Thursday, November 30, 2006

The Most Expensive Time of the Year

For my last post as part of NaBloPoMo, which I realize I failed miserably, I'm just going to throw some fun links atcha. Heads up!

http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com
(funny AND they sell stuff)

http://www.missdoxie.com/
(if you don't want to read the post, scroll down to where she starts the gift idea list)

http://www.ohmythatsawesome.com/
(various neat gifties)

http://www.rarebirdfinds.typepad.com/
(again, vng)

http://www.beccalights.com/
(yummy candles)

http://www.hellagoodproducts.com/
(yummy bath products)

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

By the Thundering Horse of Jove...

You Are a Pegasus

You are a perfectionist, with an eye for beauty.
You know how to live a good life - and you rarely deviate from your good taste.
While you aren't outgoing, you have excellent social skills.
People both admire you - and feel very comfortable around you.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I love this time of year. Partly because Christmas is my favorite holiday, partly because the weather is FINALLY cooling off, and partly because, hello, gifts! Giving and getting. Also people seem friendlier this time of year. Or they used to. I think the whole world is grumpier than it used to be, me included.

Anyway, I've got the Christmas music cranked and wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

TomGag

I wish everyone would stop talking about Tom Cruise. I don't care about his wedding to Katie, I don't care about how powerful he is or what a superstar he is. I'm really tired of people claiming to speak for all women and how we just love Tom Cruise. I don't. I never have. I didn't like him in Risky Business, when all my teenage friends were crazy about him (yes, I'm dating myself), I didn't like him in Top Gun (same character he played in RB, and he had as much chemistry with Kelly McGillis as he would have had with, oh, I don't know, his sister maybe?), and I hated the whole Jerry Maguire masterpiece of mediocrity. Except for the little boy, he was cute.

Has no one else noticed that Tom plays the same basic character in every movie? Everyone was going on and on about his daring role reversal in Collateral, but it was exactly the same, he was just a bad guy instead of a good one. Let's see him take on Shakespeare or Jane Austen convincingly. Then I might be impressed.

And I don't want to hear him talk about anything anymore. I think he's ignorant and insipid. Perhaps no more than most high school dropouts; perhaps no more than most celebrities. But I don't want to listen to them, either.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

True or False

Until recently, I had been reading only non-fiction books, and while I enjoyed them, I wasn’t completely satisfied. I felt gratified, more knowledgeable, and sometimes alarmed or outraged, but not satisfied. It’s like dessert -- I can enjoy a dessert that’s not chocolate, but it just isn’t really dessert. It’s not fully rewarding. It doesn’t make the soul sing.

Now I am back to reading fiction and it is like sinking into a nice, warm, fragrant bath. Or slipping on a pair of perfect shoes. Or meeting a new friend that you feel immediately comfortable with, almost as if you’ve known them before. Aaaah, is what I’m saying.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Mea Culpa

This has been bothering me and I'd just like to say that I wanted my blog url to be littlegraycells but it was taken (by someone who hasn't updated since February of 2005! Grrrr). Since I love Poirot and have the last name Gray, I didn't want to give it up, so I made it littlegraycellz. Normally, I don't like to misspell things and I don't like the downward (dumbward?) slide our language is in, but I made an exception. I suppose I should have been more creative instead, but now it's too late.

I feel a little better.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Good Wife. Now Sit!

(Click image to see larger version.) (Please ignore the marks; they are not mine.) This may be a fabrication; its status on Snopes.com is Undetermined. Still, amusing, in a teeth-gnashing kind of way.

Friday, November 17, 2006

The Joy of Plumbing

Well, we have the plumbers here for the third time in as many months (right? close, anyway) to fix the same problem: our bathtub won't drain.

It goes in a predictable procession: flushing the toilet causes the tub drain to gurgle; we say uh-oh; tub starts retaining fluid; it eventually drains; tub retains with a vengeance; doesn't drain at all; toilet will no longer flush. It's fun!

