Message in a Bottle

meg's still in physical therapy, still having trouble with the arms. send some sunshine, please?

Blogging for Postcards

How Popular is a Name?

Had fun playing at this site this morning. It gives the popularities of names in the U.S. back to the 1880's.

Shirley was shirley popular back in the 30's & 40's. That little girl with the ringlets wielded much influence.

Interesting quiz, not sure of the results.

Still up, so it's time to Unconsciously Mutter:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Tolerate::Pain
2. Release::from the hospital
3. My soul::to take (from "now I lay me. . . ")
4. Sax;::Blues
5. HP:Harry Potter
6. Worth::While
7. Rockstar::Mick Jagger
8. Terrify::Loss
9. Knock me off my feet::Sweep me off my feet, but knock me? Mah
10. Taunt::Bully

Yard Sale Today!

Didn't make a lot of money, but got rid of a lot of stuff and met some interesting people. There was the man who moved to this country from Armenia about ten years ago, and the 10-year-old who was buying stuff for his mom and sister, and the young mother who had just recently gotten turned on to beanies, and the lady who is going to finish one of my cross-stitch projects, and the shop-owner who offered to take some of Mom's painted flowerpots on consignment.

Great day.

Man oh man.
Has blogger and blog-spot been acting up for YOU today?

Light Up

Light Up is one of the items on the list for the July 2005 26Things. My mother has a bumper crop of fireflies this year. I was attempting to shoot them last week, with no luck. My ever brilliant Mom said, "Why don't you catch them and shoot them in a jar?" She's so smart.

Wednesday night I was at her house again. I collected about fifteen of the critters*. Thank heavens for digital cameras, as I took a bunch of pictures with limited success. It sure was fun trying!

*No fireflies were harmed in the execution of this project. They were housed in a well-ventilated glass jar, dining on such succulents as clover, grass, and lilac leaves. They were occasionally subjected to being turned upside down and rolled. We believe this would be the equivalent of the firefly Cedar Point. We did not charge them for this experience.

All fireflies were released upon the completion of the project, including Herbie, who was playing dead in the bottom of the jar. However, when the jar was turned over and thunked, Herbie sprang to life, flickered, and away he went.

Yikes!

I woke up this morning thinking it was Friday. Took about 15 minutes to realize that: it wasn't.

The day hasn't gotten much better since.

How are YOU doing?

And a Happy Hump Day to you!

We're continuing on with our heat wave up here in Michigan, which has kept us hopping at work. (A heating and air conditioning company.)

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

See this sign? Go to Sheryl's post here. Thank you.

The Magic Door

I seldom go to the zoo, though now that niece #4 works there I find myself visiting more often.

This door intrigues me. It is in a wall in an unused section of the zoo. What lies behind it? Is it where the animals go to party at night when the humans go home?

Swiped from Veracity and Mendacity:

Your Slanguage Profile

Canadian Slang: 75%

Aussie Slang: 50%

Victorian Slang: 50%

British Slang: 25%

New England Slang: 25%

Southern Slang: 25%

Prison Slang: 0%

What Slanguage Do You Speak?

The Happy Little Vegemite Song

We're happy little Vegemite's as bright as bright can be,
we all enjoy our Vegemite for breakfast lunch and tea,
our mummies say we're growing stronger every single week,
because we love our Vegemite,
we all adore our Vegemite,
it puts a rose in every cheek.

I first heard of Vegemite several years ago and now, thanks to the generosity of the gracious and lovely susan on the other-side-of-the-world, I have some! Susan sent me a lovely package including the Vegemite, a platypus key-chain, an art card "Holiday sketch at Coogee 1888", BushBlends air freshener, and an Aussie Kangaroo Pouch made of genuine Kangaroo Scr*tum.

susan, you are such a thoughtful friend. Thank you ever so much!

Keeping Cool

Monday Madness is a bit too long to do this morning, but I'll put the questions here and come back to them tonight.

Thank you to everyone who offered questions last week. Since I received 14 suggestions, I am posting 7 this week and 7 next week. The following questions are from our participants; names are links to their blogs. Thanks again!

