Too Hot in the Hot Tub

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle. Is that bacon? No, it's me! We're frying here in MI. And it's so humid that the camera lens fogs when I go out. It makes for a nice natural diffuser. Unless you don't want a diffuser, that is.

In the pink.


Pumpkin flower


Yet another Lily. This one's called "James." ;-)

Yes, these are the dog days of summer.




LLCool-Bun(s) is clearly the smart one here.


U l00k1n @ m3? (So cool he's 733t)

Telly's still on the fritz. After much slappage the other night (to get a picture to appear) the children watched Star Wars as it was never meant to be seen.



And then, in the midst of the heat wave, creativity struck.

We've been eating lunches nearly for free. You know how cheap rice is ($13ish for a 25 lb bag of good Jasmine rice.) We cook up a big potful and serve with the "Korean Mint" (aka Perilla or Shiso) leaves that are growing like weeds this year - plenty of volunteers where I never planted any.

Recipe here. I kind of wing it because we make so much more. Lay a leaf on your rice, wrap the ends under with your chopsticks (so it encloses a nice chunk of rice) lift and eat. Yummmmm.



I found an old printout of a Sew-Along for headbands, which seemed just the thing for keeping hair out of sweaty faces.




I felt compelled to sew up several. And the girls are asking for more. I gave one to a friend's daughter yesterday, and she wouldn't take it off even at bedtime - insisted on sleeping in it, LOL! I see quite a few more of these being made.

Today, since it apparently wasn't hot enough without turning on the oven, I had an urge to make cookies. I had no eggs, so I Googled for egg-free recipes and hit on one for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. Sounded a bit weird, but the kids adore them. I have to say they aren't bad.



The Prawn was feeling creative as well, and constructed Plankton from HWT pieces.

WANTAGE BELLS

Now with the bells through the apple bloom
Sunday-ly sounding
And the prayers of the nuns in their chapel gloom
Us all surrounding,
Where the brook flows
Brick walls of rose
Send on the motionless meadow the bell notes rebounding

Wall flowers are bright in their beds
And their scent all pervading
Withered are primroses heads
And the hyacinth fading
But flowers by the score
Multitudes more
Weed flowers and seed flowers and mead flowers our paths are invading.

~John Betjeman*

Stopping to smell the weeds, July 2006

*Thanks to Trundling Grunt for putting me on to Betjeman's works.

Nearly Kilt

Sometimes I wonder if people are offended by my avatar. It's rude to show someone the bottom of your foot in some cultures. I thought about changing it, and then I decided not to. It's a quick and easy read on who I am - martial artsy, and gauche enough not to change it. In much the same vein, some people are highly offended by the fact that I've chosen to have 4 children, but I've decided to keep them anyway. Abe Lincoln was right (and homeschooled/self-taught!)

My extremely talented sister (who, now that she has a man, no longer communicates with me except for popping onto Gchat long enough to say "Hi, I have to go. Bye!") did a "Concert on the Square" (click on "week 5") with Navan the other night. They rocked the place (well, in a traditional Celtic-y sort of way) and sold tons of CDs. But more importantly, they got to see this man. . . wait for it. . .

in a kilt. *thunk*

Add to this man-cake the icing of a gorgeous NZ accent and you have yourself a perfect happy place. (I can't stop giggling at "man-cake," though the man himself is no laughing matter.)

None of this information was imparted to me by my evil, evil sister.

Do you like Men in Kilts? I do. (I think this page is mostly targeted at other men, though)

At any rate, I'm sure a kilt would've come in handy during the flooding they had on Thursday.

I've seen guys in Utilikilts™ and they don't look weird at all to me. (semi-random thought)

This reminds me that I want to go to the Ren Faire this year. Nø, realli. Every year I want to go, but we never do. I suspect that this is because GuTTer MuNKi loves me rather less than he professes to. Maybe if I make him a kilt, tie him up and ravish him. . .

Non fisso

Some of you may remember that I was attempting to review a particularly sucky book. Well, I'm not any more. I finally pulled the plug and TCM will not be running a review for the book. It's a shame, because, as I mentioned before, the genre really has possibilities. But you need to be able to write both engagingly and grammatically correctly ;-) to be successful.

