and weekly prizes too).

Many of you know that MLW and I volunteer weekly at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria (AWLA), and I know I've mentioned it here before. So if I can ask you to take the 2 minutes it takes to click on the link and vote for AWLA (or, if you're so inclined, your own local shelter, if you feel strongly that it's more deserving), we would very much appreciate it, and I know the animals and staff would as well.

Thanks. And we'll have more later.

How does one...

2008-12-01T23:41:00.004-05:00

...get back on the horse exactly?

I spent a lot of time on Facebook (yeah, that's right -- I'm finally part of the 21st century -- or at least this year's social netowrking thing... I'm sure it will be replaced soon enough by the next big thing everyone wishes they'd invested in before it was the next big thing -- or they would wish that if people actually still had money to invest...) this past week (well, a little less than a week, actually...) But I thought to myself, "Hey, if spent even a fraction of that time blogging, the way I mean to, well..."

So I made a deal with myself (personally, I don't trust me...) -- there will be a new post every day for a week. May not be that exciting, may not be that long, but there will be a post.

Tomorrow, I might even explain why and what caused me to drop off the planet for so long.

The concern was most touching...

2008-08-24T20:24:00.003-04:00

...on the polka-doted part of LC, anyway.

I did, in fact, survive the blood donation. No muss, no fuss. And now I feel stupid for not having done it sooner. And apparently I can do it again in mid-October, so I may have just found a new thing to do...

* * *

So Bzzzzgrrrl tagged me recently (more on that later, I reckon) in an effort to get me to write I guess. Before that she told me she missed my blog. Before that I heard a similar sentiment from Boppie (of course, it was nice to hear from Boppie, period.) And before that even she-who-was-once-Murphy said something similar. I feel like I've been letting the readers down... all 16 or so of you...

And what do I talk about? I could introduce you to the new members of the O'Mazur Pride, but first I'd have to tell you about the Pantheon. And before I told you about that, I'd have to tell you about the Buffet to put it in context. I also still haven't talked movies, which is a whole other thing.

But maybe I'll just leave you with this article I read about junk mail, because I need to work on my timesheet for last week, because I do so enjoy getting paid...

More later. Hopefully soon.

In a few minutes...

2008-08-21T10:56:00.002-04:00

...I will be giving blood (for the first time, can you believe it?) If I don't pass out cold, I'll have more for your later...

The problem with Sunday night concerts...

2008-06-16T12:29:00.000-04:00

...is that Monday morning follows shortly behind them...

Still, MLW and I (and some friends from the ADSW, and some friends of theirs, who we'd never met before) had a neat-o keen time at the Birchmere (a peculiar little local venue) last night, where we saw The Puppini Sisters (who I always want to call the "fabulous Puppini Sisters," because I think it sounds better, and hey, they're three beautiful, musically talented, funny, glamorous girls who dress vintage and have accents (when they're talking, not when they're singing) -- I mean, what's not to like? Fabulous!) I commend them to you, if I haven't done so already. The group that opened for them was Mad Tea Party. I hadn't heard of them and don't know as that I would have sought them out otherwise, but they weren't half bad... kinda an R&B, meets early soul, meets early rock & roll, meets surf sound sorta thing. I'm sure WPE would correct me for leaving out five or six influences... But hey, you don't see too many people playing the electric ukulele these days... (as opposed to back in the day, when EVERYONE played it...)

Anyway, I'm blaming the fact that we got back late and, of course, needed to attend to the Pantheon (trust me, that's a whole other post), on why I didn't get to post one of the other posts last night.

I will say (completely unrelated) The Incredible Hulk may not have been, but it was certainly satisfactory (and as stockholders, it's important to support the Marvel brand...)

Oh, and SQ sent me this little bit on Iron Man Legos.

More to come.

Brain buffer = Holding at 7.

An Amusing bit...

2008-06-06T14:24:00.002-04:00

...I heard on NPR yesterday on the way to the chiropractor. It sort of sums up the election rather nicely. Click here and then on the "listen now" link.

Brain Buffer = 7

tap, tap, tap...

2008-05-21T17:11:00.000-04:00

...is this thing on? Anyone still out there? I have my doubts...

So, I've been reading bzzzzgrrrl's blog during lunch the past few days -- trying to catch up since I haven't read it since March (not sure how that happened, except that it's probably the same reason I haven't written in so long), and it's taking surprisingly long, because I rarely take a full lunch, and because bzzzzgrrrl (who I have in the past referred to as OriginalWeb, mainly because I can never remember how many "z's" and "r's" there are...) posts, you know, regularly -- like multiple times a day in some cases, and she has people regularly commenting... It's like how an actually blog should be, in other words... I am shamed by comparison...

Anyway, lots of stuff happened (much of it mundane and boring) and some of it mildly interesting (or at least I can make the retellings sound so...) So there's a lot in the brain buffer (I'd say about 8 or so posts). I'm going to try to be better about this, but I can't promise anything -- I try to be better almost every day and still fail regularly... I doubt I'd make it up to the standard bzzzzgrrrl has set, anyway.

Plus, I spend too much time on EBay...

More soon.

Brain buffer count: +7

If you haven't read it yet...

2008-03-04T21:41:00.001-05:00

...it's new to you. Or something.

(Some people are going to see some of this for a second time, since I sent an email on some of it...)

So first some sad news, E. Gary Gygax, known to some as the "father of roleplaying games" or at a bare minimum one of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons apparently passed away this morning from an ongoing set of health issues. As the Insidious Mr. Huge said, "Cue the jokes about failing your saving throw" now. But it gets weirder... I later realized during a conversation with WPE, that Gygax passed away on GM's Day. That's right, the guy who creates roleplaying just happens to go to the big Gaming Convention in the Sky on the day set aside to honor gamemasters? How freaky is that? Not that I'm implying a conspiracy or anything, that might be disrespectful.

* * *

Before receiving the sad news about Gygax, I was excited because I had accidentally discovered that you could download old radio shows (Old Time Radio = OTR) on the web, for free in many cases. I found two sites where you can go. Enjoy the "theatre of the mind."

While near the topic of OTR, I thought I should also share with y'all some recent discoveries involving the pulps on the Interweb these days... This site does repro postcards of old Pulp covers. (Tacky? Possibly. But in the good way.) Not to be confused with Nostalgia Town, which does pulp reprints (with illustrations and everything) of various famous pulp characters' adventures (in addition to radio and other era goodness). This is interesting, because just a year or two back, I think some guys had a site shut down for that... and I believe that saga is chronicled here (though I haven't read it all myself yet...) You might also want to check out Adventure House. And don't forget the Pulp.Net for a good basic background on what's what and who's who.

* * *

What else? SQ sent me this one a little while back... Who doesn't love the Jabba the Hutt beanbag chair..? And many other rejected Star Wars promotional items...

And speaking of Lucasfilm, this article talks about how totally awesome the new Indiana Jones trailer is, which I think I mentioned already...

I'm sure there's more... but it's all I have time for right now...

So Cousin Zach...

2008-02-29T22:18:00.004-05:00

...might have a future in opera...

We babysat for the second time in his life and well, I think it was... um... well, actually jury's still out on whether it was "better" or "worse." The first time, Zach screamed for half an hour and then MLW picked him up, he fell asleep, and stayed that way until his parents came to claim him (fun side note: the power went out about an hour later, so we had no choice but to literally watch him sleep after that...)

This time, he started crying three minutes after he realized his parents weren't in the room (they were at the Bon Jovi concert). By comparison, it was more crying than screaming (maybe his voice changed and he can't hit the high notes any more?) He continued for about and hour and a half, and then MLW picked him up and, you guessed it; he fell asleep.

I just wind up feeling like we're lousy babysitters... nothing we do seems to help. Toys, TV, reading to him, food... hell, I even enlisted Loki to help at one point (and he tried). Ah, well, maybe it's the separation anxiety phase he's in.

* * *

In other news, an awesome new Iron Man Trailer brought to my attention by MLW.

* * *

And a way overdue addition to the links over on the side. OriginalWeb's blog, which is updated far more frequently, and is much more amusing than mine. Also, more talk of squirrels on average...

* * *

And finally, some ret-con posts that have been sitting around waiting for me to finish them. So if you want to step back in time a couple of weeks, you can hear me yappin' about something and whining about something else. Also, stayed tuned, as we'll shortly be having more info on the whole "stuff stolen from luggage" story...

Viva Las...

2008-02-27T21:56:00.006-05:00

...Veg... ah, who am I kidding? I think the old joke goes something like, "I just flew in from Vegas and, boy, are my arms tired..."

Except actually, we actually flew in Monday night and really, I then slept for about 16 (or was it 18?) hours... and then it was time to get up and go to the AWLA and pet the kitties...

I'd say the Vegas trip was everything I wanted it to be, but I'd be lying. We started out on a bad footing -- the flight was canceled -- the [unnamed for legal reason] airline then tried to re-book us for Sunday... that would be great, except we were leaving to fly home on Monday, so that didn't work out so well for us... So, instead we got put on another flight, spent a large quantity of time in the Atlanta airport, and bing, bang, boom, instead of checking into the hotel in Vegas at dinnertime Friday evening, we instead arrived closer to 2 a.m. Saturday morning.

And that more or less set the tone for the rest of the trip...

I'll share the rotten cherry on top with you. On Sunday, we spent a nice afternoon having lunch at the Stratosphere's Top of the World (a revolving restaurant that gives one a view of the city). Point of interest: getting to the Top of the World requires going through a metal detector (the only one I've thus encountered in Vegas... clearly the belief is that the terrorists would only want to blow up the tallest structure in Sin City... or something... don't get me started on security...), which, in turn, resulted in my having to "check" my swiss army knife.

So, nice lunch, excellent view, many pictures, and then suddenly we had to dash out because we had tickets to see a show back at Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino (not to be confused with the Planet Hollywood Restaurant, which, quite counter-intuitively is located in Caesar's). The show was quite good -- but seriously how could it not be -- the man trained housecats! I say again, trained housecats...

Anyway, the Oscars telecast (on three hours earlier in Vegas), a short nap, and then dinner later -- actually, just sitting down to dinner, and MLW suddenly remembers, "*gasp* We forgot to pick up your knife!" And literally runs away from the table. Then the food arrives. So MDFA and I make small talk with the waiter (why is it never the same waiter as your primary waiter that brings your food?) and MLW arrives back with a tale of concierge confabbing. The upshot -- all we have to do is go all the way back across to the other side of the Strip and talk to Security and we can pick up the knife. I briefly considered abandoning it... it's as not as if it's a particularly expensive knife... but, I've had it for ~25 years, and my parents gave it to me, so it was only briefly.

So MLW and I wound up doing just that (MDFA opted out... go figure...) And a few short arguments later, $7.34 lost in penny slots, visits to two different security desks, and a short stop at the MGM Gift Shop later (on the way through the lobby), and our plans for the night before we left finished off.

