Ya know that "Easily entertained" thing about me? It's still true.

So I've been going through my, uh, substantial pile o'e-mails. It's one of my summer goals to reduce the pile in my inbox by over 400 e-mails. {Well, I can dream, can't I? Oh...well crimony! I've already reduced it by over 170! Guess I should keep dreaming. ;-}

So, during the e-mail perusal (excavation), I have come across a whole slew of "ya gotta see this" emails with charming, interesting, and fun links to a wide range of videos.

Yep, gonna share:

A very recent yarn-y video gift from a newish friend: "Film Muffler".

This is technically a public service announcement - but beautifully presented: "Embrace Life".

And the Louisville Leopard Percussionists kept me entertained for quite a while:
Steel Leopards: "Check Yes Juliet and Happy"

"Zeppelin!"

Simon's Cat always has something fun:
"Field Trip"

And has become something I like to check out daily:
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the day. Extremely spiffy!

Lastly, this is an old favorite: NASA/SDO's 2012 Transit of Venus
"NASA/SDO's Ultra-high Definition View of 2012 Venus Transit"

Enjoy!

Making me Laugh

 Well, of course, the main source of entertainment in my life is … our Cats:

And other people's cats…Simon's Cat has a new video out! "Crazy Time".
(In our home, when the cats bolt around the house, pell-mell - we say the cats have "Happy Feet".)
{This phrase predates the penguin movie by several decades.}

From Reshareworthy:

• Tally the Dog thinks she's a Cat. {I can relate - I too was raised with huskies and cats.} ;-)
• Duke the Horse takes over the Kiddie Pool.
• Because of this gent, I'm craving pancakes. But the pancakes he makes are too spiffy to eat! Saipancakes!

Lastly…ok, this is a two-part bit of admiration.
I enjoyed seeing the movie "Frozen". The animation is strikingly beautiful and very well thought out.
And I have admired Idina Menzel's talents for years. {"Rent", "Wicked", appearances on Glee}
So I have been enjoying the excerpt of "Let it Go" from Frozen on YouTube.

Ah, but the credit for the video that made me laugh with delight goes to The Tonight Show.
Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and Idina Menzel performing "Let it Go" - with an unbelievable range of instruments (kazoo, melodica, toy blocks, ukelele, lemon shaker…).
This version is fun, charming, and clearly demonstrates the talents of the musicians {you'll understand after you watch the video!} and Idina's amazing voice, skill and presence.
Kudos to you all and thank you!

Things that made me laugh today...

Last week, I tripped over the copy of Mark Twain's semi-autobiographical "Roughing It" that I had been reading but put aside for a while. This morning I was reading a bit and this part made me laugh so I thought I would share it with you.

The setting from the Table of Contents:
"Chapter XXXI
The Guests at "Honey Lake Smith's" - "Bully Old Arkansas" - "Our Landlord" - Determined to Fight - The Landlord's Wife - The Bully Conquered by Her - Another Start - Crossing the Carson  - A Narrow Escape - Following Our Own Track - A New Guide - Lost in the Snow…..171"

The Setting from me (and Mr. Twain): 
Our hero, Mr. Clemens, and a few other gents have been trapped by a flood for a little over a week at Honey Lake Smith's Inn on the Carson River. They are attempting to leave because "life at the inn had become next to insupportable by reason of the dirt, drunkenness, fighting, etc.".

The waters have receded and after a failed attempt to cross the still over-full Carson river (where the canoe overturned, saddles were lost and another night had to be spent at the inn) our group is again attempting to leave.
But now it is snowing heavily. Following the instincts of Ollendorff they set out for Carson City, assured that if Ollendorff were to "straggle a single point out of the true line his instinct would assail him like an outraged conscience". After a short time they come across some tracks in the snow and Ollendorff is positive his instincts have them going in the right direction. The company hurries to catch up to the folks ahead of them on the trail.

These are the comments made me laugh out loud:
"Boys, these are our own tracks, and we've actually been circussing round and round in a circle for more than two hours, out here in this blind desert! By George this is perfectly hydraulic!
Then the old man waxed wroth and abusive. He called Ollendorff all manner of hard names - said he never saw such a lurid fool as he was, and ended with the peculiarly venomous opinion that he "did not know as much as a logarithm!""

