holy shit!

Hugh Hefner is marrying Holly Madison!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe. :)

If it's true, I'm so happy for them! Holly is the only one of the three girlfriends who seems to genuinely be in love with Hugh. She has said on The Girls Next Door numerous times that she wants to have kids with him before 30. She's 27. (He's almost 81.)

Yay for Holly! Hope that Bridget and Kendra get a nice severance package before the mansion door hits them in the bunny tail on the way out.

in love lust with a blog ; new flavas

Do you think it's okay to be in love with a blog? Because I just found one that gives me that squishy, “I hope (s)he kisses me” feeling. How...wrong.

Beautiful photos, intriguing story lines, fooooooooood, and robots! It's called Fancy Food... and we're running away to Vegas together tomorrow morning.





If you want to see more of just Rodney and the cupcakes go here.


Also: Ben & Jerry's announced their new flavors:

Lighten Up! Strawberries & Cream; Lighten Up! Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough; Lighten Up! Phish Food; Crème Brûlée; Mint Chocolate Chunk; Banana Split; Americone Dream; Cinnamon Buns; Strawberry Cheesecake; Lighten Up! Raspberry Chocolate Chunk

Boooooring. The only one I care about is mint chocolate chunk, which I've been able to get at scoop shops for years. Happy to be able to get it pre-packed, but it's not a new flavor. Congrats to Stephen Colbert for getting his own flavor, though!

handwriting

Depending on what I'm doing my handwriting changes drastically. Following are examples of different styles of writing I have. Click on any image to enlarge. The only doctored one is the grocery list, from which I removed Hay's real name. The rest are not identifying in any way, but you're welcome to read every single line of every single page image and see for yourself. :)

Live meeting notes (from a live webcast I “attended” yesterday; the inspiration for this post):





Study notes (from a C++ class I took back in 2002):





Homework notes (same C++ class):





Grocery list (from a few years ago -- no more kitten chow for the girls):





Take-out order for me and Hay:





Brainstorming (with myself) notes:





Live presentation (from a conference at MIT in 2003):



(Please note that LDAP + Kerberos + OS X has come a long way in 4+ years so none of that information is particularly relevant anymore. Like you care.)


In case it's not obvious, I keep all my notes. :) I'm guessing if my handwriting were to be analyzed it would say: crazy, sociopath, psycho, schizophrenic, and a host of other buzz words to do with general unfitfulness. Take-out order is my favorite.


The more thoughtful I am about the subject the better my penmanship becomes. Hay makes me do all the holiday cards because he thinks my handwriting is pretty. I'm flattered and ungrateful at the very same time! ;)

I am teh awesome

So far I have received two “thank you, you are so awesome!” emails at work today, and it's not even noon. On a roll.

Poppy's AI Q&A

Question: How come you never post about American Idol anymore?
Answer: Because this season is crap. Okay, let me qualify: All the guys are crap. A bunch of the women are good, but it's all been done before. We know Lakisha will be voted off by mistake and that will leave someone who shouldn't win to win. The only entertaining thing so far has been that Lakisha tries to dress like Aretha Franklin but ends up looking like a lady of the night. (Sorry, but that outfit last week said “I charge $20.”)

Question: What do you think about the Antonella Barba scandal?
Answer: (This one's for Jen.) That girl does not deserve to be on the show. (Dan, I know you disagree.) Her naughty pictures are inconsequential. The only thing carrying her through so far is VotefortheWorst.com. She will receive no more of my blog time.

Question: Will you ever be reviewing the Idol performances???
Answer: For now, please go see Dan at Steel Kaleidoscpes, Rickey.org, and MJ's Idol blog. All three do incredible reviews of the performances, and I always find myself being able to articulate my thoughts through their analyses. When we get to top 12 I will likely be much more chatty about the performances. I don't have much to say about people in which I am not yet invested, if that makes any sense.

Question: Do you think Paula is drunk?
Answer: I think she is crazy, but her hair was really pretty last night!

I have found my doppelganger.

If you were curious what Poppy is like in real life, Holly Hunter's character in The Big White is based on yours truly:



...They just forgot to ask my permission to chronicle my life.

Warning: Lots of swearing is involved in that clip, and it will make you laugh so hard you pee yourself.

If I knew knitting was this cute I would have started a long time ago...

Drunk knitting? CUTEST PHOTO EVER results. Click to see Molly's CUTIE PIE daughter wearing the hat Molly knitted while she was drunk. I need to convince Hay to buy me alcohol* and some knitting needles...

Molly, if you give me permission I'll post the photo directly on this page.

Thanks, Molly!



Isn't she SO CUTE?!


*I am perfectly capable of buying my own alcohol, but I told Hay that if he wants me to be drunk he has to do the work to make it happen. :P

Give It To Me (in a better format, please)

This video deserves a remake:



Only Nelly's pieces are professional enough for this dance track. Justin and Timba are just goofing off. *sigh* I really enjoy this song and I'm sure it's hitting the top of 40, but the video sucks.

yummy to my tummy; not yummy to my tummy

I do normally chew with my mouth closed, because I was raised properly in that one respect, but I think I may have just inhaled an entire snack bag of Lay's salt & vinegar chips without bothering to chew. NUM. In case you were wondering what Poppy's all-time favorite chip flavor is, you just found out. The brand of chip is inconsequential, just keep the vinegar coming to me.

Conversely, I'm not so keen on the Godiva dark chocolate coffee drink. Believe it or not (I don't), it's too sweet. These words come from a woman who adds 3-4 teaspoons of sugar to 8 oz of coffee. I guess I don't like Belgian chocolate mixed with coffee, because my tongue loves the sweet Starbucks equivalent which is made with American-made Ghirardelli, I believe. Don't get me wrong, I loooooove Belgian chocolates, especially when I'm standing in Belgium at the time, but I think they're complex enough without adding a coffee element to distract from their unique flavor. Anyone else have a comment about this? I assure you I don't prefer American chocolate over chocolates of the world, considering my favorite chocolates are Cadbury (made in England, not the Hershey kind) and Lindt.

50

As I've mentioned before, I love Paperlilies. I can't help it, she's just amazing to me. I have been figuring out this whole Stickam thing and added her as one of my friends at which time I checked out her video section. She has a great video inspired by Endlessjoe (her staring contest opponent) about 50 things she has done in her lifetime. I can't embed it, but here's a link to the page.