At this point, you may be wondering why I told you all that. (That is, presuming you're even still reading... all four of you). Well, knowing I had to get on the plane in the morning I simply packed the knife in my luggage (the bag that gets checked, not the carry-on obviously...) Packed in that same pocket, four pairs of cuff links in two tiny bags, a mini-screwdriver (with removable heads, stored separately in an old Dramamine container), and an adapter for MLW's cellphone.

So, after we were back from the AWLA (anyone remember where this story began? Anyone?) and I finally had the chance to speak to my lovely wife in 20 or so hours, and I finally get to ask if she had unpacked anything on her own or moved stuff, because, five things were missing from my checked bag: my mini-screwdriver, four pairs of cufflinks in two tiny bags, and... wait for it... my swiss army knife. And when I say "missing," I mean "stolen."

Thank you! Good Night! Elvis has left the building!

Awesome!

2008-02-15T21:33:00.002-05:00

So many things to deal with... movie nights, parental visits, etc. But hey, in the meantime, check this out...

So, for Valentine's Day...

2008-02-14T22:59:00.001-05:00

...MLW and I decided to give our love to the kitties at the AWLA shelter. (We're kinda not into the whole "You must buy a gift because Hallmark-says-so sorta" holidays... And yes, before anyone corrects me, yes, I know that Hallmark didn't invent the holiday.)

Interestingly enough, there's apparently a theme taking place on a grander scale...

Happy Potomac...

2008-02-13T10:28:00.000-05:00

...primary or something...

Except totally not... it took two hours to get home last night and in so doing I got to the polling place at 7:07 pm -- know what that meant? Yep, you guessed it? Didn't get to vote. So then I went the remainder of the way home and arrived about five minutes before our dinner reservations were supposed to be for... Not that big a deal, since we'd already decided that we weren't going out... and, in fact, when MLW called to cancel the reservations no one even answered the phone...

I can't imagine why the Commonwealth did not extend the voting hours... hell, even Maryland thought to do that.

So, all-in-all, exactly what 37 should feel like, I reckon...

Watching the Super-Bowl (Ads)...

2008-02-03T19:21:00.000-05:00

...(and the Super-Bowl, too) because, really what else is there to do on Super-Bowl Sunday...?

Publish something back in time?

We spent sometime yesterday at Cousin Zach's 1st birthday party (his actual birthday isn't until over a week from now, but he didn't seem to mind getting the presents early... another thing we have in common...) Pictures forthcoming, I presume...

Let's see, I think there's a bunch of stuff I've had lying around...

I could have told them this one...

* * *

Apparently, Iron Man fans have lots of time on their hands... 'Course, I understand the movie is making people pretty excited.

* * *

Think about the future, why don'tcha?

And while you're wondering how quickly technology insinuates itself into our lives, you might want to check out this year's Beloit College Mindset list. For those of you unfamiliar with that, here's the explanation page. (It's also very good if you need to feel old...)

* * *

Then there's this:

More to come, I imagine...

Mark my words, you're going to see Indy EVERYTHING...

2008-01-23T09:29:00.002-05:00

SQ sent this one in... it's yet another spud based toy that we must have...

Finally...

2008-01-08T23:16:00.001-05:00

...this means that YouTube, now has everything on it. Repeat, everything is now on YouTube.

And I am, again, vindicated.

Awesome!

2008-01-04T11:29:00.001-05:00

Well, I know where my money's going in '08.... (Thanks to SQ to bringing this to my attention).

Long awaited update post coming soon (if MLW gets the pic's online).

2007: A Year in Review

2008-01-02T20:28:00.000-05:00

The following was intended to be 2007's Xmas letter, but I got put in charge, and you know how those things tend to turn out... Thus, we sent NO cards this year (see? Told ya... so no need to be offended, we didn't send to anyone...) Anyway, for those of you that are actually curious as to what's happening in our little, localized section of reality, well, feel free to read on...

* * *

Well, 2007 was another busy year for us (isn't it always, though?). We started new projects, added to our family and traveled quite a bit.

We started a monthly movie night, with a full, old-fashioned schedule of cartoons, serials, and two features (sometimes classic, sometimes contemporary). The nights seem popular, and we certainly have enjoyed watching old favorites and experiencing new entertainment.

We welcomed JAM’s 1st Cousin-once-removed, Zach, to the world, and have been amazed at how quickly he’s grown (and grown and grown). By the holidays he was walking – sort of – and clearly has a mind of his own. Allyson and Ricardo will have their hands full with him!

We had the great excitement (Woo. Hoo.) of redoing our master bathroom, and having our pipes replaced. We now love our bathroom. The re-pipe was… challenging, and we got into a legal dispute with the company. But, thanks to a wonderful lawyer friend, we’re now done with them. (If you plan to have any plumbing done, please ask for the name of a company to avoid...)

We saw Phantom of the Opera, and Avenue Q. Both were wonderful, although in very different ways. Phantom was exciting and the special effects were wonderful (and we hadn't seen it in like 15 years...), Avenue Q was dirty and wrong and hysterical.

We went to not one but two comic conventions this year. New York ComicCon (we LOVE NY!) was huge and exciting, although bitter cold outside made traveling a little unpleasant (OMG it was cold! And so windy!). We stayed in Weehawken, and took the ferry across the river, met lots of interesting people, bought way too much stuff and in general had a great time. Philadelphia Wizard World (in June) was a lot of fun. The Reading Terminal Market provided wonderful lunches, and we got to see both the cheerleader from Heroes and Number Six from BattleStar Galactica. We continued our new "con hobby" of collecting art and again came away with large quantities of stuff.

We traveled to Philadelphia a second time to see the King Tut exhibit with Debbie and Jim. The exhibit was wonderful and our time with Debbie and Jim was, as always, enjoyable.

We also traveled to North Carolina to visit Jenny and Andy before they had their son (back in March). Andy took a group of us on a walking tour and we got to learn much about Durham’s history. We went to see the Lemurs, and ate gelato (Mmmm... gelato...), and had lunch with Brian and Katie.

For our anniversary we went to Niagara Falls. We stayed in a wonderful hotel with a view of the falls. It rained the first day there, so we did all the wet tourist stuff – the boat to the bottom of the falls, walking under the falls. We also went to the local zoo and saw a magic show (where we got our picture taken with a tiger!).

For the holidays we hosted Jennifer’s parents here. Allyson and Ricardo wanted Zach to spend his first Christmas at home, so we all stayed here. Allyson hosted Christmas Eve dinner and Jennifer hosted Christmas Day dinner, and good food was had all around. (After Xmas we went to NJ to see JAM's relatives.)

In October Jennifer left her job of six years and took a position at the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy. She’s the Manager of Information Services, essentially the entire IT department, so is learning a lot about everything related to computers. An office with a window certainly is a step up and having budget control is fun.

Jonathan is still the President of the Art Deco Society of Washington, although he did not stand for re-election so is stepping down in January. Jennifer is still the secretary of the home owners association, and still enjoying the interpersonal drama. We both are volunteering at the Alexandria animal shelter, working as cat companions. Spending two hours a week petting cats is much more relaxing than either of our jobs (or other volunteering work...) As an outgrowth of that work in November we fostered four kittens. None of them had been socialized, so we spent several weeks convincing them that people are actually pretty cool. In the end we gave three back, and kept a little girl (totally didn't see THAT coming...) So Loki now has a little sister named Morrigan. He’s taking the changing fairly well, although is clearly upset that she’s touching all his stuff and doesn’t let him nap as much as he’s used to. She believes 3am is the best time to run around and play, and he believes that 6am is the best time to beat her up. So far there has been no blood or broken bones, although several tufts of grey fur have floated past.

Stay in touch in 2008!

[Please note: for those interested in such things, I highly recommend looking at the entire set of photos on the fliker account -- we linked to as many as we could, but there's many, many more...]

Cubism?

2007-12-17T12:15:00.001-05:00

Many people here at work know me through my incredibly brightly decorated cube. (Comics posters will do that). However, SQ sent in this interesting article/slide show that demonstrates I have not gone far enough...

* * *

In other news, I was going to regale y'all with the tale of how Faith escaped from the bathroom where we're keeping the kittens, but honestly now that they've almost all done it once or twice (the most frequent offenders being Xander and Faith, shown together here) it hardly seems quite as dramatic... We expect that we'll be returning the kittens sometime in the next week, and while it's optimistic, it's possible that they might be in their "forever homes" (that's a phrase we use at the shelter) by Xmas.

You know, I'm not sure if I ever said why I got involved in this... specifically volunteering at the shelter (the fostering just being an outgrowth of that). I have to say it was MLW's idea originally, I think her exact words were something to the effect of, "You like animals... why don't you see if the Animal Welfare folks need volunteers..." And why it's true that MLW was the impetus that got me to send the first email on the topic, I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the examples set by other folks I've known of the years on the value of caring for animals. I already mentioned MLW, and I'll do so again, but I also am thinking here of the work that Boppie does, and going back even further, well, I'd be leaving out a lot if I didn't point to Ms. K. Even though we don't talk that much anymore (and even if, if memory serves, I gave her a hard time about it back in the day), I think that her example was something that made an impression on me.

So anyway, enough of my yammering. More cute kitten pictures coming as soon as they get out of the camera...

* * *

Coming soon, more info on comic book movies... (I know, you can hardly wait...)

The Golden Compass...

2007-12-07T11:10:00.000-05:00

...is coming out this weekend, and while other plans prevent me from seeing it, the movie looks pretty cool. And so is the website.

Check it out, my daemon is a female tiger (I hope this doesn't mess up the blog format...):

Apparently you can comment on how accurate a view of me that seems to be and the daemon might morph. Be nice.

Ask me about my foster kittens...!

2007-11-26T11:57:00.000-05:00

So I've mentioned to some of you that MLW and I are currently fostering four kittens for the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria (whom I've discussed before). Contrary to popular belief, these are not four new additions to the household, but rather a short term project we've taken on as part of our volunteering. We're working on socializing the kittens (they're all semi-feral... I think) and making them good candidates for adoption. So yeah, it involves a lot of scheduled playing with kittens, petting kittens, holding kittens (and also being kittens the ubiquitous needs to feed, water, and clean up the waste of kittens, but I generally leave that to MLW... Have I mentioned how lovely she is lately?)

Many of you have asked for pictures of the kitties (well, those of you who haven't already met them). And now that our temporary Internet hook-up hiccup has been solved (through the generous auspices of the incredibly nice OragamiSlayer), we can bring the initial pictures to you. Thus, I happily introduce...

