Rise and Shine! Early Bird gets the worm! Road trip to Virginia today with BHK! (in-laws and Louise will caravan with us, in another car)

One of the ideas that BHK and I bandied about on the road trip after making up random drink names… like “The devil’s shoelaces”, “Cool Breeze” and “Bag o’ Tremors”, we started thinking about magical drinks that replicate experiences – “skydiving”, “slap in the face”, “Karate victory” were some of the more tame ones.

Stopped at Sheetz to get a nibble mid-trip…
Observations:

• garlic fries good but swimming in oil at the bottom
• mac and cheese bleh.
• Cinnamon pretzel needs no frosting.
• Coffee drink was sort of weak.
• How many teenagers lurk there as a social thing?
• Cups leap out an attack patrons.

I think we’ll stick to pre-packaged foods next time.

While at Bugah and Em’s b-day, met Nana (great Gramma), The Gramma and Roy. We all went to an Italian place for supper – Joe’s. From the school of “HUGE portions of OK food” The spaghetti looked great, as did the lasagna. I tried a bite of the eggplant parm, which was a little bitter – my veggie sub did fine.

Speaking of the birthday, I was surprised to see that BHK and I were the only ones to get the 10 and 5 year old any toys! Next closest thing to a toy was a gumball machine bank. Oh, wait – I forgot. Louise got Em a toy cell phone and necklace. Bugah seems to dig the skateboard, but it looks like the learning curve may be a bit more steep than we had initially thought. I’m confident that he’ll be all over it soon.

After playing tanks and a few other mini-games, Bugah’s given me the Wii bug again. We may try and pick one up this weekend. I also played Destroy all Humans 2 on the xbox with Bugah, which seems to be a nice sequel to the one we have for our Xbox at home.

Em was a sweetie – leading me around by the hand – we played some concentration (using dominoes to match the number of pips) before leaving for dinner.

We made it back to our place about 11:30 – worn out from the day’s ruining around and socializing. My hip was a little creaky after the drive, but no ill effects aside from that.

1 year ago – work sickies, Internet lawsuit fraud, giant prehistoric Syrian camels, free hp Lovecraft audio books, john Mayer and Sheryl crow bear costume,

2 years ago – supercar, monkeytown usa, pi song, obey the bunny, nazi?
3 years ago – h-bot, walkabout pics, sammich girls, mockery troopers, living tissuejacket, ff2, dan dog, bro evicted, Eau de humanity, Templar

4 years ago – nightmare, tri-bloc embalming, bra sizes, angry kid, sex resource guide, sweetalyssm’s bday, alien abduction tags

5 years ago – restless, newt, poo-fuel, baby costumes, bike ride w/bro, chupacabra,laser jet temp tats, honest opinion, kung fu channel, quizzes

6 years ago – hector, ap bday, sleepies, landlord issues, luxury

7 years ago – kingdomality, jobs, ghost dog-bears

(via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)

No Zombie Fluxx yet! ack! We’ll be picking it up next weekend, hopefully. I’d like to have it in time for Halloween!

Went grocery shopping and then to get a Wii, but they were sold out – I nearly picked up a copy of Portal to tide me over, and may next time if the Wii isn’t in stock- I hadn’t seen any portal reviews on the new Orange box (Half-Life2 Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 (multi player), and Portal, plus previous releases of HL2 and HL2:episode one) I think it’ll be worth picking up, possibly just for portal alone – TF2 looks pretty fun as well – I really like the “Incredibles meets First Person Shooter” school of art. I’ll likely download it from Steam rather than pay for it at Target, unless the price is significantly different.

Post-shopping, we swung by the in-laws to watch The Natural with them and Louise. Not a bad movie… not as good as I remembered it, but maybe I was tired, too.

We went home, went up to our “treehouse” for a late supper of leftover Chinese food for me, and fresh cheddar on whole wheat crackers for BHK – watched the first episode of Journeyman – slow rolling but got better at the end. Quantum Leap redux – seemingly uncontrolled time travel, following a person to set things right, can bring items back and forth through time. He also seems to return to his home time, unlike Sam.

We also watched the Simpsons – corn maze / police dog episode. Poor to fair writing. I think the best part of the treehouse is just curling up with BHK and the boys for solid snuggles and comfort – especially nice at the end of the day.

It’s a good thing I gobbled up what I did – our fridge is now officially *full*. I don’t think anything else could be put in there, without knocking something over.