I read something today that was so disturbing it actually made my stomach churn. I've chosen not to post it, because most Bloggers seem to be of a political bent that would cause them to need to remain oblivious to the twistedness of this guy's plan, and I really don't feel like trying to explain. Besides, I don't do serious; it's too intimate. I don't know whether this guy is for real, or just tries to be inflammatory for show. I suspect it's the latter, judging by the nature of both this piece and his other material, and he really doesn't need the extra exposure/encouragement. If you are deathly curious, you can email me. And no, it wasn't the Dutch thing, though that is plenty disturbing in its own right. So why bring it up at all? Because it's my blog, and it's where I vent when I need to. Evil does exist in the world. And that's a very disconcerting thing with which to come face to face. I think what disturbes me the most is the callousness - no, worse, the eagerness - with which he describes his plan.

Too close to serious. Time to change gears.

GuTTer MuNKi and I have been watching P&P - the short film version. As much as we both enjoy the story, we keep saying things to each other like "_____ is so much better in the other one" (meaning the BBC mini) or, "they left out the whole ________ part." I think that with this film they did an admirable job with the time they had, but you know, some things just can't be adapted satisfactorily to such a short format. I'd like to see the serials come back into vogue. Watch 2 hours of Harry Potter one week, 2 hours the next, and 2 more hours the next. Think of the ticket sales, LOL!

We're dog-sitting again (different dog.) We got her Tuesday night and have her until next Tuesday. This one isn't a terrier, but a Lhasa Apso. She's basically like having another cat around, and walking her is nothing even remotely like flying a kite. In fact, one could do away with the leash altogether if desired. She's like an animated fluffy slipper that follows you around. She's reasonably certain that I'm her foster mom. She gets along great with the cats and sleeps on the bed - really couldn't be easier, except that we never seem to know when to take her out to go potty. Whenever we do, she doesn't. And she does when we don't. But so did the other dog, though we had some success with him. Too bad they aren't litter trained. Oh, we're also bunny-sitting again. He also gets along great with the cats, but mostly hangs around the air conditioning vent. The dog herds him around.

We're watching The Princess Bride, and they've just gotten to the Fire Swamp, so it's time to quit blogging.

Not the Sharpest Knife in Drawers

So today I discovered this singer dude named James. To put it bluntly, I love this song. (Yes, I know I'm waaaaaaaay behind the power curve on this whole, uh, phenomenon - see previous post) OK, so the lyrics don't rock. I usually like the cerebral lyrics à la Sting's, but hey, who's listening to the words in this one? I just like his voice and the tune.





Can this be my HNT? I don't really get the point of the vid. If, indeed, there is a point. I suspect that perhaps the director wanted to raise awareness of OCD. In which case I'm grateful that he didn't go with the hand-washing version, wherein Mr. B. is forced to wash his hands until they bleed. I mean, seriously, when I get undressed, my clothes are flying off all over the place. Aren't yours? I suppose this is one reason why I need Flylady.

But being the completely serious person that you all know I am, I also wanted to share this very moving tribute to Mr. Blunt:




Having never heard of Jon Culshaw before this morning (also see previous post) I am now his newest and die-hardiest fan. Even though I still love JB. (nø, realli) The rhyming slang thing slays me.

A little Googling has also alerted me to the fact that the rest of the civilised world apparently loathes JB. So picture me doing exactly the same thing as both JB and JC, only in reverse and with an asbestos suit.

Ziiiiiiiiip.

Ready now.

Things I Should Have Heard Of Before This Week (but hadn't)

Isn't it amazing how you can get through life not having heard of some people or things, while others take knowledge of them for granted?

Try these:

Alice Band (really obvious when you think about it)

Breitling

Jo Malone

Gayle somebody

somebody Bass

Generally speaking, if it involves fashion brands, current news-splashy people or television shows, I'm going to be clueless. But there are some things I take for granted that I guess others don't, like:

tongue thrust

female ejaculation

KaCHOW!

panning (not panning, or panning)

gulab jamun (OMG So. Hungry. Now.)