That one vlog-of-sorts makes her a completely real person to me rather than the celebrity she had been before. I think I'm totally going to steal the idea and post my own 50 things video in the next few weeks. If I do I'll let you all know so you can stare at me while I tell you all the things I've done in my life that are worth telling. :)

STARVING

Through every fault of my own, all I've had today are two bars of Nature Valley granola bar and a teeny tiny bag of Ritz peanut butter crackers. I'm really hungry. Good thing I just ordered us a nice big Sicilian. Mmmmmmmmmm. :) If I have enough self control I'll take pictures of said dinner before consuming. Although, you can just trust me that it's going to look delicious.

Oh, also, I was so hungry that I stole an expired Coke from the office fridge. I then asked Hay if he thought it was okay to drink. He responded by offering me this link. Hilarious, vulgar, homophobic, and ridiculous all at the same time!


Update: Photos of my pizza are available at CheezyCatz.

“radio killed the door to my car”*

I am not sure how I feel about this, other than I'm a bit freaked out by the idea of radio frequencies knocking out devices. I knew it was possible and that it happens, but I don't like thinking about it.

QUANTICO, Virginia (AP) -- For many suburbanites, life without garage door openers is unimaginable.

But neighbors of the Marine base here have been reduced to just that after a strong radio signal coming from the facility began neutralizing remote-control openers.

Residents have had to spend hundreds of dollars on new systems.

"I feel there should be some kind of compensation," said Queen Carroll, who is in her early 70s and was forced to buy a new receiver and remote. "I am a struggling widow, if you will, and I praise the Lord I'm still here, but I am on a budget. When things like this come up totally unexpected, it is very upsetting."

Repair shops started getting a flurry of calls when the base began using the frequency in late December.

Last fall, residents around an Air Force facility in Colorado Springs saw their garage-door remotes stop working when the 21st Space Wing began testing a frequency for use during homeland security emergencies or threats. Two years ago, testing of a similar system in Fort Detrick in Maryland resulted in similar problems.

For decades, the military has held a portion of the radio spectrum, from 138 to 450 megahertz, in reserve. That part was borrowed by remote-control manufacturers, with the understanding that the signal be weak enough to be overridden by the military.

The reserve frequencies became active after the September 11, 2001, attacks, when officials discovered that first responders could not communicate with one another because they were operating radios on different frequencies.

The Defense Department is using the mothballed frequencies in a system that eventually will link military and civilian emergency responders.

"Consumer wireless devices, such as garage door openers, operate on an unlicensed basis, meaning they are required to accept any interference from licensed spectrum users, including the Department of Defense," said Lt. Brian P. Donnelly, a spokesman for the Quantico base. (CNN)

*Please, someone tell me you get the reference.

apostrophes, typing, and feeling alive

Feeling quiet this morning. No specific reason why. Perhaps I need to line up a guest poster for the day. Although, I'm scared of the submissions I would receive. :)

My apostrophe key is not functioning properly. I have to really thwack it to get it to work. I'm a light-touch typer because I type so fast I don't really have a lot of time to spend on any particular key.

Speaking of typing, how and when did you learn to type?

I've been typing since I was six years old. I used to bang away on the family typewriter, pretending I had exciting and inciteful information to communicate to the world.

When I was 9 we got our first Commodore 64 and my brother, 5 1/2 years my senior, used to force me to type programs in for him. He would read them from C64 magazines and I would just type what he said. If I didn't understand what he was saying he'd walk over, show me, then walk back across the room and continue telling me what to type. If I didn't do what he said he'd bully me into it. I generally complied, although sometimes I would object just to see what creative bullying techniques my brother would use on me, but that's a whole other story.

Skip ahead to me at age 13. I adored my brother, but he didn't spend much time with me. One day while I was at my dad's house* my brother invited me into his room and showed me the world of the BBS. That was the day that Poppy was born, the day that I suddenly felt like anyone was listening, anyone even cared. It's where I found my first boyfriend who later became one of my best friends. It's where my first unpaid job was -- as a SysOp all four years of high school. It's where I hung out from the time I got home from school until the time I went to bed. That BBS doesn't exist anymore but if I ever mention to the local geeks that I was part of it they remember it and share in the nostalgia. Even Hay logged into that bulletin board, although we didn't really connect there other than some meaningless drivel chatting that neither of us specifically remembers.

That same year I had a proper typing class in school where we learned about home row on, ironically enough, a Commodore 64. I already knew how to type by then because I had already been using typing tutor software to type faster while I chatted on the BBS. I was the bestest student in the class. :)


And I thought I was quiet this morning... Hmm.


*My parents divorced when I was 3. My brother thought he was supposed to tell my parents he wanted to live with my dad so that's what he did. I went with my mom. Each weekend we switched off going to each other's house -- every two weeks I went to my dad's house for the weekend, then every weekend when I wasn't at Dad's my brother came to Mom's house.

Okay, seriously, if you didn't already see it you need to.

Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) is cleaning UP at the Oscars this evening. The film has won Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, and Best Art Direction. Sadly, it did not win Best Foreign Language Film, which I think it deserves, but then again I didn't see the winner so what do I know. Go visit Popbytes for MK's live blogging post of the Academy Awards.

clappy hands!!!!!!!!

Hay just purchased us tickets to see Lindsey Buckingham in the not too distant future. I admit that I prefer Fleetwood Mac proper (or Stevie Nicks!!!!!!) to Lindsey himself, but I'll take what I can get. :)

Oh my flipping effing A.

Rainn Wilson is a genius. He makes SNL funny!



(Look! It's Rashida Jones/Karen!)

too smart

In the midst of a discussion of differing opinions* regarding the concept of time Hay may have mentioned that I am too smart and that perhaps he would prefer a dumb wife next time around, to which I may have recommended that he marry a certain family member related only by marriage who would fit the bill perfectly, thus making him shudder in disgust. That's what you get for saying smart(ass) stuff to your smart(minded) wife, I suppose.



*Not a fight. Because bloggers don't talk about fights with their spouses. In fact, bloggers don't even have fights with their spouses! Why is that? :)

progress

We cleaned out the car and returned it. We saw the movie. I finished Ceremony.