{Happy Sigh} Gotta love the wondrous mind and writing of Mark Twain.

And a more modern collection of giggles - "I'm Climbing Up the Christmas Tree NEOW 2013" by Shorty and Kodi.

{This pretty much embodies why I haven't put up a tree since we got Gryphon aka The Gryphon-ator.}

School Clothes (or Crimony I have a lot of T-shirts!)

I know I haven't posted for a bit - I've been immersed in school stuff.

We've been exploring free form tapestry in weaving and I've been expending a lot of lab time trying to get that project done within the 2-class period time frame. {tapestry seems to take a VERY long time and it wears out my brain and seems to burn up calories. No, I'm not kidding - I'm ravenously hungry after about an hour and a half. What is with that?}

The start of my Free Form Tapestry project

I struggled to learn to how to throw a cylinder on a pottery wheel for over a week and then I accidentally threw a pot {with some coaching from the instructor}.

I was very surprised to create this. 

Now I seem to be able to make pots on purpose. Mind boggling.

My 2nd Thrown Pot. I'm still surprised.

Oh - there's this paper I have to write about a favored ceramics artist and then give a presentation....so as usual, there is plenty to keep me occupied. {Yeah, I'm stressing some about the deadlines this week.}

I wear a large denim shirt in ceramics class to reduce how much clay I wear home, but I still leave well-marked with clay and sometimes with spots of clay on my face. It all seems to wash out pretty well {so far as I can tell}.

And the silly point of this post? Yep, my school clothes. Specifically, the shirts I wear each week.
I have noted on a few occasions that I am easily entertained. This is another of those occasions.

A few weeks ago, I was choosing a shirt to wear to school and there were several "contenders". So - I decided to wear them all - throughout the week. When I realized the shirts were of a similar theme, I liked the concept so I started picking a related 3-fer set of shirts to wear to school each week.

It am a bit agog at the number of t-shirts I own and they seem to wear the years lightly despite being hung outside {albeit inside out} in the Arizona Sun to dry.

Here's a few of the weekly themes for my school clothes:
Red Cross Blood Donation Shirts {aka "Bloodletting Shirts"}:

{Vintage} Arizona Renaissance Festival Shirts:

Shirts from the Tucson Botanical Gardens La Fiesta de los Chile festivals. These are also vintage shirts - TBG stopped the Chile Festival years ago when they started Butterfly Magic.

Not surprisingly, I have several Firefly/Serenity Shirts (2 of them were gifted to me). Obviously Gryphon chose this set of shirts to begin helping me take pictures. {wry grin}

{Appropriately, the back of the "BrownCoat" shirt he is laying
upon says: "I aim to misbehave"}

 A few of my t-shirts from the Bear Cabin Retreats:

Well of course I have shirts that represent my fondness {addiction} for chocolate! {wry grin} The two shirts on the left were gifted to me.  I purchased the two on the right at the M&M store in Las Vegas {along with a colorful range of M&Ms!}. {grin-er}

 Gryphon was still helping:

 Lastly, from a little black cat on shirts to the big cats on shirts:

Tea Bag Wisdom and Random Stuff

My morning tea has been entertaining me....
{As previously blogged, I am easily entertained.}
...with charming and funny sayings on the Good Earth Original Sweet & Spicy tea bag fob.

• The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.
  attributed to Dorothy Parker
• You're never too old to become younger.
  Mae West
• The tribute to learning is teaching.
  Wise saying from the Orient. 

Who??

I'm not surprised that Matt Smith will be leaving Doctor Who. It's been 4 years. {sigh}
It seems like he was about to be the "new" doctor just a little while ago. I was rather skeptical about that new Dr. because I didn't want David Tennant to leave. However, I did become smitten with Mr. Smith. And now Twitter is bursting with speculation and suggestions as to who should be the new Doctor. Will the new Doctor be a Ginger (red hair)? Will it be a woman? We shall see....

New favorite Series:
"Craft in America", a PBS series. It looked intriguing on Netflix so I queued it. However, the first episode I watched struck such a cord that I seem to be saving it "for later", like particularly wonderful chocolate or yarn. {sigh} I suspect heightened interest in this subject coincides with my current educational pursuits and my questioning if I might eventually qualify as an "artist". This series doesn't appear to be available on my local PBS channel and obviously I'm a few years behind so I should stop "saving it" and savor it!