*****************
Moving along. . .
*****************

Pet Peeve :

Improper usage of all-encompassing statements

Incorrect
vs.
Correct


"All Sean Connery movies are not bad"
vs.
"Not all Sean Connery movies are bad."

"Everyone shouldn't go braless."
vs.
"Not everyone should go braless."

******************
Random news:

GuTTer MuNKi and I watched French Kiss last night. Cute. Entertaining. Not stellar, but fun. Had some great lines. ("si. . . plein de poissons") I just love Kevin Kline.

And over the 2 previous nights, we watched "You Only Live Twice" in hopes that I could wash that Connery pic from my brain, but alas, this was not the film for the job. I had always remembered the Bond flicks as suave and slick. Sadly, this is not the case. I think Austin Powers is rather more debonaire and polished, actually. Bummer.

I mentioned before that my latest review book was kinda sucky. I tried to keep reading. Really, I did, but I couldn't. The glaring grammatical and spelling errors, self-contradictions, and lack of polished writing were too much for me. And that was all by page 24. Need I add that it was self-published? Not that I have something against self-publishing per se. But my view is definitely an example of:

All self-published books are not bad

vs.

Not all self-published books are bad.

Putting the BI in Biathlon, Baby!

Some of you know my blogpal, Egan, but what you may NOT know is that he recently participated in his first Biathlon. Egan never fails to impress me with his dedication to training and to keeping his bod healthy. (And it sure shows, doesn't it?) For this gruelling, three-day event, Egan had not only to run in the 114 degree (F) heat across the blistering sands of Morocco, in thigh-high, chafing boots, but to then lie on said blistering sands on his naked belly, with only a thin layer of cloth between his package and the searing heat, while firing his vintage 1879 revolver at a target that was being dragged by a she-camel in full heat evading pursuit by 3 randy males.

Though training in Seattle's sweltering July temperatures did help our BI-Boy, he says "I should have followed Logo's advice and turned the heat up full blast, cranked the oven, and trained indoors."

When queried about the hardest stage of the event, Egan stated, "Hee hee! you said 'hardest!'" and glanced meaningfully at training buddy Toddster's package.

Though faced with 111 competitors from 56.5 countries (the borders of Mohambugaria/Luisitanskia are currently in flux) Egan made a terrific showing, coming in top of the bottom 69. His strong point was definitely the sashaying (third leg, 12.4 miles) and though he suffered minor chafing, he was clearly the strongest sashayer on the field.

After a shocking announcement by the top 42 competitors that they are all retiring at the end of the season, Egan becomes next year's clear favourite. Go Egan! We're all pulling for you!

Observations, and Things You Find on the Internet

Walking a dog is a lot like flying a kite. That is, if kites weighed a lot more, and chased other kites, and were afraid of sewer grates, and ran away from other kites until the other kite fliers pulled theirs away, at which point your own kite would proceed to make a big show of being "All That" and start dissin' all the other kites. (ditto for approaching trucks and motorcycles)

I did manage not to crash the dog, which is more than can be said for my last kite-flying experience. So really, I guess they're almost completely dissimilar experiences, with the exception of the fact that both have you and another entity pulling against each other on a long string.

Remember back when I was learning to walk? Well, no sashaying for me, now. After Thursday's foot smash, I've developed a very sexy limp. So I've got that going for me. GuTTer MuNKi* also got a major knee to the thigh muscle injury (not from me!) so he's gimpy, too.

And now, Elf porn**


*Why, Mr. Connery? Why??

**"Leatherlas" *giggle* "Legstat" *snigger* I am easily amused.

The Terrier Barks at Midnight

. . .and at midnight-thirty, and at 1 am, and at 1:30 am. . .

Well the terrier is barking
Is that dog still awake out there ?
The terrier is barking
Is that dog still awake out there ?
The terrier is yapping
He's not silenced by my glare
The terrier is barking
Is that dog still awake out there?