Buffy (the leader) -- Buffy enjoys eating, the house, eating, occasionally receiving special coded messages from the mother ship, and, oh yeah, eating.
Willow (the shy one) -- Willow enjoys eating, hiding, eating, seeing what other people are eating, and... you're not looking at her are you?! Don't look... eek. (Willow's is going to be the most work.)
Xander (the... boy) -- Xander is a cool dude. He is Willow's brother. Even through his eye drops, he's been great. He loves playing, and often will wrestle with Faith. Loves hiding behind things and jumping out. Doesn't mind eating, but isn't compulsive about it...
and Faith (the vaguely crazy one) -- Faith is the youngest of the kittens (I don't know if I said, but there are 4 kittens from three litters) and physically the smallest, but she doesn't appear to be aware of any of those factors. For the first couple days she truly terrorized the other three. Though now she and Xander seem to play wrestle more than fight. Faith is also the only one that really makes sounds. (All four purr, mind you, but Xander and Buffy only seem to make sounds when they go to use the litter box.) Faith has a cute/pathetic little meow sound she makes. Or should make... it often drops off, so one thinks, "Wait, did I hear that or not?" She often makes the noise while purring if not being petted with both hands...

Please bear in mind that Xander had a minor eye infection when we got him, so we had to give him drops. Hence the vague pirate-like look about him in some of the photos.

I also feel the need to stress that these are not OUR kittens. If you're interested in adopting any or all of them (or any number of other beautiful cats, dogs, birds, small critters, etc.) please contact the AWLA and fill out an application. Even if you're not sure, the first step is always an application. If you are interested in the kittens, please mention us and them. (It's likely the AWLA won't know them by name, because they have hundreds of cats, and more importantly, because we changed their names just recently... as there was no common theme, and many of them kinda sucked...)

More pic's to come I'm sure. Also likely wacky stories...

A couple of interesting...

2007-11-22T23:05:00.000-05:00

...articles about the movies... the first talks about what the phenomenon of the new movie and technology behind Beowulf and what it means for the convergence of video games and movies. The other is an amusing piece from the NY Times -- your pre-holiday despressing movie guide.

And just to keep things real, as it were, this from the "DUH!" dept...

Hopefully, I'll have some photos of recent events and the gaggle of kittens we're fostering some time soon.

Couldn't have said it better myself...

2007-11-14T17:20:00.001-05:00

...so I'll let Clive Thompson at WIRED say it instead.

My cousin...

2007-11-13T11:06:00.000-05:00

...sent me this disturbing news about the local PetSmart. I'm going to have to look for somewhere else to shop...

UPDATE:

This just in through my contacts at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria:

Allan and myself went out to the Petsmart and reviewed the tapes with the Manager and District Manager.The employee never hit the dogs and has a great record with them. The employee is 18 years old and was basically being a kid. He was play-grabbing at one dog in particular, nothing that would be cruelty to animals, but the dog he was playing with is a very submissive dog; including with its owners. We spoke with the teenager and advised him that if the dog is submissive then he should not be playing with the dog in that manner, also we advised the Managers that they need to do more training with their employees and explain to them how to read dog's behavior, etc. Also the employee states that no one told him what was acceptable forms of play in the playgroup. In any case the dog was not hit and the employee was talked to about the situation and will get better training. The dog was not physically hurt. The actions of the employee could be interpreted wrong by someone looking in, but if you review the tape, frame by frame as we did, you will see exactly what occurred and he did not hit any of the dogs. According to the Managers the complainant was a disgruntled client.

Chaun Gorden--Director of Animal Control
4101 Eisenhower Avenue
Alexandria, Va.22304

I have a lot more...

2007-11-09T16:42:00.000-05:00

...to talk about (and seemingly have forever), but in the meantime, here's a little something someone at the AWLA sent me.

Cat lovers know it's funny because it's true...

Serious stuff

2007-10-15T12:16:00.000-04:00

...(though not apparently serious enough to make me get this posted on time... I can be such a loser...)

So occasionally (and I use that term loosely), I get the "So what's new?" question. And since I don't believe I've shared this here yet, I thought I would let you know. I've been volunteering (for four+ months now) at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria. The AWLA is a great organization that takes care of animals here in (you guessed it) Alexandria. So one night a week (or more if my schedule permits) I stop by the Voila Lawson Animal Shelter and pet cats. Yep, that's right. I pet cats. Who even knew that was a job? But it's not only a job, apparently, it's an important one. Live in the shelter can be stressful on the animals, and no one who comes into adopt says, "Hey, can I have that stressed out looking kitty in the corner?" By us (and by "us" I mean myself and the other volunteers, amongst whose ranks I'm managed to convince MLW to join) spending time with the animals and continue to keep them "social" we reduce their stress level, which in turn makes them more marketable, which in turn gets them adopted quicker into a good home. The folks at the League tell us we're saving lives, and on my less humble days, I choose to believe them. But I'll let you in on a secret, I really feel as if I should be paying them. No matter how bad my day or how bad my week is, I know that on Tuesdays, I get to play with cats (and kittens, but I personally feel they don't do much before 5 months or so). This lows my stress level. It's a win-win (as I think we've covered in earlier posts...)

So, if you're looking to support a local animal charity with either your time or your dollars, please allow me to suggest the AWLA for their fine work. And expect to see me occasionally referring to different cats I may interact with. Some of them can be quite memorable (like Bobbit). And please don't think AWLA only deals with cats... there are an equal number of people working with dogs, rabbits, birds, and various little critters (hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, etc.)

* * *

Okay, so that's what I've been up to, but it's not even remotely everything I want to share. A lot of environmental stuff has been across my inbox of late, much of it worth sharing...

Do you know anyone that actually likes junk mail? Yeah, me neither. But did you ever stop to think about how much of a waste it is? For everyone. Time, money, trees, gasoline, more time, and more money. Why not opt out instead?

* * *

And speaking of wasteful... OMG! Was I disturbed when I read this... Did y'all have any idea how bad an idea bottled water is? Now, I'll be the first to say I can't see it disappearing, but maybe working together we could do something to reduce the amounts. I mean, DAMN. Out of control. This will straighten your hair...

* * *

Okay, enough ranting for the time being. Next time we'll have some lighter topics like the Bionic Woman, the Lone Ranger, and Halloween costumes...

What a seemingly odd...

2007-10-10T18:27:00.000-04:00

...movie...

Template mods in progress

2007-10-01T17:12:00.000-04:00

Mind the dust...

I was going to...

2007-09-23T23:32:00.000-04:00

...continue with my random posting from Thursday, and then I read this posting by Joss Whedon, and it seemed more important somehow.

Randomness will continue later...

Yarrr! A day late...

2007-09-20T23:48:00.000-04:00

...and a doubloon short... Or somethin' As most of you should know, yesterday (9/19) was International Talk Like a Pirate Day. For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about might I suggest/recommend the official page, the Wiki, or the fine tome Pirattitude! So You Wanna Be a Pirate? Here’s How! and at least that way you'll be ready for next year. Still confused? These polite Canadian gents have created a handy "How To" film.

* * *

What else? Oh, right... I stumbled across this and fine it morbidly fascinating. My favorite part is under "Uses" where is suggests, "Last word in an argument" (because I guess "when you want to be an ass from beyond the grave" was already taken?) I must admit it could come in handy if you're threatening a global conspiracy or large government...

* * *

On the science front, it seems that scientists have determined that we are apparently (each, I imagine) ~0.9 percent more unique than they thought we were earlier (for a total of roughly 1% uniqueness). Oh, also redheads are going extinct. Or rather it was reported to be the case. Turns out things got jumbled up through the media and the interWeb... (no wonder I had so much trouble hunting down the source...)

* * *

I'm sorry, what was I saying?

* * *

This is quite possibly even COOLER than TLAP Day... My thanks to Origami Slayer for bringing it to my attention. Naturally, it's been picked up by clipmarks, digg, and probbly fark...

Okay... End part 1, more tomorrow...

This is totally awesome!

2007-09-10T21:40:00.000-04:00

The first "official" Iron Man trailer to hit the web. (I caution you, it took me five tries to get it to download correctly, but I think that has more to say about the network at work than it does about anything else...)

But it is WAY cool. Check it out.

If the rest of the world stopped...

2007-08-02T18:10:00.000-04:00

...maybe I might catch up... but I doubt it.

There's so much I haven't had time to share...

I didn't comment on how your Transformers collection might be worth a million dollars... Not mine, of course (though it is quite the talking point at work), and really probably not yours. But this dead guy's...

Nor did I mention there was finally news on the much awaited Man from U.N.C.L.E. DVDs. Nor the one from our dear, lamented Veronica Mars...

And for the local folks, FINALLY some other self-professed pizza snob has spoken up. (Several of those courtesy of SQ... thanks, Man).

Nor have I pointed out how the FBI could be following you around online (or, as some people who are MLW think of it, one step closer to Big Brother).

And that's not even getting into what I've been up to lately. Hint: kittens are sharp and potentially evil...

More later, I swear.

My work here is done...

2007-07-30T11:51:00.000-04:00

So I get the following email from a dear, feline ninja friend of mine. It is completely true as I understand it. No names have been changed to protect anyone. And it brings a ridiculously huge smile to my face every time I read it:

Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2007 21:37:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ninja El Gato
Subject: It's CLOBBERIN' TIME!
To: Jonathan Mazur

Good GRIEF, what have you DONE to my CHILDREN!
Fantastic 4 this, Fantastic 4 that, I spend my days as
Reid [sic] Richards to Sammi's Sue, with Quinn alternating
between Ben and Johnny Storm....  sometimes I get to
be the Thing, but Quinn usually claims that role.  A
few weeks ago they spent the day with the team emblem
on their chests, done with face paint.  I feel like an
underpaid actor. (But it's all good!  S calls our
family the Fantastic 4.)  It's all they ask for to
watch right now.  Although has asked for her own
Spider-Man costume...  Quinn's loathe to share, it's
still his favorite.

Got yer message (oops, now I'm typing like Ben talks),
sorry I haven't called yet (and sorry to hear about
your voice, I hope you've reclaimed it!), finding
phone time remains a challenge.  

Sincerely,

Mr. Fantastic

I seriously cannot tell you how funny I found the first line.

Comic books... capturing children's imagination since 1939...

(Granted, some people think it's "corrupting the morals of youth," but I think we know that those people are idiots...)

So happy to be passing on the fun to future generations. And now waiting for JADO's and my cousin's kids to be old enough.

* * *

So much other stuff to report. Perhaps when I have more time...

No, I haven't seen it yet...

2007-07-05T13:04:00.000-04:00

...but SQ sent me this article which was kinda funny, since Transformers mania is sweeping the nation.

(For the record, I did see LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, and it was really good...)

Some of you may find this dry...

2007-07-04T22:14:00.000-04:00

...or boring. But I think sometimes people forget the importance of the 4th. And this was a fascinating analysis that MLW found.

Attention car people...

2007-06-28T10:30:00.000-04:00

(...so that would be like Dad and JADO....)

This site which explains how to treat your non-hybrid car as a hybrid sounds like a marvelous idea and a great way to help the environment. Tell me why I'm wrong. Do I need to worry about damage to my engine? What about the battery? There are some traffic lights down here that can last for two or three minutes or longer.

