Good Job, Dad!

Venom did her own nails. She needed to dress up a little for Girls' Night Out. I was out of town, so Danjo the Magnificent took herl shopping. She wasn't sure about shopping with dad, but she may insist on it from now on.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

Let's start with bad and ugly. My little black dog was following this fellow around the patio tonight. In defense of the dog, and the trauma and expense a sting would have cost us, and for your entertainment, I found a nearby shoe and squished it. The other insects take care of the rest, apparently. But not before I found my camera and a ruler, for scale. I know you appreciate my photography. :-)

This one is the good--a clean puppy.
This was a surprise. Banana at sunrise? Venom has borrowed my camera again.
More good, or maybe bad. They both look too happy, given what must soon occur.
More bad. Naughty puppy. Mischievous puppy. First destroy homework, now trying to "help" with homework.
She is fun. If you know someone who needs a puppy...

Yesterday while on Vacation

Yes, those are eggs. Fresh, beautiful eggs. From happy, free-range chickens who live on a farm. Don't they make you want to live on a farm? Or at least buy your eggs from happy, free-range chickens?

This last one is looking out the window of the best plane ride ever. All by my myself (except for the sleeping lady and the cardiologist and the other people filling every one of the seats on the plane, most of them strangers) with a great view of a two-hour sunset, a good book to finish (and another great book to start, if needed), my macbook (I was going to journal in my journal but I lost my one-and-only pen in my bag someplace and had to use my laptop instead. This was not disappointing.), and an awesome, planeworthy, relevant-to-real-life episode of Doctor Who. It would have been the perfect plane ride if not for the yummy but poorly timed expresso. Lesson: Think twice before accepting things from people you meet in airports who keep their money in ziploc bags, no matter how glad you are to see them.

The wordless post

Trying to Take over the World

My thoughts:

Bunnies are quiet

Bunnies are controlling

Bunnies may be affectionate

Bunnies do not obey

Photos from the Forest

That's an angry Ent

Do Not Eat

I am not at home

Do Not Eat

Robin Hood and his Merry Men must be here somewhere...

Not about sidewalks

For the young Adventurers: I saw our neighborhood and your schools from the airplane. I also saw a mountain of clouds that looked like it was covered in cobwebs.

There were lots of clouds. I like being above them. 33000 feet up in a plane is good for some perspective. There's lots of variety in clouds. Also in the landscape you can see from a plane. I like window seats. It is okay if people think I'm crazy for taking pictures out the window of the plane, like I've never seen clouds from the top before. I've never seen THESE clouds from the top before.

This is the first picture I took of Chicago. I was enjoying being alone. My sister did not pick me up in a limousine, but I was really glad to see her anyway.

These are the rabbits. Penny and Jack. They are good subjects for pictures. First impressions? "Same thing we do every night, Jack. Try and take over the world!"

Other kinds of breweries:
It turns out I had to bring my head along on this trip. Needed it to get through airport security. They wanted a face to match with my photo ID. My head hasn't been bothering me though. It's not been bothering me with thinking as long as I keep feeding it coffee and reading Douglas Adams books. This latest one is funnier because I grew up in San Diego...

Tomorrow: Things you might run over if you drive on the sidewalk.

The Suitcase is Mostly Packed

It contains my ticket (and a photo ID), So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish, MY macbook pre-loaded with many episodes of Doctor Who, my camera, and my iPod Touch. All I need is a little bag of peanuts and a bottle of water. If I have forgotten anything important I will go to Target.

I am sleep-deprived, stressed, and a little bit hungry and it will be 6am. If airport security decides to search my bags, they will find croutons, and the above-mentioned items, and they will make me angry, and I might cry. I will ask to take their pictures. It's a bad idea to invade my privacy when I am sleep-deprived, stressed, and a little bit hungry. Maybe I will eat something before I go.

That adventure begins tomorrow.

Accepting and Embracing the Passage of Time

Wow. Somebody must be pretty OLD. That's a lot of candles...

That's 50!

Must practice fire safety

With that many candles, it takes careful coordination and teamwork to light them all.

And definitely some fire safety.

All's well that ends with candle carnage and cheesecake.

Happy 50th Birthday!

Jelly Babies!

These little treats were mentioned on an episode of Doctor Who. I found them at World Market the other night, and had to try them out. Wikipedia had made them sound kind of good. They are kind of good. I haven't tried one of the black ones yet though. The others taste a bit like Sunkist Fruit Gems.

In this series of artistic photographs I have managed to make them look tragic. That's not really what I was going for, but oh well. At least none of them has more than one shadow, or things would be looking really bad. And they are doomed to be eaten, after all. Several of them have been eaten. They look tasty. I might go eat one now...

I do like the light that comes in my kitchen window in the morning, but I may never again be able to appreciate the dust particles in the sunbeams...

Need to give credit for this

I don't think this is Venom's style, but it his her food. Confused. One of the other adventurers?

I must leave my camera lying around too much. There were several photos on the memory card this time that I don't remember taking.

