Can't Sleep

that is all.

For a Smurfing Good Time

When Panda and I were little we used to play Smurfs: Rescue in Garagmel's Castle. This was my favorite collecovision game, and one of my top 10video games ever. Others include: tetrus, super mario (the original), bomberman, donkey kong, and a few others. Still, this one holds a special place in my heart. It's smurf-errific!

The object: save Smurfet from Gargamel! One smurf travels across the land encountering fences he must jump over and bats he must duck to avoid. Finally, he makes his way to Gargmel's and jumps up on this - I think it was huge skull guarded by a spider - to to save Smurfet. If he doesn't jump in just the right spot, he dies. If he is successfull, the song "Tis a Gift to be Simple" plays and all is right with the world.

Anyway, I can't find it to play online, which is a shame, but for I did find a game that's pretty smurfy. Play Greedy's Bakery to help Greedy keep his tasty treats from splattering on the floor.

Several little things...

So, I went up to the farm this weekend with my dad and we brought back so much delicious, delicious sweet corn! Mom and I spent 5 hours canning it so it we will have the tasty goodness all year round. Three cheers for corn!

If you turn your eyes to the heavens, you may have noticed that we are currently under a new moon. This made for spectacular stargazing up at the farm. Last time I was there (also a new moon), my dad and I saw what appeared to be a falling meteorite. We watched it blaze across the dark sky for (I'm not exaggerating) over 3 minutes, but I digress... This past Sunday, so many stars were out and we actually saw the Milky Way. It was pretty awesome.

The power is back on at work! YAY! because the air conditioning is on and because I can get my stuff done before my vacation, but BOO! because I'd planned to leave work today at 11:30 to get errands done before my vacation. Now, I can't use the "it's so hot I might literally die if I stay here" excuse to leave and do my personal stuff.

I watched the Music Man for the first time last night. I can't believe I hadn't seen it before (I love musicals), but the fact remains: I hadn't. I loved it. Loved it. If you haven't seen it you should. I'm kind of on a musical kick right now, and I think tonight I'll watch Singin' in the Rain.

My friend Rachael gave me this CD by Eve Cassidy. I enjoy the whole CD, but I really love the first track, It Doesn't Matter Anymore. The song, written by Paul Anka and originally recorded by Buddy Holly is, is just beautifully sung by Eve Cassidy. I can't get it out of my head.

SUCCESS!!...sort of...

Lucy's claws aren't as short as I would like, but they are shorter than they were! The towel thing didn't work for me, so I just waited until she was napping, then made my attack. She's not very happy with me now, but she'll get over it.

Question:

If you had 10,000 to spend as you like, how would you spend it?

This blog post brought to you by "Thoughtful Thursdays"

Offering Help...I'd think twice about it

If I say I will help you do something, that means I will aid you. I will give assistance. I will add my hands to the mix in the hopes of making light work.

I will not, I repeat NOT, do you work for you.

I have my own (underpaid) work to do, I don't need your project dumped in my lap!

It's going to be a sad day

I am down to only two Angel episodes left. Although, not as good as Buffy, I love this show. The first season was alright, but it had some kinks to work out. And work them out it did. Seasons 2 and 3 were pure joy. Then, it got depressing, and then a different kind of depressing sprinkled with much missed humor. Still, I love it and I will miss it when I'm done.

This blog post brought to you by "TV Tuesdays"

pointy side up

I really need to trim Lucy's nails. I've tried serval times but she won't let me. "won't let you!?" you say, "she's a cat - your cat. Just trim her nails already." Easy for you to say... but take it from me, much blood has been shed already. Now, her otter pose that I normally find so adorable just reminds me of a Get Fuzzy cartoon where Satchel doesn't want to approach Bucky because he's "pointy side up."

tongue tied

Do you ever have one of those days when your brain sends the message to your mouth to utter certain words in a certain order and your mouth jumbles the message? That was me today. All day today on the phone. I must have sounded like such an idiot, and I knew it was happening, but I couldn't stop it. So annoying.