Patrick Stewart - what an amazing Man. 
Via The Blogess' post today - "A Brave Fan Asks Patrick Stewart A Question He Doesn't Usually Get And Is Given A Beautiful Answer." Well done, Sir! My thanks to you.

My own "Training Marriage" unpleasantness was pretty mild compared to what many women experience. I got off lucky {and divorced} and the current DH is truly a "Dear Husband". I am blessed.

Lastly - the Trekkie influence on my blog posts continue:
I am profoundly tickled with the spiffy Trekkie (and Hobbit) humor in this Audi commercial:
{The car's not bad either.} ;-)

Sit Long and Prosper

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...."

Uh-uh, wait, stop...wrong movie. {sigh}
Sorry - do-over.

"Space... the final frontier..."

Yep, that's more like it.

September 1991
What is "Sit Long and Prosper" you ask?
It was a truly nifty event planned and well-executed by the {then} newest/largest movie theater in town.

It was the 25th Anniversary of Star Trek in 1991.
{Yeah, I know, I'm dating myself.)

Front emblem on commemorative T-shirt

The movie theater planned a day-long event where they would show alllllll FIVE {yes, back then there were only 5} of the Star Trek movies, provide us with lunch (pizza!), and we got a commemorative shirt.

Back of commemorative T-shirt

It was a truly stellar day {please pardon the pun}.
I attended the event with The Little Brother {a much more serious Trekkie than I}.
{OK - how cool is it that the blogger spell-check knows/approves of "Trekkie"?!?}
{Knitterly comment for this post - I hadn't yet learned to knit back in 1991. Ah, all that time I could have been knitting.}

We had a grand day watching:

• Star Trek The Motion Picture (1979)
• The Wrath of Khan (1982) {Still my favorite ST Movie. "Kaaaaahhhhn!!"}
• The Search for Spock (1984)
• The Voyage Home (1986) {My 2nd fav ST Movie "Admiral, there be whales here!"}
• The Final Frontier (1989)

(ST VI, "The Undiscovered Country" came out later in 1991.)

During one of the breaks between the movies, or perhaps at our pizza-lunch break we were entertained by the following scenario: 

One extremely tall gent (6'6"-ish) had attended the event in FULL Klingon regalia. His height only served to enhance the well-crafted Klingon uniform.  He literally stood out and added to our Trekkie atmosphere.

Now his youngling son (2-ish?) was adorably blond, wearing standard kid-overalls and was astoundingly well behaved considering our extended stay in the theater.

But during one of our breaks, the youngling sprinted up the aisle from the front of the theater, laughing as he made his escape.

The tall Klingon took just a few long steps and, with one hand, he lifted his son by the back, crossed-straps of his overalls and carted the grinning child back to their seats. The capture, perfectly executed with a {mock} somber Klingon face, seemed to be an easy, well-practiced maneuver that the child and this audience member greatly enjoyed.

May 2013 
Our last Color and Composition class was scheduled for conferences with our instructor. I spent the non-conference time working on my Drawing class homework.

I was chatting with some of my classmates as I worked on my Drawing final project and the topic was the newest Star Trek movie that was opening soon. A young gent with whom I'd had several Serenity/SciFi conversations commented that he was planning to attend a special screening of the two newest Star Trek movies being shown back-to-back:
{COOOOOOL!!!}

• Star Trek (2009)  {Excellent and clever!}
• Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)  {Again....excellent and clever {unusual for a sequel!}}

I told him I'd been able to attend the "Sit Long and Prosper" event from...well, a long time ago.
He excitedly told me he had been there too!
Considering his young blue-eyed blondness, I asked : "Did your father go dressed as a Klingon?"

Yep. T'was he - the chortling youngling escapee. All grown up and taking art classes.

I told him the story of his escape and nonchalant capture in '91. We were grinning a lot.
I told him to tell his Dad that they had enhanced my SL&P experience - and that his Dad is entirely cool.

I'm still grinning.
I have stated before that I think Tucson only has 2 degrees of separation instead of 6.
This ranks in my top 5 Tucson-happenstance experiences.

Decorating for Halloween!

About Decorating for Halloween....I generally don't.

I've got friends that go whole-hog when decorating for Halloween. And I'll cheer them on, help them find decorating stuff, and proudly describe their accomplishments. 