Pirates Illustrated

Don't Forget, Me Hearties!

Tomorrow is Talk Like A Pirate Day! (Yes, I know I missed the T. Deal with it.)

This is definitely something to think knot about.

You may need this unless you are experienced at talking like a pirate which I be naught.

I will be listening to Great Big Sea all day, occasionally punctuated by the Masters and Commanders CD from the Cincinnati Pops. Great Big Sea makes me happy.

Previously Unpublished Photographs, maybe

I've decided I like this photo of the sand crab hiding it's head in the sand. I like the sand, the hand, and the sand crab. What is the scientific name of the sand crab? Anyone? I'm too lazy to prowl the internet to look it up. I need to go put the groceries away before the vegetables and fruits spoil due to lack of refrigeration.

And then there is this fish hook. The spoon is in the photo for a sense of scale. Someone found this lying around at mom and dad's place last time we were there. It is rusty--have you had your tetanus shot, fish? It is large. What kind of fish does one catch with that? Tuna?

BTW, I quit thinking yesterday, and now I'm fine. ;-)

Whether I "am" or not is a different question, but I'm not thinking right now.

Learning to Fly

I just realized I need to pursue photography. Not because this photo I'm posting is so good. It's not, really. I just love taking pictures. That's it for thinking. I'm really tired of thinking. Taking pictures makes me forget about thinking for a while, which is probably a good thing. I think I think more than is good for me, in general.

These birds were sitting out on our vine-infested wall this morning, while I was out waiting for psycho-puppy to do her business. It's a mom, or more probably a dad bird and kid birds. I've seen them before, hanging around our bird feeder. I think (there I go again) they were giving/receiving flying lessons. There was a lot of talking (in bird) going on. Of course after two shots I got too close with my camera and they all flew off. If you click on the photo you might get it to open in a new window for a better view.

What is it you are hoping to read here?

It is day, but not in Da-Dake.

The puppy is asleep.

The dogs are asleep.

I am awake.

But just barely.

High Countries, by Caedmon's Call just stopped playing. Not really that thrilled with my playlist today.

Life, the Universe, and Everything is calling me away from everything I should be doing today.

Very skeptical about sushi. It's fish, and it isn't cooked.

Tea, Earl Grey Hot did not go well with PB and J. I don't think it would go well with anything. What was Jean-Luc Picard thinking? Setting a poor example.

I liked the pictures of this place in Iran. At least that forwarded email claimed it was in Iran, and real. Real or not, it looks like fun. Fun to live there, fun to photograph, fun to illustrate in crayon, fun to imagine about, just fun. Like Dr. Seuss come to life. On top of that, it's very remote, and the mineral water in the area is reported to be a cure for kidney disease. Looks like a great place for a hideout. A potential alternative to Idaho.

My time is up--there is a sofa scampering around in the yard. I must go.

Goodbye.

Total Perspective Vortex

Yes, it is funny.

The backup retirement fund is safe.

I am not sure I have done a single productive thing all day, with the exception of the things I have to do in order to keep people quiet.

I can't decide whether this is funny or not...

"The voice was deep and quiet. In other circumstances it would even be described as soothing. There is, however, nothing soothing about being addressed by a disembodied voice out of nowhere, particularly when you are, like Zaphod Beeblebrox, not at your best and hanging from a ledge eight storeys up a crashed building."

Gavin, if this kind of stuff continues, your book may be in jeopardy.

Decisions, Decisions...

With the few hours I have this afternoon, while football is viewed, homework is done, musical instruments are practiced, do I:

1. Clean, so the company that is coming for dinner is, ummm, not horrified

2. Cook curry like I promised

3. Read the prized and borrowed copy of Restaurant at the End of the Universe cover to cover in one sitting

4. Watch Doctor Who: The Five Doctors on my macbook

5. Watch Doctor Who: The Sontaran Stratagem, also on my macbook

6. Wash the dog-the one remaining dirty dog.

??

I think I can put off #1 and #2 until maybe 4pm...

The one thing I am not going to do is have tuna for lunch.

The Dog Ate My Homework!

This is Jenna the Shreddah

She's cute and charming. She fell asleep in my lap last night, and has sat in my lap for a while this morning. Dusty and Indie are not lapdogs like this girl. Jenna is a 7.5 lb, 8 month old, spayed havanese puppy that we are fostering for Havanese Rescue. She's everything a havanese puppy should be--adorable, happy, friendly, curious, active, not really potty trained, and a shredder of paper. She also eats voraciously and pretty much freaks out whenever she suspects any sort of food is in her general vicinity. She has not been starved, she just really loves food! She is also crate trained--slept through the night last night without a peep.

She also pees when she gets excited. She couldn't be perfect...

I'm going to have to put a stop to this, but it's soooo cute!

We love her, and no, she's not staying. Dusty and Indie do not want company. They tolerate her, but are on a hunger strike. They would make "GO AWAY" signs and picket if they could. I think they are threatened by her extreme cuteness. We still like them best!