They're now telling us that they may have to replace the pipes from the bathroom to the street, or wherever it goes. And that might take a couple of days. No bathroom for a couple of days? No problem! Luckily we live in the same town as my parents, so we can stay with them if need be. I just hope that if they have to do that, it doesn't take any longer than a couple of days. And that it really fixes the problem. Which they say is tree roots. Thanks, trees! What'd we ever do to you?

Here are Sassy & Molly, waiting for the intruders to leave:













You can see that they aren't too thrilled with their prison. And who can blame them? Here's what they're used to:













Update: They fixed the problem, again citing tree roots (damn you, trees!), but claiming that they shouldn't cause a problem again for six months. Ha! We'll see about that. It's us against the roots now. This means war.

Now please excuse me, I have to go light some candles to counteract eau de plumber...

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Can You Say OW?

That was my first root canal. (I'm sure it won't be my last; thanks for the crappy teeth, Mom and Dad!)

As my little nephew would say, "It was kinda horrible."

Here are a few observations made while under the drill:

  • I love whoever created Novocaine.
  • X-ray squares HURT.
  • When the dentist is cleaning out your tooth canals, it sounds like you’re chewing Silly Putty. (oh come on, you know you’ve done it)
  • It's scary when the assistant holds out an implement to the doctor and he looks at it blankly and asks, “What is that?” And then he USES it.
  • Root canals suck, but not as badly as letting your tooth go until you’ve got an abscess and it feels like your jaw has exploded when you eat ice cream.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Peace Out

Tomorrow I go in for a root canal, which I am equal parts dreading and eagerly anticipating. My tooth is starting to hurt again a little bit, so it will be good to get it over with. I don't know how I'll feel after it, so I may not post tomorrow. Alas, poor NaBloPoMo!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Attitude

For those of you who don't know, I work in a library and am stuck on the reference desk as my desk, my home away from home, even though I shouldn't be, but that's another story. I just have one question I'd like to pose: WHY CAN'T PEOPLE BATHE AND USE DEODORANT? It's not hard. Have a heart, people.

Now for something kind of related and not really surprising:

Your Attitude is Better than 35% of the Population

You have an average attitude. You take the good and bad in life as they come. Though sometimes you could use a little more good.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

But I'm From Louisiana!

Your Linguistic Profile:
40% General American English
30% Dixie
10% Upper Midwestern
10% Yankee
5% Midwestern

Saturday, November 11, 2006

There Once Was a Little Pea Brain...

Well, if I weren't out of the contest already, I am now, all due to my wee little brain. I had a feeling it would come to this, though I expected to make it further into the month. I wasn't at a computer yesterday so... I just forgot. Until Molly woke us up to go out at 1:30 a.m. THIS morning. Then I oh-so-helpfully remembered. Good job, brain!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Quirks

Does anyone else like House Hunters as much as I do? I suppose I like it so much because we are looking for a house ourselves. Although we don't have nearly the options that most of the people on HH have since we live in such a small town. We're lucky to have a few houses to consider every few months or so. I envy those people their choices.

Those of you who watch the show, tell me which episodes are older: Suzanne Whang with bangs, or Suzanne Whang without? I don't know why I feel compelled to know this, but I do.

My husband doesn't like the show as much as I do, but he loves how in some of them (older or newer episodes, I can't tell!) she introduces herself and then pauses, as if expecting applause. "Welcome to House Hunters. I'm Suzanne Whang." ~pause~ "Joe Schmoe is looking for a new place to live..."

That is funny, but not as funny as a girl on a Standard Deviants video we watched (my hubby is a teacher) who would say whatever she was scripted to, then flash this big beauty queen smile. Regardless of the tone of whatever it was she had just said. That struck me as really funny. Apparently, her Indian name is Desperately Hoping to Be Noticed by a Hollywood Bigwig and Become the Next Julia Roberts Like Sometime SOON So I Don't Have to Do These Lame Educational Videos EVER AGAIN.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

I Should Study Science!

You Are An INTJ

The Scientist

You have a head for ideas - and you are good at improving systems. Logical and strategic, you prefer for everything in your life to be organized. You tend to be a bit skeptical. You're both critical of yourself and of others. Independent and stubborn, you tend to only befriend those who are a lot like you.

You would make an excellent scientist, engineer, or programmer.


