Video Week #2: Duncan The Dog

Who needs to look normal, when you have fun, just like you are...

Oh, that we could be as cheerful about our problems as this cute dog.

"Why fit in -- when you were born to stand out?"
                   Dr. Seuss

Video Week #1: Seven Mind-Blowing Details from Great Works of Art

I've run across a big batch of quirky, funny and just plain fascinating videos lately -- so thought I'd try something. This week, I'll be sending you a video every day to puzzle over and enjoy.

First on the list: 'Cracked's' look at Great Art, and what it's really hiding.  Some of it, like Picasso's 'contribution' and the need to verify Jesus' 'humanity,' (ahem) you'll wish would go back into disguise!

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: A Very Moving Edition

It's warmer out (with a brisk, chilly wind), and the second daffodil is bravely blooming. The chickens are busy pecking at anything green that dares show itself. They don't like daffs, apparently, or the mint. (Go figure - it NEEDS some trimming back.)
     I am restless as all get-out.
     "I wish I could do something different," I said to the Brick, who is dealing with his own bout of spring fever. And we did -- a weekend of helping Daughter #1 move. Schlepping boxes, washing down baseboards and dealing with messiness in the kitchen, for days on end, gave me a true appreciation of being able to sit quietly at home...and not have to scrub marks off the wall. I still don't understand how she got all that stuff in that little studio, in the first place.
     We got home last night about 10 p.m., had some belated supper, and collapsed. Daughter just has a little more cleaning, plus the floors to do, and she gets her deposit back. Meanwhile, I look at my own grubby house -- it needs scrubbing, too. 
     Before I get started with that, on to:

An open letter to Gwyneth Paltrow.   Ms. Paltrow stated, in an interview with E! that it was sooo much easier to be a working mother in an office, than a movie star's lot. Specifically:
  
"It's much harder for me," she said. "I feel like I set it up in a way that makes it difficult because … for me, like if I miss a school run, they are like, 'Where were you?' I don't like to be the lead so I don't (have) to work every day, you know, I have little things that I like and obviously I want it to be good and challenging and interesting, and be with good people and that kind of thing."
     "I think it's different when you have an office job, because it's routine and, you know, you can do all the stuff in the morning and then you come home in the evening. When you're shooting a movie...then you work 14 hours a day and that part of it is very difficult. I think to have a regular job and be a mom is not as, of course there are challenges, but it's not like being on set."

One working mom's response is the link.
    Here's mine: Oh, Gwyneth, you poor baby.This musical interlude is just for you on the World's Tiniest Violin:

Planning for unexpected expenses. (From Moneysaving Mom) Speaking of unexpected:

A guy's thinking his girlfriend is pregnant with quintuplets. Lots of activity, fundraising, etc...but it turns out she isn't even pregnant at all!

Another guy finds bones in his backyard. Human bones.  (And they're really old.) Look in your own backyard for:

Dandelions and other spring tonic greens. From yours truly, via Penny Thots. Which brings up, of course:

 You might also enjoy my post on the pleasures of knitting and crochet, as well as the 50/30/20 dilemma.

Ten odd ways to make more money from your regular job. (From Penny Hoarder. This blog is great for unusual ways to make an extra buck or two.)

Cool colors for front doors. (Ours is currently close to the lavender shown here...but I'm bucking for the bright scarlet that we saw on so many Irish front doors.)

Bacon cheeseburger nachos? Oh my. (From Betty Crocker)

107 ways to save your family money. (From The Better Mom -- these are actually a series of helpful links, rather than just one article.)

Soft oat rolls -- good for soup, but they'd be a perfect (and easy) substitute for expensive hamburger buns.  (From Taste of Home.)

Nine things a woman can do to prepare for divorce. I've been very lucky, finding and living with the Brick for 32+ years. But there are others out there who could use this very practical advice.

A house helper to knit. Yes, I know this post is from 2006...but these are evergreen. And a pattern's included. (Wish friend Jo would knit one for me!) From Messy, Thrilling Life.

Get ready for spring...and all sorts of possible disasters. (From yours truly, via Midlife Finance.)

Did you know you get money, just for being a permanent resident of Alaska? Donna Freedman oughta know...

The value of a last-minute stretch (for food, that is), plus the merits of roasting your veggies and good cornbread. (From yours truly via Penny Thots.)