Oh, oh BROTHER!*




We're dogsitting, and his "9 o'clock bedtime" is not functioning as advertised. Sigh. I hope the neighbours don't hate us. Fortunately, most of them have dogs who have barked now and then as well. He's actually a very smart dog. He's already learned "come here" and "sit" in Korean. :-) But at night he turns into Gnarls Barkley. If nothing else, we have all learned to appreciate dogs like Jamie's as the very best kind of dog to have.



Tonight we watched "Peter Pan" and OMG, I have to say it was GREAT! Wow. The kids all loved it, too. Lucius Malfoy is sinfully delicious as Hook. Who doesn't love a pirate?

And finally, thanks to GuTTer MuNKi, (awwww) who brought this lovely piece of news to my attention, proving once again that, yes, there is a God, and He wants me to be happy. :-) Say it, MuNKi. Mmmm, that's right. "Bond. James Bond."


Be still my beating heart
Or I'll be taken for a fool
It's not healthy to run at this pace
The blood runs so red to my face

I've been to every single book I know
To soothe the thoughts that plague me so
I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean
My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart
*Thank you, Sting. And my sincere apologies for bastardizing some of the lyrics to "Mother," but if you could hear what I hear, I'm sure you'd understand. And besides, Somers wrote that one anyway, right?

Indecent Proposal

So after reading A Blonde Blogger's latest post in which she relates the story of being propostitioned to be on a Wife Swapping show, I have to ask how y'all would feel if faced with a similar decision. And for the men, just to put us all on the same footing, let's pretend you're being propositioned to be on a Husband Swapping show, so it's *you* who does the leaving of the comforts of home.

And could someone fill me in on how they do this? Are you in the same city? State? How far away do you have to go?

$20,000 is a ton of dough, but really I don't think I could leave my kids for 2 weeks.

An Indecent Proposal is actually slightly more attractive than the swapping thing. Not that that would necessarily work for me, either. . .

Thoughts? Opinions? Unrelated Chatter?

And now, Random Flowers:

Full Monty Python HNT

In today's HNT, you can admire:

a) my new "tank top" (It doesn't hurt. Honest.)
b) the way I light up those keys (Mmmm! Mozart's Sonata #1 in C, Baby!)
c) my newly-cropped hair (Huzzah!! And THANK YOU, GuTTer MuNKi!!)
d) all of the above

Not much to report.

Alcohol Units: Going on 1

Sparring Matches: 4

Sweat Units: Substantial

Music: Peter Gabriel, Us; and Me on Piano

Incense: "Purifying"

Injuries: 1 shin smash, 1 ankle overextension, 1 foot smash

Bath: Bubbly

Book: TBD (choices are: something too embarrassing to admit to, horrid review book, or Thos Covenant- yes, still.)

Supper: Lazy Lasagne

Bonfires: Sadly, zero but I have a great pic of my sis at one at Solstice, taken by a kitecam.

Vanity: no grounds

Coffee: none

Raccoon Sightings: 1 (and apparently Rice Krispie Treats are yummier than hamburger)

Underwear: None

Chance of Hanky Panky: High

Contentment Factor: High

All is well. Hope you had a lovely Thursday. :-)

The Bee's Knees

I got 3 Korean movies in the mail today, but the telly seems to have given up the ghost. Bummer. I was planning to start on DVD 3 of the Dune mini tonight, too. Sigh. I don't think we can watch the Korean DVDs on the computer because they're region 3. (They work in the DVD player I hacked, but with a broken telly. . . aaargh!) But one of the new discs turned out to be a video CD, so that one should work on the computer. I think. Right?


We went swimming at a friend's pool today. It was gorgeous. Sluggie chose to abandon sibs and friend in order to sit on the side like a mermaid and watch adult males playing water volleyball, fetching the ball for them when it went onto the side. Sheesh. If she went to school she would major in boys.

I had forgotten about the outdoor pool (we've mostly used the indoor one there) and so forgot sunscreen and had to mooch of off our friends. They had some blue Coppertone spray stuff that totally pwns our Banana Boat spray. Theirs actually sprays on in a mist instead of just glurking out a splat of lotion and then seizing up until you unscrew the top and screw it back on again. Very cool. Very easy to use. I bet it's very expensive. But I want some. :-) I was trying not to over-use their stuff and missed a spot on each thigh. It cuts off abruptly at my swimsuit line, thus making quite a contrast with my



(lily, white)

a-- er, bum.