1. What book are you currently reading? (from dawn) Just finished The Mermaid's Tale. Next up, Kite Runner.
2. Have you ever experienced the loss of a pet? How did you deal with it? Would you get a new pet, and why? I had a big old black cat named Ziggy. He weighed 25 pounds at the height of his prowess. He loved spaghetti sauce, so I'd leave some in his bowl. 'Course, then he'd come lick me and he'd smell like garlic. That was weird. Zig thought he was part dog. He'd come when called, fetch, shake hands, but I blew it on teaching him rolling over. I would say, roll over, roll him over, then give him a treat. However, on the roll he'd pick up static electricity and get sparked as well as treated. Not a good plan.
In 1994 Zig got sick. I took him to the vet. He had a large tumor. I took him home, played with him, gave him tuna fish and all the things he might like to eat, then took him back to the vet's for a final visit.
We buried Ziggy out at the farm. Grandpa helped me dig the hole, and told stories about old barn cats he had known.
I won't get another pet. I'm not here enough to give it enough attention. And: I couldn't go through putting another one down.
3. Is anyone in your family in the armed services? (from teresa) My newly married niece's husband is in the armed service, in Baghdad. My car wears a yellow ribbon on the antenna for them.
4. If you have or have had a girlfriend/boyfriend, did you tell your parents about her/him without them prying for the information? (from shady88) Oh, heck, Mom and I pry each other for info.
5. What was your favorite childhood pet and tell me a few things about it. (from beth) Reepicheep the hamster.
6. Have you ever been in love? (from seren) Yes
7. What's your favorite activity? (from robyn)That's wayyyy to hard to pin down. I like picture taking and writing and reading stuff and walking in the woods and chasing deer and . . .

A River Runs Through It.

What river runs through your city/town/village?

SIX

Sunday, 3:00 a.m., so we're Unconsciously Muttering:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Do-it-yourself::Tim Allen
2. Pickpocket::Oliver Twist
3. Ballet::my nieces
4. Resumé::needs polishing
5. Phenom:enal
6. Love/Hate::relationship
7. Unusual::It's not
8. Intense::blue eyes
9. Interruption::Train of thought
10. Not enough::love

I've been Tagged!

By the lovely Montana Pandora

What I was doing ten years ago: 1995. Wow. Seems so long ago. I was working at my present job. I was taking computer classes at the Community College. I had my first muscle spasm in my back that year. Hmmmm.

5 years ago: 2000. I was working at my present job. We had survived Y2K. That was the year I took the train trip to Montana alone, met Boo and the girls out there. Grandpa passed away that year. Had a branchial clef duct cyst removed that year.

1 year ago: 2004. Oh boy. That year went up and down and ALL over the place

Yesterday: Worked my tail off to make up for the Monday holiday. (I copied this directly from Pandora, as it was SOOOO true!.)

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Popcorn
2. No-bake cookies
3. Fun-Yums
4. Jelly Bellies
5. Krispy-Kremes.

5 songs I know all the words to:
Umm. Don't laugh. I'm weird.

1. "Jesus Loves Me"
2. "Make New Friends"
3. "If I Loved You" Rodgers & Hammerstein
4. "One Hand, One Heart" Leonard Bernstein
5. "My White Knight" Meredith Wilson

5 Things I would do with $100 million:
1. Start a school. A model school, the way things ought to be.
2. Go to Paris.
3. Buy a home on Lake Michigan.
4. Start a clinic in an emerging nation.
5. Invest some for the future.

5 locations I would like to run away to:
1. Paris
2. Alaska (same as Pandora)
3. Glacier Park (same as Pandora)
4. Ireland
5. New York City

5 bad habits I have:
1. Procrastination
2. Too touchy
3. Eating too much
4. Worrying
5. Not changing the oil in the car frequently enough

5 things I like doing:
1. Reading
2. Taking photographs
3. Scrapbooking
4. Swimming
5. Writing

5 things I would never wear:
1. An eyebrow ring
2. Low riding jeans with a short T-shirt (swiped from Pandora)
3. Stiletto heels (ditto)
4. a bikini
5. a size 6

5 TV shows I like:
1. Survivor
2. Amazing Race
3. CSI: Las Vegas
4. Without a Trace
5.

5 Biggest joys of the moment:
1. My family
2. Good friends (both IRL and blogging) I keep on swiping from Pandora
3. Lake Michigan
4. My New Camera
5. Waking up to the birdies singing.