Me - not so much with the Halloween decorating. 

I don't throw a party or anything and it's just more stuff for the cats to uh, "rearrange". 

I do carve some interesting pumpkins for Halloween. But I didn't this year and I'm not finding electronic pictures of my past carvings. 

(I'll sit down and figure out the scanner feature in the aging printer soon, really). 

Ok, I have been known decorate my desk at the office. 

Just so I could have these pretties out to admire (and hug) at least once a year: 

{The soft Beanie Baby Black Cat with the wicked orange eyes on the
far left is probably my favorite of this group.)

Most of the above (and several from the next group below) were gifts from my best-est friend-of-most-years, Joyce.

I did purchase the tall, 2nd-from-the-left Kitty in the Ghost dress and "Mary-Janes" is from an extremely talented crafting friend whose ability and imagination never cease to amaze me. 

The black cat draped over the bench handle on the left side is actually a scarf - that I plan to wear tonight to greet Trick or Treaters. 

As you've probably guessed, the Door Handle decoration won't be hung on any doors in my home where the monster-cats can reach it. {shudder}

An extremely gifted needlepointing friend made this treasure for me years ago. 

{The nifty fabric on the back!}

She chooses amazing, creative stitches and selects very specific fibers and colours that add texture and depth to her needlepoint pieces. 

{Did you notice the ceramic "Candy Corn" ears?}

Hmmm - it would appear I actually did do some 
"Decorating for Halloween" this year. 
I decorated the blog!

May you all have a safe and fun Halloween with 
many smiles and just the right amount of 
chocolate, excitement, and friends.

Stick a Pom-pom on it, and it's Done!

"Stick a Pom-pom on it, and it's Done!"

I said those words to the DH a little over an hour ago as I saw him off to work.

I'd been explaining [why I had been sitting on my keister in front of the TV for part of the morning and] what I intended to do this afternoon.
I was finishing up a Jayne Hat for a friend's Birthday that occurs this coming week. I was near finishing - had to put on the side flaps and then I had to "Stick a Pom-pom on it, and it's Done!"

I made myself laugh a little and I just liked the sound of that phrase. I also figured Knitters might "get" the humor of it more than the average soul on the street (or DH getting into his car). So - instant blog inspiration!

And Jayne Hat #8 is done . It will be gifted to a member of the local Arizona Browncoats group; a gent who is one of my office "little brothers". Happy Birthday, Keith:

More crafting, blogging, kitty-giggles, blather, and the job search adventure is planned for 2012.


Happy New Year's Eve, all! 
Be safe, be Kind, and have Fun!

My New Favorite Things

I have to show you a couple o'things that are enhancing my life of late...

New Fav #1
I'm slowly working my way through the many, many podcasts I've queued up in iTunes. I use the Knitmore Girls suggestion of listening to 3 episodes to give a podcast a fair shake to decide if I will continue to listen. If I like the 3-fer, I go back and start listening from the beginning.
Can't help myself. It could be I go back to the beginning so that I'll know/understand the older references but I truly suspect it has to do with not wanting to miss anything.
Especially if the podcast is that good.

Anyway...the latest podcast that has entirely charmed me is NPR's Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!.
I find it to be clever, funny, and very interesting.

Their Website banner reads "The Oddly Informative News Quiz Show" and describes the show thusly:
"Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is NPR's weekly hour-long quiz program. Each week on the radio you can test your knowledge against some of the best and brightest in the news and entertainment world while figuring out what's real news and what's made up."
I find these descriptions do not do the show justice. I am guaranteed to learn something about current events and spend a bit of time (and breath) chortling or even laughing out loud as I listen to each episode.

Peter Sagal hosts the show, which features 3 panelists that participate in a variety of news quizzes - usually to benefit a call-in listener. The listener is attempting to win a coveted prize - a message on their voice-mail/answering machine by Carl Kasell, official judge and scorekeeper.

A celebrity guest will also play the "Not My Job" game where they're asked to answer questions about a topic that is likely not their bailiwick.
(Examples: Ru Paul & Drag (car) Racing, Hollywood Stuntman Hal Needham & Famous Weddings, and Bill Clinton & My Little Pony)

The writing for the show is impressive, as are the host/judge and panelists. They display stellar, witty, quick minds, a significant knowledge of current events, and they poke fun at themselves, the news, and the human condition.
I equate it to one of my favorite sayings: "Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves - for we shall never cease to be amused".

"Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" is definitely worth a weekly listen!
(Which reminds me - I need to go donate to NPR. I donate regularly to PBS, but I seem to have been neglecting NPR. I'm off to go fix that...)

New Fav #2
My other new favorite thing is thanks to Jarod Flood of the Brooklyn Tweed blog. (Thank you, Sir!!)
I was catching up on his blog a couple of weeks ago and he mentioned a new book from Elizabeth Zimmerman. I have a few EZ books and the Knitting Workshop DVD. Based on those experiences, I immediately travelled to the Schoolhouse Press Website to go have a look.

"Knit One Knit All" was a book EZ had planned to publish in the 70's but the publishers she approached didn't think a book focusing on one knit stitch (Garter) would go over well.
(Hrumph. The numerous and successful one-stitch books published since then tell the tale yet again that EZ was a woman ahead of her time.)

My copy of this spiffy book arrived quickly and the top of the book shows some evidence of my delight:

The following are comments from the thank you note I sent to the amazing folks at Schoolhouse Press.

"I have to say - I am entirely smitten with your new book, "Knit One Knit All". 

The top edge of the book bears the evidence of my appreciation via the numerous wish-to-knit page markers I applied to all the patterns that immediately struck my fancy. 

I am especially enamored of the "Waistcoat Vest", the "Striped Blouse", and the "Long Collared Jacket". And the "Zig-Zag Jacket", both "Brimmed Hat"s, the "New Zealand Sweater", and the "Icelandic Overblouse"...I'm going to stop now because I could easily list the majority of the patterns in the book. {wry grin} 

Moreover, I love the comments, drawings and art you included from Elizabeth Zimmerman. 

Thank you for doing this. I know that my appreciation for this book cannot only belong to Elizabeth Zimmerman. I can only imagine the "village" that knitted this lovely book together.

Kudos to you all. "

"Knit One Knit All" is a gift to the Knitting Community.

And perhaps a labor of love.

New Fav #3
Lastly, another installation of an on-going favorite thing: another "Simon's Cat" offering: "Hidden Treasure".
(And here goes my first attempt at embedding a video...if it works, thanks go to Blogger, 'cause they did all the work.)

Actually, I have not been overloading on cute

I admit it, I like to treat myself to a CuteOverload update when I get online...

Recently, these videos have been inspiring re-visits, a lot of grins, and some serious giggles...even a few tears when I laughed just enough. Enjoy!

The Owl and the PussyCat

An excellent example of owner-training

The Orb of Madness!
(I especially like the excellent "soundtrack" matched to this one!)

I am easily entertained

~I am entertained by Teabag Wisdom:
Good Earth Green Tea (yum!) Teabag fob quote:

"Anything too stupid to be said is sung." Voltaire

~You know I'm entertained by kitties:

Slo-mo Kitty - I watched this a couple o'three times - laughing all the while.

~And this was a bit wicked on my part to find this so entertaining - considering these gents are just trying to make a living...

The DH and I went to meet a friend for breakfast and a walk last Saturday. She was having her car maintenanced at a dealership on our side of town and we went to pick her up there. 

I couldn't help but find humor in the reactions we witnessed at the dealership. Several small groupings of Car Salesmen in front of the dealership office focused on our car and followed our progress across the lot with barely contained, commision-inspired attention. (And we were only driving a Buick!)

I called my friend in the Service Waiting Room to hurry out to meet us to alleviate the strain on the sales-gents. 

I kept thinking of "Dug" from Disney's movie "UP" when he came to attention saying "Squirrel!"

My Viewing Pleasure

Mystery!
If you didn't get to catch Masterpiece Mystery's excellent new presentation of a very old, established literary character, please track down "Sherlock" in your local Public Television/BBC website. We truly enjoyed it and are awaiting the next installation in the series - due out the Fall of 2011. {SIGH - so long to wait...}
(I do support my local PBS station. Shows like Masterpiece Theater (Classic, Mystery, & Contemporary), Nova, Great Performances, This Old House... PBS fills a major gap and simply must continue.)

