TCB

I was planning on calling FM after Ken left for work this afternoon, but she beat me to the punch. What a difference a couple of days makes!

She sounded great, and we even had a few laughs. She's been a busy bee. Got the locks changed, went to the bank and got some things taken care of there (he had removed only half of what was in their joint account, so it seems that he has some shred of decency remaining), made a couple of appointments, including with a lawyer. The most wonderful and gratifying thing was to hear how positive and upbeat she sounded. Maybe it was almost a kind of relief, I don't know. I'm sure that the things she needs to do right now are really occupying her time, and there will be rough moments ahead. However, it's obvious that she didn't turn into a little weepy ball o' goo, and is plenty strong enough to take care of business. That's my family and Elvis, baby...TCB! I'm just so proud of her. Yay!

Today was a really good day even before that phone call. I crashed pretty early (thank you, Miss Chardonnay), while Ken stayed up late. (He started his night shifts tonight, so I'll be hanging out here by my lonesome many of these evenings. I'm sure I'll find something to occupy myself, though!) I got a great night's sleep, then sat out on the deck today and read my book while Ken slept late. Before he had to get ready for work, we went out to the garden and got one of the beds ready for planting--put down a couple of bags of composted manure and incorporated that into the soil, and stapled a black plastic covering over the bed to keep the weeds at bay. I think I'll go get tomato and pepper plants tomorrow, because that's what I most want to plant this year. We'll be able to do another bed soon, and I should be able to get in some cukes and zucchini, the other two things I really want! We're a little late in planting due to circumstances, but we've still got plenty of time to get a good harvest.

Oh, and I discovered that the mosquitoes are already out and about. In the space of less than an hour, I got two bites. Ken got none. Why do they target me all the time? Bastards. Or beeyotches, actually, since it's the female that bites.

Picture time! Here is Paddy O'Furniture. Mary mentioned Patty, but I said that's Paddy's wife. I slay me! I didn't spend time with Paddy today, and chose to hang out with Mrs. Lounge Chair. I'm sure that Paddy will have plenty of company in the coming months.

I also have a new series of tags for The Wildcat's Lair. I've mentioned (as has Ken) how much we both love that blog. It's truly one of the funniest things out there, and the most recent episode involved Wildcat and Frank sampling a chocolate/bacon bar. Yes, you read that right. Frank made a "blechh" face that for some reason just totally tickled me, and every time I look at it, I laugh! I emailed Bill (Wildcat's alter-ego) to ask if he'd send me that picture so I could make a new tag. Not only did he do that, he sent four, with different color backgrounds! Thanks Wildcat! Err...I mean, thanks Bill! All quotes are either directly from or related to Frank. If you've never visited the Lair, I hope you'll stop by. If you're already a reader, feel free to snag one of these and add it to your site with a link. I’m putting them all up individually rather than in an album, so that it will be easy to copy them.

 

Go Ask Alice

First things first! Pop over and tell Deb congrats on her 100th post! She's a fun gal, and why do I have the sneaking suspicion that we could stir up a little trouble together? Just a hunch. She's celebrating her 100th post with a giveaway, including Borders gift cards. What I think is neat, though, is that the grand prize winner gets to name a character in the book she's working on. How cool is that?

*****

There was an article in this afternoon's online updates from our local paper. No, it wasn't about Notre Dame and Obama's visit...but there were a few of those. [sigh] Is it Monday yet?

Michigan police shock cougar — a toy one — with Taser

Associated Press Report

WARREN, Mich. (AP) — Police responding to a 911 caller reporting a cougar on the prowl in a suburban Detroit park saw what looked like the big cat hiding in a discarded section of cement drain pipe.

So Warren police on Monday shot a Taser electroshock weapon — hitting what turned out to be a large toy cougar right in the stuffing.

The Detroit Free Press reports the toy apparently was placed in the pipe as a hoax. About 10 officers responded to Bates Park. The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens reports the caller said it was a 150-pound cat. Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer says the department is "out there to keep the community safe."

I realize that this isn't all that funny. Someone diverted police officers from doing official police stuff. You know...policin' and junk. If they were ever able to find out who pulled this prank, I'm sure there would be charges brought, something akin to using 911 for non-emergencies.

But I can't help but laugh at this poor stuffed animal getting the crap zapped out of it. Something about it made me think of The Wildcat's Lair! Maybe because Frank is often getting flamed by the house dragons, or getting scalped by a Jedi light saber, leaving his fur crispy and smoking. (I guess you'd have to read it to understand...and if you aren't reading it, why not?! Get over there!)