5 Favorite toys:
1. My Camera
2. My Cell phone
3. My 'puter
4. Those poppers you pull that make a bang and spray ribbons. Those were my fireworks for the 4th!
5. Anything to do with scrapbooking!

5 Next victims:
Sheryl
Susan
susan
bryn
Anyone else who wants to be victimized!!!

Monkey see, monkey do.
Beverly did it, so I did too.



Especially the ones that go off right after you've sat down, and spray your ass. Dont'cha just hate that?

What pisses you off?

Created by ptocheia

Thoughts and prayers for those caught in the London bombings. Patti is in London now, safe, and bringing us some on-site news.

Also thoughts and prayers for those in Daniel's path. Sheryl, are you okay down there???

So Oblivious

The blood pressure medication that I take warns about protecting against sun exposure. A couple of weekends ago when I was upNorth I was out on a boat for a couple of hours, so I dutifully applied SP45 sunblock. Well, I thought I had applied it. It appears, though, that I missed:

• the insides of both upper arms
• spots right beneath where my shorts ended (but only spots)
• the insides of one leg.

I look weird.

Hump day and I haven't hardly realized it yet! I love 4-day weeks, but sheesh, they leave me mixed up. (Well, that and the computer at work being down for six hours today.)

While the mainframe was down I worked on our mailing lists. Got caught up on the Commercial Buildings list (I was three weeks behind), and got twenty builder letters out regarding the new changes coming in air conditioning. Have you heard about the changes?

Ha! caught by this over at LDH's:

If, as you live your life, you find yourself mentally composing blog entries about it, post this exact same sentence in your weblog.

Check out www.flickr.com. Free version or professional. I'm just playing with the free, because I've seen so many of YOU playing with it. Thanks!

Breaking news! bryn is a granny! Congratulations!

I'm in a very antsy mood tonight.
Time to go to bed.

Another Fine Fix.

Saturday the weather was crisp and in the 70's, so I planned to do a couple of walking tours of neighborhoods unfamiliar to me. One of my plans was to start at the north dam, walk the rivertrail, then come back through Old Town. This is the oldest part of Lansing.

Imagine my surprise when I opened my morning paper and read that the local government is considering removing the north dam and the adjacent fish ladder. What the heck? Supposedly it would speed up the river, making a better fishing environment. Uh, but hey folks . . . historically, this is where our fair town originated, with an earthen dam here back in 1838. Does history mean nothing?

Ah well, we'll see how it turns out. The walk was fun, and I found bunches of little shops (there goes the paycheck again) to revisit.

See ya!

On the whether you'll see War of the Worlds question:
We're at 4 nos, 2 yes (with great praise from the two who saw it) and 3 possibles.
Feel free to jump in!

Jennifer links to a cute "draw a pig" page.

Susan challenges us to share more about us in our blogs . . . yikes! Good challenge, but would anyone come back?

Happy Tuesday! Four-day work week, oh yeah!

C O U N T R Y

Happy 4th!

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
US Declaration of Independence

"There's a prayer," her grandmother said. "By Julian of Norwich. She was a wonderful saint, a mystic. All my favorite saints are mystics, because they have so much faith. They can see the most impossible things, because they see with the eyes of the heart. I prayed Julian's prayer every day, while you were away. It goes, 'All will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well.'"

~~Summer of Roses, Luanne Rice

Cory Doctorow is coming to town. He's at the Clarion Writers Workshop, and is giving a reading Thursday at Schulers.

It's Sunday, so we must unconsciously mutter:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Statistics::numbers
2. Grin::smile
3. Saturn::automobile
4. Fulfilled::pleased
5. Life plan:live
6. Cult::ist
7. Lily::of the Valley
8. Stalemate::draw
9. Celebration::party
10. Underwear::Haines

Once again, Cassie-B gives us the run-down of special days in July. Thanks!!!

It's a holiday week-end, so remember:

Blogger gets screwed up on holidays. Only this time, Pandora is reporting problems with TypePad. Ah well. Let's share the fun.