This, of course, is all while I save up for my new dream car, which sounds positively awesome.

Hee-hee

2007-06-27T12:41:00.000-04:00

I so enjoy seeing Bruce Campbell working. He's in a new series (in a supporting role) called BURN NOTICE on USA. Looks like it could be funny, and it seems quirky and somewhat original. Therefore it will probably be cancelled after 3 ep's, but hey, I can hope, right?

Bruce has a series of video interviews (short clips) that he did promoting the series, featured on the website for the show. Check 'em out.

Pay attention this week...

2007-06-26T08:54:00.000-04:00

...Dear Reader, as I feel a posting mood coming on...

In the meantime, it's nice to know the Japanese are working on the prototype for my Mind-Control Helmet...

Ah, Japanese scientists... did anyone ever figure they maybe have too much time on their hands...?

Do you think if I chase myself...

2007-06-24T22:03:00.000-04:00

...long enough, I can ever actually catch up?

So, lots and lots of stuff -- nothing super-exciting, but if I don't post I'll never be able to close all these open browser tabs! (Damn you Firefox for your tabbed browsing efficiency!)

SQ sent my this piece on the new Speed Racer movie.

In Japan, the Army is poised to attack... um... wild animals, apparently.

I don't even remember who sent me this article on the proposed Avengers movie (for the record, I can't imagine how that would work), but conceptually it's a neat idea.

More info and photos on our trip to Wizard World Philly coming shortly. Also, maybe some complaining about having to move my cube at work...

When describing...

2007-06-01T21:49:00.000-04:00

...the town where I grew up in New Jersey (insert your own joke here), I often refer to it as "a small Midwestern town, transplanted to the Northern New Jersey woodlands" -- which I have always felt was a reasonable description of West Milford Township (still "my hometown" at least in my head) -- at least when you factor in the notion that it's more my IDEA of what a small, Midwestern town is like, anyway.

Never has that been more true than today. I give you this piece from the Bergen Record:

Cow still running wild in W. Milford

Friday, June 1, 2007

By MICHAEL J. FEENEY
STAFF WRITER

For one evening, it was the Wild Wild West -- West Milford, that is.

There was the swarm of true-grit horse riders in Stetsons. There was the trail boss with a lasso and a gun. It was like an old-fashioned cattle drive.

The only thing missing -- again -- was the cow.

Despite the best efforts by about 20 riders combing woods and fields, a black cow continued to run wild through the township as night fell Thursday.

The escapee from a cow-herding horse competition has been out there for almost a month, getting fat on the foliage and posing a potential danger to motorists. And the posse had saddled up with one goal in mind – bring 'er in.

The cowpokes, looking smart in their western hats, doused in bug spray and astride their personal horses -- many specifically trained to herd cattle -- started out by cantering gently down a heavily wooded area, just off Gould Road and Union Valley Road, where the cow has been spotted numerous times.

But after a nearly two-hour search of the rocky and wooded terrain, it was time to admit failure.

"It was disappointing, but we'll try it again tomorrow," said John Macellaro of the Passaic County Sheriff's Department Auxiliary Mounted Unit, who organized the townshipwide cow hunt.

"It's becoming a nuisance," he said of the elusive bovine. "You just don't want the cow running out into the road and killing somebody."

Past searches have failed to get close to the wary animal. Police say one motorist has reported hitting the nearly 600-pound cow, which likely has gotten bigger since being out in the woods. Driver and cow were reported to be OK, but the car sustained significant damage.

Macellaro, who is certified in search and rescue, had made up a map grid to help strategically plan the search. The riders split up into four groups with high hopes that this time someone would locate the cow, which had been spotted as recently as Thursday morning. If they did, they would call in Macellaro, who had the goods to bring the critter in.

"There's more power in numbers," said Macellaro, riding his horse Snorty like a true cowboy, wearing spurs and a cowboy hat. "I got a rope and a tranquilizer gun. We really just want to catch him for the guy [owner Frank Battipaglia]."

Macellaro hoped the horses could find the cow and chase the animal around until it is tired and then he could move in with rope or tranquilizer.

The cow has been on the loose since May 6, when she jumped a fence during a cattle-herding horse competition at the West Milford Equestrian Center, owned by Frank and Ella Mae Battipaglia.

The all-black bovine with a cloth number zero tagged to its hide has been nearly impossible to catch, despite many close encounters with Frank Battipaglia, who has said the cow runs away when it sees him.

The cow doesn't belong to the Battipaglias. It's actually one of a small herd they rented from a Monticello, N.Y., livestock competition for the penning competition held in an indoor arena at the equestrian center.

Each of the cattle are tagged with a number, and competing horsemen use their skills to drive the cows into a pen at one end of the arena.

Kathy Leaver, who also organized the search, said, "We've been going out two or three times a week looking for the cow, just for fun. She needs to be caught."

Leaver said all the riders rode their personal horses, which are kept at Echo Lake Stables, a small ranch community in the Newfoundland section of the Highlands township.

Leaver and Macellaro own the stable.

Leaver, riding Aspen, was optimistic their biggest search would turn up with some positive results. She shouted, "Let's go guys, mount up," while reminding the riders the sun would be down by about 8:20 p.m.

Despite the results, Marta Samsel, riding Midnight Sky, was still smiling after the search ended.

"The cow was an excuse to go and have fun," she said.

Although the search didn't have a happy ending, Macellaro concluded, "We did see a lot of cow manure. Now we have a pretty good idea where she's been hanging."

And, naturally, just as everyone was parting ways and the horses were being loaded into trailers, another sighting came in.

Reason for another cattle drive, soon.

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

So, um, there you go. We have some traffic lights now too, you know... (Freebird!) Thanks to my mom for sending that along.

Happy Trails!

By the Power of Greyskull!

2007-05-25T14:34:00.000-04:00

This is the sort of thing that SQ normally forwards along, but this time MLW beat him to the punch. Sure, why not another 80s show to film? Read to the end of the article to see what else is in process...

Two weeks behind...

2007-05-24T11:56:00.000-04:00

...(at least) on seemingly everything. Hell, that may just be my epitaph... All I can say is, work is keeping me super-busy. Don't really know why, exactly... doesn't seem to be one thing I can point to, just seem to be busy all the time. (Truly, it's a struggle to get to the gym or read.) It's not "bad busy" but it doesn't leave time for much else.

Anyway, at the risk of giving up my lunch or getting further behind in my email, here's at least two weeks worth of bloggables at once...

So it turns out that French and Austrian scientists (who apparently decided, you know, that all the rest of our problems had already been solved) were studying animals, and learned that petting them reduced their stress as well as our own. So score one for, um, science?

My mom sent me this piece like back at the end of February (Did I say two weeks behind? Clearly I meant months. Make that three. Months.) -- some sort of in memoriam of Mr. Rogers. Utterly random, but worth reading, I thought (presuming, of course, you can since it's in the Bergen Record, which probably requires registration...)

Here's a really cool site (and when I say "really cool" I realize, OriginalWebb, that not everyone will agree with me...) that debunks or sets straight many comic book urban legends. Didn't know their WERE comic book urban legends? Me neither. But I found out I believed some of them, and so this site helped me learn the truth.

For local folks, I found the Virginia Renaissance Festival (we always hear about the Maryland one which starts around August and runs through late October, but never a VA one), which sounds interesting. Maybe we'll go if it doesn't get too hot... They do have a Pirate weekend... (Arr!)

And speaking of pirates (see what I did there?), I have YET ANOTHER bone to pick with my high school Guidance Department -- NO ONE ever told me "professional treasure hunter" was a viable job choice! How cool would that be?! Answer: pretty damn cool. And apparently profitable!

What else is up? Saw Spiderman 3... I'm sure at some point I'll have an interesting conversation with JADO about that. Um... I'm not sure that's there's any other news of excitement. Oh, other than the murder up on the next street. (MDFA's parents don't read this blog, right?)

Back to work now. Thanks for reading...

I don't want to spoil it...

2007-05-04T14:49:00.000-04:00

...or otherwise prejudice people, so I'll just say this about Spiderman 3*...

Bruce Campbell rules!
The redhead works as a blonde
Yes, there's a lot going on
Toby Maguire (and for that matter, every other young actor in Hollywood) needs to learn if you're playing a superhero, people want to see the superhero, NOT the superhero with his mask off (or half off or three quarters off or whatever). It's getting weak, Toby.

Thank you. We now return you to your regularly scheduled work day...

*=What? No, I didn't leave the office for 3 hours with 3 coworkers to go see a movie across the street... That would be wrong. (Actually, no it wouldn't. It would be fun. Charging the customer for it would be wrong, and I'm not going to do that.)

I wanted to quickly...

2007-05-04T08:01:00.000-04:00

...acknowledge both the premiere of Spiderman 3 and the fact that tomorrow (May 5) in addition to being Cinco de Mayo is also Free Comic Book Day! I know I've already mentioned that it's Spiderman week in New York.

So I figured I'd give you this link to Marvel's page summarizing the history of the conflict between Spiderman and the Green Goblin and also the link to the current Rotten Tomatoes on the new film (because I know if one film is dependent on good reviews for success, it's this one...)

So get out there, get some free comics, and see Spidey numero tres, because Hollywood needs the money...

Clear your calendars

2007-04-29T21:21:00.000-04:00

MDFA after some subtle prompting was kind enough to look up the summer movie release calendar for me. Now that we're nearing the end of April, when for all intents and purposes the Summer movie season begins. So make notes, True Believers! We're soon headed to the cinema!

May 4th - Spiderman 3
May 18th - Shrek the Third
May 25th - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
June 8th - Ocean's 13
June 15th - Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer
June 15th - Nancy Drew (for MLW)
June 27th - Live Free or Die Hard (aka Die Hard 4)
July 4th - Transformers
July 13th - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
July 27th - The Simpsons Movie
August 3rd - The Bourne Ultimatum
August 10th - Rush Hour 3

I'm sure this doesn't represent ALL the movies coming out this summer, nor all the ones we will see, but hey, it's a start. If you haven't see the trailers for some of them, do check them out (the Simpsons' one had me laughing and laughing.)

More as we get closer to each individual one...

Hmm...

2007-04-28T23:05:00.000-04:00

...interesting.

Turns out...

2007-04-25T16:51:00.000-04:00

...Kryptonite is our Kryptonite...

Who knew?

Oh. Yeah, that's right...

Just remember...

2007-04-22T22:34:00.000-04:00

...I don't pick the icons...

So, I got an email from MLW, the other day, directing me to this site, which in turn explains that Ziggurat Con -- the first RPG con to be held in a war zone, will be taking place this June.

Now while I personally don't plan to attend, what with my allergy to warzones and all, those of you that are frequent readers know that MLW and are like to support AnySoldier.com and while this event (to my knowledge) has nothing to do with that charity, it does appear to be about supporting the troops in a way I know I can (who doesn't have extra rpg books lying around the house?), and so I'm passing it on, in case any of you feel the same way.

