I've just been reading an interview with cartoonist Lynda Barry on Salon.com. I found her comics while browsing some other stuff there, and I'm hooked. How did I miss her all these years? She's friends with Matt Groening of Life in Hell and The Simpson's fame, if that tells you anything.
Anyway, I find myself drawn not only to her acerbic humor in the comics, but her writing as well. She's got a lot of good things to say. A lot of really cynical things to say, too, but hey. This interview is especially thought-provoking, especially her comments about life in junior high school. Ouch.
DH and I are going out to lunch and to a used book sale with our friend Amy. I'd better scoot. I just had to mention Lynda Barry before I forgot.
June 07, 2002
June 05, 2002
Nothing, and I mean nothing beats a nap on the couch when your livingroom is cool and dark, and you have a puppy blanket. :) Yesterday I took a long nap and both dogs were sacked out with me. It was so nice. I can't imagine life without dogs. I grew up with them and loved them, but when I moved away from home and started apartment living, I couldn't have one. My husband was raised with dogs, too, and had to give his away when we got married and he moved into my apartment in 1992. For years we rented and just enjoyed our two cats; since we couldn't have dogs, the subject never really came up too much.
When we bought our house in 1999, talk of dogs ensued. We held off, though, not wanting the responsibility of a dog: the walking, the extra pet hair, having to find someone to watch them if you went out of town, etc. But we finally got the itch in 2000 and answered an ad in the local paper regarding puppies. As it turns out, their mother is the dog we fell in love with. Her pups, four months old, were backwards and terribly shy. Sarah, on the other hand, was a bundle of happy friendship. The family raised beagles, but had too many other dogs and needed to find homes some; after a brief exchange of words, said we could take her home. According to her owners, she's the result of a chow-chow getting to one of their beagle bitches. Looking at her, you can see the beagle, but the chow is questionable; if anything, she looks like a small version of a lab, with more beagley ears. She's all gold, save a white toe, and her muzzle's now greying.
We were amazed that she does not run away; if we're working out in the yard, she finds a sunny spot and is content to just sit there, contemplative and sleepy. Her one vice is her complete obsession with squirrels. We call her Vibro-Dog when she sees a squirrel outside the window and starts shaking and shuddering in her excitement. At times, she shudder so hard her teeth chatter, LOL! We used to have the head of our bed up against the window, but after too many mornings awakening to the shuddering of Vibro-Dog at our heads, we moved the bed so she has to be at the foot to see out the window. Better yet, we close the blinds so she has no temptations at all.
Up next: Emma Ada Riblet. :)
When we bought our house in 1999, talk of dogs ensued. We held off, though, not wanting the responsibility of a dog: the walking, the extra pet hair, having to find someone to watch them if you went out of town, etc. But we finally got the itch in 2000 and answered an ad in the local paper regarding puppies. As it turns out, their mother is the dog we fell in love with. Her pups, four months old, were backwards and terribly shy. Sarah, on the other hand, was a bundle of happy friendship. The family raised beagles, but had too many other dogs and needed to find homes some; after a brief exchange of words, said we could take her home. According to her owners, she's the result of a chow-chow getting to one of their beagle bitches. Looking at her, you can see the beagle, but the chow is questionable; if anything, she looks like a small version of a lab, with more beagley ears. She's all gold, save a white toe, and her muzzle's now greying.
We were amazed that she does not run away; if we're working out in the yard, she finds a sunny spot and is content to just sit there, contemplative and sleepy. Her one vice is her complete obsession with squirrels. We call her Vibro-Dog when she sees a squirrel outside the window and starts shaking and shuddering in her excitement. At times, she shudder so hard her teeth chatter, LOL! We used to have the head of our bed up against the window, but after too many mornings awakening to the shuddering of Vibro-Dog at our heads, we moved the bed so she has to be at the foot to see out the window. Better yet, we close the blinds so she has no temptations at all.
Up next: Emma Ada Riblet. :)
June 03, 2002
Spoilers ahead....We saw The Sum of All Fears last night with Angie. It started out a little slow, but it really kicked into gear after that and was pretty darned suspenseful. And for a while there, I was stressed for another reason.
