Too late, Sarah!

This one's already been shot. Decades ago. Nyah.

Images coming.

Discover Ancient Fish.

Terror on the High Devonian. This one's for you, Jonathan Cherry and (to a lesser degree) Clint Ross... and all the rest of thd guys who'd get the joke from CMNH Security, back in the day.

New Acquisition!

Gorgeous new specimen. I raise my beer to you, Mr. or Ms. Triceratops horridus!

Jammin' Jawa at CMNH Halloween Party!

EVERYDAY Is Halloween in THAT Car!

THAT'S "Dread"ication!

Ah. THIS is why Dan bent himself in 2...

Cosplay isn't usually Dan's forte. Not that *I'm* aware of, anyway...

HOW Is He? He's HORRIBLE! THAT'S HOW!!!

Dan, as Dr. Horrible.

A Treat on the Eve of All Hallow's Eve (no, that's not a little redundant...)

From the least sane of the un-sane labs of TopFive(dot)com, I bring you their first ever video presentation of a comedy list. (This one is specifically from Top Five Comics, "Comics" referencing comic books, though this one isn't really about comic books specifically.)




Might not be their best work, but it's at least some nice decor for the season.

For some of their better offerings, subscribe to their newsletter or one (or more!!) of their "Little Fivers" or "Ruminations". Truly, a moment of joy in your email Inbox. I frequently laugh out loud with some volume. Ask my husband.

 

Vote for THIS McCain!

The smile is only slightly less frozen! And I like the slogan: "Crispy Outside, Mashed Potatoes Inside!" Hmmm... Just like The Other One!

In the Red Letter Day!

Happy 79th Anniversary, Stock Market Crash!

To mark the occasion, please accept this token interest rate cut. No, really! Take it. It's your day, you should enjoy it!

But don't let anyone tell you that interest rate cut is all from Ben Bernanke alone. It was totally a *group* gift.

Big Surprise. REALLY.

Big news announcement today: Joe the Plumber endorses JOHN.

Yeah. Who saw THAT coming?

Vote!

T-Minus 7 days to the election. Just VOTE! Your voice needs to be heard, whether you vote for Sen. Obama, Sen. McCain, Rep. Paul, or one of the fringe candidates who won't be on every ballot. Just VOTE!

If you give up your right to vote, you *ALSO* give up your right to complain if you don't like how things turn out...

Blech!

It's wet and sloppy. That means it just sli-i-i-ides right down the back of the back of a jacket collar. Brrr!!! It's not even Halloween yet!

GAAAH!!!

What *IS* this crud accumulating on my car's windshield?? Have I died and gone to Kodiak Island?!??

Disgusting.

(The wintery mix, that is. NOT Kodiak Island.)

Home. Well, ALMOST.

A lopsided Cleveland skyline peers over the edge of the gimpy Innerbelt Bridge to welcome us back home.

Home. Well, ALMOST.

Ex-Urban Traffic Jam?!??!?

Ugh. At least we're N. of Columbus. Of course, it might be BECAUSE of Columbus, post-Buckeyes traffic, that has us stopped.

Culture o'Fear Trumps Constant Vigilance

This poster is WAY too silly to be taken seriously. Homeland Security seems more interested in nursing our collective INsecurities than anything else.

I just hope we elect some common sense this November!

Go Bucks! STOP LOSING, it bums us out.

Leaving downtown Columbus, which is essentially hospitals linked to Ohio State University, OSU campus, token state gov't buildings (for token gov't actions), surrounded by more ginormous OSU presence, shops where you can buy Buckeye souveniers and apparel, and hotels to accommodate you when you're in town for Buckeye games.

Sensing a theme, are we?

OH!! IO!!!

Thru Columbus

Cool mural.

Homeward: funny objects on the road

Cincinnati has an exit *just* for Buttermilk Pancakes... I mean, what *else* should "Pk" mean?

Progress!

Can you read it? On the left, Lexington. On the right, Louisville, a city whose residents mumble the name. We are taking the 'sinister' route. If you can figure that out, you'll learn the 'birthplace' of The AntiCraft.

That's your hint for the reason we're on the road this weekend!

We're in Kentucky!

I'm settling for a shot of a water tower, because we had to zip so fast past all the "71/75 Louisville/ Lexington" signs!

So, what does "GI" mean?

Gastro-Intestinal Trucking Company? Government Issue? Grown Indoors?

Oh! I got it! GIANT INSECTS.

We should have followed that guy!

OMG!! Heh...