Swiped from Cybertoad.
This kind of explains why I don't do politics here on the Other Side. I'm a 50/50 person. Yikes! Does this make me a mugwump?

Your Political Profile

Overall: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Social Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

How Liberal / Conservative Are You?

Another 26things is starting. I think I need to do this one. All work and no play makes Jill a dull, sick girl, so . . . let's play!

And good news, Kane is back. Better news: he made pictures while he was on hiatus. Kanedeliciously good!

Oh, and Happy July!

okay, I'm curious. How many are going to see War of the Worlds?

where the heck is this week going to?

we have a heat-wave up here. woke up to 72 degree weather, headed for the 90's again. i'm not used to this. brain is foggy.

that is all.

Swiped from Patti: (oh, and Patti: four months left to prepare for NANO!
My name using Egyptian Hieroglyphs!

Try your name

Script by

Sometimes I . . .

Good Tuesday morning!

UpNorth

Ut-oh. Can you see me now?

Mighty Mac

Thursday night I went to a book-reading/signing by Luanne Rice. She has a cool blog here, and talks about the filming of her book Beach Girls, in HALIFAX!!!, as a Lifetime mini-series. Go, Canada, bloggers! It's Rob Lowe and Julia Ormond.

According to her blog Luanne became sick after visiting us. Yikes. That's not good.

She's a lovely lady, somewhat "fragile" looking, but also very strong. It was a great night.

Happy, Happy Birthday!

The bad thing about being away from the internet this weekend was: I missed two birthdays. Susan on the other-side-of-the-world at 3rd daughter had a birthday Friday. Susan is about 15 hours ahead of me over there in Australia, and I visit her in the morning to see how the day has been for her.

Kathryn, who is another third daughter, also had a birthday Friday. She's 4 hours behind me, so I visit her in the evening, to see how the day is still progressing.

Hugs and Happy Belated birthday to both.

And today . . . it's bryn's Birthday! Bryn is up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Happy birthday, dear!

Good Monday Morning!

I've been away from computers for the last several days. Hope you've had an enjoyable weekend, and now . . . on with the new week!

A little late, but let us mutter.

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Useless::Worthless
2. Radiant::Bride
3. W::women
4. Unpaid::bills
5. Geek:computer
6. Unfaithful::untrustworthy
7. Reboot::Microsoft
8. No!::Yes!
9. Squad::Mod
10. Fetish::Shoes

Swiped from Lynn:

You Belong in Paris Stylish and a little sassy, you were meant for Paris. The art, the fashion, the wine, the men! Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park... You'll love living in the most chic place on earth What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz :-)Find the Love of Your Life (and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.

Go Pistons!!!!

Not Deer This time!

Sheesh. If you've stopped by here with any frequency, you know I enjoy tracking and photographing the deer that live on the east side of town in the Arboretum and Cemetery. Well, there's a new game in old Lansing town. North side of town has been spotting bear. One of them was in the Wal-Mart parking lot. We're getting wilder and wilder around here!

Oh yay!

I was scheduled to take June 7th off at work, but we were in the throes of an inventory problem so I didn't take it. I'm taking today off instead. There is something absolutely wonderful about a day in the middle of the week with nothing planned. YAY!

It's tag time. I've been tagged by Lynn:

The first part of this meme is to list the 5 things from your childhood that you miss the most. So my 5 things are

• My brother, J.R.
• The tree at the corner of the house on Miller Road that I used to climb. When you're the oldest of five and eight years old you have to have SOME place to hang out in that is your own. Of course, now that whole corner is part of a parking lot.
• My friend Linda.
• Grandma Bea. She lived with us and gave us that "extra" attention kids so often need.
• The old brick building. (haha, and Mr. Burdett!)

Part the second:

Remove the #1 item from the above list, bump everyone up one place and add your blog's name in the #5 spot. You need to actually link to each of the blogs above and below, so everybody gets the benefit of other people checking out their blog.
Three blog-people to pass it on to: TAG! You're "It"!

Okay, I suppose that's a good way to visit folks.