They came over for dinner and GuTTer MuNKi made bajingo chicken. Mmmm. Swimming makes me hungry. Readers, I ate:

And then I ate some more:

I nearly burst.

Yesterday, Mollusc painted a Korean flag on her toenail. Kachow!

"Toeguk"

I got another book to review and so far the writing kinda sucks. Uh oh. What do I do now? I'm bummed because I was looking forward to reading this from the description. I thought it had possibilities. But the writing -- sigh. I'm going to keep going. Maybe it will improve as it goes. If not, I guess I contact the review director and tell her it sucks. In the meantime, it reminds me that my writing is better and that "Today is the day that we start wasting other people's time with our crap." (Thanks, again, Pete.)

Believe it!


Bee, leaving

Great Health Report Card - No Cs

GuTTer MuNKi got the call today that all is well and good; no cancer. What a huge relief! Thank you all for your prayers, support and good vibes. :-) After that news, things were looking up for the rest of the day.




In the ensuing euphoria, I saw things in nature that might have appeared totally innocent to the untrained (and non-euphoric) eye. But I bet some of you will get them right away.






Yes, R-rated flower and veg pics. Forgive me. I'm still giddy. My brain takes off on this flight of fancy and there's no telling where it will go.



Well, OK, we can all be relatively certain it will make a beeline for the gutter. :-P (No, there's nothing suggestive about the butterfly as far as I can tell.)

I've probably announced more than once that I'm back on the Flylady wagon, but I keep falling off. Well, I've leapt on again. And I plan to blog about it to make myself more accountable. So, yes, my sink is shiny.



Oh, yeah, and on the windowsill, you can sort of see the little Toledo steel swords, which I DID get on eBay. I had a pic for today involving one of those, but it didn't turn out so great, so I'll try again later. Maybe tomorrow.


Well, it's 11:15 and there's still a lot I want to do tonight. And besides, the wind's howling like anything out there and the power is flickering, so I'd better get this up before I lose my juice. Heh heh. I said -- OMG somebody control me!


Oh, yeah. GuTTer MuNKi (OMG rugby is suddenly SO my favourite sport ever!) sent me this link today. Very entertaining if you like stop motion films (and even if you don't) or are a child of the 80s.PS - Ha ha ha!!! Kitkat, you got your laptop there in NY? In case you do, check out the latest blog in my sidebar. Yes, Broken Lizard blogs!!! :-)

The C Word

There is a C word that's worse than the one ending in "unt" (which, by the way, my 4 year old uttered rather loudly at TKD yesterday while reading a list in Alphaphonics: "unt, hunt, punt, bunt. . ." And no, it wasn't on the list; it was a read-o.)

The C word is the one that we never uttered when my dad got sick; the one we all tap-danced around; the elephant in the room, looming there ominously, knowing that we saw it and were afraid to say its name. Or perhaps we were just taking a boat-ride down that long river in Egypt (de Nile), while steadfastly ignoring the fact that Charon was piloting the craft. The C word is a dirty word. No one likes to use it, and certainly not in the context of it affecting anyone they know. If you do say it, you sort of cringe, and look around self-consciously to see if anyone's glaring at you, and then you make yourself small so that hopefully people will ignore you or forget who said it.

Yesterday John went to the doctor to get a suspicious-looking spot on his arm checked out. The doctor didn't like the look of it at all, and cut it off for a biopsy. We'll find out the results on Monday. On the plus side, if the C word is involved, the doctor said that this has the look of the very mildest sort - the least invasive.

Strangely enough, at our house we are irreverent even about things like this. As GuTTer MuNKi lay napping (allergies are BAD this year) we stole in to bag some of Sluggie's b-day presents for tomorrow. Monsieur mUNki awoke and I asked if we could turn on the light, or if he still needed to rest. He didn't want the light and Mollusc exclaimed, "don't turn on the light! He'll get skin cancer!" That's her second good one in a week. (The first involved and ancient woman and her ancient van who were determined to keep us from doing the speed limit.)