NOT the end you usually want to see while driving... !

I got a package in the mail!

Actually, it came yesterday, but I wanted to wait til today to open it. Today's my icky wedding anniversary.

Not my good one. That's in July. My icky one was my first one, a sort of tragic dress rehearsal for my current wedded bliss.

The package has 4 lovely children's books. Really nice ones!

What a nice box of warm to enjoy on a day that has such lousy memories for me.

Thanks, Melankalia/Pamela!! :-D And I LOVE what you did with the box.

 

Coming! Needles, Hooks, or Loom?

>SNERK< As if I need to be asked twice. "Yarn" is the new "shiny".

Garfield Minus Garfield publishes daily. It was my sister-in-law Leonor who introduced me to this very zen webcomic.

Of course, this particular strip was sent (rather pointedly) to me by My Beloved, who is still waiting for his first sweater and the half-finished half pair of socks I still have on the needles.

 

Just heard the most compelling question!

It was quite possibly the most compelling question of my entire existence:

"When is Tron 2 coming out?"

I may never sleep again.

 

Glad to be inside! (Thankful Thursday)

Rick brought in the last blooming gladiolus after digging all the glad bulbs. There *was* frost this morning, after all.

I'm very thankful for my husband's thoughtfulness. He never stops making me smile.

 

A Modest Proposal

Could Joe the Plumber please take a break from the campaign trail and install our new toilet?

Thanks. That'd be great.

 

Brrrrrrrrr!

We had an overnight visitor. Call him "Jack".

When I let Cleopatra outside this morning, I hadn't the foresight to slip on socks before I snuggled into my slippers. It would seem, however, that my running-onto-the-porch-in-just-slippers-days may be nearing an end. See the next picture:





If this car were parked on a new car lot, one could imagine this white substance was the protective wrap that keeps the finish from scratching or succombing to the evils of acid rain.

This car is not on a new car lot.

This picture was taken in my back yard, on my driveway. That's frost.

>sigh<

That's nature. That's astronomy. That's what happens as the earth tilts away from the sun.

'K. I'll adjust.

More coffee, please!

 

Great Moments in Presidential Speeches

It's classic David Letterman schtick. He shows clips of past presidential speeches, most hopelessly iconic as to be once-in-a-decade moments, contrasted with the bumblings of Good Ol' 43.

Tonight's installment? Heh.

"Uh... I think I got a B in Econ 101."

Hooray!

Blogger is accepting posts from my phone again. We'll see how long it lasts THIS time. I hope it holds up at least through voting season.

I just wish it could have been sorted out in time for my dad's wedding this past weekend.

>grumblegrumblegrumble<

 

Hmm. President Clinton and DAVE.

One who *wants* to be president, suddenly cancelled an appearance on Letterman, and now he is vilified each evening on this show.

One who *was* president is making a rare appearance on Letterman, and is answering some piercing and insightful questions that are important to the whole world. (It was a rerun of a show from September.)

I just wonder about a man (McCain) who seems to be so out of touch that he would so profoundly underestimate the political strength of late night talk shows. It hasn't (to my knowledge, at least) been publicized yet who made the call to blow off Letterman and his show, but if it was a "maverick" decision, we don't really want that kind of ill-informed decision making in the Oval Office. Not with world peace at stake.

Seriously. Think hard about this, and think about the misguided values this person embodies.

Again: consider this woman's values. Consider that she is teaching her children these values. Then consider what you would think if you heard the average child in Kindergarten saying "Oh, we don't really need the polar bears. They don't matter."

That's not a stretch. It's just rephrasing the issue.

I don't want this woman anywhere near my White House.

 

Today I visited a campaign office!

Today I visited a campaign office!
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

I've never done that before. Ever.

I may be volunteering.

Yes. In fact, the more I think about it, the better I like the idea. This GOTV thing is very exciting!!!

 

Silliest Moose Since Bullwinkle

Wedding festivities have kept me from watching this stuff live, like I usually do. Even Daddy said he would have liked to have at least caught Weekend Update. So for anyone else who missed SNL, here's a sliver of Weekend Update, featuring a very slight cameo by Sarah Palin.

 

Bye, Sarah & Marianne! Come again SOON.

Bye, Sarah & Marianne! Come again SOON.
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Sarah, Matt, and Marianne visit about once a year for a weekend. It's woefully insufficient. It's what we get, though, so we'll take these moments we're spared from their busy lives, and we thoroughly enjoy them.