I wish I had Plastic Man or Mr. Fantastic’s stretchy abilities… I really don’t like running up and down stairs to the treehouse with stuff or just to see what’s going on once I’m settled in and comfy.

1 year ago – mostly pics and video, gaming w/danny, election rigging

2 years ago

– monster name, break dancing Dr. Zaius, Tarot meme, friday 5, 3 in a row picture

3 years ago

– palm doodles, gray pumpkin ‘shop, dollhouse murders, flashtub

4 years ago – Halloween

5 years ago – moon pie contest, luck theory, work issues

6 years ago – love song, nap-coma, Cosquilloso, por supuesto, admirer poll, 28

7 years ago – membrane keyboard, ladies man, R.A.Wilson, donations, dogma (via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)

Ahhh.. now *there* is the October weather I’ve been waiting for! 55 degrees! That’s the stuff!

Random bit of fun – the other day I saw a cyclist riding around on a penny-farthing bicycle… in helmet, spandex shorts and so on. I would’ve almost preferred to see a bowler hat and waxed moustache, but the clash of modern and historical was even better, I think.

Halloweenie Survey –

Childhood

What is the first costume you remember wearing?
Masque of the Red Death

What was your favorite costume?
Tin foil robot was a fun one… glowstick eyes!

Best Halloween memory as a kid?
CANDY! CANDY! CANDY!

Worst Halloween memory as a kid?
Going to the Li’l Demon Disco way back when, and dealing with dumb older kids bossing little kids around.

Ever TP or egg a house?
Not houses… but we did egg some kids that were mean to us… see above. We got punished – rightfully so.

Did you steal other kids candy?
Nope… but I did make some trades that seemed awfully in my favor – I give you my smarties, and you give me your fun size snicker bars? sure!

Misc Questions

If you were a character in a horror movie, would you survive?
I hope so! I’d probably be the “safe guy” that dies after you think the monster was dispatched, but really wasn’t.

Would you live in a house that was rumored to be haunted?
Sure… I’d at least check it out.

Would you live in a house where someone had been murdered?
As long as the killer wasn’t around to repeat the crime, sure.

Other than a gun, name the first murder weapon that comes to mind?
Cinder Block. Oh, ouch. Why didn’t I think of poison or a knife?

Would you ever be a mortician?
Depends… I think maybe yes.

Do U fit serial killer profile?
I don’t think that I’m antisocial enough.

Do you believe people can be possessed?
No, I don’t.

What is something that will haunt you for the rest of your life?
Seeing my dad on his deathbed is pretty enduring.

How do you feel about death and dying?
I think that it’s something that happens – I can be pretty sensitive or pretty well-armored to it, depending on the situation.

Have you ever seen a dead body, other than in a funeral home?
Yup.

Were you afraid to go in the ocean after you saw Jaws?
I was, but I was a little kid! I got over it in under a week.

Would you eat a human if your life depended on it?
Probably. I hope I never have to find out.

What was your last nightmare?
I dreamed that my body was made of plastic squares, and pieces were left behind wherever I went… I was worried that I’d run out, because I couldn’t put the acrylic/lego type squares back on.

Rather be buried alive for a night or sleep next to a dead body?
Sleep next to a dead body.

As an Adult

Did you decorate your house?
Sure!

Did you decorate your livejournal/myspace/website?
Homepage, yes – lj, no.

Do you still dress up for Halloween?
Sometimes! I don’t know if we are this year.

How long have been thinking about this years costume?
Hasn’t leapt to mind yet – but last minute works.

Planing on attending any parties?
If we get invites yes… a kid-built haunted house is in the works!

What will you be this year?
Not sure… I might just be a candy vendor!

What was your favorite costume you wore?
Flaming Carrot

Favorite costume somone else wore?
Six-limbed gorilla!

Funniest Halloween moment?
Seeing a mime and a guy in a fairy princess outfit duke it out in the parking lot.

If money was not an issue, what is your dream costume?
I’ve wanted to be God before… with two hand puppets… right hand is a Jesus Puppet, left hand a Devil – Just me in blue jeans and a T-shirt with the word “God” on it. not that expensive… maybe a functional ED-209 ?

Supernatural

Do you believe in ghosts?
I’d like to, but I suspect they don’t exist – at least not in any way defined that I’ve seen.

Have you ever seen one?
I’ve dreamt of them.

First thing that pops into your mind….

Murder weapon?
Cinder Block – same as before!