It's not time to eat steak yet and I'm still mulling over the sleep bit.

Speaking of the movie, if you are a Reno 911! fan then you will enjoy the movie. If you are expecting a movie version of Cops then you're going to be super embarrassed and confused by all the jokes, like the old couple sitting next to us with a stunned expression on their face through the entire movie. I sure hope there are more Reno movies to come...

If you're a cat person or a Bdogg person please go read this post and leave B a comment. Thanks.

Today is the day to...

...finally clean out the old car and drop it off at the dealership. (It was nice having 3 cars for a month...)

...go see Reno! 911 Miami.

...catch up on my sleep.

...finish Ceremony.

...eat steak.


And for you?

About being chatty

I can't help it, I have a lot of things to say that I don't think of, or don't know I have to say, all at once. If I don't write them down in my blog they spin around in my head like an unfinished task and I obsess about them. That's why I post so much in any given day, thus diluting my potential comment pool. I am certainly jealous of all the bloggers who get a great comment session going, but I would rather be OCD about clicking on the [Check Mail] button for new comments than about all the random events that happen to me, so here's another one that relates to chattiness.

A few weeks back I mentioned that Hay and I were going out to test drive cars. What I never mentioned after that is that we decided on a car that very same day and picked it up the Monday following. Totally by chance my father had been in talks with a car dealership in a more southernly county to purchase the exact same vehicle as ours. When we showed him our vehicle he wanted the exact same color as ours. And, since we really enjoyed our salesperson we convinced my dad to use the exact same dealership as ours. This probably wouldn't be quite so weird except my dad is our next door neighbor. So, Poppyland has two of the exact same car, with license plates that are almost identical.

In today's mail we received a letter:



We have a $50 gift card to go out to dinner. Yip! Perhaps after we see Reno 911!: Miami? :)

Pilated woodpecker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He's BAAAAAAAaaaaack! Woohoo!



Please recall that the post he's hanging out on is normally 5 feet tall when the snow is gone, so he's over a foot tall.

See him hanging with the bluejays at flickr.

bookses 2

Found this over at Tense Teacher and thought I'd play along with a twist...

Look at the list of books below.
* Bold the ones you’ve read.
* Italicize the ones you want to read.
* Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.
* If you are reading this, tag, you’re it!

Poppy's additions:
* Underline the books whose movie version you've seen.
* No pressure on the tagging.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien) (cartoon version)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible (although not all the way through)
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith) (top fiver)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

“The geese made me do it.”

Geese are always getting a bad rap!

This is why my future children will never be left alone with certain members of my family:

CENTENNIAL, Colorado (AP) -- A 53-year-old woman who claimed she received spiritual messages from geese before allegedly stabbing her toddler granddaughter to death was found not guilty by reason of insanity Friday.

A judge ordered Carol Lynn Pappas committed to the state mental health hospital, where officials will decide "when and if she will ever be released," said Kathleen Walsh, spokeswoman for the district attorney.

She faced life in prison if convicted.

Authorities said Pappas called 911 from her son's home October 29, 2005, and said, "I flipped ... the baby was crying and I couldn't handle it."

When police arrived, they found Pappas holding a phone. Both her hands were stained with blood, and an 8-inch knife was found near the body of 21-month-old Madison Pappas.

Madison had been stabbed numerous times.

Authorities said Pappas had told her son she had been receiving spiritual advice from geese flying over his house, where she was living.

Court records showed she had been admitted to hospitals for psychiatric care at least six times in 2005, including six weeks before the slaying. (CNN)

That is effed UP.

mulling it over

Anyone planning on going to BlogHer? It's July 27-28 in Chicago. I'm up for a windy city visit, I think... assuming I wasn't added to the no-fly list.

NSFW Harry Potter NSFW

Really. Not safe for work. Honestly. You really shouldn't click the link below without understanding that nakedness will appear on your screen.

Click here to see Daniel Radcliffe's full frontal nudity promo shot for EQUUS.

In case you didn't catch on yet, that link is NSFW.

And, Daniel is 17. Just so ya know.

(Please don't tell me I didn't warn you. Cuz I did.)

Reno 911!: Miami

Hay and I have every intention of going to the theater to see this tomorrow Sunday*:




*I forgot about something Hay has to do tomorrow. :( But, we will go on Sunday!

Pop(py) quiz

What is the name of the drinking game that was played on last night's Cocktails episode of The Office? Anyone?

Oh, man, I just tried to find the answer on my own and read the rumor at GMMR that we won't see another new Office episode for six weeks. I've had entire relationships that lasted less than that! Not many, but some! C'mon!

Favorite moments of last night...
Jan: “That's what she said.”
Roy: “I'm going to kill Jim Halpert!”
Karen: “I'm a slut.” (okay, so that one's paraphrased)

bookses

Found at Avi's:

Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror?
Horror best, then sci-fi. Fantasy is better in movie form for me.

Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?
I really don't care. I just wanna read, man!

Amazon or Brick and Mortar?
Amazon.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?
B&N for fiction and because of the Starbucks attached, Borders for foreign language and non-fiction.

Hitchhiker or Discworld?
Hitchhiker (book 1) is my bible.

Bookmark or Dogear?
I do a variety.

Asimov’s Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction?
Hmm. I guess Asimov.

Alphabetize by author, Alphabetize by title, or random?
Sorted by category, then by author, then by size.

Keep, Throw Away or Sell?
Keep!!!!!!

Keep dust-jacket or toss it?
Keep!

Read with dustjacket or remove it?
I take it off while I read the book then I put it back on when I shelf it.

Short story or novel?
I love novels and short stories, but I can only read short stories when they're in collections. By themselves, they don't give enough satisfaction. [Avi's answer preserved.]

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
Harry.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Stop reading when I fall asleep.

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time?"
Dark and stormy, that's my style.

Buy or Borrow?
I do both. I have a membership to the library right next to my office building so I'll borrow or wait for a book to be gifted to me a fair amount of the time but will buy when I can't find a copy to borrow or need to add it to a collection.

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?
Recommendations.

