Something Squirrelly this Way Comes

That's right folks, that spiffy picture is made from food. Pretty nifty, eh?

The Cat, Priss, has some issues. Yall know she's pear shaped (aka overweight from the shoulders back). She's also rather squirrelly and childlike.

The roommate (Priss' mom) had left a bag of treats on the floor. Priss discovered them and began chewing on the bag. She'd gnaw on it for a bit and then walk away. Come back, gnaw some more, walk away.

She kept that up for over five minutes before she got her paws involved. She clamped onto the bag with her teeth and hoisted it in the air with her paws. Trying to shake it back and forth (think of big cats when they bite prey in the neck and shake to kill it) but she couldn't without assistant from her paws. She ends up tossing it by a newly recovered chair (it now has a skirt that goes to the floor).

She walks away again and is quiet for at least twenty minutes. Then I hear this rustling sound. I look up and see a white paw sneak out from underneath the chair-skirt and land on the bag. The paw proceeds to pull the treat bag underneath the chair.

Much rustling, chair moving (I'm thinking she was trying to get some leverage) and nail clicking ensues. I'm laughing way too hard to even think about getting the treats from her. My thought is, she's worked hard to get to those treats. If she gets the bag open, she's earned some.

Priss kept at it for quite some time. Moved the chair a couple inches. And caused my ribs to ache from laughing. Sadly she didn't make a hole big enough to get out an entire, intact, treat.

Although there were multiple holes that bits of treats could easily have fallen through. It makes me wonder about previous treat holding containers. Perhaps one day, when I'm bored and ambitious, I'll look around for Priss' treat container graveyard. See how old the carcasses are.

U2's song Seconds appears on the upcoming album In The Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2. Amazon lets you preview all of the audio from the album. They also have a video of Seconds. Thanks to c for the heads up.



Yes, I too thought the above image of Africa looked like a hunk of raw meat. That's entirely the reason why I included the album cover image. Make everyone either go vegetarian or crave a juicy burger or steak for lunch/dinner. Did it work?

Anyway, for those sorry few who don't know what U2's version of Seconds sounds like, take a gander at the video below. It's from the May 15, 1983 concert at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada.

You know you have a passive cat when she lets you use her to do curls. And lunges. She's a much softer, fuzzier and squirmy weight than regular dumbbells. Cuter too.

Then there's the added benefit of laughing while 'exercising'. That's gotta take off more calories than a regular, non-cat, curl. Right?

I didn't post Thursday because I was running late. And Friday, well, I pretty much slept most of the day. I didn't even turn my computer on until late (nearly midnight). But if you're reading this, then you've survived two weekdays without a post from moi. So stop whining and get over it.

JT, I want to thank you for not calling me yesterday morning. While I always love hearing from you, dawn on a Sunday morning is a touch too early. Glad to hear you were excited about seeing Peter. I hope Dad fixed your bike.

Unrelatedly, I bought a new toe ring this weekend. It's silver and not silver plated. And the shop will be getting a larger selection in, closer to summer! WoooHoooo!

The take over of humans by animals continues! Critters have moved on to the next phase of their plan - positive rewards for humans.

Cows have been complaining for years about having to sleep on hard, uneven ground. Farmers didn't care. Then some cows started reducing the amount of milk they provided, which got the farmers trying to think of ways to increase milk production.

A farmer in Geauga County, Ohio, has recently joined in with a league of farmers willing to go the extra mile for Bessie. Waterbeds.

If that's not cows training humans, I don't know what is.

My Kansas Jayhawks beat the Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 Championship.

I'm not much of a basketball fan. The only time I even remotely pay attention is March. This year it was just extra special as my boss is a Longhorn. I made sure to wear a KS ball cap to work, just for him.

My writing Rock Chalk Jayhawk, KU! on his dry erase board was just an example of my thoroughness. I think he'd appreciate my effort. Going the extra mile. My dedication to doing a good job. After all, he did hire me.

Getting comments of, "Why are you wearing that hat?!!" from co-workers who are carolina tarheel fans, well, that was the added powdered sugar sprinkles on my day. It's always good when you set out to taunt one person and end up taunting several, with no extra effort. Another reason my boss should appreciate me. Efficiency! ;)

Okay, so it's not really a cake. It's (supposedly) the Con Smythe trophy. It just looks like a three-tired cake.

Actually the picture I found is what 'inspired' the figurine. Sadly the figurine looks little like Ward and the trophy, well it looks like a fancy cake. Although, to be fair, it looks less like a cake in person than it did in the commercials and pix on the website.

Sadly I couldn't find any pix of the figurine. And I'm too crunched for time to take a picture myself to upload. Maybe tonight, after work, if yall are lukcy.

Anyway, here's the link to the Canadian Press article about Cam winning the trophy.

The game yesterday was Great!!!!! Woohooo Canes!! That's the way to play!

I'm wearing some spiffy keen shoes today. They have all kinds of recycled bits on them! How freaking awesome is that?!!

The soles are from old car tires, the plastic thingies on the end of the laces are made from recycled plastic bottles, as are the laces(!!), the foot forms are made from 100% post consumer paper and the linings are made of organic cotton. I'm in tree hugger heaven! :)

For the record, the color is called Rabbit, not purple. And yes, they're comfy. Go visit Simple Shoes' website. Maybe buy some shoes or bags or shirts or hats or one of each.