Scary movie?
Alien

Halloween?
Chernabog

Vampire?
Holy Water

Monster?
Sea Serpent

Haunted?
Mansion

The Small Press Expo will be held in Bethesda this weekend, Friday and Saturday. SPX is the biggest gathering of independent comic artists and cartoonists on the east coast and will feature many local artists from DC, Maryland and Virginia. I’ve got other plans (birthday party – even more fun, and pre-scheduled)

Movies I haven’t seen yet, but wouldn’t mind catching in the theater while they’re still out –

3:10 to Yuma
Darjeeling Limited
Michael Clayton
Eastern Promises
We Own The Night
The Dark Is Rising – yikes… really poor reviews. Maybe not.

Whoops – Dragon Wars movie is already kaput? That didn’t take long. I guess it’s just as well.

No movie tonight, however. We’re preparing for the previously mentioned party for Bugah and Em’s… we’re going to be pulling the in-laws and louise in tow, so it should be a humdinger.

1 year ago

– autostitch selfport, lost city, acim guest speaker

2 years ago

– amusement park pics, halloween card, paper batmobile, hello, fl deadly force law, lost on itunes

3 years ago

– bro drama, holidays, frontiers, world atlas

4 years ago – big brain breaks, hunters / harvest moon

5 years ago – Newt tuckered, Mage knight, independent woman

6 years ago – mulct, poo-spray, error handling

7 years ago – syndicate wars, Doom Patrol, ups and downs, suffixes, sw quiz
(via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)

watch out! duck attack!, originally uploaded by Jorge Sato.

Ducks. Safe? I think not!

(via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)

scottobear: Echoes. I hear the bouncing noises of sirens, air conditioning, keyboard clicks and popcorn pops. all are likely long gone. (via Twitter / scottobear)

Irrefutable proof (via hard hitting newsblog “cuteoverload.com”) that my husband is mistaken!!!

We can indeed keep ducks in the backyard (as well as bunnies and llamas*)!!
Another plus–it is a PROVEN FACT that ducks are hypo-allergenic.**

Note: In the video the duck expert says clearly “Ducks DO make great pets.”
Also: Who wouldn’t want to be greeted by ducks when they come home and open the fence gate?

*How different could a tiny little bunny or a llama be from a duck? Well perhaps a mini-llama or an alpaca would be a more prudent choice given our low fence height.

But still alpacas are about the same size as a Great Dane and I KNOW** we could keep a Great Dane very well.

**I have actually no proof of these “facts” but I have strong suspicions they are true! (via Bones under my bed.)

scottobear: scottobear.twitter.com (via Twitter / scottobear)

Busy day at work – they had me before I even sat down – doing a lot of quick database fixes. a few items got confused, fortunately, we’re all good about keeping proper backups to all triggers, tables and such before doing any fiddling.

This is National Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day. Ah well, I missed it! Maybe next year. Probably not. I wouldn’t mind getting a Plush version of a Water Bear. (also known as Moss Piglets)

Tasty Junk food treat – Kellogg’s Cereal Straws– I’m a bit more partial to the Froot Loops version over Cocoa Crispies, but both were snacky-good. The first think BHK said to me was that “Matt is totally going to review these, and you’re going to have wanted ‘em, so I beat him to the punch”…. and they are yummy, even without milk.

The Office was one of the better episodes in a long time… funny, and bittersweet, too. Ugly Betty is just ludicrously goofy as well.

Moment of lyric – via – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeNO56xNlZo

Well, I’d like to visit the moon
On a rocket ship high in the air
Yes, I’d like to visit the moon
But I don’t think I’d like to live there
Though I’d like to look down at the earth from above
I would miss all the places and people I love
So although I might like it for one afternoon
I don’t want to live on the moon

I’d like to travel under the sea
I could meet all the fish everywhere
Yes, I’d travel under the sea
But I don’t think I’d like to live there
I might stay for a day there if I had my wish
But there’s not much to do when your friends are all fish
And an oyster and clam aren’t real family
So I don’t want to live in the sea

I’d like to visit the jungle, hear the lions roar
Go back in time and meet a dinosaur
There’s so many strange places I’d like to be
But none of them permanently

So if I should visit the moon
Well, I’ll dance on a moonbeam and then
I will make a wish on a star
And I’ll wish I was home once again
Though I’d like to look down at the earth from above
I would miss all the places and people I love
So although I may go I’ll be coming home soon
‘Cause I don’t want to live on the moon
No, I don’t want to live on the moon

Video games may reduce gender gap in spatial ability

Jimmy Carter: I Don’t Think It. I Know It Certainly. The Bush Administration Tortures.

