In which we discuss swap~o~rama, comics, cleaning and Polish contributions to global society

I have strange friends.

I would be the first to admit this makes perfect sense in light of the whole bird flocking thingee.

Speaking of thingees and birds, two quick asides that just occurred.

1.) The Things, who've recently watched the Beatle's movie Help! have taken to repeating this dialogue,

"Look out! It's a thingee, a fiendish thingee!"

This is apparently most useful when their parents have told them to pick something up.

2.) You know how when geese fly together in a V one side is always longer than the other.

Do you know why that is?

I do.

My dad told me.

There are more geese on that side.

Moving on, I have received more swapage!

This lovely piece of... clothing comes to us from Snav who got it from Lime.

And I present it to you here to ask for your assistance.

Some poor member of my family needs to model this work of art.

Cast your votes in the comments, should it be Thing One? Thing Two?

Or that freakest of all freaques, Mr. Logo?

I ALSO received from Susie Q a lovely little mini-mag.

It is a pretty cool little comic by an extremely talented artist.

It reminded me of a gift I received not too long ago.

A very kind blogger friend purchased this comic for me, hopefully not because he thinks of me a psychopathic killer or exceptionally nerdy but merely because I am from the northwest.

As a child I was frequently read a book called The Big Tidy Up.

It is no longer in print and I am unlikely to purchase this copy.

We do have the one read to my siblings and myself, it is not in great shape but my kids have enjoyed it and we recently passed it on to the younger cousins, the esteemed elder sisters munchkins.

It is one of those stories that we requested over and over, and so have my kids,

so the majority of the book is actually committed to memory.

"Jennifer knew as well as you

That everything had its place

but she just didn't care

a whit,

a bit,

so her room was a real disgrace."

As illustrated in the picture below,

repeated readings did noting to alleviate the problems in the room of Thing Two.

However, rhyming storybooks are not the only thing in my bag of tricks,

oooooh no.

There is also cajoling, bribing, threatening, crying, screaming, and ripping out chunks of my own hair (although someone has to clean THAT up later too, so I tend to think it's not the most pratical choice).

Interestingly enough, you see the effective approach before you.

Although, I had intended it as a threat he took it as a bribe.

I said I was going to take a pic of the mess and post it.

He asked if I would take one when he was done too.

So I did.

Who am I to argue with what works?

And one last item before I stop rambling.

In addition to their contributions in the arts, sciences, and ethnic jokes

the Polish should also be recognized for their pottery.

I found this at a kitchen shop and couldn't decide if it would work with my little set below.

How cute would that tea pot be with these, eh?

Good thing I don't collect tea pots, innit?

Alright, I'm done.

Oh, for those who were interested, I transcribed the text of my magnetic poetry

Flash Fiction 55 into the comment of the post below.

An Idea I Stole...

from Diesel.

Last time some people posted this I went and tried it.
I was told I looked like Lucille Ball and Chaka Khan's love child,

so I didn't post it.

This time around, I am sharing with you all.

After seeing the pics Tom morphed for me my parents have disavowed any responsibility for creating me,

so what the heck,

I will claim Lucilla and Chaka.

Next, so Susie Q will feel loved and appreciated here is a kinda sorta

55 Flash Fiction.

I got a magnetic poetry board which I LOVE, and I was playing with it, so here is a pic,

there are roughly 55 words there.

Don't look too closely if you are easily shocked, it's not G rated.

MY ADD is acting up

and its late. But's been a while since I posted so I am gonna shotgun some things out there.
Try to keep up or skip to the bottom, either way, do whatever works for you.
I was mowing my lawn last week in gloves and a hat. There is something fundamentally wrong with that.
It's fall, I can tell because of what the leaves are doing, falling. On some days, there is a brisk little chill in the air. So why can't my freaking grass take a hint and lay off, eh?
I was in Oregon last week because Mr. Logo was interviewing for a job there. He has a job now, its a hold over sort of deal. We won't starve or go into foreclosure but he is definitely not feeling fulfilled. His cheese is NOT going to be located at this job. We got the "2006 What Color Is Your Parachute?" but he decided the actual reading of it demanded too much. I glanced through it and determined it was too hard to figure out what color his parachute is as I have to allow for the red and blue shifts that occur as his mood swings.
I am tutoring some high school boys in writing. I alternate between being encouraged by their occasion flashes of insight and brilliance and despair over the breadth and depth of their ignorance. How does one become 17 years old in this country and have NO idea how John Locke or Thomas Paine figure into history?
Fredrich Neitsche?
Huh?
They are KILLING me!
I made them look up who said, "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country."
I am aware I have an extensive fascination for useless trivia but come on, why the heck don't they know who wrote Moby Dick?? I am forcing them to learn about Oscar Wilde, Joseph Conrad, Ernest Hemingway, and of course Shakespeare. If I ask for an applicable literary example of something and they ask if they can cite Harry Potter just one more time.. I shall do such things, I know not what, but they shall be the terrors of the earth!
We have been watching House MD on Netflix. We are on season two and wow, its so strange to hear Bertie Wooster with an American accent, and oh mah goodness what a grumpy bum he is! A peculiarity of language has come to light though. Greg House (Hugh Laurie's character) is repeatedly referred to as "miserable," which gets rather repetition when you watch the shows back to back on DVD rather than over the course of a television network season. But I realized as I thought about it, there is not really a well-matched synonym for miserable. Once you start using other words your shade of meaning shifts, so I guess repetitious is better than straying too far from the very delicate balance they work so hard to maintain between making his character pitiable or exasperating.
I'm getting cold and sleepy now, and I want a book, a bath, a cup of tea and then my bed.
Hope your Thursday is a thoroughly thrilling one.