*****

I set my alarm this morning and got up at the crack of...well, 9:30. Hey, I was up until 3 AM, so give me a break! I was still up when Ken got up. These are some nutty hours, but I'm sure we'll adjust at some point. Anyhoo, I wanted to be up so I could get presale tickets for Alice Cooper! Yippee! He's coming here August 9th. I've always loved Alice, but never had a chance to see him, so I really wanted to go. Blue Öyster Cult is opening, and I always liked them, too, but didn't dig them as much as I did Alice. I was hoping to get really close, but the eleventh row will have to do. In this venue, the Morris Center, those will be some kickass seats.

I don't know why I always liked Alice so much. I'm sure part of it is my love of horror movies, and Alice pretty much is a living, breathing, singing horror movie! If you didn't know, Alice is a character (literally and figuratively), and the real person is Vincent Furnier, who is apparently as nice a guy as you'd ever want to meet. His dad was a preacher, and Vincent loves golf. Mild-mannered golfer by day, shock rocker by night! He also has a very popular radio show, which I've heard is great, but I rarely listen to the radio anymore. Besides, he made some great music that still holds up. I dare you to listen to "School's Out" and not rock out at least a little bit!

When I was in high school, I had a poster in my bedroom of Alice in all his mascaraed glory. It wasn't exactly the same as this photo, but it was close. I remember it became a battle of wills between me and my Mom. I'd come home from school, and she'd have taken it down and rolled it up. I'd put it back up. When I got home from school the next day, she'd have taken it down again. I'd put it back up. I don't know how long this went on, but if I recall, we finally came to a truce, and I put it up on the inside of my closet door, so she didn't have to look at it when she came into my room. Ha ha! Who would want a poster of Alice Cooper in their bedroom, you ask? THIS gal!

So I'm really excited about the show! I doubt if he puts on the elaborate stage show that he used to (I don't think that we'll see the guillotine or the noose...but I wouldn't be surprised if the straight-jacket makes an appearance.), but he still sounds pretty good. I always liked this song! Here's Alice on Letterman, singing "No More Mr. Nice Guy."

What the…?

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Left to right: back yard to the northwest, front yard, and back yard to the north.

After Ken went to bed last night, I flipped on the outside light and saw big fat snowflakes coming down, and about an inch already on the deck. I left Ken a note that he might want to take the truck, because it looked like a really dense, wet snow that would make it slow going in the Mustang. He emailed me from work to let me know that he'd made it okay, and he said it was really bad on the back roads, but better on the highways.

Almost all of it has melted by now, can you believe that? The official total from the airport was a couple of inches, I think, but at our place, it looks like 3-4 inches (7-10 cm) on the deck. It's sunny right now, but we're supposed to get some lake effect snow tonight. Pffttthhh. I know our hardwood trees will be okay, but I hope this doesn't kill all our flowers that were coming up! That would bum me out.

I finished my Facebook quiz and successfully posted it! YES! I'm like a dog with a bone when it comes to stuff like that. I can hardly stand it until I manage to get it to work. The endless Facebook quizzes have gotten kind of funny. There are some that are fun to take...but I don't really need or care to know what color I am, what type of woman I am, or what Winnie the Pooh character I am! No offense to anyone who takes them, but keep in mind that I just wrote a quiz...so it's people like me who are writing them! My friend Dan (Milwaukee Dan #1) recently wrote on Facebook that the quizzes seemed to be getting a little out of hand, so I jokingly wrote that I was going to write a "What infectious disease are you?" quiz. Enough friends (mostly lab friends, go figure!) wrote that I should do it...so I did! It is firmly tongue-in-cheek, believe me, and there are some subtle microbiology jokes in there. Although I suppose that most microbiology jokes are subtle. Ha! I've got three STD's in there, gonorrhea, Chlamydia, and syphilis, and I don't think anyone is an STD so far.

If you're on Facebook, I could only send 20 invitations today, so if I didn't send it to you, you can find it on my page, under my picture on the left.

I'm just now watching clips of Levi Johnston on the Tyra Banks show. Dang, I wish I'd known that was airing today, I would have watched it! Man, what kind of train wreck is this mess? Is this the Aleutian Hillbillies? It's on the verge of Jerry Springeresque, with Levi saying that he lived with the Palins before the baby was due, the Governor's spokesperson denying it, he and Bristol were practicing safe sex all the time...no wait, most of the time, Levi can't take the baby anywhere, etc., etc. This whole thing is just sad. I didn't hear the entire interview, but last I knew, he had dropped out of high school. It's a sad circus.

NCAA championship tonight! Before the game, be sure to read The Wildcat's Lair, which has chronicled the Bracket Battle of 2009. It's been a lot of fun, and I'm curious to see whether Wildcat or Page the dog will win the battle. It's some of the funniest stuff you'll read out there, folks. Pay the gang a visit!

We'll be cheering for Michigan State tonight. No offense to the North Carolina fans out there--I actually like NC, too. But I have to cheer for a Big Ten team, and I kind of like State's Cinderella story. This means a lot to the state of Michigan, and I have to pull for our neighbors. Go State!