It's About Thyme HNT

Yes, once again you must wade through all the pics to get to the HNT at end. Or at least scroll past them . . .


I was thrilled to discover this little guy growing on my deck. I forget when I planted the seeds - months ago, at any rate, and no thanks to my total neglect, this little fellow grew anyway. The other containers on the deck contain plants from a new sort of gardening called "naturoculture." (Yes, OK, I just made that up.) They're mostly filled with millet and sunflowers planted by the birds and Hoover, the chipmunk.

Here's something else that grew anyway. Can you spot the imposter?


Yes, it's - well, some sort of squash!



In lieu of flowery prose, I'll just serve up the flowers, along with a side of interesting insects.







I had to get into a really weird and uncomfortable yoga-esque postition for this one, so I hope you enjoy it:



GuTTer MuNKi got this one of a hummingbird moth at our butterfly bush.



And I found Jewel Weed growing at the edge of our deck.



Here's the thing about Jewel Weed. It's a great antidote to Poisons Ivy, Oak and Sumac. HOWEVER, it tends to grow where you find poison ivy. I'm a little leery about what else I'm going to find growing under or around the deck. :-/

Another honeybee:


And a wonderful drink mix made from the fruits of his bretheren's labour:



GuTTer MuNKi* told me he'd take me to Ren Faire if I had something appropriate to wear, so I bought a bolt of Muslin (with my 40% off JoAnn's coupon of course)



And bought a pattern for a chemise. (not what you expected, was it?) Eventually I hope to end up with something like this. I had already forgotten how much Trillian likes to help with the cutting stage.


My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

I tried explaining to her that Inigo himself is not the six-fingered man, but she wasn't having any of that.

Yes, I sewed up the chemise. No, I haven't sewn up the brocade shirt yet. It's a UFO (sewingese for "UnFinished Object.") Yes, I'll get to it eventually. :-P


OK, lastly but not leastly before HNT, it's always a little shocking to me that something like this:



Can turn into something like this:



This one's a little dirty. Well, the bottoms of my feet are, anyway. After 2 weeks without an HNT, I guess you could say it's about thyme.




*OK, how weird is it that of the very few hits I got when I Googled "falling soup" hoping to find a funny pic for this link, one was Inigo Montoya, and one was The Killers, whose new album I am looking forward to with bated breath? "Odd," said Mabel. "Very odd."

Wednesday Eve Again

Hooray for Wednesday Eve! I'm reading too many books (OK there is no such thing as too many books) and not writing or blogging. Sort of a post-submission party sort of thing, I guess, but I need to get back to the writing tomorrow. Or tonight.

Anyway, long story short, here are some random things going on of late in no specific order. Perhaps some will spark commentable memories of your own:

- 2 Bee stings, 2 different children within about 10 mins 1 outside, 1 indoors

- apparent demise of hydrangea bush

- purchase of hibiscus bush and "snow fairy"(crappy pic) on sale, WOO HOO!

- apparent resurrection of hydrangea bush after moving to shadier spot

- viewing (and great enjoyment) of Nanny McPhee (Firthaliciousness!)

- flying sidekick practice and jump snap-kick practice (WHEEEEEEEeeeee!!)

- attendace of 2 library summer reading program parties

- procurement of free book (The Jane Austen Book Club - extremely witty and enjoyable so far)

- viewing of Failure to Launch (had its moments, but not stellar by any means)

- reading of The Penultimate Peril (FINALLY!! Good stuff. "I suppose I'll have to add the force of gravity to my list of enemies." )

- More reading of Outlander. Yum!

- Teaching of TKD and BREAKTHROUGH moment of getting 3 year old boy with attention span of gnat to double punch. WOO HOO!! I'm sure I'll have to begin at the beginning again on Thursday. :-P

- discovery of Vouvray

- extreme enjoyment of chicken parmesan (grated parmesan, bread crumbs, olive oil and garlic patted onto salted-and-peppered chicken breasts) and scrapbooking with friend

- alcohol units: some, unmentionable liaison units: extreme, blogging time units: limited

I guess that's pretty much up to date then. I'll attempt a real post when I can get my face out of some of these books.

More Random Musings

Mostly piccys today. Not a lot to say. Still reading.



I was happily snapping away at the flowers today, when The Boy spotted a toad. Oh Joy!



They like to have those ridges behind their eyes stroked. This one leaned into the petting most happily.



Shortly thereafter, I heard much coversation being carried on with "Commander Toad." The honourable Commander was apparently unfazed by his craft's lack of wings, though I suspect that the many, many ensuing crash scenarios may have been aided thereby. (Don't worry, The Boy didn't actually crash the plane with The Commander on board. It was all strictly simulation.)





Alien lifeforms were discovered. Chiefly, some sort of chamaeleon-toed feline.




Back on the home planet, a Japanese beetle waged destruction on Commander Toad's favourite rhododendron bush.



And a large sunflower turned its face to the sun. It was later decapitated by an unknown foe. (Most likely a squirrel. The mangled remains of said flower were found on the other side of the neighbour's fence.)



**************

Random Observations:

How to keep track of whose clothes are whose:



#1 child gets 1 dot, add a dot when you pass on to #2, etc. etc.