Chew Toys
Wandering Willow
Bread Crumbs
Always a Dreamer

Other Side

This little feller/gal looks like it has been on a long journey. I don't know my butterflies/moths. Anyone know what it is?

FlyAway

I'm not sure this fits. Swiped from Roscoe.

You scored as Romanticist. Romanticism encourages society to look backwards to find our solutions. Your rationale is that things were much better a few hundred years ago so we should thus look back to those times and replace them in our modern society. You believe in a simple life and that the complexities of the modern world have turned it upside down.

What is Your World View? (updated)
created with QuizFarm.com

This is a test. What do you see, and what browser are you using? Thank you very much!

What do you See?

Monday Madness time again.

Please list at least one anagram for the following words...

1. rentals::slanter
2. wreathe::weather
3. intidy::(all right otto, is intidy a word???) I've thought and thought and I can't get this one.
4. ruling::luring
5. peaks::speak
6. imprints::misprint
7. meals::males
8. reserve::severer . . . no, that can't be a word. Ummm. . . reverse!
9. cosmic::comics
10. heirs::shire, hires

I have been tagged by Bryn:

Number of books I own: 350 - 400. Reading is one of my vices hobbies.

Last book I bought: Too Late to Die Young.

Last book I read: Summer's Child, by LuAnne Rice.

Books that mean a lot to me: The Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis and A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean.

Thanks for the tag, bryn! I know that many of you have already been tagged, so I'll just issue a general tag for anyone who wants to play!

I'm going to leave this one up to remind me to not mess with the tough stuff! *grin*

Graduation Day Comparison

Okay, here I'm trying to play on my own, but with meg's rules. We're going to contrast graduations of 1969 and 2005 for the same school. Surprisingly, the similarities outweight the differences.

2005


Class Size: 350


Venue: Breslin Center, Michigan State University


Air Conditioning: Yes and On


Reserved Seating: No


Speaker: United States Senator


Dress: Red Cap and Gown, Ties for boys, White Shoes for Girls


Tassel Change: En masse


Valedictorians: 20. That's a lot, but advanced placement scores did it


Salutorians: 1


Crowd: Excited, proud, pleased and tearful

1969


Class Size: 642


Venue: Prudden Auditorium, old Lansing Civic Center


Air Conditioning: No


Reserved Seating: Yes


Speaker: Community College President


Dress: Red Cap and Gown, Ties for boys, White Shoes for Girls


Tassel Change: As students crossed stage


Valedictorians: 1 Jim Erdman where are you?


Salutorians: 1


Crowd: Excited, proud, pleased and tearful

The tie thing surprised me. My nephew didn't own a tie, and his dad always uses the clip-ons. This is the computer age, though, so the nephew learned to tie a tie via internet directions.

Thinking about valedictorians made me think about Jimmy, our valedictorian. Jim and I were a couple of the last seniors to take driver's ed. We took it the last semester of senior year, and shared cars. Jim, I still tend to fall in love on Thursdays.

Stealing from meg, but I've got a glitch somewhere.

Actually, it looked ok here at home, but when i got to work I saw what everyone else was seeing. Brrrrr. Go visit MandarinDesign for the real deal.

Looking around at Ann Baldwin's Art Site.

Well, let's Unconsciously Mutter:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Domesticated::Tame
2. Cask::Wine
3. Wayne::State, Newton, Anthony
4. Insidious::stealthily sneaky evil
5. Cool!:Neat!
6. Dishwasher::Soap
7. Little house::on the Prairie
8. Stepford::Wives
9. Hung::*tsk tsk, naughty first thought*
10. Falling::Star

Blogging for Postcards

Well here's Saturday. And I am NOT amused.

1. The clerk at the scrapbook store kept calling me "hon". Somehow that made me feel like an awkward dolt. I'm sure it's my problem, she probably calls everyone "hon", but it didn't work.

2. The itsy-bitsy cashier at Ponderosa gave me the Senior Citizen discount. Now, I'm only a year-and-a-half from that (55) but still . . .

3. Temperatures are in the high 60's. Where'd the heat go?

On the other hand, I'm reading a new LuAnn Rice novel, and she's speaking at the local bookstore on Thursday. This new novel is set in Nova Scotia. Thinking of you, bryn, Lynn and Joni!