Bending!
Inspired by the rave reviews of some knitterly friends, I recently finished watching all 3 (?) seasons of the animated TV Series "Avatar: The Last Airbender" . (I'm lov'n Netflix!)
And - it was pretty cool. Aside from the to-be-expected kids/"Jerry Lewis" humor and some overdone drama, it was a pretty good story, good artwork, well "acted", and pretty decently written (well, mostly).
I really enjoyed it!
I would kinda like to know what they did with the criminally insane royal fire-bender sibling and what happened to Zuko's Mom...and also the fate of the cabbage vendor (did he retire on Avatar play royalties?).  But I guess they couldn't tidy up everything.
(The same knitterly friends panned the The Last Airbender movie. I'll take a gander at it some time - just to be fair.)

Furious!
The DH recently gifted me with a copy of the animated movie "How to Train Your Dragon". Excellent fun!!
I'm afraid I have not read the book so at some point I'll track it down to see what changed between original novel and animation.
Throughout the movie, the main Dragon Character, Toothless, constantly reminded me of one of our also-not-toothless house-critters:

(Uncanny "Night Fury" Dragon resemblance.
And if you factor in how destructive Gryphon can be
when he "flies" through the house...)

(Please pardon the cheesy/grainy photo - it's challenging to get a picture of Gryphon {holding still} that shows how green his eyes are.)

Gleeful!
Lastly...I am seriously enjoying watching "Glee". I started watching late in the 1st season but I quickly caught up on Hulu.

It's a caricature of musicals, high school and people. I think it is delightful, silly, charming, wicked-fun, and a bit angst-y but I LOVE the music.

I grew up watching 1940 & 1950 movie musicals with my Mom. I am also fond of attending Broadway Show tours that come through town. I suspect that's where some of my delight in this show originates.

The talent involved is stellar. We're treated to amazing musical performances each week - from well known performers and from brand new talent. (Matthew Morrison, Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Chris Colfer, Lea Michele, Neil Patrick Harris, Charice, Jane Lynch, - the list goes on and on...amazing talent all!)

I do like shows that can surprise me. Glee is clever and heartful. Sometimes there's an excess of angst and a little sit-com ploy, but but it can still surprise and charm me. I can't say I love every episode and the music-to-plot ratio is a bit light/contrived (a la early early Broadway musicals), it's always fun and interesting - and...oh, the music!

I revel in the show tunes and presentations of classic pop/rock I grew up with.
I have also been surprised and intrigued to hear more modern tunes presented in a choral or group format. The harmonies are amazing - probably my favorite part. One of the "glee" clubs on the show, the "Warblers" remind me of the University a cappella groups I've found on iTunes-U.

(Which I cannot find again to link to this blog - sorry.) Ah - rather like "Straight No Chaser"!

I'd heard of Lady Gaga and had seen some of her work - which is innovative and very interesting. But I became quite taken with the Glee version of "Bad Romance".
I'd never heard Madonna's "What it feels like for a Girl" - but I am very drawn to the Glee version performed by the Glee Guys and how it was used in the episode. It has become one of my favorites.

I'll stop now. No, I don't think I qualify as a "Gleek" - either by the Fox slang for a Glee-Geek or by the surprising  dictionary definitions for that word (ewww).  But for now, I'll keep watching and listening!

I told my husband I'm kinda in love with another man...

He was pretty good about it...and he understands.
He didn't even laugh at me!

We just finished watching the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" on Comedy Central.
I told the DH that I was kind of in love with Jon Stewart for what he'd just done/said.

Yes, I expect it was an excellent advertising gimmick.
And tomorrow or even tonight, I expect we'll hear a great deal about how many people were watching (or are belatedly watching it online or as a rebroadcast).

But it was grand and funny and a kind reminder to folks to pause in the rampant "The Sky is Falling" antics/panic.

I first heard about this event via a Cafe Press e-mail offering "Restore Sanity"/"Keep Fear Alive" t-shirts (Yep - marketing and souvenir sales...).
My initial response to the Cafe Press ad was a confused look/ "What the ???" - but I tracked it down and was not too surprised to see Stewart/Colbert were up to something interesting.

I do enjoy watching both "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" - although I don't get to watch as often as I'd like.
When I do get to watch, I find them intelligent, charming, ironic, fun, clever, silly, sane/insane, respectful-or-not, but always thought-provoking.