Lewis or Tolkien?
I'm not qualified to answer that. I've only read Tolkien lately, and read LWW when I was in 5th grade but don't remember it at all. I did see the movie version of LWW but I'm not answering this question based on my recollection of a movie. That's not fair to the authors.

Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)?
Collections.

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?
Cliffhangers are fine as long as the last book in the series is published already (which means I wait until the series concludes to start reading the books) and ends tidily. :)

Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?
I prefer evening and beddtime reading.

Standalone or Series?
Series for most things. I enjoy true crime in standalone form.

New or used?
I prefer new because I am a germophobe, but I'll borrow and buy books at rummage sales and then wash my hands after I put down the books.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole is the book I thought no one had heard of but it was almost made into a movie starring Drew Barrymore, so someone's definitely heard of it...

Top 5 favorite genre books of all time?
I can't answer this.

Favorite genre series?
I guess I'm not familiar with exactly what this means. I like really violent books with a good side story of lusty affair-type behavior, but I won't read trashy romance novels so I'll go for the Grant County series by Karin Slaughter.

Currently Reading?
Ceremony by Robert Parker (thanks, Avi!)
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks (thanks, ACW!)

good deeds

So far today:

1. I pretended that I didn't know that my client had moved her mail folder to a different portion of her hard drive, thus causing her mail program to forget about its account settings, (evil POP) mailboxes, and address book. I just smiled politely and moved the files back to the correct directory while I said, “good thing this backup of your mail settings is on the drive!” I have helped many other Mac users who have done housekeeping on their drives and who inadvertantly removed core operating system files, program settings, and data. It's their fault, but they never accept the blame so why bother to verbalize the blame? There are subtle ways to scold people that are much more effective than being blunt.
   
   
2. I saw someone on the floor trying to wrestle a bag of garden salsa Sun Chips that were trapped almost at the bottom of the vending machine. I paid for a packet of Pop-Tarts and another bag of Sun Chips to force the original bag to come loose. I told the wary vendee to keep all the food, all I wanted was a water from the machine next to it, then I bought myself a water. She asked me why I did all that. I smiled and told her “because I'm a nice person”* then I walked away.
   
   
3. I pressed No instead of Yes when the person in front of me at the ATM forgot to respond to the “Do want another transaction?” question. (I could have wiped out his account...) I then mistakenly hit Français as my language of choice for my ATM transaction and had fun hurriedly reading the screens while the person behind me acted impatient. I would have enjoyed more time to explore my comprehension of Business French, but oh well.

*Damn you, Avi, you're always right.

New career

I've decided I would like to be a Playboy bunny. Not a playmate, a bunny. I want to walk around in a bunny costume with a big, puffy tail on the back.

(Yes, I'm watching The Girls Next Door for breakfast.)

Edit: Apparently there is some “confusion” (bunny ears!) about which type of bunny I mean, so I'm posting a photo of Deanna Brooks in her gear.

Toast over IM

Hay: Can I interest you in some cold toast?
Poppy: Probably not. Why do you ask?
Hay: I have some!
Poppy: Why?
Hay: I made toast and then got stuck talking to folks.
Poppy: You know we're not in the same building, right? Not even in the same town?
Hay: Eh? ... I could save some for you!
Poppy: Thanks? ... This conversation is so random it deserves to be on the blog.

Thin building material

OCONOMOWOC, Wisconsin (AP) -- A man says he broke into an apartment with a cavalry sword because he thought he heard a woman being raped, but the sound actually was from a pornographic movie his upstairs neighbor was watching.

"Now I feel stupid," said James Van Iveren, who has been charged in the case. "This really is nothing, nothing but a mistake."

According to a criminal complaint, the neighbor told police that Van Iveren pounded on the door and kicked it open without warning February 12, damaging the frame and lock.

"Where is she?" Van Iveren demanded, thrusting the sword at the neighbor, the complaint said. "Where is she?"

The neighbor told police Van Iveren became increasingly aggressive as he repeated the question, insisting that he had heard a woman being raped. The complaint said that, with the sword pointed at him, the neighbor led Van Iveren throughout the apartment, opening closet doors to prove he was alone.

The neighbor later played for police the part of the DVD he believed Van Iveren heard downstairs.

Van Iveren, 39, of Oconomowoc, was charged with criminal trespass, criminal damage and disorderly conduct, all while using a dangerous weapon, and is scheduled to appear in court March 5. Together, the misdemeanor counts carry a maximum sentence of 33 months in jail.

Van Iveren said Tuesday that he heard a woman "screaming for help," grabbed the sword, bounded up the stairs, kicked in the apartment door and confronted the man who lived there.

"I intended to hold it behind my back and knock. But I froze and instead, what happened happened," he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Contesting his neighbor's account, Van Iveren said he didn't look anywhere in the apartment except the front room, and that he never threatened the neighbor with the sword.

"I had the sword extended, but that was all," he said.

Van Iveren, who lives with his mother in the downstairs apartment, said he did not call police when he heard the noises because he does not have a telephone. He said he barely knew the upstairs tenant.

Police seized Van Iveren's sword, which he said was a family heirloom. (CNN)

I can scream my head off at home (for whatever purpose) and no one hears me. Or, maybe they hear me but they don't bother to check. I appreciate that this guy wanted to help out what he thought was a woman in distress. I think the circumstances are odd, but I feel bad that he might get jail time just for trying to help somebody out.

Edit: This is precisely why I'd rather have a man break into my home with a family heirloom sword to save me even though I was just watching a porno vs. ignoring my pleas for help when I'm being held hostage. Thanks for sharing that, Molly, and for being annoyed enough to call the cops.

Britney (not really) on Letterman last night

I'm not talking about Britney. I'm just offering you a great comedy clip:



:)

Sarcastic? Moi? :D

I have no idea how much of my sarcasm comes across on my blog. I'll let you know that I am very sarcastic in real life, pretty much because I think people say a lot of stupid stuff out loud and I must mock it in a witty way. My officemate has told me more than once that he can never tell when I'm kidding because I have a super dry British (my heritage!) sarcasm about me. Here's how I rate:

You Have Your Sarcastic Moments

While you're not sarcastic at all times, you definitely have a cynical edge. In your opinion, not all people are annoying. Some are dead! And although you do have your genuine moments, you can't help getting your zingers in. Some people might be a little hurt by your sarcasm, but it's more likely they think you're hilarious.