Keep 'em rolling!

True Story...

2007-04-20T20:02:00.000-04:00

So the CEO of my company (who works right down the hall from my cube) comes by just as I'm about to step away for a second. This is not uncommon, as my cube is across the hall from three (count 'em, three...) Vice Presidents' offices. But he's not making direct eye contact, so I'm not sure if it's me he's talking to when he suddenly says, "So have you heard about this latest travesty?" And I glance to my left, not seeing anyone more important than myself that the comment could have been directed at. And I look past him, to see if there was someone right behind him that he might have been addressing; nope. So, concluding that he must be talking to me, I said, "Uhhhh...." (or words of a similar bend, displaying my mental acuity and speed of cognition).

To which he replies, "I really want to know who even thinks of this stuff?" And at this point, I'm beginning to get concerned, because it's not like some of my projects haven't had their little problems, and it's not that big a company that the CEO couldn't know this or have been called by an irate client. And I believe my follow up was, "Um, I'm sorry, I'm not sure..."

To which, he finally replies, somewhat vexed, "Did you hear that they are making a Spiderman MUSICAL?" (Cue, JAM mentally yelling "Whew!" and figuratively wiping his brow...)

"Heh. Oh, yeah, Paul, I think I did read something about that... It didn't work for Superman, either."

"Unbelievable."

"Say, Paul, we are going to get the afternoon of May 3rd off, right? To see Spiderman 3?"

Now it was his turn to look uncomfortable....

That's the Akron Beacon-Journal...

2007-04-18T11:54:00.000-04:00

...for all your DVD news... But seriously, folks... TV Shows on DVD is reporting that in an interview with the Akron Beacon-Journal (first in news for, well, Akron...) Robert Vaughn has more news on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. DVD collection.

Also, in other Robert Vaughn news, a reminder that his truly excellent show Hu$tle returns to AMC this very night (Wednesday, 10 p.m., AMC). Watch it, it's totally cool!

For those of you who demanded it!

2007-04-15T20:49:00.000-04:00

Apparently they're going ahead with that Green Arrow in Prison Movie... according to Wizard. Put me down for a "Wha....?"

Engineering Students...

2007-04-12T14:55:00.000-04:00

...they're wacky...

Mark your calendars...

2007-04-05T12:10:00.000-04:00

Just saw this article from the AP saying that Spiderman 3 was going to be premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in Queens, NY (see, Peter Parker is from Queens... get it?) And apparently this event kicks off a week long Spiderman Week in NYC event. Kudos to Marvel for pulling this one off (though don't think it means I've forgotten about that Captain America thing...)

* * *

Incidentally, for those who asked, I'm waiting for MLW to get the photos of the plumbing episode and the NYCC uploaded to her Fliker site, before I begin those particular photo essays...

So busy...

2007-03-29T21:36:00.000-04:00

...no time at all.

But this is still cool...

Mmmm....

2007-03-21T15:59:00.000-04:00

...ice cream.... (and gambling -- two things that go great together!)

SHA....ker of salt

2007-03-19T10:15:00.000-04:00

Both IMDB and Wizard Magazine are repeating a story from the NY Daily News (you gotta scroll down a bit) saying that the studios are considering Jake Gyllenhaal for the lead in a new franchise based on DC's Captain Marvel (who says "SHAZAM!" to transform... but the character names are often confused due to the long, storied, and confusing history of the character).

These things tend to have absolutely no substance when examined (witness the number of people "cast" as Wonder Woman, the new Superman, etc., etc.) but since SQ was nice enough to bring it to my attention, I figured I'd share.

And now back to work....

'Nuff said?

2007-03-13T23:20:00.000-04:00

New Fantastic Four TV Commercial/Trailer.

New news on the (upcoming) Iron Man movie.

And as some of you may have seen during HEROES at some point (I'm so far behind it's not funny...) the 7+ minutes from Spiderman 3!

I had thought about giving you a rant on the whole Death of Captain America thing, but then I figured, why bother when this guy has more or less summed up my thoughts, and regardless of those thoughts, Marvel (Make Mine Money!) will continue to capitalize on it. (It's what they do now.)

Photo posts still coming soon...

Lucasfilm buys Post Office?

2007-03-09T10:50:00.000-05:00

I always figured it was a matter of time....

My flight has been delayed an hour…

2007-03-04T00:11:00.000-05:00

…which means a three hour wait or so in the Nashville airport. Some random observations of no particular significance nor order:

Part 1:

I’m seated outside of the security checkpoint for Concourses A & B, outside of the “Andy Jackson Tavern...” I believe in exactly the same seat as I was when waiting for my coworker the other day. The line for security is incredibly long. I figure I’ll sit here a while and watch (also, I’m waiting to see if my colleagues show up – they have a different flight, but same security checkpoint and one had said something about having a “debrief” if we had time sitting around. I suspect they’re going to ditch me (again), but I’ll sit here for awhile and see if the line gets any shorter…)

· Women’s shoes don’t… you know, what? I’m not even going there…

· A family – a large, extended family – of Mennonites? (I don’t think they were Amish – too much color in the wardrobe) are moving around en masse. I’m not sure if they’re all traveling or just one or two of them are, but there must be over a dozen here of all ages. They are attracting a modicum of attention. It’s interesting to see who looks and how they react, or who stares, with or without feeling bad.

· You know, if any gene pool remains too isolated, everyone starts to look alike. Independent of gender.

· After careful analysis, I am forced to conclude that Absence DOES make the heart grow fonder (as opposed to “out of sight, out of mind,” I guess) – the people saying goodbye are by and large, not nearly as emotional as the people saying hello. I’ve seen a number of people welcomed home – families, daughters, soldiers – people really are glad to see people they pick up at the airport (the soldier won for most emotional homecoming, I think). I can say with some assurance that I am, in fact, looking forward to seeing MLW.

· I was surprised to learn the girl with the dog was a departure and not an arrival. The dog seems to be going along. What a well-behaved little (but not toy) dog.

· I think I finally understand the difference between dog people and cat people. Dog people feel it’s perfectly acceptable to walk up to a strange dog and a strange person and pet the dog and talk to the person. Not unlike dogs, I suppose… Cat people, well, I guess we like to chose who we walk up to, and vice versa…

· Dad? Oh, no. Of course, not. Why would he be in a Nashville airport? Striking resemblance though…

· I think I’ve forgotten what background noise sounded like pre-cellphones. Was it as constant? As loud? As random if you put the words together and make sentences?

· The line is not getting any shorter. Not really any longer, but not any shorter.

· My colleagues are no where to be seen. I hope they are okay.

Part II – Going through security

· I am curious to see how this compares. I got through National’s crack security with a pocket knife, a 2 oz bottle of undeclared hand sanitizer gel, and a book of matches. I did not intend to do this. It was not a planned test – I had forgotten I had the knife in my pocket, and so quickly moved it into my jacket pocket (where the rest of the contraband was, as it happened) hoping that I could just go with, “Oh? Really? I forgot…” should I be challenged, and not have to throw away the knife I’ve had since age 12. While they did stop the conveyer belt with my jacket in X-Ray and call over “Bill” for his opinion, the main exchange I caught was, “Do you want to open it?” (snorts derisively) “No. Do you?” At no point did anyone look at me, wave me over, look to see who picked up the jacket, ask me about it, etc. I feel so safe…

· On line one man, loudly declares to his traveling companion, “I don’t care… I am NOT throwing out my toothpaste!” I idly wonder if he will hold fast to that opinion if confronted with a full body-cavity search from an attendant named “Big Earl…”

· Someone could make a tidy profit hanging out on the “outside” of security just sweeping up the bottles of unopened beverages that people apparently buy and then abandon when they realize they can’t take it through. Not sure how, but I’m pretty sure there’s money to be made there…

· One of my colleagues is quite tall – I’m quite sure I could spot him over the throng of people. I don’t see him.

· It might actually be quicker if we all just flew naked and just got all our stuff on the other side. Colder, mind you, but possibly quicker.

· I really must get that Richard Reed a lovely fruit basket. I so enjoy taking my shoes on and off in public while there’s people waiting.

· Though it seemed much longer, it only took 15 minutes to actually start at the end of the line and get all the way through.

Part III – “The Other Side”

· My gate is down at the far end of Concourse B – if ever there was a desolated area, a Boulevard of Broken Dreams, this is it…

· Nice sunset… it doesn’t look like anyone noticed.

· When I sit down to drink my peach smoothie and eat my raspberry bar (see? Fruit. Who says I don’t eat healthy?), I notice two guys staring at an apple laptop (whatever they call them…. LapMacs? Mactops?) and while I’ve never seen either of them before the expression on their faces seems strangely familiar. Once I can see the computer screen it makes sense; they are playing Civilization…

· No matter how attractive a woman is, how well-coiffed, or put together, she loses the effect if she’s squatting on the floor outside the restrooms, back against the wall, texting someone…

· If you plug your laptop into an outlet in the airport, are you stealing their electricity? Does this affect the price of airline tickets? Clearly, I’m not the only person who had this idea…

· The Mennonites seem to have made it through security. Seems like it’s just the two eldest men traveling…

· Wandering around deciding what to buy to eat (and what tacky souvenirs to pick up), walking the length of both concourses, I must wonder if my bag would actually make the weight limit…

· Also, my colleagues are in a snack bar down near their gate (their flight is also now delayed… I wonder if something happened in DC… but not so much as that I want to pay for Internet access….) Clearly they thought better of the debriefing. Or something. Or they just don’t care for me, which I think might be the case in at least the one instance…

· The agent in front of the Gate (B10) has been patiently telling every person that has come up to ask when the flight will be here, “Ten Minutes” for at least 20 minutes now. It’s not hard People; look outside… you see a plane attached to the building near where we’re sitting? No? Then it’s not here yet! Clearly you need a lot more patience than I have to be in this line of work. Of course, that’s true of so many jobs…

· You know, if you smile at people, most of the time they do smile back…

· In the South, apparently it’s perfectly acceptable to call people “Baby,” “Sweetie,” “Honey,” and my personal favorite, “Sugarpie.” I am not going to try it, however.

· Each new person that goes up seems to think they are the first person to think to inquire as to when the flight might be arriving, leaving, if there’s news, the pilot’s name, etc.?

Special In-Flight Bonus Round!

· That must be the smallest cockpit I’ve ever seen… The pilot is practically sitting on the nose of the plane.

· Fun Fact, brought to you by the fine folks at US Airways (Get a piece of the Rock, fly US Airways and give a Coke to someone you love! *) – When a plane is late and the ground folks need to decide between a plane that’s on time and a plane that’s already late, they do everything they can to keep the one that’s on time, on time. Screw the late people. That would be us….

