Friday Kittehs: 4/30/10

Here's the third and final batch of pictures from Pixie's and my visit to the no-kill cat shelter at Animal Rescue and Adoption Society, on S. Delaware Street in Denver. If you live in the Denver area, stop by and visit the kitties, volunteer, donate—or, best of all, adopt a feline friend.

No "hello," "goodbye," "kiss my ass," nothing.

Having finished her breakfast, Erngeakura heads back across the street to lounge on the neighbors' front porch.

Even more spring flowers

Trachelospermum jasminoides, aka "Confederate jasmine," smells heavenly and makes a great screen or ground cover in shady areas. Here it grows up the side of the front porch.

It's ALL in the details.

Originally posted 11 Apr 2010 on Failblog

From now on, whenever I hear a student dismiss the importance of proofreading, I'll just show him/her this photo.

AT&T can BITE ME

I'm seriously pissed off with AT&T's so-called "high speed internet service" and their so-called "customer care." Why should I pay $50 a month for internet service that blinks off and on at random? So instead of Chicken Monday, I give you this cheesy picture from my cell phone...BECAUSE MY DSL WON'T STAY UP LONG ENOUGH FOR ME TO UPLOAD A REAL POST.

What the Foghorn Leghorn hell is this?!?

To my major Sunday-morning surprise, the chickens let themselves out early this AM. Fortunately, I happened to walk out back before too much chaos happened. Updates tomorrow for Chicken Monday. (I hope.)

Courtesy of Tricycle magazine

Embarrassment is just that—embarrassment. We need to have mercy on ourselves. We all feel embarrassed. Actually, when we do speak about these things, when we do share our embarrassment, we experience relief. The holding back is what is hard.... We need to be able to trust relationships. If two people can share their embarrassments, what a bond that creates.

—Stephen Levine, "Living the Life You Wish to Live" (Spring 2009)

I signed up a few months ago for Tricycle magazine's "Daily Dharma" e-mail, and reading each day's tidbits of wisdom helps keep me centered, grounded, a little kinder to everyone and everything around me. (We could all probably use a little more of that!) And I also subscribe to Sojourners magazine's weekly e-newsletters, which are equally wonderful.

Which daily faith- or spirituality-related email lists do you subscribe to? Please share them with us in the Comments section.

Friday Kittehs: 4/23/10

Here's Part 2 of the kitteh pictures from my and Pixie's visit to Animal Rescue & Adoption Society's (ARAS) no-kill cat shelter in Denver. The fenced-in outdoor area is where a lot of the cats like to spend sunny afternoons.

And here's a video of a patient, yet beleaguered mama cat and her two little ones in the "new arrivals" area of the shelter. Had I not been 1,500 miles away from the Happy Kitten Cottage, these three would have gone home with me tout suite.

'Joseph's Coat' Climbing Rose

And the show begins!

Here is this season's very first blossom on the climbing 'Joseph's Coat' I planted nearly a decade ago. Every bloom is a different combination of pink, magenta, orange, and yellow—I'll post more pictures as the buds open over the next week or so.

The only thing I regret about planting 'Joseph's Coat' is the incredible number of thorns it has. This makes working anywhere near the plant a literal pain in the ass (and other body parts). In the fall, I'll probably move it to a lower-traffic area of the yard and plant a near-thornless rose in its place, such as 'Zephirine Drouhin.' Stay tuned to E&P for the world premiere of "Pimp My Garden!"

Lord, help us.

Originally posted 14 Apr 2010 on Failblog

Why do I feel like I've seen this very sentence in a Regents' Exam essay? [headdesk]

Pictures from my GRE weekend

While it wasn't the most exciting of overnight trips, it's always nice to see a different part of the state—this time, rural middle Georgia and some farm country. The GRE Literature in English exam went fine, and I appreciate everyone's "good luck" wishes.

Outside the hotel was a completely unexpected Oregon grape holly. I've never before seen one planted in a commercial landscape.

Mom has one of these in her back yard, and until recently both of us had no idea what the hell it was. Holly-looking leaves? Grape-like berries? Weird fall color? The height and shape of a nandina? It's the plant world's answer to the platypus.



Also outside the hotel was a flame-orange native azalea. This one's about as tall as I am (5'2"), so it's four or five years old.




Boiiinnnngggg! This one's red-orange-yellow combo is a good deal brighter than that on the native azalea at my house.

Just like the last time I took the GRE Subject Test, I finished a little earlier than I'd expected. And what did I do after spending nearly three hours sitting down?




GO DIRECTLY TO PEE. DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200.

This restroom was a nice, big "toilet room," as my architect sister would call it. Measuring at least 81 square feet, there was plenty of room in there to ask myself, in Pixie's immortal words to her husband during an at-work argument over hospital renovations, "Are you pissing in it, or breakdancing?"




Aaaack! I'm in the wrong—




Maybe the women at Middle-of-Nowhere State U. are a little different than most.

As Woolywoman commented on my original post, "Ohhh, i LOVE those hotel beds with all the nice linens, and the big old TV with a million channels. Enjoy!" And enjoy I did: two solid hours of Univision, and some additional surfing around to National Geographic, Discovery, ESPN, and CMT. My #1 viewing choice, though, was the Weather Channel. Yes, I have no life.

The weirdest thing, though, was the Local on the 8's format from 16 years ago. Maybe the cable provider company is stuck in 1994.

Chicken Monday: 4/19/10

In spring, the local feed-and-seed store can be a dangerous place.

I didn't take home any peeps—this time. [sigh]

Fiery spring colors

The native azaleas here in Small Town (zone 7b/8) are in full, glorious bloom right now. I planted this yellowish-orange one next to the front porch in 2004, and it's slowly putting on growth. Azaleas are slow growers by nature; even though it will take ten more years to do so, this one will be amazing when it spreads to 15 feet high and eight feet wide.

Friday Kittehs: 4/16/10

Today's Friday Kittehs features three of Mom & Steve's kittehs: Hobbes (orange/white), Squirt (black), and Calvin (flame-point Siamese).

As is Hobby's nature, she starts us off with a picture worth a thousand words.

On my last visit to the OB-GYN

I could hardly believe my eyes when I found this anachronism on the Patient Information Form. "Husband's Name?!?" Check the calendar—oh, wait, it's not 1959 after all. Hmmm.

So I stared at it for a few minutes, thinking about what to write in the blank...

• Mud
• Jacques Strap
• Binky
• W.T. Eff
• Mike Hunt

But I went with something a little more tame.

The receptionist LOLed when I handed her back my paperwork, as did the nurse practitioner when she walked into the exam room. "LOL! That's a good one. I always write in George Clooney."