If you're cutting down a bag of chips and can't find a pair of scissors, a knife works well. However, make sure the serrated portion of the blade is pointed away from your fingers. The delay you have from washing and bandaging your finger takes away from the enjoyment of the chips (and dip). Or maybe regular potato chips dipped in queso sauce just isn't that tasty to begin with.

Hockey
Way to go Canes!! The first period last night was fantastic!! And Cam - Another shut out! Woooohoooooooo!!!

Matt, I hope you're alright! That hit and landing in the third had me cringing. Landing on your head/neck/face, I'm in awe that you were able to get up and skate to the bench.

Also, Glen Wesley (defenseman) has been nominated for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

I found this rather amusing. British comedy.



Bono looks disturbingly like Elton John. I'm not really sure who The Edge looks like. If you squint your eyes and stick cotton balls in your ears, they sorta kinda resemble the real Bono and The Edge.

Check out this snowwoman in Bethel, Maine. I knew they got a lot of snow up there. I just didn't know they had so much time to putter around with all of it. Or maybe they've all just gone a little (ie bucketloads) crazy with all the snow.

They've named her (Olympia SnowWoman) which isn't that squirrelly really. However, some guy (Jim Mann of Mt. Mann Jewelers) created a 6 1/2 ft. Maine-mica snowflake pendant for her. That just screams squirrelly to me.

Ms. Olympia has her own website. I'd go there for more pix (some or all are courtesy of Chris Dagdigian) and the contact information, should you want to offer your counseling services to the frost bitten and creative folk of Bethel, Maine.

I'd hate to see her makeup start to run when the warm weather sets in. Assuming it gets above freezing that far north. They'll have to erect a clearance zone for her eyelashes. She'd lose her sun halo in a heartbeat then. An eyelash impaling someone is ever so much worse than getting one in your eye, even if it is underneath a contact lens.

I was at the mall yesterday afternoon. Saw a guy with a Penguins t-shirt on. I paused and asked if he had watched the game earlier.

"Of course," he replied matter-of-factly.
"Wasn't it Great?!" I exclaimed. "The Caps lost!!" I beamed at the guy. The look of huh? on his face was rather amusing. Apparently he doesn't pay attention to hockey in general. I continued on my way down the corridor, still beaming.

For those unaware, my dear Canes are seven points ahead of their nearest competitor in the SE (Wash. Caps). Hence my joy that the Caps lost.

Instead of thinking up something to post about today, I spent the last 10 minutes trying to peruse the online NHL shop. It did not go well. All I wanted was to find a Canes keychain. I have a $3 credit from my last order, figured I'd apply it towards a keychain. And maybe a shirt. And a hat.

Nary a Canes keychain to be found. Plus I couldn't even find their green holiday stuff, despite their big push of it. Then the site froze on me. Argh.

Ah well. At least the Canes won the last two nights! :)

Coworker forwarded this video to me. I'm not sure I ever want to fly into Wellington, New Zealand. Or any of those other airports.



Unrelatedly
I inadvertently shut the cat in my room with me. She came in whilst I was brushing my teeth. I came back, shut my door, sat down to type and saw her peering out the window. She's been back and forth between the door and the window. And the other windows. She's stalking something. Well, she was. Now she's chirping at me to let her out.

Ooooh purring kitty on my lap. Not a bad way to start the day.

People really need to learn how to drive. Especially guys driving large trucks in a secure area in a downpour.

Hey Mister! That fence, yeah the one with the barbed wire, is not there to stop you when you miss the turn. Stop doing your makeup and pay attention!

Idiot. And before yall give me grief about being inconsiderate, the guy was okay. His truck not so much. Especially the oil pan, which he ruptured, uphill of a storm drain. And did I mention the torrential rain?

ONE campaign as interpreted by Ben & Jerry's. Best thing? It doesn't have strawberries in it! Woohoooo!!!!! :)

Hockey
Caps clobbered the Bruins. It was crazy. 10-2. I think Thomas was not in his goalie groove. Nor Auld. Or maybe Ove took a goalie groove cracking course over the weekend.

Unrelatedly
It's amazing what you can get done when you don't sit on your butt and watch TV. I was able to unload, load, run, unload again and partially reload the dishwasher, cook dinner, do a load of laundry, cook food for lunch, hand wash some dishes, torment The Cat, taunt hockey players, do some writing and talk to my granny for nearly 1.5 hours. All this after I got home from work (I was there over 10 hours, btw) and between the hours of 7:30 and 10:00.

Even More Unrelatedly
Did you know you can break a (hard) plastic bowl by dropping a fork on it? I didn't either until I did. I was stirring some pasta sauce, lost my grip on the fork, it went spinning and hit The Cat's food bowl. At least the bowl only cost $0.50.

I've always thought there was something decidedly creepy about the Thomas the Tank Engine show for kids. All those eyes rolling about and mouths grimacing for no apparent reason. Now I have proof of their real nature. The grimaces and eye twitching are the engines' way of protesting how nice they have to be!