How Sarcastic Are You?

Do you agree with this assessment based on my blog personality?

What did you get when you took the quiz?

Thanks to my girl sourpuss who deserves a much higher sarcasm rating than she got. :)

Unix, Inix, Wuinix

I would seriously like to kill -9 the rest of this day. I need a nap.

Totally on a tangent: I've worn Old Spice deodorant since October and I absolutely love it. Randomly, out of the blue, totally unexpectedly, today my deodorant decided to react with my body to smell like the scent of an ex-boyfriend who I dated 15 years ago. I associate life experiences with scent, so I am having a bunch of flashbacks of our time together. I didn't enjoy dating him, but I did enjoy his scent. Does anybody else bind situations to scents? Is that normal?

Administrivia

Gecko is a self-proclaimed lame duck this week as he transitions from one job that is laying him off to a new venture starting Monday. He has nothing to do. Please visit his comments or mine and leave him suggestions for fun web stuff to do. Thanks, everyone!

Congratulations to B and DH who finally moved to their - new - home! B, we need to chat!!! :)

I have a full work schedule today, perhaps stealing some time late this afternoon. If anything exciting happens in the world please leave me an email or comment and I'll get back to you when I'm back in the virtual office. *beep!* (BTW/FYI/SYN: Britney does not count as exciting news. So, please don't bother. However? Christina Aguilera possibly being pregnant is. Congrats to X and Brat!)

AI's top guy of the night

Blake Lewis's rendition of Keane's Somewhere Only We Know made my all giddy. I absolutely melt every time I hear that song, and this was no exception. I really don't want to like him, but he was smart by not doing the beatbox stuff tonight. Don't get me wrong, the beatbox stuff is entertaining, but as he pointed out this is a singing competition. So, singing is a good thing. Please don't listen to Randy and do the beatbox every week.

And for my swooning pleasure, the Keane version:



Update: Rickey always comes through with Idol video. To see and hear Blake perform Somewhere Only We Know go here.

a fraction of

How come there isn't HTML code that takes two numbers and fractions them? I can make a 1/2 fraction (½), a 1/4 fraction (¼), and a 3/4 fraction (¾) but that's it.

If I try to make a 2/3 fraction? ⅔ <-- See? Doesn't work! Should work logically, but doesn't.

What's up with that? (Does anybody say “What's up with that?” anymore, or is it just me?)

Update: Spencer is a genius. sup and sub do the trick! See? ²/₃ Very cool! He definitely gets the Thinking Outside the Box award. :)

I might as well flaunt it

Yesterday my blog received an extra 100 hits because I have mentioned Karen Corr in the past.



In my original posts I didn't mention anything about her being naked, a lesbian, or having breasts of any sort, yet those combinations have been the most searched keyword sets on my blog since August 13, 2005.

I wondered “aloud” about this to Avi. He pointed out to me that my blog is #2 on Google for keyword search karen corr naked:



You don't want to know what #3 is. Well, maybe you do but I'm not promoting it here so you go do your own googling. ;)

To those of you who find my blog via that search: I appreciate your traffic, but what you're looking for is not here.

Update: Everyone seems scared of Karen Corr, so I'll explain. She is a professional billiards player from Ireland. She is not, I repeat not, a porn star or playmate or anything racy. I'm very amused by all your comments, though. :)

Just call me ‘Rambling Rose’

Have you ever had a conversation with me? Do you notice how many tangents I go on? I swear I have conversation ADD. I guess I haven't done enough puzzles to stave off the Alzheimer's.

New footage of the JFK motorcade submitted

A Dallas museum has acquired 40-year-old footage of the motorcade on the fateful date in 1963 when JFK was killed by a first (or second) shooter.

Mo-nop-o-ly

XM and Sirius are trying to merge. It's been talked about for a long time, years even, but now it's being made official-er. Unless we, the people, have something to say about it. Even then it'll probably go through.

This sh!t is bananas

I've converted to relying on Bloglines to tell me when there are updates to my 30 favoritest blogs. Today none of the feeds are working for me, so it's as if no one is posting. I spot checked a few of the blogs I know update daily and they all have updates. Gah!!!!!!! Now I am forced to actually show up to blogs without knowing if they're updated or not! Annoying! It's like arriving to someone's house unannounced! ... Okay, not really, but I think you get my point.

Update: I read on Avi's blog that Blogger beta is the villain, so I am resubscribing to allllllll the blogs. Ugh.

Headline of the future: George W. Bush kills Prince Harry of Wales

I know it's not inevitable, but I have a very bad feeling about Harry going to Iraq.

Reminder:

I've posted the winners of the Poppy awards. Please peruse. Thank you!

Blogging phoenix

Is it just me, or have blogs gotten really good lately? I've found some pretty amazing blogs lately, with some extremely witty bloggers behind them. I am liking this scene!

A few examples*:

• Molly, who I've already superlatived for overall awesome blog
  
• Tense Teacher, who does the job I always wanted to do (grade papers) but hates it in a very amusing way
  
• The Other Girl, who is in mid-name-change and sports a melon on her head
  
• Spencer Patton, who is a world-cultured student (hola!) wishing to own a car for the fine New England weather to rust out in about 6 months

Two of those are newlybloggers, while one has been blogging a bit over a year and one is in [Version 2.0], a truly phoenixed blogger himself. The rest of us are becoming relics! Ack! Well, not ack. I'll happily move aside so some other whippersnappers can add some fresh content to the Internetses. I don't mind one bit.

*In case you were wondering why the list is mostly alphabetical: Those blogs are listed in the order that I found them, not in alphabetical order.

General Tso's Tofu

Thanks to Slashfood for the recipe which I modified in the following ways: tofu replaces chicken; no egg used for the tofu coating; added only 1 tsp red pepper; mixed 4 Tbsp water with 1 tsp corn starch and 2 Tbsp brown sugar to add sweetness and extra thickness to the sauce.




The white rice is jasmati. The fried rice is jasmati, Kikkoman spice packet, bacon, sweet onion, and egg (directions from the Kikkoman package).

And, since I didn't use chicken in the recipe, here's a bit of chicken for your viewing pleasure:



Ahhh, I love that show...