· Dun-duh-dun, dun-dun-da, dun, dun, Dun Dun Da, Dun Da-Da, Dun Da Da-DUN! Da, Da, Dun! Da Dun! Dun-Dun-Da, Da-Da, Da-Da DAAAAAAH! **

· I think if I live to be 200, I will still be amazed every single time I get on an airplane and it successfully takes off. I get it – we’ve been doing this for a hundred years now. Heavier than air objects fly by means of Bernoulli’s Principle (which spellchecker recognizes, btw) – yes, see, I know things – but I’m still amazed on some level. I don’t understand how people can become blasé about that…

· The flight is very empty – people have spread out. It’s a small plane – a small Canadian plane – I wonder if we’re past the point where distribution of the people’s weight matters. (You know, back at the beginning, they used to weigh people before they climbed aboard to make sure the weight was evenly distributed…)

· A lot of these people are younger than me… yeah, I know that’s only going to get worse. This one kid that was my seatmate for about a minute has Bose earphones… actually a bunch of these kids do… I thought Bose earphones were expensive? Maybe I’m wrong about that. What the hell do I know...? this kid could have invented the World Wide Mind or something and will be the next Quadzillionare by the time he can drive… Are we raising a generation of kids that will have severe hearing damage by the time they’re my age?

· The clouds always look pretty when illuminated by moonlight. So soft.

· Hmm. The planes headlights actually work to a short distance. Who knew?

· She going CRAZY with the pretzels. I know that will make me forget about arriving two hours late. (Mmmm… pretzels…)

· America is WAY lit up. Like it’s no wonder we use so much energy. Damn it, America, turn that light off if you’re not in the room! You think we’re made of money? What’s that? Oh…

· One Excedrin was not, in this case, all it took. But now I’m too WAH to sleep.

· I know it’s probably me, but he’s flying the plane banked. My water is tilted.

· Flight Attendant – another job I don’t have the patience for. Let’s keep a list, shall we?

· Anyone want to take a guess to see how long it takes me to post this once we land? I’m guessing April…

* = Or words to that effect.

** = Those amongst you with trained ears, will recognize that as a rousing chorus of the Air Force Anthem.

Can someone tell me what's so great...

2007-03-01T23:30:00.000-05:00

...about traveling for business? I thought it would be interesting, but really I could be anywhere. Instead, I'm sitting in a hotel room in Brentwood, TN, wondering about tornadoes, eating room service and, you guessed it, doing more work. I just don't get the appeal. Plus, the guy in the room next door is like practicing singing while playing guitar (badly). What's up with that?

Anyway, all things being equal, I'd rather be home in my torn apart house. But I guess I can do that tomorrow. If I had more time, and didn't feel exhausted, I'd write more about either of the exciting stories I have for you (per my last post). Soon. There's photos...

Plumbing and Comics

2007-02-26T15:20:00.000-05:00

WAY too much going on these past few weeks with no particular sign of an ebb any time soon. The Readers' Digest version (with promise of more later)...

On plumbing/home repairs -- I think it's covered very simply by Mazur's 15th Law: Nothing Can Ever Be Simple... But it's nice to have hot water again.

On the NY Comic Con -- Wow. Just wow. Oh, also, NYC is freakin' expensive. And cold. Very, very cold. Also, Gary Coleman is an angry, angry little man...

More on both (with photos!) to follow.

Yet another sign...

2007-02-19T11:22:00.000-05:00

...of the breakdown of society? Every time one of these types of stories shows up (and what's up with that?) people go on and on about how we don't know our neighbors and the speeding up of the pace of our society has destroyed the human connections. I sort of wonder how long people have been saying that...

In other news, OriginalWebb tells me that the sporadic blogger "phenomenon" wherein my posts don't appear right away has returned. So if you missed my birthday post or any of the stuff from February, please by all means, check them out.

Hopefully, a bit more later in the week, including the exciting world of plumbing repairs and bathroom remodeling...

Star Wars?

2007-02-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

So as I mentioned in my birthday post, MLW and I watched Star Wars (and no, I'm not calling it A New Hope -- it's just Star Wars). And curiously this evening as she flipped around channels when I left the room, I saw she happened upon the end of Episode I and then probably the last third of Episode III. But because WPE sent me this a few weeks back, I couldn't help but see them all in a completely different light. It makes a disturbing amount of sense... and also means that GWEK was right when, right after Episode I (I think) he said to me, "I'm telling you, Yoda and R2 are the only two that know the whole story..." but I don't want to emphasize that too much, lest it go to his head... But watch Star Wars after you read this, and tell me that maybe, just maybe, you can't see that Alec Guinness was playing coy with the trash can secret agent...

The Ice Storm of DOOM!

2007-02-13T13:03:00.000-05:00

Or at least that's what I've been calling it since yesterday. The birthday snow fizzled. And for that matter, so did the massive storm we were supposed to be getting. Although, if you ask me there were too many people ready for this one... so of course it didn't amount to anything. The weather folks are still playing coy, but I think they'll definitely have a forecast for Monday through Wednesday by something on Thursday...

A couple of amusing things sent in be various loyal readers (or something):

WPE sent in this t-shirt, which for those of you who grew up in the 80s might appreciate.
SQ sent in this piece about Swiss Army sunglasses, though I think it might be satire...
As well as this other bit, about the biggest Lego set. (You readers of Robot Doom know that we need to keep an eye on those Lego folks...)

And I think that's about all I have right now. Gotta go skate outside and grab some lunch...

36

2007-02-12T23:42:00.000-05:00

Not really sure how this happened, but that's the age I turned today. It seemed oddly appropriate that this blogthing was on the "new" page:

You Are 46% Misanthropic

You're somewhat misanthropic, but you're not willing to write off the human race (yet!).
There's a few people you like, and even them you like at a distance.

How Misanthropic Are You?

So anyway... it's been an odd day. Props to MLW for trying to make the day special (though I really didn't need to hear "it's your birthday!" one more time... -- I'm kidding, dearest, I love you. (Actually, I'm not)). Some strange items in the news: some oddly apropos and others not so much.

The usual folks sent in well wishes by e-card or snail card (that's a phrase, right?) -- thanks usual people... MLW made me a nice dinner and we sat and watched Star Wars on video (yeah, that's right -- video, VHS, tape -- I haven't bought the DVDs yet because I'm waiting for the inevitable box set that has all six -- I've given Lucasfilm enough money already, I don't think I need to buy multiple versions of the whole saga (especially since the first half kinda blew...)) I opened some presents and cards (I save them all for my birthday as a rule) and fielded the usual calls from home. All-in-all as nice a day as a random birthday year and a day spent working can be.

While I never intended to give it much thought I found myself compiling a birthday Wishlist (and no, not the nigh-300 items on Amazon.com...) This would be things I really, truly want.

I want the smokers driving in front of (and alongside and behind) me to stop treating the world like it's their personal ash-tray. If it's so great, keep it in your car, and while you're at it, keep the window rolled up too; I don't need to be sucking in the second hand smoke through my vents...
I want the news media to remember what journalism is. That's journal, not sensational -ism. I understand how they might confuse those two. If aliens arrived on Earth yesterday, they would have had to conclude that Anna Nicole Smith was a world leader or great thinker or something. And don't give me that crap about how "well, if it didn't sell people wouldn't buy it or watch it or read it." I'm pretty tired of other people deciding what we're capable of. Admittedly, I haven't traveled all over this nation of ours, but I suspect that people are smarter than we give them credit for. At least individually....
And speaking of our once great nation, I want our government to realize that not every problem can be solved with a stick, no matter how big. Sometimes we need other methods. And likewise not every problem can be solved by throwing MORE at it, be it more money, more men and women, or more bombs.
While we're at it, I want America to realize that More is not always More. And New is not always Improved. And that you can't have your cake and eat it too. And then have a pill that makes the affects of that cake disappear. You can't have a job you can do from a reclining position, like on the Jetson's, and you're far more likely to be struck by lightning or killed in an automobile accident than you are to win the PowerBall jackpot (for gods' sake put the money into a fund, a savings account, even under the mattress, or if you insist on throwing it away at least throw it at a charity...) Put down the fries, America, and don't drive around and around looking for the closest space -- you need the walk.
I want everyone to realize that the Greenhouse Effect is not just a headline, and the clock is running out on the time we have to fix it. And this clock has no snooze button. And I want the energy companies to apologize for using Big Tobacco tactics and positioning this issue as one open to debate or interpretation or I at least want them to pay.
And hey, while we're at it, I want people and the government to realize that with a few notable exceptions, Big Business does what Big Business has to do... and that's watch the bottom line. And any shortcut they can take to get there (whatever the quasi-legality of it) they will use. Because when you're single-minded of purpose and goal, morality tends to evaporate. So we have to make them accountable.
And speaking of accountability, isn't it about due for a comeback of some sort? I want our leaders, and hey, just ordinary people to say, "Yeah, that was me. I did that. Maybe you disagree, maybe you condemn me, but I will at the very least admit that the issue was my responsibility." Wouldn't that be nice? Wouldn't you be able to respect someone like that? And if you respect them and find them capable, wouldn't you vote for them? Could they do a worse job than the usual suspects? And it's not just leaders, parents blame teachers, schools, TV, music and video games for their kids bad behavior. (You know what? I had all those things and I've never done something horrible, never shot up a strip mall or a school. You know why, because my parents (and other people) taught me there's right and there's wrong -- it's a choice and you know it when you make it. You can pretend afterwards you didn't, but unless you're a sociopath, you most likely were aware of the choice when you made it...) Everyone seems to look to someone else to blame for their problems. Hey, I have problems, we all do, and some aren't even of our own making, but that doesn't mean they don't need to be dealt with. And wishing or hoping or praying isn't going to make that glass slide across the table, you have to get up and get it.

Wow. Listen to me... "I want, I want..." always about me isn't it? Might as well wish for a pony as I think we all know I stand a much better chance of waking up with superpowers, so I guess I'll just get a PS3 instead... And now to steal a page from JADO's book...*

* = The preceding rant was brought to you by to you by Old Age and Crankiness®. That's Old Age and Crankiness, now with extra Bitterness®.

First Cousin, Once Removed!

2007-02-10T23:51:00.000-05:00

So, lots to talk about in terms of work, and other exciting developments going on.

But trumping all that was today's development as My Dear Cousin A, gave birth to a bouncing baby boy (well, okay, he wasn't bouncing exactly... mostly he just kinda slept -- so it's nice that he and I have so much in common already) who we'll refer to as Baby Z. He was born at 4:07 p.m. EST, and weighed in at 8 lbs., 4 oz., and was 21 inches long.

Herewith are the photos, which have not been doctored to make anyone look nicer, I swear.

Cousin A with Baby Z. See, he's sleeping.

(L to R):
My aunt (Cousin A's Mom), Baby Z, and Cousin A. (Note how he's still sleeping).

A disheveled looking JAM (I meant to shave, really), Batman shirt and Green Lantern ring and all, holding my first Cousin, Once Removed, Baby Z. I think I'm just going to let him call me Uncle. It's shorter and easier to explain. I did tell him I'd always have comic books for him, though. (Note how you can just sort see his eyes in this picture. They're really dark blue, not red as they might appear in this light...)