1 year ago

– YOP, pictures of neighborhood life, tussionex,

2 years ago

– mopey, monkey-children in danger on bikes, herm boo-boo ankle, M*A*S*H during bloodwork

3 years ago

– mr skelly, grocer, cheap CDs, eye of the storm, mass e-mail, Trolley, Dad’s Home,Reefer man, Herc/Xena ‘toon, Halloween clip art, Doom, Giant ape,subterranean hawk men dance, Hats, bro, context, walkabout pictures

4 years ago – Bewitched name revelation, surgery dream, pumpkin stencils, Joker Poll,Bro shenanigans, misc cool linkies, dia de los muertos, book of sand

5 years ago – PB&J otter, saw Ray Iglesias, worldwar, magic pebble, Made a DanHeroclix, Hot shower, Beekeeping, Zombie – alert, boogie man poll

6 years ago – Jiffy-pop monkeys, chimera / tantivy, evil news, haiku, bus ride, brain edibility probe, DB wrecks work surfing at IMT

7 years ago – Morning walkies, back when I worked the noon-8 shift, grumps, worddetective, post 509, god’s wheel, million monkeys, missed debates
(via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)

scottobear: Lordy, why is the monchichi song in my head? (via Twitter / scottobear)

Nice simple, rustic dinner tonight – Deviled eggs and salad (both egg salad and salad-salad). yum.

Speaking of simple and Rustic – Watched “The F word” with Gordon Ramsey… it’s out of rotation… just isn’t compelling at all. Kitchen Nightmares UK is the best of his lot so far, I think.

Happy Birthday, Pac-Man!

A bare trickle of rain tonight… cool weather tomorrow?

Washington DC’s Pedestrian Master Plan – good thing, given about 700 pedestrians a year are hit by cars in the District, which factors out to about two a day.

Book meme – Don’t hold these to me too tightly – “favorite” is a tough word regarding something as vast as literature.

1. Hardcover or paperback, and why?
Paperback – portability… I’d even prefer e-book format over that, if the reader is comfortable.

2. If I were to own a book shop I would call it…
Salmagundi or Argosy

3. My favorite quote from a book (mention the title) is…

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury –

It was this then, the mystery of man seizing from the land and the land seizing back, year after year, that drew Douglas, knowing the towns never really won, they merely existed in calm peril, fully accoutered with lawn mower, bug spray and hedge shears, swimming steadily as long as civilization said to swim, but each house ready to sink in green tides, buried forever, when the last man ceased and his trowels and mowers shattered to cereal flakes of rust.

4. The author (alive or diseased) I would love to have lunch with would be…
Ray Bradbury… about 35 years ago.

5. If I was going to a deserted island and could only bring one book, except from the SAS survival guide, it would be…
Some sort of large compilation volume, if I were to go against the spirit of the question. Just one? Robinson Crusoe might be a too ironic choice. Actually, I think I’d prefer to take a blank book, and as many writing implements as I could.

6. I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that…
Had a decently sized screen and was comfortably portable.

7. The smell of an old book reminds me of…
back wen I worked a the library… hiding spots among the deep stacks in the 780s.

8. If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title), it would be…
I’ll have to lead with Doug in Dandelion Wine, again.

9. The most overestimated book of all times is…
Joyce’s Ulysses would be high on that list, at least for me.

10. I hate it when a book…
holds its own just fine, and then the author (or worse, some other author) writes a really terrible sequel… or series of sequels. see: Ender’s Game or Pern Series for example.

1 year ago – BHK back, Danny plans, bro invisible, google bought youtube, elephant crackup (long article), sure ‘nuff yes I do, YOP!

2 years ago – leeches, reclusive, aoe3, bear-cave, W&G thoughts, halloween movies, scotto needs/wants, red hot riding hood, faking depth of field in photoshop, tom cruise – corinthian, things about me list, yahoo podcast search, shy street penguin
3 years ago – long bets, ‘ween, dark victoria, Frederik Ruysch body part dioramas, google translator

4 years ago – Newt bips me, penis snatcher beaten up, hulk closes for a while, and a nice chat. palm drawing

5 years ago – scary dreams, palm drawings, I’m 2 degrees from Kevin Bacon, moon pies 100 years old, starry night, From Beyond

6 years ago – egg recipe, dorkgirl sends me treats, recherche / chichi, evil news, me no likey xp, birding talk with hala

7 years ago – doc trip, duck echoes, Rhino crackheads, sea chantey, memes, shel silverstein

(via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)