And how are you?

Last night was the last of the 2004-2005 School Year Activities. Boo's three girls take dance classes. They present one recital a year. What a lovely time.

At the Ballet

I first visited Crossing the Rubicon II through mandarin meg's quilt. (I always spell that guilt first. Hmmm.) Gail links to up-to-the-minute Israeli/Jewish issues and comments on them. She also gives us glimpses into her life as a cancer survivor, poet, and mother. I enjoy her style, and get tickled that she participates in the occasional meme. She's been a good link on my blogroll for quite some time now.

Recently, her posts have taken a new turn, a breath-taking, heart-breaking, spit-in-the -face of adversity turn. Her teenage daughter is in a hospital with bipolar disorder. Gail's writings as this story unfold are candid and clear. I'm not going to link to a specific post, but if you have time, please visit her. Not to pity, and not to gawk, but to see reality.

I have a cousin and a good friend who have Bi-Polar Disorder. I have learned a lot from reading Gail's posts. Thank you.

B L I S S

Wow! It's not only hump day, it's the middle of June already!

Relativity: The speed at which a day in March appears to travel vs the speed at which a day in June appears to travel.

They have secrets! Found via Ilana.

Roscoe reminds us about Flag Day. Thank you!

High School Graduation in the City.

This past weekend's graduation was a huge walk down memory lane for my extended family, as it was the first graduation from the high school we had all attended a few *grin* years ago. The class of 2005 was 350 strong. That's a lot of graduates, but the big baby-boom classes ran in the 600's. (Mine was 642.)

There are three public high schools in town. To provide a consistent venue for the graduations, the second Saturday in June each school holds their ceremonies at the Breslin Center, at Michigan State University. (The home of the green guys basketball team.) At 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 6 p.m. graduates and their families gather. We were the morning crew, and there was no lingering, as the building had to be cleared for the next band of caped crusaders.

Aside: While typing this I wanted to look up some zip code demographics. This site has an interesting way of analyzing zip code areas. I did 48910 and 48911.

The featured speaker at commencement was our United States Senator. Her first job after graduating college was at the High School, so she had a definite link there. She also had two young relatives in the ceremony, so that was neat. (The big-screen TVs did help to highlight the activities on the platform, but there is some distortion.)

It's funny how in that big throng of like-clad kids each family can find their own.

The ceremony started with the graduates entering the darkened arena under a disco ball, with searching spotlights sweeping the students, and to the drum crashes of "Jupiter". They stood in a large circle while the audience tried to find their students. Then the lights came up, and the traditional Pomp and Circumstance was played as the students filed to their seats.

The disco ball was the highlight for our youngest observers.

There were twenty valedictorians. Twenty.

We were grateful for the air-conditioning. Very grateful.

Have a great Tuesday!

Aha! I Wasn't the Only One!

I saw Mr. & Mrs. Smith Friday night. It was the number one box office movie this week-end, so I certainly wasn't alone. While set as an action film, it really is a marriage tale, in the manner of War of the Roses. I would be interested in hearing couples reactions to it. (My brother and his wife saw it as part of their 25th anniversary evening. Hmmm.)

ut-oh. The Monday Madness requires thinking!

Thanks to everyone for playing Monday Madness! This week we're going to do something a little different... anagrams. What is an anagram? An anagram is a rearrangement of the letters of one word or phrase to form another word or phrase.

Please list at least one anagram for the following words...

1. praised : despair
2. idle : lied
3. lamp : palm
4. tied : diet
5. lured : ruled
6. sang : nags, snag
7. hoes : shoe
8. rats : star
9. mobbed : bombed
10. rifle : lifer

Blogging for Postcards

In the Things I Didn't Know Category.

White-tail deer lose their antlers in February or March. What I didn't know was that they almost immediately begin to grow them back. Now I know.

In the Things I Wish I Didn't Know Category

Poor Pistons. They lost game #2.

In the Things I DO Know Category.

I'm sleepy. I think I'd better go to bed.

