Happy Friday everyone! Let's see your Ikea hacks!

Next week's theme will cover rugs & rug arrangements.

Have fun and bon weekend.




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follow me at http://twitter.com/thespian

I am actually starting to recognize actors* in Coronet educational shorts. ("Hey, look! It's Huge Forehead Guy!")

My claim that I’m watching them partially FOR ANTHROPOLOGICAL PURPOSES may be wearing a bit thin.

I have started trawling the iRiff archives. It’s like a vending machine—spend 75¢ - $1.25 and either get a tasty snack or the machine eats your money, causing you to rattle it and swear until it falls on you and crushes your lower torso. I’ve found ones my siblings and I have quoted to each other for weeks, and some I couldn’t bear to continue watching.** But I must admit, the shorts are always entertaining.

Also, I just saw the first 50’s short narrated by a WOMAN PERSON. You find all sorts of treasures buried in the archives—well, almost. I have yet to find a girl to RIFF, but all things in time.


*Or, at least, the people in front of the camera.

**As I described one to my brother, “it was like watching a Beavis and Butthead riff, if they spoke it through a cardboard tube.” Turns out “Hurrrrr, shirt, hurrrr hurr HURRRR” is not a worthy riff.

A real new blog entry tomorrow. For today, I'm letting someone else's better argument stand:

http://youshouldbesolucky.nu/?p=66

A press release from a pharmaceutical company that came my way yesterday declared the company's new drug "reduced the risk of death."

I'm sitting here typing with a swollen right hand. I had to intervene in a fight between Luna and Evan earlier today and Luna bit the holy hell out of me--down to the bone. As a side thought, she has an amazingly strong bite and her jaws are quite large.

Also, because the water bottle was not at hand, and since I was sort of restrained, I grabbed the first thing which came to my (bloody) hand which was the Arm and Hammer pet odor spray. I sprayed the living shit out of her. As a plus, she smells much better than she has in years--spring fresh, even. I may have to spray Evan down liberally instead of bathing him. He is a walking pet odor, after all.

I was asked why I have to intercede in the cat fights instead of letting them work it out for themselves. The reason is simple: Evan tends to shit when she attacks him. She then rolls him in it. All over the room. This is nasty and smelly and not fun to clean up.

I don't know if he poops because she scares him that badly, or if he was a squid in a previous life. All I know is that he shoots out poop like the Enterprise jettisoning its warp core, and then we have poop and stink and smelly and cleaning up and bathing him and THAT can only end in tears and blood since he hates getting bathed.

I'm also sore all over from last night's exercise class. I'm back on track and after over four months of enforced inactivity, I have become quite sedentary. I've been back at the gym this week and working on building up my endurance again.

Liv and I saw a flyer at the Y for "Family Fun Boot Camp". Now, most sane people who are not in good physical shape know to avoid classes with the words "Boot Camp", "Total Core", "Extreme Fitness" or "Abdominal Wreckinator" in the title. But in this case, the "Boot Camp" poster said that it was "Family Fun" for ages eight and up! And that there would "Fun" and "Games"!

Liv and I discussed it and we figured if small children were involved, surely we could keep up with the instructor!

You already see this coming, don't you? Needless to say, I had my ass handed to me by an eight year old future cheerleader with a bubble butt.

One couple showed up and discussion with them showed that they thought as I did that the class would be moderately easier than the "Total Core Shred Workout" they tried the night before. They ditched after the second lap around the track--cowards.

"Games" is word with many meanings. Same with "Fun". I see "Fun and Games" and I think of smiling, laughing children with blissful parents looking on and interacting. I think of happy people. I think of pleasurable happenings. I think of doing things that I like. "Fun and Games" to the instructor means "Making complete strangers repeatedly vomit".

I did not think of running/walking laps while passing balls back and forth was "Fun and Games". I did not think using the "agility ladder" to work on my "footwork" was "Fun and Games". (And those who know me and Liv know that we are both so incredibly clumsy and ungainly that there was no way we can 'grapevine' on flat unmarked ground, much less do it while putting each foot in each square and slaloming around cones. I damn near broke my ass.)

Now, we did get to play cards. I was okay with this till I found out "Playing cards" in "Family Fun Boot Camp" consists of drawing a card, seeing if it is a red or black suit and seeing if it is a face card or numbered.

Red cards are push-ups. Black cards are deep squats. Face cards and aces are worth ten, the numbers are worth the face amount. Everyone in the class got to pick two cards. I grounded Liv for two weeks when she got the Jack of Diamonds. (She's upset because I didn't ground the instructor instead).

So needless to say, I've been kind of 'Funned Out' today. Meh.

Oh, and this cold can stop ANY TIME NOW. laughingimp, as much as I love and adore you, you need to stop bringing this crap with you whenever you come to visit. When the Tampa forcasters start talking about sleet and snow flurries, you know the world is coming to an end. (Or at least we act that way because we are weak and thin skinned.)