Jam or Jaren? Time to choose!

Choose sides at Zulkey. I'm going for Pam. :)

Thanks to OfficeTally for introducing me to this product.

Shut UP! *SHOVE*

LisaNova of YouTube fame has been cast on MADtv (as Lisa Donovan)! Nice job, Lisa!



Her first appearance on the show was last night.

unbinding

Yesterday was the first day I had no cheese whatsoever since I started keeping track on January 21. When I say I eat some form of cheese almost every day I mean it.

Way TMI

Found this over at The Mistress Lounge and thought I'd play along.

* I am shorter than 5’5”: Yes, I am 5'4".

* I have many scars: I have a scar on my stomach from exploratory surgery for what turned out to be a polyp, a scar just below my navel and two dot scars a bit below that from another surgery for what turned out to be pain caused by scar tissue from the first surgery, a scar on my knee from falling off my bike as a kid, and a burn scar on my right arm from accidentally lighting myself on fire while making tea at age 10.

* I tan easily: I lobster easily.

* I wish my hair was a different color: I think it's a bit mousy now that I know what it looks like when I have highlights in it.

* I have friends who have never seen my natural hair color: Considering I have friends who have never seen me at all, I'll answer yes to this.

* I’ve had braces: Yes, just recently!

* I wear glasses or contacts: Yes, I wear glasses. I wore contacts in college but they damaged my eyes and now I quite enjoy having the shield of glasses over my eyes.

* I’ve been told I’m attractive by a complete stranger: Probably. I've certainly been approached by complete strangers.

* I have freckles: Yep.

* I’ve fallen asleep at work or school: No.

* I failed more than 1 class: I failed organic chemistry even though I tried real hard, then got really depressed and failed physics the same semester. That's when I knew it was time to switch from pre-vet to français...

* I’ve been fired: Not yet, although I try real hard some days.

* Disney movies still make me cry: It depends how close to my period I am.

* I’ve laughed so hard I’ve cried: Often. And lately.

* I’ve glued my hand to something: I've glued my fingers together with Krazy Glue on purpose. For the life experience.

* I’ve laughed till some kind of beverage came out of my nose: Milk!

* I’ve had my pants rip/drop in public: No, but I've had something far more embarrassing happen with my pants.

* I’ve had my tonsils removed: Nope.

* I’ve sat in a doctor's office with a friend: With Hay, but only while we have been a couple.

* I’ve had my wisdom teeth removed: Yes. I ate ice cream and threw up all over the floor from the anaesthesia. Nothing bad happened to me otherwise and I stopped taking the pain meds that same night.

* I had a serious surgery: Yes, see the scars section above.

* I’ve had chicken pox: No one is aware of me ever having them but in 2000 my primary doctor did a blood test and told me I've had them already.

* I’ve gotten lost in my city: I've lived in this area my entire life. I may not know exactly where I am sometimes, but if I drive for any length of time I recognize a landmark eventually.

* I’ve seen a shooting star: Many. Our sky is gorgeous at night.

* I’ve wished on a shooting star: Often. The wishes never come true, but I keep doing it anyway.

* I’ve gone out in public in my pajamas: To the hospital for surgery.

* I’ve pushed all the buttons on an elevator: Only when there have been a few buttons, never when there are more than 10.

* I’ve been to a casino: Yes, and didn't enjoy it aside from the company. (Hay was with me.)

* I’ve been skydiving: No.

* I drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour: I wouldn't be here to tell you about it.

* I’ve been in a car crash: Many, and none of them have ever been my fault. Haven't been in one lately, thankfully.

* I’ve caught a snowflake on my tongue: Tons of them!

* I’ve sat on a roof top at night: Not at night.

* I’ve played chicken: No.

* I’ve played a prank on someone: When I worked for the same employer as Hay everyone used to prank each other constantly. Now I just mess with my officemates' desk toys.

* I’ve seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show: With my mom! And then with my effing hot college roommate with whom I shared benefits.

* I’ve eaten Sushi: Yes. I prefer vegetarian sushi. I'm not a fish person.

* I’ve been snowboarding: No. I used to date a guy whose sister was a pro snowboarder.

* I’ve had a crush on a teacher: Holy crap, I even had a dream of the guy having sex with me while he recited poetry. Oh, and then there was the matter of my security conference instructor. That was a really pleasant week. :)

* I’ve hugged a stranger: I've attended AA and Alanon meetings. Of course I've hugged strangers.

* I own over 5 rap CDs: Yes.

* I own multiple designer pants and shirts, costing over $100 piece: No, clothing is seriously not important to me.

* I own something from Hot Topic: No.

* I own something from Pac Sun: No.

* I own something from The Gap: Yes, but nothing new.

* I own something from Abercrombie: No.

* I can sing well: Yes.

* I’ve stolen a tray from a fast food restaurant: No.

* I open up to others easily: Next question!

* I watch the news: I read my news on the Internetses while I watch trash TV. Does that count?

* I don’t kill bugs: That is a true statement as often as possible. I feel super bad when I do kill a bug, so I try to save as many as possible or make the furry kids kill the bugs.

* I sing in the shower: I do.

* I am a morning person: If by morning you mean 11:00am, then -- yes, yes I am.

* I am a sports fanatic: It depends on the sport and if I am surrounded by other sports fans.

* I twirl my hair: Occasionally.

* I’ve copied more than 30 CDs in a day: For business purposes, during the Blaster worm incident. Gosh, that was fun.

* I bake well: I bake some things very well, but other things not so well. I'm better at cooking than baking.

* My favorite color is either white, yellow, pink, red or blue: Pink and blue are favorites to wear, but green is my favoritest color.

* I sometimes wear pajamas to school: I don’t.

* I like Martha Stewart: I'm not opposed.

* I know how to shoot a gun: I've never done it, but intellectually I understand the concept.

* I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS: No.

* I laugh at my own jokes: All the freaking time.

* I am really ticklish: Depends where you try to tickle me.

* I love chocolate: Yes, yes I do.

* I bite my nails: Not since I was a tween and my dad mentioned the dirty toilet germs that were under my fingernails. Thanks, Dad!

* I play video games: No. They make me scream obscenities and I lose interest after 2 minutes. Wasted on me. I do appreciate the classics, though.

