Gorgeous!

Steve Irwin died and I'm sad about it. He seemed a good guy, and he had a great sense of humor.

..

He has a wife and two kids - I'm thinking he probably had a lot of insurance. Is it better that he died doing what he loved, rather than slipping and falling in the shower?

A boy can dream

I want to be Invisible Lizard when I grow up.

.

A New Utility Company?

This is a snip of yesterday's Ctrl+Alt+Del comic, by Tim Buckley:

I think it's just a matter of time before clean air is being pumped into our houses, at a fee of course. Will we have airlocks? It'll mean a whole new thing for parents to yell at their kids about - "Do you think air grows on trees?..Close the damn airlock!"

Be Afraid

There's something forboding about this...

take my word for it

fennel cake is not the same as funnel cake

they're very different

and if you ask for your fennel cake with powdered sugar,

the waitress will laugh at you

not with you

Biting is good

Our cat is so smart - we're certain she's smarter than any other kitty out there. Thanks to us, of course! Granted, we can't take credit for her genetics, but it's clear that her environment has done wonders.

I built her a toy to chase, made of a short length of plastic pipe, a strand of dental floss, and a toy mouse. She loves it! Far more than any store-bought toy. Probably cause it smells like me. Yep.

As she pounces on the mouse, she doesn't try to hurt it - instead she pins it down with a paw and attacks the string - she's that smart. She's not wasting time or attention, she's going for the source.

It's easy to get in a rut. We go about our daily routine, and there are changes we want to make, but somehow we never get around to making them - rarely the important ones.

Often this is because we focus on the wrong problems or distracted by the day-to-day BS while our biggest issues go unresolved.

Attack the string.

it violated my tongue, it did.

In the olden days, there was Tech TV. This was Tech TV before it became the debased, crank-sniffing junkie that we know today as G4.

One of the my favorite segments on Tech TV was "Don't Buy This", where they featured a particularly crappy gadget, and described all the reasons not to buy it. Beyond the insight on that specific product, you gleaned ideas to judge future products you might buy.

In that same spirit, I give you Southern Tsunami Miso Soup.

Don't Buy This. Oh my dear lord, do not buy this. The smell alone compelled me to pour it in the sink, untasted.

Granted, it's my own fault for buying Just Add Water Miso Soup. It's also not encouraging that it is made in Chicago, IL. Not that Chicagoans can't make quality products, but a traditional Japanese soup is not one of them. This is the same law of nature which insists that quality picante sauce cannot be made in New York City.

For any of you that have not known the pleasures of Miso Soup, I suggest you get your ass to the nearest Japanese restaurant and order a few gallons. It's truly wonderful. I'd describe the flavor, but it would take far too long. It's delicious, sublime, and soothes the soul.

Real Life Conversation # 5

"How'd it go at the vet?"

"It went fine. She's a happy healthy kitty."

"Cool. She behaved for you?"

"Well, she pretended not to know me, but yeah."

"Soon she'll be asking us to drop her off a block away so we won't embarrass her."

What are the variables, please?

Extra Credit:

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Well first of all, it's a Woodchuck, so I must assume that it could or rather can chuck wood. The "if" phrasing makes one wonder if there is something impeding the woodchuck. Is it ill or infirm? Depressed? Recovering from pine-nut addiction? Since its health and vitality are not detailed, we must assume it is a healthy middle-aged woodchuck.

What the hell is a woodchuck, anyway? It's a groundhog, part of the squirrely family.

The question seems incomplete. What variety of wood? What's the elevation? Time of year? Is it a male or female woodchuck? How much time is allotted? What is the average chucking speed? What time does the fucking train leave Philadelphia?

Slipping into neutral

Let's say you're busy working away on your own, and something happens to distract you. It could be a phone call, or someone stopping by your desk with a stack of papers and a few questions - but something has broken your internal rhythm.

As people transition back into their internal focus, they often make a sound - usually the same one every time. It could be an 'ahem', a 'sniff', or many other noises.

What sound do you make when shifting mental gears?

Bittersweet

Reading an online mag this morning, I mused:
Wow, the quality of the writing here has really gone downhill lately.

And then in excitement I realized:
Maybe now they'll publish my stuff!