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June 30, 2006
Friday Feathers
The Double-crested Cormorant is a large black water bird with a long snake-like neck. It has a long gray bill with yellow at the base and a hooked tip.
"Cormorant" comes from the Latin corvus, meaning "crow," and L. marinus, meaning "pertaining to the sea," literally, "Sea Crow."
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June 28, 2006
Today's Quote
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
- Albert Camus, French existentialist author & philosopher (1913 - 1960)
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June 27, 2006
CrustaCution
Lobsters and crabs have feelings too
How a Lobster Leaves the Building, an article from the June 25 NY Times, focuses on The CrustaStun created by British barrister Simon Buckhaven. In a nutshell (or lobster trap), the CrustaStun is a tool for the humane killing of lobsters and crabs; exit scalding water, enter electricity.
Crusta, of course, is short for crustacean. To stun is to stupify and daze, so let me get this straight. If you stun something, you're dazing it. Zapping that thing with electricity is electrocution. Right? Right. Does the lobster suffer less via electrocution? Since no one is in the porta-cutioner with the lobster, how do we know it ISN'T screaming OUCH!!! ?
After the lobster or crab is immersed and the lid is sealed, a button is pushed to deliver the fatal jolt; evidently lobsters expire within 5 seconds, while the poor crabs must endure 10 seconds.
You're killing them via electrocution, you're not stupifying or dazing them. What's next, contraptions that spare the feelings of cows, buffalo, chicken, etc.? Was there a lobster revolt? Did they up and wave their claws in the air protesting the boiling method? ;-)
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June 26, 2006
Flummoxed by Footwear
Jim Thompson recently posed the question, What is it About Clogs? on his personal blog, jimthompson.org. It didn't take long before I deposited my three cents' worth since I blogged about that very topic in my post Men Who Wear Clogs. I pulled this gem of a comment from my post:
The beauty of clogs is, when you're sitting around the bar comparing chainsaws and debating the pros and cons of Fisher snowplows, if anyone is feeling froggy it is a simple matter to transform that clog, with a simple twist of the ankle, into the dreaded "Flying Birkenstock Death Move." Unlike work boots or the common sneaker, clogs have a way of unexpectedly launching themselves across a room. It is trivial to convert an accident of design into a deadly means of self-defense.
- Al at Rapid Adjustment
Okay, that's one he-man's opinion. Meanwhile...
Jim also touches upon wearing topsiders WITH socks, and ... well... I had to jump all over that too, and pointed him in the direction of my rant titled Are You Dressed to Distress?
In response, Jim claims he only wears socks with his topsiders IN THE OFFICE. Too bad he wasn't a fly on the wall when my former boss walked in one day wearing socks with his topsiders. Guess who told the boss that perhaps it might be better for him to remove his socks?
Yup, 'twas moi. I couldn't help myself, I was HORRIFIED. Looking back, I can't believe I did that but luckily for me, my management actually encouraged me to tell them what I thought. Yay for them! Great for me! Less brain dust to eliminate later on. (Hey, I digressed! Haven't done that in like, forever. Back to the point. Uhm, was there one? Right. Next paragraph.)
It's not like I'm a goddess with superb fashion sense of my own; trust me when I say that I've seen snapshots that left me pondering, what the hell was I THINKING?!? I may know what I like when it comes to men and their attire, but unless I'm wearing a suit or dress or skirt, my attempts at casual attire could definitely use the help of a team of experts. (I recall writing about THAT too, but I digress again.) I was writing about clogs and topsiders, right? Right.
With that in mind, let's rip open the gates again on the clogs topic. Say what you will and deposit your two cents in the comments. Kudos to Jim for noting that shorts + socks + clogs = verboten. (Take that, my friend the former pro football player. See? It's not JUST ME who thinks that.)
Updated 6.28
If you don't know what clogs or topsiders are, visit:
Clogs Online and Sperry Topsider
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June 23, 2006
Friday Feathers
I previously wrote about the Pileated Woodpecker back in April and March. It's a a large North American woodpecker having black and white plumage and a bright red crest. The common name comes from the Latin pileatus, which means "wearing a cap," referring to its crest. It's a relatively shy bird that prefers large tracts of woodland, and it drums on hollow branches, chimneys, etc. to announce its territory. In reading more about what I refer to as the "PWP," this woodpecker is known to excavate oval holes up to several feet long in tree trucks, looking for insects to eat.
This is a photo of the offspring now living in the tree I photographed in April. While looking up to see if anything was in the tree, the baby's head popped out of the hole and the parent appeared out of nowhere with some breakfast. :-) Unfortunately I didn't react fast enough with my camera and missed the shot. Oh well!
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June 21, 2006
No Guard on Duty
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June 20, 2006
As I was saying...
I'm not here, either.
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June 19, 2006
But anyway...
I'm not here.
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June 16, 2006
Ned's NYT Book Review
Ned Vizzini recently blogged that his latest book, It's Kind of a Funny Story (which I bought but haven't read yet) is featured in the upcoming (June 18) New York Times Sunday Book Review. Here is the link to the review, and here's a bit from the piece about his book:
"It's Kind of a Funny Story" may seem like an odd title for a book with such weighty themes as adolescent depression and "suicidal ideation," until you recall the last time you burst out laughing at a solemn or inappropriate moment. Laughter is one way to cope with pressure, and that's what Ned Vizzini's insightful and utterly authentic new novel is all about — the insidious kind of pressure teenagers face in a success-oriented society that values product over process, scores over scholarship and extracurriculars over extra innings.