So, anyway, that's all for now. I'm tired. And I wasn't even there all day. Or in labor. Or really anything. But he seems cool. He made me laugh at this one point with a funny face, so that was cool.

We'll see how Day 2 goes tomorrow...

I'm fairly certain...

2007-01-31T10:16:00.000-05:00

...that Ultimate Brian would say this guy is stealing my bit. Right or wrong, it's still kinda funny. Or scary. Or both. Thanks to the ever-alert SQ for bringing it to my attention...

EVERY time I think I have a good idea...

2007-01-22T11:17:00.000-05:00

...something comes along that shows me it can be better... (My thanks to SQ for shattering my meager dreams...)

Also, I figure I should mention somewhere that MLW is ecstatic that it snowed. Even though neither of us got to stay home, like dear cousin A. Did I mention it couldn't have been much more than an inch and a half...? *sigh*

70 degrees here in VA right now.

2007-01-15T12:54:00.000-05:00

In January, which would be significant itself if it was just the one day, but we've had a lot of warm days in December and January. And every scientific publication agrees about the Greenhouse Effect. The reports that don't are the ones in the mainstream media. And the "scientists" paid by the energy companies to shill their opinions and turn it into a debate -- a tactic that worked for years and years for the tobacco industry. Weasels. Even the subconscious bias is annoying -- look at the headline for this article -- "Climate Experts worry..." as if no one else does, or the Climate Experts are a bunch of nervous nellies. Please, I think you'll all be worried when we're underwater...

In other, slightly less depressing news, there's been this scientific development, which, I'd imagine could be used to climb the tall buildings which may or may not be above the new water line...

More to follow...

And now for something completely different...

2007-01-12T12:52:00.000-05:00

Brought to my attention by SQ. Here's the video. That's a big cat.

In unrelated news, I got this cool gizmo yesterday from the fine folks at ThinkGeek.com. It's going to let me rip all my cassettes and vinyl (records) into MP3's (and/or CD's). Coolness.

I'm sure those of you not...

2007-01-11T22:12:00.000-05:00

....living in a bubble, saw the president's speech last night, or heard about it, or know what it was about, because it was about as well kept a secret as any in this town...

I've been mulling over an appropriate response. I think regardless of whether you supported the war from the beginning or not and regardless of whether you still think it's the way to go or not, the one thing we can all agree on is that the troops we have out in the various combat zones (and here I refer not only to Iraq, but the others around the world... anybody remember Afghanistan?) are the ones getting the short end of the stick.

So before I get up on my soapbox and rant, let me take a moment to encourage you all -- especially those of you who think a magnetic ribbon on your enormous, gas-guzzling SUV somehow means you've done your part -- to check out AnySolider.com (and before I hear about it, there's a separate domain for each branch of the service, so AnyMarine.com, etc. But they're all interconnected, so try to remember AnySoldier.com). It's a charity that MLW and I decided to support this year, and it's somewhat addictive. As the site will tell you, it's not about "stuff" or money, it's about showing the men and women who are out there getting shot at and blown up simply by virtue of wearing the uniform, that some of us folks over here... well, care. And I think we should -- beyond the stupid magnets. It's not their fault they're over there. So, that's AnySoldier.com. Do your part.

And now our regularly scheduled program, already in progress...

The following poem(?) was originally broadcast on CBS News on March 15, 1971 (yes, I know I was a staggering month old, and already watching tv news...) -- the SALT disarmament talks (look it up, kids -- that's what the Internet is for...) were going on at the time. I came across it by way of a 10th grade history teacher, the late Mr. Keiber. It was something I hung on to. Eventually, I took the mimographed copy (yep, I'm old) and typed it in and sent it around several times in college. Sadly, I believe it to be a message that is still relevant. It's by CBS newsman Charles Osgood.

The family of man was once at war with the family that lived in the cave next door. And they fought that way for many a year until they learned to conquer hate and fear... and teamed their forces that they might meet the looming presence across the street. And the looming presence became a war that was even worse than the war before. And they fought that way for many a year till they learned to conquer hate and fear... and combined their armies to go put down the evil force from the other town. With that evil force, they fought a war that was even worse than the one before... and they fought that way for many a year till they learned to conquer hate and fear.

And when it was done they knelt down to pray... but some men worshipped in a heathen way. And religious difference became a war that was even worse than the war before. And they fought that way for many a year till they learned to conquer hate and fear... and built great navies that they might free the captive peoples across the sea. And with ships and guns, they fought a war that was even worse than the war before. And they fought that way for many a year, till they learned to conquer hate and fear... and nations prospered and empires too, and the size and scope of the conflicts grew. And conflicting interests produced a war that was even worse than the wars before. And they fought that way for many a year, till they learned to conquer hate and fear... and built defenses to guard their shores... and they fought a war to end all wars. And the war they fought to end all war, was even worse than the war before... and they fought that way for many a year, till they learned to conquer hate and fear... and they counted down and set the stage... and they gave the world the Atomic Age.

And if there comes an atomic war, it will be far worse than the wars before. There's an ancient, deadly pattern burned...and the question is... HAS THE FAMILY LEARNED??

My hat's off to Charles Osgood. He hit the nail right on the head. And I think we all know the answer.

Now, what are you going to do about it?

The mind boggles...

2007-01-11T16:23:00.000-05:00

...why would this be a good thing for the children? Why? Tell me!

Several reports of problems...

2007-01-09T12:26:00.000-05:00

...seeing new stuff I've posted to the blog. Please try refreshing it. That is, assuming you see this posting... I think it's something to do with the new Blogger...

And onto 2007...

2007-01-02T10:20:00.000-05:00

And a thrilling Happy New Year to one and all.

As I may or may not have mentioned last year, I've always been somewhat ambivalent about New Year's. It's not terribly exciting to me, I don't really see the point in celebrating what is essentially an arbitrary start point on the calendar (which is also a human construction). I mean, if anything, one's birthday is the beginning of the next new year (for you, anyway).

Invariably this time of year also means a bunch of folks doing columns, filing reports, etc. on New Year's Resolutions. As you might guess from what I said in the previous paragraph, I'm not a huge believer in these either, but for some reason this year I happened to assess things all at once, and at this time of year (perhaps it was in the writing of the last post/Xmas letter).

So then, without further ado, or much fanfare, herewith are my...

Resolutions for 2007:

1) Do a better job of staying in touch with my out-of-state friends. While I have lived in the Commonwealth for 11.5+ years now, I still consider myself as being "from New Jersey." I have many friends and associates in the Garden State still. I also have friends in other states scattered around the seaboard and country. And the fact of the matter is, I've become a lousy communicator. I used to be a compulsive communicator and somewhere along the way, I got out of the habit. I carry a cellphone, I have multiple e-mail accounts, and I have a couple of blogs. So I know my intent is there. But somehow I stopped keeping in touch with folks the way I used to. Could be the geography, could be my "focus issues," could be the simple fact of Life's inertia. Doesn't really matter why. I'm going to try to do a better job of keeping in touch with those farther away. So expect a call or an email. Soon.

2) Devote at least one day a month to myself -- reading, writing, drawing, whatever. It seems that I never have enough time. This is, I'm sure, a common enough problem, made perhaps slightly more acute by my particular quirks. But even after spending six months off (while I was job searching), even though I had three weeks between one new job and the second (better) new job, I still never managed to spend a day reading comics. Or writing -- I never write anymore... well, just this thing, and we know that's more rambling. I've been trying to learn to draw for many, many years now ("trying" here defined as "spending money on books and supplies, even sometimes carrying places with me, but never actually investing any time doing it"). I owe it to myself to actually spend a minimum of one day a month on myself (and no, laundry doesn't count... it has to be something creative.)

3) Do something about this mass forming around my waistline... So there's this soft, squishy stuff forming around my waist, just above my hips. And curiously all of my pants seem to have shrunken at the same time (which means the dry cleaner AND me have both made simultaneous mistakes.) Fact of the matter is, my legendary metabolism is finally slowing down. And I kinda liked my waistline where it was. So a little more attention must be spent on getting to the gym. And working ab's, I guess...

4) Try to post to this blog (and the other one) more frequently. While my stat's indicate I've averaged more than one post a week, it hasn't occurred in such a regular fashion. More like a bunch at once and then a long gap of nothingness. And I'm really going to try to override my obsessiveness, and not wait until I can do "the perfect post" with all the links and colors and bells and whistles and whatnot. There are so many off-the-cuff posts that never happen(ed) because I didn't "have time" to do it. Which isn't true -- I just didn't have time to make it "just so." One of the many epitaphs of my life.

So, there you are. I think four is enough. That allows me to mess up one a quarter, before I've failed to achieve them all. I mean, if Ultimate Brian can't make it work, what chance does someone as undisciplined as myself stand...

More to follow.

2006 in review

2006-12-31T22:16:00.000-05:00

The following is an edited version of the Holiday Letter MLW and I sent out this past year, put into blog-code as necessary (which reminds me... I need to update the scorecard in a big way...)

2006 seemed to have a theme of Change. While many things stayed the same, we enjoyed many new things as well. The year began with JAM still unemployed (since Nov. 2005 – those of you who read the blog know this painfully). Curiously, this wasn’t quite as stressful to either of us as we’d thought it would have been.

In January, we headed south to North Carolina (the hurricane state!), where we witnessed the union of ToasterGirl (MLW’s former roommate) and GPSBoy(another Drewid of our acquaintance) in a moving Quaker ceremony in Durham, followed by a delightful reception at the oddly named Tobacco Warehouse. While in Durham we were able to take in some of the city’s sights and also visit with Ultimate Brian & Penultimate (?) Katie (still more Drewids… who knew the area was full of ’em?) And best of all, JAM didn’t use any days off…

February was very full (as it tends to be) for such a short month. We made our annual trip to DC’s Chinese New Year parade to celebrate the year of the Dog (woof!). Following that we had a small-scale birthday gathering for JAM, which was preceded by Birthday SNOW! (It is such a rarity in Virginia!!). Certainly not the worst way to greet 35. This, in turn, was followed by a visit from the GSM. Sadly, they were both pretty ill, thus we have declared a moratorium on birthday visits (or at least visits during Winter Olympic years, since the prior one in 2002, resulted in a broken hot water heater and a serious cold for JAM). Around the same time, Eva was in town for a church music conference, and we were able to visit with her and catch up.

March found MLW summoned for Jury service. Like a teeny-tiny minority of Americans (which JAM is happy to consider himself among), MLW is one of those rare few who was actually looking forward to jury service. Sadly, each day as she checked to see if she was called up the next day, the court was closed. She was very disappointed.

April found us in NJ (for our first visit of 2006) to help JAM’s Gram celebrate her 91^st birthday and catch up with the folks. Before we left town, JAM’s high school friend thefirstNoel came to town for a conference, and we were able to have dinner together before she fled back to lands northwards. On the way home, we got to meet Son-of-a-JADO for the first time -- What a cute and drooly child.