EDIT- Ok, found it! Thanks guys. I guess I did not look hard enough, it is in fact called The Green Book

Hello! I'm looking for a book that I read when I was around 12 years old, around 2000.

It's a story about kids living on a space ship traveling for many many years to some habitable planet. It focuses on one young girl, and I believe her sister or something? The main girl has brought with her a green book, which turns out to be a diary later on, and I think the book is presented as the contents of the diary. They arrive at the planet, and there are strange creatures and unbreakable trees, and the people have trouble growing food and stuff. I think it was short; under 200 pages.

The green book thing seems like it was very significant. I thought the title might have something to do with it but I can't find anything.

Thanks!

Just wanted to take a minute and thank everyone for coming by to chat tonight.

A lot of people were upset to not see their questions, but here's the deal. The chat room was FLOODED with questions, and I don't see them when they get submitted. All comments and questions go to a very hard-working moderator (imagine your monitor being filled with hundreds and hundreds of questions and greetings) who looks through them and then has a very short time to pick ones for me to answer. That's when I get to see them. It keeps everyone's screen from being spammed with things like "lol" or "OMG."

As for why some questions were chosen over others, well...like I said, I heard there were tons of people who showed up. (We'll have numbers tomorrow). So, there were too many questions to answer, simply because of time and things moving so fast. Another reason is that questions with spoilers weren't posted, per my request. So, if you wanted to know why someone died or something like that, the moderator wouldn't select the question.

So, again, thank you so much for coming by. For those of you who didn't get your questions answered, I'm sorry it didn't work out. I'm sure they were good ones! Hopefully we'll do another chat sometime.

And now we can rest easy, knowing that pretty much everyone associated with a certain magazine has said something extremely silly on the Internet this week.

Thank God tomorrow is Friday.

I can't take Jess seriously.

Everytime I see him onscreen, I hear Cam going "strokeface strokeface strokeface strokeface" in the back of my mind. It ruins any possible squee I might have for him.

Also, I love Rory. I really, really do. But I cannot vouch for her mental capacity since SHE GAVE UP DEAN AND CHOSE JESS. I thought that maybe, it was because I was being blinded by my love for the Jared Padalecki but NO!

HE BUILT HER A CAR AND WENT TO DEBUTANTE BALL AS HER ESCORT AND CHANGED THE WATER BOTTLES IN HER HOUSE.

And the bracelet, MY GOD. She had to take it off.

OMG. OMG. OMG. Dave and Laine kissed. OMG. I am literally shrieking my head off. LAINE/DAVE. FTW.

Okay, where does Lorelai keep getting these guys? Seriously. There was total DILF Christopher and then totally hot Alex. God, have you people seen Alex's hair? I want to pull a Laine and run my hands through it.

Today was really, really, really long.

1am - Bottle for Andrew. His diaper contains approximately half the Atlantic Ocean, and therefore I change it. While changing the diaper, he decides to turn himself into a decorative fountain. And manages to hit his crib mattress, necessitating a change in sheets. Again.
3am - Bottle.
4am - Screaming. Discover that Andrew has spit up. Again.
5am - Bottle.
6am - Spit-up.
7am - Bottle.
8am - Spit-up. Call the pediatrician. Again. Appointment at 10.30.
9am - Bottle. Race to shower, dress, etc.
10am - Seriously, people, you should know the routine by now. Spit-up. Again.
10.30 - Pediatrician. Who utters the following scary words: "I'm going to order an ultrasound immediately. Take him to the hospital right now, I'll call and warn them you're on the way."

( *wibbles* )

Ought make note - am basically off the internet in any meaningful way until sometime in the 20's of this month because Apple is disappointing.

See you all around then! 

Am sort of weary of explaining the long, painful process, so will detail for the curious, but at the moment am just kind of bleh.  Suffice to say that I was under the impression well-treated Macs were not supposed to go kaplooie in the space of a year and two months, and am furthermore antsy-twitchy-frustrated that the Apple franchise commandeers fixing on threat of automatic expiration of warranty privilege.  This is not the technological autocracy I want to live in, Apple, it really isn't at all. 

Hawai‘i remains lovely, which is the boon of this situation. 

Title: Clouds
Author: azriona
Characters: TenII
Rating: PG

Summary: Clouds seen from below take on a different character. (No spoilers for EoT!)

A/N: Yes, I'm aware that it's no longer Advent. Hush. I had a very good reason for stopping, thankyouverymuch. And today was....very long, and therefore, this will stand for my post for today. Day Ten of the Advent Calendar Drabbles. Today's drabble prompt is brought to you by talloakslady. I am boring, and titling my drabbles with the prompt (more or less).

( Clouds )