I wish... >sigh<

 

BP in Parma. F**K YOU, OPEC...

BP in Parma. F**K YOU, OPEC...
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

This is at the corner of Broadview and Pleasant Valley, on the border of Parma and Seven Hills. Marathon and Shell, also at that intersection, had the same price.

It bugs me that we should be celebrating this price as a good deal. (And does this mean we can stop being at war now?!?) $0.79/gallon was a good deal. I'm as certain we'll never see that price again as I am that we'll never see chocolate bars the same size and price as they were when I was a kid.

JesusKali&Ishtar. When did I turn into a geezer???

 

Okay, THIS was a little bit scary. Mainly because I think they were serious.

Daddy's Wedding - Rehearsal Night 047
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

This is the point in the evening where all the men who have little girls and firearms discuss how they intend to put the fear of God into potential dates for those little girls, once they're not so little anymore. There was much laughter and some seriously bizarre Yosemite Sam-like looks in certain eyes.

I could have sworn feet were starting to shrink and eyebrows began to grow bushier for a moment...

It's my story to write...

Daddy's Wedding - Rehearsal Night 038
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Daddy practices some opera, post-wedding rehearsal, to the embarassment of Ginny.

(Well? That's what it looks like, doesn't it? And I get to write the captions. Nyah.)

I simply adore her.

Daddy's Wedding - Rehearsal Night 007
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

I can't see her often enough. I love my beautiful neice.

Even Teenagers Get the Cooties

Daddy's Wedding - Rehearsal Night 004
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Lordy. These two. Obvious, isn't it, that they're brother and sister? It got better.

See?? Once they got the whole "hanging onto each others' elbows" thing, walking down the aisle wasn't such a pain in the behind. Except for the staring. Everybody stared.

And giggled. And pointed. But that was for our fun and their increased discomfort. Did I mention that was for our fun?? >snerk< Teenagers. >double snerk<

(nah, they're good kids, and they give it back just as well as we give it out!!)

 

Well, this is a kick in the teeth.

Apparently, Blogger no longer supports T-Mobile. It doesn't seem to be deliberate, so I am going on the hopes that this is a temporary glitch, but it sure does throw a serious monkey wrench in my plans for this weekend.

This is the weekend my dad is getting married, and I had hoped that, in addition to the traditional photography, I would be doing some cameraphone-and-blogging.

Getting bounced posts that tell me that my posts are no longer supported (after well over a year's time???!!!?) makes me feel hollow inside. All the more hollow, when my phone service provider gets the same bounced error message immediately following a post attempt, and cannot hide the sheer surprise for the experience.

So my posts from my father's wedding festivities will NOT be immediate or spontaneous. I'll do what I can as I can.

 

We Now Return You To Our Previously Scheduled Election Season, Already In Progress.

Wow. This guy is TOTALLY speaking to me. Now if I can only borrow my dad's video camera on election day.

And manage to *NOT* get arrested. Or physically assaulted.

Oh, man, I miss Fanny Lewis.

 

Just some fun and mindless entertainment today.

A fun break from the election hoopla. A little nostalgia, a little video game mash-up!

Anyway, it's Mel's fault. She mentioned it on Facebook today, and I can't get it out of my head. This has to be the ultimate earworm, because it comes with flashing lights and pictures. I can't stop dancing to it.

Which is no bad thing!!

 

"The goodest person we've ever had..." brought to you by The Great Schlepp. Of which I am now a Member.

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

 

My Daily Laugh

Hmm... this one is hitting very close to home!!

 

Vote, Canada! ...or something...

I get "Savage Chickens: Cartoons on Sticky Notes by Doug Savage" in my email every weekday. Subscribe by clicking HERE.

Know what makes this cartoon funnier/sadder? The Canadians know more about our presidential candidates and the policies they espouse than we do. And we sure know nothing about theirs.

Quick!!! Name 3 Canadian... er... um... do they have presidents or prime ministers???

SEE???? (Answer: prime ministers. And the current one is likely about to be voted out for an abundance of reasons, not least of which is his close association with the Bush Administration.)

Don't whine to me about that. There's still time to get more educated about our issues and the facts about our candidates. Less than three weeks to go til we get our chance at the slots in the booths!!

While we're at it, it's a good idea to get to know our global neighbors. The most immediate ones would be Russia (some of us can see them from our houses...), North and South Korea, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, and Cuba.

Hmm. Was that a longer list than you expected? We're really not so isolated.

And the world continues to shrink.

 

Browns WIN!