* I’m good at remembering faces: Freakishly good.

* I’m good at remembering names: Freakishly good.

* I’m good at remembering dates: No. But, numbers: Yes.

* I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life: That's not entirely accurate, I'm just not doing what I want to be doing.

* My answers are totally honest: Yes.

Chickens running across my melons?!

Another recall to do with Salmonella!

Dole has issued a recall on cartons of cantaloupes in the Eastern US and Quebec, Canada, after discovering the fruit tested positive for salmonella. Approximately 6000 cartons of the Costa Rican-grown fruit were distributed to wholesalers between the dates of February 5th though 8th, though no reports of illness have yet come in.

Though I don't know how this will help those that bought individual cantaloupes, the cartons they were packaged in were dark brown with red lettering and have a 13-digit number on them with the tenth digit of 2. If you think you may have purchased some, you can contact the store where you got them, or Dole directly at 1-800-232-8888.

Though a salmonella infection can be fatal, the most common symptoms are diarrhea, fever, dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting. (Slashfood)

It's getting tougher for me to dare to eat raw food lately...

And the goes to...

The first, and likely only annual Poppy awards. Let's get to the winners, shall we? Sometimes there was a tie in a category. Ties happen! Even untying happens! ;)

Best Anonymous Blog - AnonymousCoworker
Best Blog Design - Attu Sees All
Best Blog Written by Someone with the Same Name as Me - Stefanie Says ; Poppy Talk
Best Entertainment Blog Whose Keeper Knows Me by Name - Popbytes (hi, MK!) ; CityRag (hello, city!)
Best Food and Drink Blog - Slashfood
Best Movie Reviews - potatoes in the mist
Best Music Reviews - Maliavale
Best Overall Concept Blog - PostSecret ; Nerd's Eye View
Best Photos - Nabbalicious ; Look At Me. I'm So Important That I Have a Blog.
Best Post About Cats - keeping the whites whiter by The Adventures of Don Vito & Sophia
Best Recipes - potatoes in the mist ; i like to cook
Best Team Blog - The Churning ; CheezyCatz
Best Television Blog - Give Me My Remote
Best “The Office” Concept Blog - “That's What She Said”
Best “The Office” Overall Blog - OfficeTally
Best True Story - The Story of J by Kim's Notebook ; The Time I Killed Valentine's Day by Diamond Lil
Best Use of Cheese - Cheesaholics Anonymous
Best Use of Profanity in a Blog Post - AnonymousCoworker for Two commercials I hate
Best Zombie Posts - AnonymousCoworker
Blog with the Best Incorporation of Fruit in Its Title - Lemon Parade
Blogger I'm Most Likely Related To - Avi, Avitable-isms
Craziest Mofo - Avi
Cutest Kid Picture - furry: Jumping the Bandwagon ; human: to thine own self be true
Grammar and Spelling Award - Stefanie Says
Greatest Blogger from Columbus, Ohio - Gecko Rock
Guiltiest Blog Pleasure - Lucky Pink
Laziest Blogger - Diamond Lil (by request)
Most Feral Cat Posts in a Single Blog - LizLand
Overall Awesome Blog - Somewhat Malcontent
Post with the Most Toast - Could I get some support here? by sourpuss ; won't you be my neighbor? by *golden state*
Untitled Category Because Poppy Wanted to Award a Poppy Award - Ocean of Reality


Congratulations to all the winners! If you would like a Poppy Award icon for your blog please email me (see my profile)* and I'll send you a customized award. Don't feel obligated to do anything with it.


*Apparently “new blogger” doesn't show email in the profile. Or IM. Or or or. Sooooo, here's the goods:

EDIT: I have started receiving a lot of spam since posting my address so I've removed it. If you need to contact me please leave me a comment on how to reach you and I'll do that instead.

Note to self:

You are gullible, easily persuaded, and don't say “no!” enough. That is why you were over an hour late arriving home tonight, why your back and leg are flared up, and why you are completely exhausted. Let's try to grow a backbone over the weekend, shall we?

Now, go eat some damn ice cream and watch some trash TV to rejuvenate. Don't make me tell you twice.

1000 dogs and cats killed because of shelter error

If my officemate were not here right now I'd be sobbing.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- An outbreak of contagious diseases at a shelter where officials admit they kept animals for too long without destroying them has forced the killing of about 1,000 dogs and cats, officials said.

Visiting inspectors from The Humane Society of the United States discovered the outbreak of the diseases -- distemper and Parvovirus in dogs and panleukopenia in cats -- Lied Animal Shelter spokesman Mark Fierro said.

"We caused the animals pain, and that is something we are committed will never happen in our shelter again," said Janie Greenspun Gale, board chairwoman for the Animal Foundation, which operates the Lied Animal Shelter, according to KTNV News in Las Vegas.

During a Thursday news conference, a tearful Greenspun Gale acknowledged that the shelter hadn't followed Humane Society policies, and though the animals were immunized, "we were using the wrong immunizations," KTNV reported.

The shelter staff didn't want to euthanize the animals simply because they'd been there too long or because the shelter needed more space, Greenspun Gale said, but the misguided effort backfired. Humane Society officials said as much when they visited the shelter.

"Instead of congratulating us for trying to save lives, instead of telling us how wonderful we were that we didn't want to put animals down for time and space, they told us we were causing animals to suffer," Greenspun Gale said, according to KTNV.

The mass culling, which began February 9, is believed to be the largest in the city's history and has prompted shelter officials to change their methods of caring for animals.

Animal rights activists said they were outraged by the killings.

"It's unforgivable in light of the fact that it was absolutely preventable," said Holly Stoberski, legal counsel for Heaven Can Wait Sanctuary, a group that has worked with Lied to find homes for impounded animals.

"They were not properly vaccinating the dogs and cats in a timely manner."

Shelter officials vowed to adopt new policies when it reopens Friday, including euthanizing animals after 72 hours at the shelter -- as the Humane Society recommends -- and improving conditions for the animals, including vaccinating them when they arrive.

Not all of the 1,000 animals were infected. Some were put down because they had gone unadopted for more than 120 days and were contributing to overcrowding that Humane Society officials said helped spread the diseases.