This week the kids were invited to Vacation Bible School at the church of friends of ours. They had a GREAT time, despite the fact that every time the big kid in the crocodile suit came in, The Prawn would start crying. The first night when we went to pick them up after TKD, she was looking a bit weepy. I asked her if she had had a good time, and she nodded vigorously through her tears, LOL! Tonight, they got her out of there before Mr. Croc put in his appearance. And then she showed him to me and watched him take off his suit. They all got to make fun crafts, sing songs and play games. I think they're bummed that it's over, and now Sluggie, at least, wants to do the Patch the Pirate club that starts up again next September. We shall see. It's a lovely church full of really REALLY good people, but not the exact flavour of my choice. I don't really fit anywhere, to tell the truth. Not that I've heard of yet, anyway.

GuTTeR mUNki and I had a private lesson at red belt class tonight. No one else showed. :-/ This summer, attendance at adult class has really been down. That said, last night's class was the biggest I've seen all summer- 10 people. I think our biggest ever (that we've been in) was 14, maybe 15. On the plus side, with only 2 of us tonight, we pulled out the crash pad for self-defense and did real throws. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee! **WHUMP**

Flexi-HNT

Pink Ass. . .tilbe

OK, so I wussed out. What a pussy. I had this great idea for an HNT of the Meow variety, but the pics didn't come out like I was hoping. I'll try refining the idea, butt in the meantime you get what you get.

But first you have to put up with the flowery crap. It's called pleasure delaying. Yadda yadda yadda. (OK pleasure, I can't really guarantee, so I don't know what to call it exactly.)



White - I dunno - kinda looks like a balloon flower. I think it's Campanula.



Do I detect a white theme? Bachelor's Buttons is what keeps jumping into my head, but maybe it's Spinster's Snaps or Ho's Hooks or something.



The ones that always make me smile and that are no doubt getting old for all y'all.



Not a flower at all. Well, soon he'll be clinging to the wall. I guess then he'll be a wallflower.



Not what I had planned, but a fun idea from GuTTer MuNKi.
If I have bored you to tears, or even if I haven't, check out the Trapped in the Closet vids as mentioned on Kay's blog. (Troubled Actor Guy over there ---> ) Wow. What a convoluted mess, LOL! But fun.Oh, and if you want to laugh, look up Laurie Notaro's "The Idiot Girl's Action-Adventure Club" I'll probably have to get more of her books to make me laugh again after I read A Fine Balance.She even has a blogsite.
Is that a Six Foot Vanilla I see in the Sky? Nope. My bad. Just some kind of volcano-dwelling deity.

Lilies of the Alley

Lilies of the Alley*

What a strange day it was, weather-wise. But true to Wednesday's form, it was full of possibilities: rain, wind, clouds, sun, calm, storms, you name it. Well, no sleet or snow. Wednesdays are like that; anything can happen because we have no committments, no responsibilities, no place we have to be. It's not uncommon for us to eschew breakfast on Wednesdays in favour of brunch or just snackage. Whatever feels the most decadent (a late curry breakfast/lunch? YES!) fills the bill. We usually go to the library on Wednesdays. We don't have an appointment or anything. It's not a scheduled outing. It's not a committment. (Shhh! No it's NOT!) We do it because we can. And primarily because we don't have to.

The Three Sisters Garden(click the pic at the top of that post) is growing like gangbusters. The three sisters have been joined by their red-headed stepsisters "Strawberry" and "Tomato."



Theoretically, the squash covers the ground and deters would-be snackers (so far so good) and the beans will climb up the cornstalks. I'm not sure why the ground is always so dry over there. We have sprinklers going on it just like the other gardens. But everything is still growing, regardless. And this in SPITE of the fact that more than once I had to replant the corn because something kept pulling it up before the squashes started spreading.

Hungry for something fried and green?



Ask not for whom the bell grows. It grows for me.