There's a catastrophic scene in which a nuclear bomb goes off in a crowded football stadium in Baltimore, and seeing that happening really took me aback. I was at the point of tears, because it went beyond movie fantasy. This could happen. Crap. It made September 11 hit home again, once more reminding me that life is not necessarily going to settle back into any sort of routine. We are so fortunate to live in a country where suicide bombers are not the norm. But who's to say they won't become the norm?
Most of the time, I just do my "thing", and don't let myself think about it. Ultimately, my worrying about it won't change anything for better or worse. I suppose it's one of those "cross that bridge when we come to it" sort of things. But it's still unsettling.
Back to the movie: Ben Affleck did a great job. This movie is another adaptation of a Tom Clancy novel featuring the character Jack Ryan, who was played by Harrison Ford in the previous movies. In the other movies, Ryan is married with kids. In this movie, though, Ryan is unmarried and has no kids. It seems to take place right now, so it's not a prequel. That stuff didn't really bother me, though, because the story stood well on its own. Just a minor anomaly, LOL.
On other news, I have to have an ultrasound this week because it seems a hernia's developed at an old incision site. Yuck. I want to get my plants in the ground, but my tummy hurts -- but if I have surgery, how long will I be laid up and not able to do any of that? Bleah.
There's a catastrophic scene in which a nuclear bomb goes off in a crowded football stadium in Baltimore, and seeing that happening really took me aback. I was at the point of tears, because it went beyond movie fantasy. This could happen. Crap. It made September 11 hit home again, once more reminding me that life is not necessarily going to settle back into any sort of routine. We are so fortunate to live in a country where suicide bombers are not the norm. But who's to say they won't become the norm?
Most of the time, I just do my "thing", and don't let myself think about it. Ultimately, my worrying about it won't change anything for better or worse. I suppose it's one of those "cross that bridge when we come to it" sort of things. But it's still unsettling.
Back to the movie: Ben Affleck did a great job. This movie is another adaptation of a Tom Clancy novel featuring the character Jack Ryan, who was played by Harrison Ford in the previous movies. In the other movies, Ryan is married with kids. In this movie, though, Ryan is unmarried and has no kids. It seems to take place right now, so it's not a prequel. That stuff didn't really bother me, though, because the story stood well on its own. Just a minor anomaly, LOL.
On other news, I have to have an ultrasound this week because it seems a hernia's developed at an old incision site. Yuck. I want to get my plants in the ground, but my tummy hurts -- but if I have surgery, how long will I be laid up and not able to do any of that? Bleah.
May 29, 2002
DH and I worked our butts off in the yard Monday, starting a new bed beneath the fir trees using principles we've read about lasagna gardening to do this. We got down a layer of newspaper and a layer of compost, then I sprinkled Miraclo-Gro's pre-emergent on it so no weed seeds would germinate. In another week or so, I'll sprinkle some grass clippings on there for nitrogen, then we'll add the last layer, hardwood mulch. We probably won't plant very much under those trees since it's so dry and the roots are so close to the surface; we'll put a lawnchair and chaise lounge some friends are giving us there, and have some potted plants around them.
We ordered pizza last night from Pizza Butt, whupped and not wanting to cook. For once, we didn't eat the whole thing, so that's a plus. We each saved a piece and had that for brunch out on the patio this morning, LOL.
We went to bed around midnight and were up and outside at 9am, something rare for us. It was cool and wonderful, with the fountain splashing in the pond and the birds singing. A storm front rolled through around 11am, and we were glad we gotten up early so we had time to enjoy the patio before it hit.
Poor Sarah, our beagle mix, was beside herself with worry when the biggest storms came through between 1-6am. She wanted to crawl under the bed, but we'd put boxes around the edge to block her way because of how she got stuck under there last time she shimmied her way in the nether regions of Underbed. Poor doggie. Poor DH - he couldn't sleep because she was restless and wanting comfort all night long!
He had to work today, but I took a long nap on the couch with the puppies. But I've had a cold, so I can say it was for my health. ;)
We ordered pizza last night from Pizza Butt, whupped and not wanting to cook. For once, we didn't eat the whole thing, so that's a plus. We each saved a piece and had that for brunch out on the patio this morning, LOL.