OK, I'm a little late, but here...

have a quiz.

I drove a long way yesterday, I'm tired.

I had a lovely browse through a bookstore.

I had a fabulous lunch at a deli near the bookstore.

I checked out a nice brick building just over a little way from there.

Then I drove home, arriving here at about 11PM.

My children who were staying with their aged Ps managed to have a good time and everyone suvived the experience, thank the FSM.

Now I am going to go take a nap.

Ciao!

Brothers, sisters, have you heard of The Flying Spaghetti Monster?

As far as religions go, I think they have the corner on the market of cool names (Pastafarians) and I love

The Eight I'd Really Rather You Didn'ts.

I. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Act Like a Sanctimonious Holier-Than-Thou Ass When Describing My Noodly Goodness. If Some People Don't Believe In Me, That's Okay. Really, I'm Not That Vain. Besides, This Isn't About Them So Don't Change The Subject.

II. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Use My Existence As A Means To Oppress, Subjugate, Punish, Eviscerate, And/Or, You Know, Be Mean To Others. I Don't Require Sacrifices, And Purity Is For Drinking Water, Not People.

III. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Judge People For The Way They Look, Or How They Dress, Or The Way They Talk, Or, Well, Just Play Nice, Okay? Oh, And Get This In Your Thick Heads: Woman = Person. Man = Person. Samey - Samey. One Is Not Better Than The Other, Unless We're Talking About Fashion And I'm Sorry, But I Gave That To Women And Some Guys Who Know The Difference Between Teal and Fuchsia.

IV I'd Really Rather You Didn't Indulge In Conduct That Offends Yourself, Or Your Willing, Consenting Partner Of Legal Age AND Mental Maturity. As For Anyone Who Might Object, I Think The Expression Is Go Fuck Yourself, Unless They Find That Offensive In Which Case They Can Turn Off the TV For Once And Go For A Walk For A Change.

V I'd Really Rather You Didn't Challenge The Bigoted, Misogynist, Hateful Ideas Of Others On An Empty Stomach. Eat, Then Go After The Bastard.

VI I'd Really Rather You Didn't Build Multimillion-Dollar Churches/Temples/Mosques/Shrines To My Noodly Goodness When The Money Could Be Better Spent (Take Your Pick):
· Ending Poverty
· Curing Diseases
· Living In Peace, Loving With Passion, And Lowering The Cost Of Cable
I Might be a Complex-Carbohydrate Omniscient Being, But I Enjoy The Simple Things In Life. I Ought To Know. I AM the Creator.

VII I'd Really Rather You Didn't Go Around Telling People I Talk To You. You're Not That Interesting. Get Over Yourself. And I Told You To Love Your Fellow Man, Can't You Take A Hint?

VIII I'd Really Rather You Didn't Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You If You Are Into, Um, Stuff That Uses A Lot of Leather/Lubricant/Las Vegas. If the Other Person Is Into It, However (Pursuant To #4), Then Have At It, Take Pictures, And For The Love Of Mike, Wear a CONDOM! Honestly, It's A Piece of Rubber. If I Didn't Want It To Feel Good When You Did It I Would Have Added Spikes, Or something.

The Canadian band Barenaked Ladies, while performing at a bookstore on September 19th (TLAP day), took some time to Spread the Word of the FSM. They even signed a few copies of the Gospel. I wasn’t there, but I’m told that they were very concerned with Global Warming, and played a few pirate songs to do their part to lower the temperature. Clearly true Pastafarians. In fact, lead guitarist Ed Robertson posted on the band’s official blog: "This is so excellent. I am speechless. I’m a believer".

(from the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster website)

I ask you, is this not about the best religion you've EVER heard of??

These pics were e-mailed to me, I have no idea who took them, but I thought they were fun.

One of the upsides of fall

Unfortunately, it is also the end of the cycle riding season, at least for me, I am a fair weather rider.

But here is how far an addict will go to feed their obsession.

I am not that obsessed yet.

Nor am I this obsessed.

Give me time.

I'm being lazy...

not to mention my stupid quiz site was giving me trouble. So no quiz this week, hope you can survive the disappointment. I am going to go do this some more instead of continuing to fight with the internet.
But, in honor of it being a good day for trivia, please, leave everyone a little tidbit of trivia in your comment.

For example, The Pike Place Pig is named Rachel after a pig that won the Island County Fair in 1985.