How much is enough for you to feel comfortable donating to someone else? (From I Pick Up Pennies)


Getting a promotion or wonderful opportunity...then feeling like you don't deserve it.  It's called the Imposter Syndrome by this academician. Nice to know that others struggle with this sometimes...

And that's it for this week. Have a good one.

P.S. I have stumbled onto some great videos lately, so will be posting these all week. One a day, hopefully. Come on back and check!

Another Bizarro Treat

Our dog Charley would agree with this. 
    (Notice how the cat is facing?)

Dan's blog is wonderful...take a look.

Jack Bauer Lives Again!

We are huge fans of 24. 

Another new one is coming out soon: 24 -- Live Another Day.

 So we've been going through the series again...we're almost through Season 7.  We're resuming old friendships with Chloe O'Brien, Bill Buchanan, and Tony Almeida. And of course, there's Jack Bauer...but he's too scary to be an old friend. For one things, anyone who's buddies with -- or related to -- Jack invariably ends up severely messed up...or dead.
 
     Ol Jack can kick anybody's butt, according to this top list. 
    (Yep, this is rude...but funny!)

1. Jack Bauer's favorite color is severe terror alert red. His second favorite color is violet, but just because it sounds like violent.
2. Jack Bauer killed 93 people in just 4 days time. Wait, that is a real fact.
3. Upon hearing that he was played by Kiefer Sutherland, Jack Bauer killed Sutherland. Jack Bauer gets played by no man.
4. Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.
5. If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.
6. If you wake up in the morning, it's because Jack Bauer spared your life.
7. When Russell Crowe threw a phone at that guy, Jack Bauer was on the other line.
8. Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
9. Jack Bauer does not sleep. The only rest he needs is what he gets when he's knocked out or temporarily killed.
10. Jack Bauer would have gotten the ring to Mordor in 24 hours.
11. While being "put under" in the hospital, Jack Bauer can count backwards from 100 every time. This annoys the doctors.
12. Jack Bauer can sneeze with his eyes open.
13. Jack Bauer knows what you did last summer.
14. Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
15. Season 5 of 24 was supposed to be Jack Bauer fighting Chuck Norris and Vin Diesel. This idea was abandoned when Jack defeated them and nothing else could be found to fill the other 23 hours and 59 minutes.
16. Don't ask what Jack Bauer would do for a Klondike bar...
17. Guns don't kill people, Jack Bauer kills people.
18. Every-time Jack Bauer yells "NOW!" at the end of a sentence, a terrorist dies.
19. God created the universe in 6 days. Thats 5 days 23 hours and 59 minutes longer than it took Jack Bauer to create God.
20. Jack Bauer literally died for his country, and lived to tell about it.
21. If Jack Bauer asks for your car, give it to him. And your wife.
22. If you get 7 stars on your wanted level on Grand Theft Auto, Jack Bauer comes after you. You don't want to get 7 stars.
23. Jack Bauer has no problem following orders, unless you tell him to do something he doesn't want to.
24. 1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight.
25. Instead of buzzing, Jack Bauer's alarm clock screams out "THERE ISN'T ANYMORE TIME!"
26. As a child, Jack Bauer's first words were "There's no time!"
27. Jack Bauer doesn't have a mother. As an impatient sperm, he shot out of his father and flew around looking for an egg to fertilize. He was unable to find an egg, and ended up running into a bullet, which he fertilized instead.
28. Jack Bauer named his cat 'Chuck Norris.' Why? Because He's a pussy.
29. Jack Bauer does not care for names. Every entry in his address book is simply labeled "Son of a Bitch."
30. Many people don't realize that "Bauer" is a name of Norwegian descent. It translates loosely to "WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!!!"
31. Jack Bauer once beat Super Mario Bros. 3 without touching the controller. He just stared at the TV until the game beat itself.
32. When Jack Bauer was a child, he made his mother finish his vegetables.
33. If you spell Jack Bauer in a Scrabble game, you win. Forever.
34. Jack Bauer won the Tour de France on a unicycle to prove to Lance Armstrong it wasn't a big deal. He thinks yellow wristbands are lame.
35. Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.
36. Osama Bin Laden's recent proposal for truce is a direct result of him finding out that Jack Bauer is, in fact, still alive.
37. Jack Bauer is the leading cause of death in Middle Eastern men.
38. When Kim Bauer lost her virginity, Jack Bauer found it and put it back.
39. Jack Bauer played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.
40. Jack Bauer once ate an entire case of sleeping pills. They made him blink.
41. What color is Jack Bauer's blood? Trick question. Jack Bauer does not bleed.
42. Jack Bauer once won a game of Connect 4 in 3 moves.
43. Simon Says should be renamed to Jack Bauer Says because if Jack Bauer says something then you better effin' do it.
44. When Google can't find something, it asks Jack Bauer for help.
45. Jack Bauer can get McDonald's breakfast after 10:30.
46. In kindergarten, Jack Bauer killed a terrorist for Show and Tell.
47. When the boogie man goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Jack Bauer.
48. Jesus died and rose from the dead in 3 days. It took Jack Bauer less than an hour. And he's done it twice.
49. It would only take 1 bullet for Jack Bauer to kill 50 Cent.
50. Jack Bauer once killed a group of Samurai Warriors with only a ball point pen. This lead to the phrase "The pen is mightier than the sword."
51. People with amnesia still remember Jack Bauer.
52. Jack Bauer has been to Mars. That's why there's no life on Mars.
53. Superman's only weakness is Kryptonite. Jack Bauer laughs at Superman for having a weakness.
54. If Jack and MacGyver were locked in a room together, Jack would make a bomb out of MacGyver and get out.
55. Jack Bauer was conceived by torturing the other sperm until they gave up the location of the egg.
56. Jack Bauer once killed so many terrorists that at one point, the #5 CIA Most Wanted fugitive was an 18-year-old teenager in Malaysia who downloaded the movie Dodge-ball.
57. If Jack Bauer was gay, his name would be Chuck Norris.
58. Jack Bauer rents videos and never rewinds them, ever.
59. Strippers tip Jack Bauer.
60. If Rosa Parks was in Jack Bauer's seat, she'd move to the back of the bus.
61. Jack Bauer makes onions cry.
62. If Jack was in a room with Stalin, Hitler and Nina and had two bullets, he would shoot Nina twice.
63. Jack and Jill went up the hill. Only Jack came down, Jill was an effin' terrorist.
64. Jack Bauer and Superman once had an arm wrestling match; the loser had to wear their underwear on the outside.