We went to bed around midnight and were up and outside at 9am, something rare for us. It was cool and wonderful, with the fountain splashing in the pond and the birds singing. A storm front rolled through around 11am, and we were glad we gotten up early so we had time to enjoy the patio before it hit.
Poor Sarah, our beagle mix, was beside herself with worry when the biggest storms came through between 1-6am. She wanted to crawl under the bed, but we'd put boxes around the edge to block her way because of how she got stuck under there last time she shimmied her way in the nether regions of Underbed. Poor doggie. Poor DH - he couldn't sleep because she was restless and wanting comfort all night long!
He had to work today, but I took a long nap on the couch with the puppies. But I've had a cold, so I can say it was for my health. ;)
May 25, 2002
RIght now I'm really frustrated with how off-track I've let myself get when it comes to my diet. I know, it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change. Well phoey, it's a diet nomatter what you want to call it.
Howie my DH and I have been on this lifestyle change since a little before Thanksgiving 2001. He'd lost 51 pounds and I'd lost 31. We slipped into some bad habits, though, and for the last two weeks we've pretty much been eating every meal from one restaurant or another. Ugh. I won't go within five feet of a scale right now.
But, I am resolved to keep posting the daily Healthy Living thread at the Health Forum at Dave's Garden. If nothing else, it reminds me that I can do this if I just weather the rough spots. And it also has encouraged others in their struggles with lifestyle change.
The more I think about this, the more I know I just can't quit. I'm going to start logging what I eat again, keeping a food diary. That really seemed to help before, because it let me see how I was "spending" my calories for the day, good or bad. If I look at dieting like bargain-shopping, it helps. How much bang can I get for my caloric buck? :) Just two months ago, my posts on the forum were so positive, because I felt good about making good choices for my body and feeling empowered by that.
I will persevere!
Howie my DH and I have been on this lifestyle change since a little before Thanksgiving 2001. He'd lost 51 pounds and I'd lost 31. We slipped into some bad habits, though, and for the last two weeks we've pretty much been eating every meal from one restaurant or another. Ugh. I won't go within five feet of a scale right now.
But, I am resolved to keep posting the daily Healthy Living thread at the Health Forum at Dave's Garden. If nothing else, it reminds me that I can do this if I just weather the rough spots. And it also has encouraged others in their struggles with lifestyle change.
The more I think about this, the more I know I just can't quit. I'm going to start logging what I eat again, keeping a food diary. That really seemed to help before, because it let me see how I was "spending" my calories for the day, good or bad. If I look at dieting like bargain-shopping, it helps. How much bang can I get for my caloric buck? :) Just two months ago, my posts on the forum were so positive, because I felt good about making good choices for my body and feeling empowered by that.
I will persevere!
May 24, 2002
My favorite blogger's site is Angiepangie.com. She'll have to remind me to post here, because it'd be easy to forget seeing how this is so new and all...Yesssiree, Bob, brand-spankin new. Let's see who those words bring to my blog, LOL.
Of course, my other favorite site is Dave's Garden, where I spend far too much time geeking out with other gardeners about the leaves on our coneflowers, the weird bugs we've picked off our roses, and all that good stuff. There's a computer forum there, too, though, so there are also legitimate geeky-geeks.
I need to figure out how to add comments to this blog like Angie has on hers; I don't know if Prodigy allows this, and seeing how I must use my freebie hosting for the moment, I'm stuck with whatever crumbs they deign to scatter my way. And I wanna add pictures!! :)
Of course, my other favorite site is Dave's Garden, where I spend far too much time geeking out with other gardeners about the leaves on our coneflowers, the weird bugs we've picked off our roses, and all that good stuff. There's a computer forum there, too, though, so there are also legitimate geeky-geeks.
I need to figure out how to add comments to this blog like Angie has on hers; I don't know if Prodigy allows this, and seeing how I must use my freebie hosting for the moment, I'm stuck with whatever crumbs they deign to scatter my way. And I wanna add pictures!! :)
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