10 Movies Better than Lord of the Rings

So, last night some of my friends were shocked to learn that I think Lord of the Rings was the biggest waste of time I've had the displeasure to sit through. In fact, one or two of them may be loath to call me friend now that they know this. Still, the fact remains: Lord of the Rings stole nine hours of my life from me, and I can't get that back! Technically, the 3 part movie did much right: many critics gave it a thumbs up, the imagery was a thing of art, the actors learned their parts well, and the music set the mood well. Because of this, I'm not going to say "Lord of the Rings is trash," but my pure emotional response was clear: Lord of the Rings is lame. It left me unsatisfied and often a little bored.

In my opinion, these ten movies are infinitely better than the Lord of the Rings movies:

1. Braveheart
2. Gone With the Wind
3. The Godfather
4. Superman 2
5. Bourne Identity
6. An Affair to Remember
   
7. French Kiss
8. Erasurehead
   
9. The Princess Bride
10. Wizzard of Oz
    

My apartment smells like bacon

Why? I do not know. I am not cooking any bacon, in fact, there is no bacon in my apartment to cook. Who is cooking bacon, and will they give me some?

Anonymous: show yourself!

Most of you know I love comments on my blog. I love silly comments, funny comments, serious comments, thoughtful comments, and I even love stupid comments. I just love comments. What I do not love is when people post as anonymous*. Why? Well, I don't know who gets the darn cookies, for one! (fortunately I do this time, but I might not have!).

So, to anonymous I say: Yes, it's your right to stay hidden, and I'd rather you post anonymously than not at all, but why not show yourself?

Now, it occurs to me that anonymous just may not realize that he can choose another name. In case you don't know, here's how you do it: When you post a comment, several choices are presented. If you don't have a blogger ID, all you have to do is pick "other" and then type any any name by which you want to be called. Call yourself scooby-doo for all I care, but call yourself something!

That is all.

*Except for in the word box. The word box is the one safehaven for anonymous posters.

stream of conciousness blog post

Man, oh man, I wish it would just pour down rain already. I can't stand the overcast sky and the spittle that it is sending our way today. Also, I am by myself at work today, which has sent my productivity down the tubes. Fortunately, I have a pile of work that is mindless enough that I can do it in front on the TV, and I will therefore be watching Guiding Light in 35 short minutes. Tonight I plan to bake cookies and watch - you guessed it- an episode of Angel. I also want to rent the first Pirates of the Carribean movie in preparation for seeing the second one, but I know I'll have to watch it while Panda is away, and I'm not sure what she's doing tonight. In other news, I heard the author of this book talking on St. Louis on the Air and now I want to read it. I wonder if the library has it...Hopefully the weather will be nicer tomorrow and I can walk to the library or bookstore and pick it up. I also need to go grocery shopping. Yesterday I went on a pitstop to the store and picked up some peaches. The last time I got peaches, I did not enjoy them, but it was primarily becuase they were not ripe enough. This time, I still did not enjoy them - they were too ripe. Peaches. They are a troublesome fruit. Stawberries, on the otherhand, are almost always good. Man, I love strawberries. Nell served stawberries last night and they were perfectly ripe. I also love watermelon, apples, oranges, pears (which, like peaches have small window of ripy-goodness), pineapple, and cantelope. I hate muss-melon -- no thankyou! Moving from thirst quenching fruit to thirst quenching water... I am supposed to drink 64oz of water a day, as we all are. Since I drink about 24oz of fluid daily (usually in soda form), this is a difficult goal for me. I have my trusty nagine bottle on my desk and I am not yet finished with my first jug. I've a long way to go. As I look at my nalgine bottle I am reminded about my Montana trip at the end of this month (there is a missoula sticker stuck to the side), and I am so very excited! Our reservation to whitewater raft in Glacier Park was just confirmed and we will go on a 1/2 ride down the river. Since it will be August, the rapids might not be as rough as they would have been earlier in the season, but I've no doubt that it's going to kick ass. Even if there were no rapids and were were just drifting down the current, the view of Glacier would be enough to satisfy me. I cannot wait! Well, I seriously doubt anyone is still reading this, and I need to return some calls before working on my pile and watching GL, so this post is over.

My Fortune

"You shouldn't overspend at the moment. Frugality is important."

Now, if that isn't a made-to-order fortune, I don't know what is. This month is sucking my bank account dry.

Christmas in July!