Time to get another copy of my favourite piece of music:



One of my favourite bits - sounds tricky, isn't, and is really fun to play.



The original inventor of the HWT Plankton and his creation:



And yet another lily. Sick of lilies yet? But I don't think I've posted the same colour twice. :-)

The Moral of This Story is. . .

When we came home the other day, I was driving up to the mailbox with the window down in order to grab the mail, when what should I see but a salesman on the doorstep. YIKES! Thinking on my feet (well, on my bum since I was driving) I quickly pulled forward to the next mailbox (uh yes, maybe I was putting in flyers or, ah, looking at house numbers) and then over to the proper side of the street (for this country) and, happily realising that it didn't really matter what the sales guy thought, on to the next road, where I turned casually right. We circled for a while, drove around the subdivision, then headed back home. Instructing the kids to keep their eyes peeled, I drove slowly toward the house. Aha! There he was, 2 houses down, spraying something on the hapless - a word which here means "unlucky enough to get caught outside, or witless enough to answer the door" - neighbour's rain gutter. Whew! Dodged THAT bullet. But just in case he'd seen us returning, I told the kids not to go near the door if the bell rang. I just did NOT feel like dealing with it. Fortunately, the kids eat this sort of stealth stuff up. We skulked around and had a generally good time. I felt like Jamie Lee Curtis (hee hee - who can forget that scene in True Lies??) in Christmas With the Kranks when the carolers are singing outside and they're sneaking through the house. ("This is fun!" *giggle*)

So what's the point of all this? Well, as Lemony Snicket writes:

The moral of "The Three Bears," for instance, is "Never break into someone else's house." The moral of "Snow White" is "Never eat apples." The Moral of World War One is "Never assassinate Archduke Ferdinand."

I guess that the moral of this story, if indeed it has one, is "Even a discommodious - a word which here means "having a nosy salesman pressing his nose against your windows so that you're forced to crawl around on your hands and knees like a prisoner in your own house" - situation can be turned into something fun." Actually, that's probably the moral of my life. :-) Not that my life can be described as discommodious. . .

*******

Here's what I'm watching:

Le Placard

I love where he's listening to the depressing news headlines rolling on and his toast jumps out the window, LOL!

Told you that little library's DVD section rocks.

Here's what I want to see (among other things):

This film. And this one. No, I don't have a thing for Dustin Hoffman. Honest.

Oh, yeah, and after Googling for that piccy of Jamie Lee Curtis, This One. I do have a thing for Pierce Brosnan.

I have pictures lurking in the other computer. One or two may involve cats. I'm too lazy to go crop and upload. Plus, GuTTer MuNKi's using that one right now. And I really want to get back to Outlander. Count your blessings.

Eschew Obfusification

The Outlander book came in at the library yesterday. That was fast!! I've already gotten sucked in. Poor Thos Covenant takes the backseat once again.

I'm also reading a book called "First you Shave Your Head." What with my having been sucked in by 2 books, there may be a little less blogitivity than normal. We shall see.

My Flylady thing is going in fits and starts. I remember some things and forget others, so I'm kind of stumbling along, but the general trend is definitely one of improvement.

The James Bond set caught on fire the other day. Fortunately they're already in post-production, so I won't have to go into premature withdrawal. They ought to auction off pieces of movie sets. Can you imagine how much collectors would have paid for various bits and pieces of Star Wars sets?

Speaking of films, our tiny little library (the one we don't have to pay to use) has a fabulous DVD section -- much bigger (especially DVD : books ratio-wise) than our bigger library's. Thanks to this, GuTTer MuNKi and I watched "Closer" last night, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Very well-acted, and I really liked the script. Even though it wasn't the sort of ending I typically go for, I'd definitely watch it again. I've only seen Jude Law in a couple of things, so maybe he's a regular chamaeleon and I just don't know it. Anyway, in this one, I'd describe him as a mixture of Sting and John-Boy Walton. If you don't believe me, watch the film, LOL! For the girls, there's also Clive Owen, and for the boys, Julia Roberts and a nearly naked Natalie Portman. We did have to watch with subtitles for a bit, as there's a little bit of LOTR syndrome with the sound in this film.

What? I haven't ranted on about LOTR syndrome? Here's a brief synopsis:

**whisper, whisper, mumble, mumble** (you turn up the sound)
**whisper, whisper, whisp -- RAGE, ROAR, RIP, SHRED, EXPLOSION!!** (Holy --!! Heart attack!! Sound down!!)
**whisper, whisper, whisper, mumble** (sound up)
**whi-- AAAAAARRRGGHH, RAAAAAHK, SHRIEK!!!!**

In short, these are films that are not something you can watch while the children are awake, but are nearly impossible to watch after they've gone to bed as well.

"Closer" has its share of mumbled whispering followed by loudly shrieked obscenities. Where was I going with this? Oh yes. I was trying to make out a bit of conversation between Mr. Owen and Miss Portman that was particularly confusing, even with subtitles. GuTTer MuNKi was unable to help me decipher the meaning even after several replays. Turns out he wasn't actually reading the subtitles any of those times. But I did find out that the words get in the way of Natalie's bare bum. (rolleyes) Now you know. What you do with this information is up to you.

My mission today is to submit my latest short story to BUST mag for their One-Handed Read.

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