Today I made Seasoned Perilla Leaves for lunch. Perilla is also known as Shiso, and is bloody expensive to buy, but it grows like a weed. I have a ton growing in what was originally meant to be a spurge bed. Lots of volunteers, too. Ours are the Korean kind like in the bottom picture. We had freshly steamed jasmine rice with the leaves. Here's how to eat them:

Take a seasoned leaf and lay it on top of your rice, press down the sides with your chopsticks so that it envelopes a nice hunk of rice, lift and eat. MMmmmm! If you run out, steal some from "the baby" when she's not looking. }:-)

This afternoon I heard The Prawn squeal, "Eeeew! That looks like BACON!!!"

Here's what she was talking about:



Yes, it's a strawberry on Slug's knee. :-P

In a similarly coloured, but hopefully far more appetizing vein, I made cherry cobbler today with some of the sour cherries we picked on Saturday:




If you look closely, you can see that it's still bubbling 'round the edges. Don't touch that pan, though, it's HOT!

I finished reading Kira-Kira today. It was excellent, but I was hopping up every few mins to run to the bathroom and blow my nose and mop my eyes, and hoping depserately that the children wouldn't wake up and come wandering in. I read the last page in kitchen while making tea for breakfast (snackage), answering The Prawns' Qs (without breaking into weeping - impressive), and drowning my sorrows in chammomile. (An exquisite tea that I bought at the commissary last time we were there. Oh, I also bought a Cadbury Flake bar and have been making it last. :-) ) One of the next books in the queue is A Fine Balance, which I understand will be heart-wrenching. (hee hee hee! Look at the next book on her list. I had to link that, now, didn't I? OK, so here's a better link for the book itself. ) Oprah's book club? Is that where my friend is getting these titles? Was Kite-Runner on there, too? Hmmm. . .

I'm still plodding through the Covenants every now and then, too, as well as other things. Multi-tasking reader-woman, that's me. Still haven't dared pick up those brocade pieces to start sewing them together. :-P Still haven't found a prospective publisher, either.

______________________________

* I can't claim this title as my own. It was the name of yet another of my ultra-talented sister's singing groups.

Frogpole Blogpole

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." ~Robert A. Heinlein
Last night Trillian asked why Egan asked for a post without cats. I explained as best I could (given that's it's truly hard to believe that ANYONE could fail to appreciate the exquisitely amazing creature that is the cat) and she appeared to think about it for a moment or two.



And then she snorted and walked off, shaking her head.

Before you read any further, here's a quick question:

Do you know how tadpoles develop their arms/front legs?

I thought they developed like the rear ones. - little buds that grow out and develp into arms, right? WRONG! They actually develop *underneath the skin* and then pop out when they're all ready. COOL, huh? I was joking that this must happen after my friend said hers seemed to develop them overnight. But then it seemed that that might actually be what *was* happening. This morning, it was pretty obvious that, yes indeed, that's what was going on. This morning before TKD Sam (or Merry) had one front leg:



And by the time we got home, the second one had popped out.




His shape has become a lot more froggy, too. Once those arms pop out, the taddies aren't all sperm-shaped anymore.

And now I leave you with this last piece of food for thought.

The problem with cats is that they get the exact same look on their face whether they see a moth or an axe-murderer. ~Paula Poundstone

Here's hoping your alarm system doesn't consist of a cat.

Pussy-Free Post

GuTter MuNKi has been making cherry jelly lately. It's goooood! I'm going to attempt cherry jam, cuz I like meatier stuff. ;-)

I'm currently researching publishers for my latest kids' book. I really dislike this part of the game. Sigh. And lately more and more publishers will only take manuscripts from an agent. Crap. But I did find this awesomely depressing piece about the "Slush Pile." (The pile of hundreds - or thousands - of unsolicited manuscripts that cross an editor's desk each year.)
Enough depressing stuff and more - LOOK! A Chicken!!


Did you know that men have a G-spot? I only found this out a month or 2 ago. Silly me. I'll have to do more of this kind of research. Oh, and yes, it's true.


Lately the children have been making films involving rabies, vomiting and dramatic death scenes. OK, so they're not so much films as random scenes. Such talent. I weep with pride. Actually, I just laugh, cuz some of them are entertaining. :-)