Browns WIN!
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

'Nuff sed.

I have no voice.

Wow. What a game. We didn't leave our seats once.

Let's hope they have more games like this.

 

Another glorious scoreboard addition

Another glorious scoreboard addition
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

NYG 14, CLE 27. And it's neither a blizzard nor driving rain nor bone-shattering cold. Other than several stupid (mildly put!) penalties, the Browns might even come out of this game without shame. I forget the word for that...rhymes with ride and wide and glide...

Head-shakingly amazing. I am utterly gob-smacked. We could win this one!

I mean, we probably will, but I don't want to commit to that. Not til the game's over, at least. If I do before the game's over that'll be the very instant the Giants are infused with superhuman strength and we'll see the comeback of the century at the expense of a Cleveland team. Again.

 

With 47 seconds to go in the first half!

With 47 seconds to go in the first half!
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Ahh. Took a while, but there it is, that Clevelandest of sounds: the aggressive chanting of the name of male bovine feces. Excellent.

The NFL in Cleveland at its finest, broadcast internationally. I'm so proud.

A round of testosterone for me, please! Better make it a double. I can't keep up.

 

Who made that game? Coleco? Mattel?

Who made that game? Coleco? Mattel?
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Heh. Sorta looks like that game where the metal field vibrates and the player-pieces move around randomly?

 

Ooooh--ORANGE All Over the Stadium!

Ooooh--ORANGE All Over the Stadium!
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

TAKEN JUST PRIOR TO THE INTERCEPTION! YEAHYEAHYEAH!!!

Oh. I mean: this was a thoroughly satisfying play. I quite enjoyed that. Here's hoping they do it again.

AND ANOTHER 20 YARDS!! YEEAAH!!!

 

Is Belichick in Town?

Is Belichick in Town?
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

JesusKali&Ishtar.

It's Eric Metcalf. And he's *IN THE MIDDLE*!!!!

Oh. Phew. It's just time for the coin toss. For a bad second there, I was having very scary flashbacks to a playbook with only one play in it.

 

Introducing the Browns

Introducing the Browns
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Ok, *NOW* it's time for hollering "here we go, Brownies, here we go!"

It was so. Blasted. Funny.

Overly lubricated by alcohol (I can only guess), Rick and I (and several others nearby) were aurally assaulted by tangential hordes who admonished us for not joining them in their chants and cheers, ON OUR WAY *INTO* THE STADIUM!!

The thing is, there isn't anything to cheer yet. Except the fact of OUR presence. And really. >raises eyebrow< Is THAT *really* something I should be spending my already raw voice on?

I spent my voice on my marathon-running husband (and other non-millionaire runners) yesterday. If the Browns give me something to cheer about, rest assured I will join in, but I will wait for that moment. And not a bit sooner.

But I appreciate that these fanatics are providing extra entertainment. Bravo.

 

WHOA! Outside Browns Stadium

WHOA!
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

That kinda energy oughta be harnessed for *good*...

 

Pink is EVERYWHERE. How can you NOT be aware of breast cancer???

Pink is EVERYWHERE. How can you NOT be aware of breast cancer???
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Life is a blur as we speed our way into Cleveland Browns Stadium. I know from others' experience that the best way to keep my cell phone is to hold the heck onto it, so I am blogging my way up the escalator into the endzone opposite the Dawg Pound. People behind are taunting the crowd, letting us know how inadequate we all are for not responding to their call-and-response cheering.

I gotta tell ya, no matter how well or lousy-embarassing we do, I gave up all my energy on the marathon and the Everyman/Everywoman unpaid runner competing yesterday. They're not making millions of dollars for the privelege of sports participation. Nyah.

In the meantime, there are dozens of teams of people outside the stadium, mostly women, dressed in pink and collecting for breast cancer causes. I wish more energy would be given to raising men's awareness to the fact that THEY are also susceptible to breast cancer. At this point in history, men have a significantly higher mortality rate than women (for all that it's rarer) simply because they do not have the same safety and awareness measures in place as women.

 

En Route to the Browns-Giants Game

En Route to the Browns-Giants Game
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Just stepping out of the Terminal Tower.

Nope: no peregrines right now. They are diurnal.

 

New and Improved Silly Caterpillar!

Edited and improved Silly Caterpillar!
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Now our silly, smiling caterpillar has an environment! See the grass, flowers, and mushroom!

Wow, this was so much fun. We learned a lot about building a good ecosystem for our little caterpillar. Sure looks happy to be there.