In May we made our next visit northward to mark the first communion of MLW’s Godmother’s grandson Joey – who does a great (the late) John Denver (?! - he sang "Rocky Mountain High," but then you know how the lids today love their John Denver...) impression. We also got to see the in-law’s first apartment (which was effectively the first place that MLW ever lived). Oh, yeah, also in May, JAM got a job at a small IT consulting firm in DC. Before he started he spent the last weekend at Six Flags America with ODFA.

The (fortunately unseasonably cool) month of June found us celebrating the wedding of the Huge’s in beautiful outdoor setting in Centreville, VA (wow! A wedding we didn’t really didn’t have to travel for – we love those weddings most of all!) While the promised fireworks between certain participants never materialized, the weekend gave us an opportunity to catch up with various and sundry New Jerseyians of our past association. Later in the month, MLW celebrated her birthday with friends and the in-law’s came to visit. We visited the WWII Memorial, and enjoyed DC despite the summer heat.

In July, Drewids OragamiSlayer and Tina (who live out in Fairfax) invited us to join them at a performance of the RSC (the Reduced Shakespeare Company) in their still funny, no matter how many times we’ve seen it, The Complete History of America: Abridged. Dinner out with friends and an evening of laughs are a wonderful way to pass the time. JAM’s cousin A and (her husband)R announced they were pregnant, and JAM has been steeling himself to be a first cousin once removed.

In August, we had our first ever overnight visit by a family. Mr. Township Manager, HLWJ, and cute as a button Sabina came to visit on their way back to NJ from Williamsburg. While our house is certainly not childproof, we are happy report that everyone left intact. While it was a short visit, it was a fun one.

September went by without much event, while JAM decided he needed to get a(nother) new job, as the one at [company deleted for legal reasons] was just not working out. We tried to have many dinners with all our local friends, so had lots of good food and great conversations.

October was a month where a whole lotta stuff happened. First – on our 8^th wedding anniversary – JAM decided to give notice to the company he’d been working for (for about five months). While he gave 2.5 weeks notice, they decided he could leave that day. By the time MLW arrived to drive JAM home he was waiting in the lobby chatting with the security guards. That night he addressed the membership of the Art Deco Society of Washington, giving the first “state of the society” address in several years. The next day he received a job offer from Plateau Systems, LTD. – one of two offers he would receive that same week – and after some thought decided to accept it. Also, in October we were able to finally catch up with the O’Ciommo Ninja clan and then met up with the JADO’s at the Philadelphia Zoo, where much fun was had by all and many photos were taken. The following weekend, we went off to Staunton, VA where we saw not one but three Shakespeare plays at the Blackfriar’s Playhouse. On the way back, we drove along the scenic Skyline Drive and enjoyed the fall foliage (also, many photos were taken). While this was the first year in a while that we did not have our annual Halloween Gala, we did have the annual neighborhood Trick Or Treat block candy give-away (yeah, the name really sings). It was also JAM’s first day at his (new) new job.

As November came around, we found ourselves starting the month with yet another trip to the zoo, this time the National Zoo and this time with friends OriginalWeb and CH. Later in the same month, we went up to NJ yet again, this time for MLW’s father’s “retirement party” (MLW’s dad has been retiring for the entire 15 years JAM has known her…) Since we were up anyway, we decided to join in-laws and the GSM for day before and Thanksgiving for much, much eating. We were able to catch up with Mr. Township Manager & family, and with college friend GWEK, and with high school friend Jeannine.

And so December found us in the midst of our usual holiday madness. We had MLW’s work holiday party (first time I’ve had my picture taken with Santa in about… um, I’m going to guess 25 years...), my work party where I ran into Chuck Schmoyer from West Milford Twp High School (Freebird!) and of course, our own annual holiday gala, that this year featured snow. Yes, snow. Even if we had to make it ourselves. The holidays themselves involved a short trip northwards to NJ, and while they involved the third annual Xmas Eve Morning Brunch (a chance for us West Milford ex-pat’s to catch up) it was somewhat muted due to a family sitch that I won’t get into here.

So the year was filled with new beginnings, and new opportunities, but also filled with old friends and the best traditions.

Happy Holidays!

Let there be peace on earth, but most especially let there be peace for each of you
(and perhaps a little left over for each of us).

-- J & J

So that's the letter. Back in a day or two with what's in store for 2007!

I'll be brief...

2006-12-29T09:55:00.000-05:00

(hey, it can happen), and simply say, "Yeah, baby!"

What's in Your Wallet?

2006-12-24T09:26:00.000-05:00

No, wait. I meant, what's in your Xmas Stocking...?

Your Christmas Stocking Will Be Filled With Coal

You haven't been *that* naughty this year
Santa is just screwing with you

What Will Be In Your Christmas Stocking?

Well, I can't say I'm surprised...

Twas the Night Before...

2006-12-23T23:32:00.000-05:00

...the Night Before Xmas and all through the hotel... Well, I dunno. Sometimes you start something and then it just turns out to be a sentence.

I wish I had more time to blog lately. So many things I have told y'all about yet. MLW's work party, my work party (and getting called up by the CEO, and running into Chuck Schmoyer from the one and only West Milford Twp High School). Then there's the new project I've been assigned at work and the ups and downs of that.

But I don't have the energy to go into all that right now. So instead, I'm just going to suggest you check out this entry at MG's Stripes and Plaids, which took some computer sleuthing through the archives to run down for her. (Pause for a moment and contemplate how much computer technology changed since 1992. I had to use two machines just to get it into a modern storage media...) Anyway, it was worth it, as it's still one of the funnier Xmas pieces I've ever read.

So, Happy Holidays, MG. And the rest of you folks. And to all... ah, you know the rest...

So much, so little time

2006-12-14T22:31:00.000-05:00

So, I've been meaning to blog. I really have. I dunno. Seems like there's too much going on to really have time. It doesn't help that a lot of the time I'm at customer sites, which sometimes don't have Internet access. And this week I started at another client site -- a customer with one of those three letter acronyms -- and I not only can't access the Internet, but I'm also not allowed my cellphone. (Yep, my own private, personal vision of hell -- no way to communicate...)

Anyway, a couple things happened that I wanted to mention. The first was the death of the man who created Green Lantern -- the original, GL, Alan Scott, for those that follow this stuff. OriginalWeb was kind enough to bring that to my attention. (Represents sort of a Halloween costume lost for me, 'mongst other things...) Anyway, yet another great passes. Might I also point out a charity that takes care of older cartoonists (those that started out in the days before they could make a fortune selling their art and whatnot...)

* * *

In other news, why is it 63 degrees in the middle of December? Yeah, Oil Companies, congratulations, your efforts to position the global warming issue as a debate have clearly been successful.

*sigh*

* * *

SQ sent in this little article about the 10 most deadly toys of all time. Funny stuff. I won't tell you how many of those I had/have...

I'll probably have more over the weekend. At least that's my intention. And we all know about intentions, don't we?

Why has it been so long...

2006-12-01T10:21:00.000-05:00

...between posts, this time? I have no idea. Maybe the new job. Maybe I'm just lame. I really don't know anymore.

Two quick things, both semi-work related:

1) Beware the ever expanding eye of Big Brother.

2) Where are those TPS reports?

More later. Eventually.

As Dinah Washington sings...

2006-11-09T12:39:00.000-05:00

...What a Difference a Day Makes...

So it's looking like people listened and went out a voted. I was surprisingly impressed by the election results, and a seeming surge in Democrats (notwithstanding recounts, legal action, etc.) It seems that in spite of reported Conservative efforts to @#$% with the process and legal polling, people got out and voted (and as some people pointed out it was even raining here in Northern VA...)

I am totally disappointed in Virginia's response to Question 1. I was IMing with Mr. Huge about it yesterday and as I believe he said, it's disgraceful. I challenge anyone to say how passing this did anything other than set us backwards. I'm not a lawyer, but I hope this is being challenged somehow someway. (I take a very minor amount of solace in the fact that Northern VA -- and my town in particular -- was overwhelmingly - 2 to 1 or more - against passing the amendment. It doesn't change the feeling I have that I need to apologize for 57% of my adopted state).

All this and Britney filed for divorce AND Rumsfeld stepped down -- another example of Republicans living in their own little fantasy world... if you wanted a scapegoat and to take value from having a scapegoat, wouldn't it have been better if he resigned LAST week. But no, they just refuse to accept the premise of reality it seems (actually, that also applies to what I said above about VA...)

Meanwhile, in personal news, I'm still in training. You know how a sponge can soak up a certain amount of liquid and then anything else one tries to soak up doesn't go in -- I believe that's called saturation -- well, if you replace "sponge" with "brain" and "liquid" with "information" and you kinda have my status right now.

Anyway, I know there was other stuff I wanted to talk about -- probably even a main reason I thought, "Oh, I should blog during lunch break," but I'll be damned if I can remember what it was. So, more later...

Hopeful Pessimism

May your devestating winter blues give way to your debilitating spring allergies*

Monday Morning Fun

NaNoWriMo 2010

I often wish...

I'm sure...

Since Tuesday...

I'm counting this as Monday...

So yesterday I was talking...

So yesterday...

THIS Friday, the 13th...

Ask Me About My Foster Kittens (Part 4)

Old friends and new beginnings

Rumors of her demise...

A Change of Plans

Now I remember!

True story

Why am I up this early on a Saturday?!

NYCC First Day

Bill Cosby was right...

Oh, I see, you thought I meant...

How does one...

The concern was most touching...

In a few minutes...

The problem with Sunday night concerts...

An Amusing bit...

*tap, tap, tap*...

If you haven't read it yet...

So Cousin Zach...

Viva Las...

Awesome!

So, for Valentine's Day...

Happy Potomac...

Watching the Super-Bowl (Ads)...

Mark my words, you're going to see Indy EVERYTHING...

Finally...

Awesome!

2007: A Year in Review

Cubism?

The Golden Compass...

Ask me about my foster kittens...!

A couple of interesting...

Couldn't have said it better myself...

My cousin...

I have a lot more...

Serious stuff

What a seemingly odd...

Template mods in progress

I was going to...

Yarrr! A day late...

This is totally awesome!

If the rest of the world stopped...

My work here is done...

No, I haven't seen it yet...

Some of you may find this dry...

Attention car people...

Hee-hee

Pay attention this week...

Do you think if I chase myself...

When describing...

By the Power of Greyskull!

Two weeks behind...

I don't want to spoil it...

I wanted to quickly...

Clear your calendars

Hmm...

Turns out...

Just remember...

True Story...

That's the Akron Beacon-Journal...

For those of you who demanded it!

Engineering Students...

Mark your calendars...

So busy...

Mmmm....

SHA....ker of salt

'Nuff said?

Lucasfilm buys Post Office?

My flight has been delayed an hour…

Can someone tell me what's so great...

tap, tap, tap...