Okay, I am kind of an idea rat, I am constantly trying to improve things, and I like to be logical and organized. Skeptical, check. Critical, check. Stubborn, check. But a scientist? I don't think so. I don't have the concentration. I'm more like Frankenstein's monster than the good doctor. Alive, yes, but very confused.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Good Old American Dentistry

So I went to the dentist today. Wow, that was fun! He poked, prodded, drilled, and swabbed his little heart out. It hurt. Verily it hurt.

And I have to have a root canal next week. And my jaw hurts from the shot, and my tooth still hurts from all the drilling and prodding. But at least I can see light at the end of this particular tunnel of doom.

I can't believe I'm looking forward to a root canal.

Well, sort of.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Teeth Shmeeth

I don't know if you've ever had a toothache, or any kind of trouble with your teeth. If not, I hate you and want your teeth. If so, you know what it's like. You can feel my pain.

Because oh, yes, pain there is. It started Saturday night when I was innocently eating a little ice cream. All of a sudden, WHAM. It was like someone hit me in the jaw with a sledgehammer. (Well, okay, since that might actually kill me, I'll change it to a rubber mallet. Those things still hurt.) It was horrible. My whole head hurt. It finally subsided into a dull, throbbing, constant ache that has been with me since. With occasional flare-ups of intense head-shattering pain.

And of course the dentist can't work me in until tomorrow.

I have two crowns where this pain is originating and have been told I need root canals. I'm guessing they were right. And as much as I dread having a root canal, I want this pain over with even more. Just make it stop, that's all I ask. And make sure it never returns.

At this point, I'm willing to have these teeth pulled, if that's what it would take. Just call me Lurleen-Mae. At least I would be gloriously free of pain and able to eat whatever I wanted. Mostly.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

I Am So Mad

Well, that's just great. I'm going to be out of the contest now, all because of BLOGGER. I posted yesterday, and at first had trouble getting Blogger to publish; finally it published and the post was there. I even checked my site twice and there was my little post, a few words of wisdom that I liked. So I come in to post today and guess what? Yesterday's post is GONE.

I would love to know how that happened, I would love Blogger to find it and republish it, AND I would love an apology from them for this.

Friday, November 03, 2006

You Can Call Me Scoot

You Are Scooter
Brainy and knowledgable, you are the perfect sidekick.You're always willing to lend a helping hand.In any big event or party, you're the one who keeps things going."15 seconds to showtime!"

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Wild Child

While recently reading about the Jersey Devil, I discovered a link to an article on feral children. Reading some of the entries mentioned in that article, I discovered further proof (as if I needed any) that animals really are better than people. (I make a vast, sweeping, and even gross generalization here, I know. I actually do know some very nice people, and a few kind of mean animals, so I recognize the flaw in my sentiment. But still. Overall.)

Here’s what blows me away: first of all, that parents abandon their own children -- okay, that’s shocking enough, but sadly, not as shocking as it should be these days; the really astounding part is that animals take them in -- something that isn’t even of their own species -- and raise them!

Do the animals stop to consider whether or not there will be enough milk to go around, or juicy berries, or yummy rabbits, or whatever? Apparently not.

So, at least in these cases, the animals definitely win the moral tug-of-war.

A previously unknown (to me) and intriguing detail mentioned in several of the cases wherein children were raised by wolves or wild dogs is that the children were found to have exceptional senses of sight, smell, and hearing. I can think of several reasons why this would be so, but it never occurred to me that it would be. I think that’s fascinating.

I guess that’s why I was a psych major in college.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Get Your Post On!

In a moment of reckless abandon, I decided to participate in NaBloPoMo, which is National Blog Posting Month, created by the fussy Mrs. Kennedy. This means I have to post every day for the month of November. Every day.

I did this not just because there are prizes involved -- mmm, prizes -- but also because I think it will be good practice for me to have to write every day. Of course, the biggest problem is going to be my memory. There's every chance that I'll forget, not just because of weekends, when I like to avoid the computer after working at one all week, but during Thanksgiving. A holiday! My memory ain't what it used to be, folks.

Anyway, here goes. Wish me luck, a good memory, and ideas for what to write!