And...their shows can be an educational opportunity.
As was today's pundit/comedic Rally.

I say "Well Done" to Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert!!
"Well Done" to all the people who performed, wrote, created, supported, and pulled off this larger-scale reminder that:

• It's not all bad news
• It's not all news-worthy
• Generalizations/Stereotypes work best in humor or fiction and not necessarily in real life
• Humor can help people pause in learned-loathing habits to possibly reconsider/grow
• We do need to vote/be aware/be responsible
• Irony can be sweet or sour
• "Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves - for we shall never cease to be amused". 

 Please have a lovely weekend and revel in humor, irony, intelligence, and the gift that it is to be a free citizen of the world.

Tuesday is election day.

You may think that a single vote doesn't count... 

but they're All single votes - and they add up.  

Barber Shop Intern?

Cheap entertainment for the day: The DH got a home hair cut set and asked me to cut his hair.
(Possibly not considering that I am extra sleep deprived just now. {wry grin})

We setup on the back porch and I cut his hair - shorter on the sides, longer on top using the attachments that came with this have-yer-wife-do-it-herself kit. Trimmed the hairs on his neck and around his ears.

My first time cutting anyone's hair - ever. And it wasn't bad!
He went inside to check and came out correctly noting the curve of his head on the side that was away from me was a little teeny bit "bushy". (He'd setup up his chair against a table and the cord and my short arms didn't reach as well on that side.)
I'm game for a re-trim so we moved the chair, reapplied the longer cutting tool and I trimmed.

And it seemed like a lot came off.
E'yep, I'd put on the shorter attachment - he now has the equivalent of a military "bowl" cut.

He took it VERY well and we both laughed. I told him it was Karma - he could tell his younger brother it's payback for the time when DH shaved his brother's head bald when they were little boys.

He wants me to try cutting it again in a few weeks. He's a brave, sweet man.

Hmmm - maybe a little too short on top...

Love 'dem Kitties, 'deed I do..."HEY - stop that!!..."

I think it is safe to say that Los Gatos are a prime source of entertainment 'round here:

Sink-Bed.

I wish I'd gotten pictures of CooPurr jumping up to this sink. He stood up on his back legs to peer up at the sink (no, he's not quite tall enough to see over the lip, but his head is about on level with the bottom edge of the sink.)
(Click here for a CooPurr scale picture against my clunky PC monitor.)
Then he plotted his jump, rocking and stepping forward with several false starts, until he flew up to the sink and landed gracefully with two paws on the front edge and two paws on the left-side edge - having planned it perfectly.

(This is NOT a little sink - and CooPurr fills it easily.)

Window-Friend.

Gryphon has another "friend" he plays with besides myself and Nikoli...."Gecko":

Gryphon checks the back door every evening.
Usually Gecko is high up on the screen door.
This night Gryphon didn't have to jump or be held up to visit Gecko.

("Can we keep him?")

Altered-State.

Gryphon (inspired by Nikoli) recently discovered there's catnip in that sausage-roll of stripey fabric:

More-Merrier!

And there's ALWAYS a cat or three to help make the bed - and changing the sheets is a hysterical process!!

Yep - that lump Nikoli is attacking - it's Gryphon.

(Nikoli focuses on what is under his nose...oblivious to all else.)

Oh yeah - they help for the entire process!
(Did you notice Mikale peeking from the other side?)

Cruel-Fate. {SIGH}

This is what I found the other morning when I got up:

Down-Time.

Gryphon, also likes to hang out with us in the computer room...snoozing quietly...

all soft and cute-looking...

 with his paw dangerously close to the "ESC" key on my keyboard...?? 

"Gryphon! Watch it!...! Move your..."

"Click"..."Gah...Rasssn-Frassn"..."Did it save?"

Gryphon the Destroyer, aka the Gryphon-ator

Ya know the paper they stuff into the toes of new shoes?
'Tis an excellent, if messy, kitty toy.

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!"

"Rowrrrr"

Clean off the Paper Smudge...

"Rowrrr" some more...

"What?"

Grrrrrphon!

"Oh, um, ball..."

(Handsome Fellow - he almost looks like a regular cat here, huh?.)

"Attack Anything!"

"I'm feeling wild and wicked!" (Tail flicking...)

"K - I'm done"

"Leave it for the "staff" to clean up".
(That's my cue...)