And as long as I'm up, I'm going to Unconsciously Mutter:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Wally::World, Cox
2. Phantom::of the Opera
3. Slippery::Slope
4. Fungus::amongus
5. Slot:Machine
6. Type::Blood
7. Discharge::from the hospital
8. "We need to talk”::utoh
9. On the spot::Ready
10. Liquid::Paper

Missing Montana, so I've visited Pandora's and Out There with Tom.

Graduation Day.

Later this morning I'll be attending the graduation of the Class of 2005, Everett High School. Nephew tall Paul hits the aisle this time. He's been my football buddy for all these years at Michigan State, and I'm happy he'll be attending that school in the fall.

Graduation: What do you wish you had heard at your commencement speech?

Edit: Sheryl as a lovely Graduation still life here.

*sigh*
Hot and muggy is hard on the system, but . . .

the fireflies are back!

S I L V E R

Take a test:

From Lynn, I picked up the link to the 4 Variable IQ test

Roscoe had a link to the Personality Defect test. I am a hippie. Imagine that!?! Roscoe, it says I get along well with robots. Hmmm.

So Happy It's Thursday!*

We've got us a heatwave! Last year we NEVER hit 90 degrees. This year, we hit it on Sunday, Tuesday, and anticipate it twice more this week.

I work at a heating and air conditioning place. Monday was a busy day. (I wasn't there, but I heard about it *grin*.) Tuesday was a little less busy, and yesterday all heck broke loose, as the phones kept tying up. People never believe we're really going to have hot weather up here . . . until we have it!

Yesterday at lunchtime I drove downtown (a mile away) and walked to the post office to pick up more stamps for our Service Mailings. One of the joys of living in the Capital City is that you get to hear what is being protested on the Capitol lawn. Yesterday it was the helmet laws here in Michigan. Vroom, vroom, vroom, was all I could hear as I stopped at the Veterans Memorial to eat my sandwich. Had to be at least three hundred motorcycles circling the place. Anyone want to comment on helmet laws?

Have a great Thursday, my friends, and susan, I hope you HAD a great Thursday!

*E.B.C.

Blogging for Postcards

D A I S Y

oh yeah! I'm back from upNorth!

And now a little Monday Madness:


Using the letters in the following word, describe that word. The word is...
Warm
Earthy
Airy
Tumultuous
Hot
Edgy
Rainy

Unconscious Mutterings a bit late *smile*.

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Exhibit::Art
2. Evolution::Revolution
3. Loser::Winner
4. Hypnotic::Mesmerizing
5. Unlikely::Not about to
6. Interrupt::Jump in
7. Ambivalent::Wishy-washy
8. Rise and fall::of the Roman Empire
9. Indian::Ocean
10. Prophecy::Foresee

I SUSPECT THIS CRITTER COULD BEAT ME IN A FOOT RACE TODAY

E X P R E S S

Time has accelerated. I have a niece and a nephew graduating this month from high school. It seems like just last month we were off to the hospital to see them as newborns, and just last week they were in Cub Scouts and Brownies. Warp speed ahead!

You are Percy Bysshe Shelley! Famous for your
dreamy abstraction and your quirky verse,
you're the model "sensitive poet." A
vegetarian socialist with great personal charm
and a definite way with the love poem, you
remain an idol for female readers. There are
dozens of cute anecdotes about you, and I love
you.


Which Major Romantic Poet Would You Be (if You Were a Major Romantic Poet)?
brought to you by Quizilla

Hurry back, Anne . . . but thanks for the cute pic while you're gone!

So that's where Yehudi came from!

And from LDH:


Egyptian hieroglyphics (3000 B.C.E.)
You are EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS. You, mysterious
and obscure? Hardly. You think that you are
so cool with your logo-phonetic system and
thousands of years of obscurity. Now? We can
read you like an open book (of the dead). But
if it makes you feel any better, it took
scholars more than twenty-five years with the
help of the Rosetta Stone to figure you out.


Which Indecipherable Script Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I do enjoy cemeteries, so had to swipe this from bryn:



What in a cemetery are you? by FictionalVixen.

Oh deer

And again, our favorite watchers.

Honeysuckle

The woods are a fairyland right now. Wild phlox as far as the eye can see. The scent of honeysuckle so pervasive it gives me a high.

The etymology of phlox.