Oh Yeah?

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: March Madness

Back home from Cheyenne...and feeling exhausted. The house isn't actually that grubby -- but there are a boatload of piles, boxes and Just Plain Stuff that need to be put away.
     I don't wanna.
But no one else will be doing it, if I don't. The Brick is deep in a pile of work himself, Daughter #1 has been moving domiciles, and Daughter #2 has the flu.
     Oh, we're just a bunch of party animals around here.

Colorado seems to alternate between snow/dreary skies, and sun that warms the ground to barefoot weather. The first daffodil bloomed a little late -- just after St. Patrick's Day. No wonder -- it was probably confused. Makes you feel a little sideways about the rest of life, doesn't it?

 Ah well. On to other things in life, like:

Nineteen things your millionaire neighbor next door won't tell you. (From Len Penzo)

The Colorado woman who told her young son he had cancer, then reaped the considerable financial benefits from fundraisers, including a trip to Disneyland. (By the way...he didn't.)

What's your next step, if you can't make ends meet? Get Rich Slowly explores this in Part I and Part II. (Don't forget the reader comments -- they're even more interesting than the articles.)

What to do when space is really limited...like in Paris. (From Apartment Therapy)

Eight weird spy transmissions -- some are still going on. (Just don't look at the top and side ads on this site -- they can get even weirder than the spy transmissions.)

Hunting a stolen masterpiece. Caravaggio's Nativity has been missing since 1969 -- what happened to it?

Twelve teacher replies to -- whatever.  (Ditto.)

A new way to try pigs in the blanket - wrapped in spicy green onion pancakes! (Thanks, Betty Crocker)

One of the Titanic 'survivors' is still missing -- proven by a DNA test. (This story is fascinating.)

DNA testing also played an interesting part in determining whether Anna Anderson was the long-lost Princess Anatasia, as well. (I was really rooting for her, too.)

We haven't watched March Madness like we should...but Michigan is still hanging in there. Their next game: Friday night.  (CU, sadly, has already gone down in flames.) Yes, there is another Michigan university team...but we do not discuss the Green and White One in this house. (grin) Our friends had high hopes for Wichita State's Shockers (yes, that's the team name) -- but their first loss of the season went to Kentucky (only two points!), and they're out. Darn.

Have a great week -- and if you've got any bare, sort of warm ground,  plant something!