14 Days and Counting until La Femme Nikita Season 4 will be out on DVD!!!

This blog post brought to you by" TV Tuesdays"

Six Degrees of Separation Game

Connect these two actors in six degrees or less!

Johnny Knoxville and Shirley McLaine

The person to connect them first in the fewest degrees gets home-made cookies! Contest ends Wednesday at 10a.m.; cookies will be delivered by Friday evening.

This blog post brought to you by "Movie Mondays"

Fresh Air

Listen to this Terry Gross interview with Jane Mayer regarding her New Yorker article about David Addington, called "David Addington and 'Hidden Power'". The amount of power this guy seems to have is more than just a little scary. It's a very interesting interview.

Also, I think Jane Mayer sounds almost exactly like Laura Linney.

Hobbies R Us

There are many hobbies that I feel I would be good at and enjoy if only I would turn off the TV long enough to learn them. Unfortunately, many of my perspective hobbies result in my spending too much money on things that end up collecting dust in my room (kayak, anyone?). I have had some luck, however, bead jewelry-making was good while it lasted, backpacking stuck, and I like to think of movie watching as a hobby.

Recently, I’ve gotten back into biking, and I love it. When I first biked, I did so for transportation, but when I moved back to St. Louis the cars, four-lane roads, and extremely long distances from place to place prompted me to hang up my bike helmet and put on my safety belt. A couple of months ago I went biking with some friends and was reminded by how much biking kicks walking’s ass. I still do not brave the St. Louis roads, but there are a lot of great trails around here that are enjoyable.

A new hobby I would like to get into is photography. I’ve always loved taking pictures. When I went to six grade camp I took an entire role of pictures of gravestones. Did I have an artistic eye that I never fostered? Was I just some freaky kid who liked gravestones a little too much? My camp consoler thought the latter, but I digress… In the hopes of cultivating this hobby, I have taken Panda’s camera (note the open and notorious way in which I possess it). I took the camera up to the farm this weekend, but because I had no manual and don't actually know how to focus, having alway has auto-focusing cameras, I shutter to think what will come back from the developers. I have a couple of friends who are awesome at photography, one of whom is in photography school, so (hint, hint) maybe he will show me some tricks of the trade.

So, those are just a couple of the many hobbies that I would like to develop. I would also like to learn to play a second chord on my guitar, be able to identify birds, and crochet. Now that my summer classes are all but over, maybe I’ll take the time to enjoy some of these hobbies. Sadly, it is much more likely that I will plop in front of the TV and just finish watching Angel on DVD.

One of my favorite Simpsons quotes

This quote is from The Simpson's first Halloween Special/ Tree House of Terror - the Raven. It is, by far, my favorite Halloween Special and one of my top Simpsons' episodes.




Bart: You know what would be scarier than nothing?
Lisa: No, what?
Bart: ANYTHING!!!


It is the delivery that makes it funny. And, boy is it ever! I also love to say "nevermore" the way Bart's raven does.

It's not TV Tuesdays, but what the hell.

New Links! - can ya dig it?

I just wanted to draw your attention to my newly added links:

• Without naming any names, you may remember a blogwagon passenger who fell off said wagon a few months ago - well he's back!
• The Hype Machine - a totally awesome music blog that my friend Casey told me about. This blog "tracks new songs posted on the best blogs about music." This morning, the first song on the list was Nuetral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane over the Sea. Now, I'm listening to Guster!
• Zach Braff's Blog - I love Zach Braff beyond what would be considered a healthy crush and, I feel that by linking to him, I am closer to him. :) I also like his taste in music and he has a "what I'm listening to now" section on his blog that I enjoy.
• Damn Interesting - This another site that Casey told me about. Here you will find articles on (damn) interesting facts and tidbits. It is awesome.
• Happy Slobs Guide to Housecleaning - I found this site on one of my "next blog" travels. She loves baking soda as much as I do and has a lot of cleaning tips!
• Wolf Sanctuary - I love the wolves and I love the Wolf Sanctuary. We should go there for a visit and learn all about how totally awesome wolves are.
• DESE - This will be of no interest to anyone but me, I imagine. It is a link to the MO Dept. of Elem & Secondary Education.

I hope you enjoy and visit these new links! Also, you should check out the old links I left on there because everything I link to is cool.