Lied Animal Shelter officials have said they did not realize animals were infected until the Humane Society team noticed animals with intestinal and respiratory problems.

The foundation contracts with Clark County and the cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas to handle abandoned, neglected and stray animals at Lied. The shelter annually adopts more than 7,000 dogs, cats, rabbits, gerbils, guinea pigs and other animals. (CNN)

It it just the worst thing to me that this situation was preventable. I can't even go through the process of thinking this all the way through because it hurts me too much. I am heartbroken...

YaaaaaaaaaY!!!

Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 15:19:03 -0500
From: CNN Breaking News
Reply-To: newseditor@MAIL.CNN.COM
To: TEXTBREAKINGNEWS@CNNIMAIL12.CNN.COM
Subject: CNN Breaking News

-- The House of Representatives passes a non-binding resolution rejecting President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq.

The vote: 246-182. More info here.

Cheyenne cheating on Van with JT

I know I'm the only one who watches the show Reba so this isn't exciting to anyone else, but I was very surprised to read that Justin Timberlake hooked up with JoAnna Garcia who plays Reba's daughter Cheyenne on the recently cancelled sitcom. Très intéressant...

Part 1 of the two-part series finale of Reba airs this Sunday at 7:00pm Eastern/Pacific on The CW. Part 2 is at 7:30pm.

Image: Tri Delta (who knows where they got it from...)

Reminder: Nominations by 11:59pm Eastern Friday

Last call, boozers!

If you want to try to sway me on a Poppy awards category then don't forget to leave a comment with your suggestions. Stef has been campaigning hard for a particular category that I had considered dropping due to previous lack of interest. You could do the same for another category. :) The categories still up for grabs through the last minute of February 16 are listed here.

Good luck, everyone!

Chickens running through the peanut farm

I saw this on the news this morning as I was watching the number of schools closed for no good reason (the schools are closed for a very good reason; I was watching for no good reason) but I just saw it on Slashfood and thought it might be nice of me to share:

FDA issues salmonella warning for peanut butter

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just issued a salmonella warning for some batches of Peter Pan peanut butter after linking more than 280 cases of food poisoning in 39 different states to the product. Con Agra, the manufacturer of the peanut butter, has already called for a recall, but unlike with the fresh veggies that were affected by an E. coli contamination last fall, the long shelf-life of peanut butter means that people who fail to check their jars at home could face problems at a later time. Fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps are common effects, but for those with autoimmune disorders or other serious medical conditions, salmonella infections can be life threatening.

All of the peanut butters in question are under the brand names "Peter Pan" and "Great Value" and bear the number 2111 at the beginning of the product code on the lid. They were all made at a single factory in Georgia. The first consumer that was affected by the peanut butter-borne salmonella became ill in August of 2006, so if you bought your peanut butter (assuming it's Peter Pan brand) around that time, or even a bit before, it is wise to throw it out and start with something fresh.

I wonder if we're just doing a better job of reporting illness and locating its source. I can't believe we didn't get sick from all of these foods before. It's only natural!

The last snow post

My employer closed its doors yesterday afternoon and won't open until tomorrow morning. If you ask anyone locally they'll tell you they don't ever remember my employer being closed. If you dig through the records you'll find that they did close about 20 years ago (although I thought it was 33 years ago, winter of the year I was born) for a blizzard. The roads are still impassible, there is risk of avalanches, high winds, and we are still on emergency weather status. Everyone is still digging out their own homes, and we don't much care about the rest of the world right now.

Front yard: Hay is 6' tall. That front lilac on the left is almost as tall as I am (5' to 5' 4").

Back yard: The bird feeder post is 5' tall, the peach tree directly behind is 4' tall, the crabapples in the background and our deck to the left are 8' tall.

Idol saves another career; TRL cancelled?

I saw Robyn Troup on Ellen last week performing with the other two hopefuls in a competition to take the stage with Justin Timberlake at the Grammys (“My Grammy Moment”). Robyn won that competition so her name has been kinda everywhere. Here's her performance with JT directly after Jennifer Hudson announced her as the winner of the competition:



Last night during group performances on AI I watched Robyn be cut by Paula, Randy, and Simon. Granted, there were something like 3 women to every one man so the judges had a lot of lady cuttin' to do, but I'm always a bit of a conspiracy theorist on things like this and wonder if Idol cut her because this other opportunity came up for Robyn after she already got her golden ticket, or if Robyn's performance just wasn't up to par with the other ladies who made it through group night.

Seems like the biggest stars of Idol are the ones who get cut. (I am not a fan of Kelly Clarkson. I can't do it. She freaks me out visually and I just don't think that her vocals are that interesting.)


Totally unrelated: I just read over at I'm Not Obsessed that Jossip scooped the cancellation of MTV's TRL. I didn't think that show could ever be cancelled. What will MTV do now?! Oh. Right. More episodes of My Supah Dupah Nexted RW/RR Cribs Challenge.

Snow mobiles, snow plows, snow blowers, shovels, roof rakes, and screaming*

Those are the sounds I've heard all day. ALL day. We have broken every record there is to break to do with snow and precipitation in general. I'm exhausted from raking the roofs, wiping off bird feeders, and putting out food for wildlife. These tasks really don't take so much effort, but the trudging through more than 2 feet of snow does. It's up to my knees in the low part. Our porch stairs have been swallowed. Our Adirondack chairs are irrecognizable. Our fenced in garden is missing and the 7-ft tall arbor that serves as its entrance looks stubby because so much of it is underneath the snow. The weather service claimed the snow would continue through 7am tomorrow, but now have revised their statement to end at 8pm tonight. I sure hope they got it right this time. Even living in a place where we expect this much snow we're not doing so hot at dealing with it.




*The screaming people are trying to talk over all of the snow equipment, although I could have sworn I heard someone crying for help a few minutes ago. When I listened longer I realized it was just someone trying to talk to another person outside.

I fought the snow and the snow won(s).

Our state is closed due to too much snow and a big old blizzard. I'm glad we stocked up on chocolate, milk, and pizza last night!




Happy Valentime's Day!

Holy crap!

Fat-free* potato chips that you make yourself in your own microwave!

Before:

After:

Poppy wants this.

*Potatoes are a fat-free food.