Congrats Ned!
Note: I previously wrote about Ned here: It's a Small World in the Land of Squip
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Friday Feathers
The official name is 'Rock Dove' -- New Yorkers call them pigeons or flying rats. Photographing them couldn't be easier, since they're ALL OVER THE PLACE.
But hey, who knew the bird's eyes were so intense?
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June 14, 2006
A Snippet of Panky
... My breath rasped with tender ruttishness as I prodded one meaty and seductively undraped leg: “Jeannine, my Eskimo Pie of Love, are you asleep or just playing possum? Jeannine, my sweet-bottomed Ring Ding, you want to mess around? Huh dumpling? Jeannine?”
- from The Vagaries of Passion in the Long-Term Relationship - Henry Panky
Ahhhh. Nicknames for those we're in lust with. For some bizarre reason I can't seem to cough up any silly snippets of lurv that slipped from my lips. *Thinking....* *Thinking...* *Thinking...* hmm. Surely there's got to be one or two that I've made in the moment. I'll get back to you on that but in the meantime, tell me yours. I want to know what cutsey little lovemuffin things you've said or sweet-snookums-dripping-in-honey-thick-as-molasses nicknames you've bestowed upon another. And don't dare pretend that you haven't; you know you have! :-)
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June 13, 2006
Copy/Paste/Oops!
That previous stylesheet = here a minute ago and now it has gone *poof!* I copy/pasted the index template into this blog instead of a different test one and all hell broke loose. Bethcha just lovin' that white background again, eh? Sometimes it's best to let sleeping blogs lie still... or something.
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Fidgeting
I did some fidgeting with the blog this morning. If you resize the window and push it enough to the left, the center column disappears. Shit happens, right? I could take the easy way out and return to a previous design, but nah uh. I'mAGonnaMakeItWork, darn-tootin' I am. (Thanks oodles to those of you who offered suggestions/help. As soon as I can actually STATE what it is I want, I'll let you know!)
Meanwhile...
I went for a major mileage walk this morning along the lovely shoreline of the Hudson River. I'm fascinated by the color of the water -- it's a murky brown/green and the ducks pop their heads up and have slime on their beaks. Eww. However, the area along the Hudson has been rebuilt/retrofitted/what-have-you and is actually quite nice. Since the temperatures here are on an upward swing, sunbathing isn't out of the question. In fact, I saw women in bikinis stretched out on lounge chairs. Usually one would see a display of this type in Central Park, but I'm guessing that these courageous women either didn't know any better or perhaps were tourists. One typically does not bare mostly everything alongside Riverside Drive, but then NYC is known for its atypical types. Stranger things go on in this city so it's no surprise to me.
Speaking of taking your clothes off, last week while walking in midtown I saw the Naked Cowboy in the middle of Times Square. It's not too often you see a guy in his underwear, cowboy boots and Stetson hat playing his gee-tar in the middle of the city. Here, you see that kind of thang as if it were perfectly normal. Actually for this city, a naked cowboy IS normal. Then again, he isn't exactly nekkid since he's wearing his underoos. ;-)
And that, my 2.5 readers, is this minute's duly deposited brain dust.
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June 9, 2006
Friday Feathers
It's that time again. This is a Scarlet Tanager.
This poor little guy was shedding its plumage and scratching or plucking itself like crazy, obviously suffering from some sort of affliction. Poor birdy. :-(
Note: It's not exactly my idea of a terrific photo but maybe one day I'll graduate to a lens that's the size of Texas. Then again, I should just climb the tree, sit on the branch next to the bird and tell it to stay still until I get the photo I want. *wink*
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June 8, 2006
Today's Quote
After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say "I want to see the manager."
- William S. Burroughs (1914 - 1997)
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June 7, 2006
This is Too Funny!
Today's little pick-me-up can be found here.
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June 6, 2006
Blah, Blah, Blah
It's been awhile since my last confession and these are my sins...
SINS?!? I have none, I'm an angel. ;-)
Actually I was off photographing hummingbirds and believe it or not, I'd never seen one and had no clue they were so small. The hummingbird pursuit was inspired by a comment Kat of Kat's Stuff made here sometime last year. Anyhoo, I did what one needs to do when pursuing the little whizbangers (get a hummingbird feeder as well as a few plants with red flowers, as the little varmints are attracted to red) and managed to get a number of decent photos. I posted one in the sidebar that's in the Photo Gallery now.
Meanwhile back at the funny farm, I've been working on a redesign of this place for a number of weeks, returning to it whenever I had the opportunity to do so. Funny but yesterday it all worked seamlessly, and today it's a piece a crap, as I've somehow managed to forget how to align the individual archive page. Anyone who wants to chime in with a fix for it would be forever worshiped. Alright, you wouldn't exactly be worshiped but you'll forever remain in my good graces or something like that.
Other than the above, I know I have a gazillion and one things to write in this space but right this minute I need to take care of something else. Perhaps I'll return later with more riveting and awe-inspiring verbiage. :-)
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