Earth Hour Tonight & "The New Weird"

So several sources have encouraged us to turn off our lights from 8-9pm tonight for Earth Hour. Is that all we have to do? Turn off the lights? We can do that . . . as long as S. doesnt have to do without TV. Or Xbox.

Are we still participating if we self-clean the oven for 3.5 hrs, turn the heat and AC on at the same time (with the doors and window open,) and let the cars idle in the driveway the entire evening?

We'll be a part of Earth Hour, because it's smart to be aware of our personal contribution to the global footprint. But I found this amusing: http://www8.earthhourus.org/ has tips for what to do when the lights are off to stave off the boredom. One of them is READ.

um . . . with no lights, how?

But I'm still playing along, still hanging in there - sometimes you have to get creative. How about candles? and it will be dusk/dark. If candleflame is put up against a window pane, the reflection will produce 2x(?) the amount of light - at least it seems reasonable that it would. This could work . . . and I've been looking for an excuse to start "The New Weird."

Ahhhh . . . Saturday nights in the A. household. Riveting.

Whistlepig

In the golf course behind the house we are renting, there is a groundhog ferreting around for grubs and whatnot. The dude (and he MUST be a dude b/c he's flipping huge) waddles and digs around on the open green without a care in the world. I googled him, trying to find out if he was a groundhog or a woodchuck. Turns out he's both, as well as land beaver, whistlepig and ground squirrel. That's a lot of names for a big rodent, and not even as colorful as the ones the groundskeeper most likely has for him while fixing the damage to the course.

We find him entertaining though. Cute and furry woodland creatures add a bit of interest to the day.

Beavis The Weird

Meet Beavis - Mom's hoss of a cat. She torments and eats spiders. And every spider that Beavis eats is one we dont have to catch and release. Although swearing 'Die Spider Die" is satisfying, the smoosh and crush of the spiders demise is icky. We like it when Beavis takes over - its like . . . Mother Nature is our exterminator.

But more about Beavis: she's the self-promoted Protector of the House - she growls at mail carriers like a dog, and patrols the perimeter of each room each morning without fail. It is her duty.

She's also a narcsissist: she meows affirmatively when asked if she's cute. . . we're pretty sure she is saying 'you know I am.'

She has an odd habit of dropping dry cat food into her water dish, only to fish it out and feed herself paw-to-mouth. If you make her mad, she'll scurry to her food bowl for comfort chow like it was a warm fish pie. mmmmmmm.

She knows the sound of a can opener at work on tuna. Actually, she knows the sound of the can opener being pulled out the drawer. No no wait - she knows when you're thinking of using the can opener sometime in the distant future. . . . and when you do, she'll be there.

If you let her under the covers on a cold night, she'll snuggle right up to you as the 'small spoon,' and let you rub her belly until she's snoring with all four paws in the air. What a life.

Other names for Beavis: The Beav, Da Beav, Beavy, Beavies, Beavios DuBios, Beavis De Milo, Hoss, Chunky Monkey, and Punk (because she is an expert harasser of Mom's other resident cat.)

BooYay Balance

Yesterday I ran 10k. Yay!

And I ate icecream, a biscotti, a Weight Watcher chocolate thing and a bag of popcorn. Booooooo.

Big Lots, Big Butt

I'm at least 35, perhaps 40 pounds overweight. While strides have been made with exercise and food choices, the purchase of a scale has been on the back burner since the beginning. Not because I didnt want it, because I did. But I didnt want to pay $70 for it as well as have it look up at me everyday with it's accusing eye. See the difference?

Tonight after ensemble practice, I went to Big Lots! . . . .just to see what a scale might cost there, reasoning that a $20 scale would burn a MUCH smaller hole in the pocket of my big girl pants than 4x that.

Try six bucks! I bought a six dollar scale. It's plain and understated. It's not digital and doesnt have a BFI calculator. But it was six bucks. Who cares!

And (drum roll please) I have lost five pounds.

Love that Swedish store!

Road Rules

At 37, I dont have occassion to pull out my license very often. I mean, it's not like I get carded for adult beverages any more. But still, at some point I should have realized it was going to expire, and perhaps it should have been before it actually expired, and perhaps I should not have let seven months go by before doing something about it. There were no citations or tickets, but I was so annoyed with the fact that I had to go all the way back to the beginning and study for a written permit test like a 15 year old, that I let a half a year go by. I can take the driving test at any time, but until then, I cant drive without a licensed driver WITH me, and I'm stuck with this 'just rolled out of bed' look:



Justice is served.

Roshambo

This is an entire website dedicated to Roshambo. It's true.

You can even try your hand at paper/rock/scissors and pummel the computer wiz. I'm a 5:1!

http://www.42inc.com/~estephen/roshambo/

Beekeepers Unite!

I cant contain my excitement: Eddie Izzard has a new tour coming out, AND I'm going to see him, AND I'm going to DC to revel in his fabulousness with TallL. What joy!

If I was kid, I'd jump and down on the bed! If I was dog, I'd chase my tail! But as I'm neither, blogging will have to do . . . punctuated with spontaneous shouts of 'yippee'!

Yippee!

I ler-err-errve this guy :)

Foodie Wanna Be

I have decided to 'experience' food, not just chew it and push it around for a bit before swallowing it so that it can go directly to my ever-bourgeoning hips. But I'm purposefully mulling about texture, taste, and trying to find words to describe the most basic foods, like grapefruit. And cake.

Grapefruit - juicy pods exploding with tangy-tart citrus followed by a distinctly peppery finish.

Yellow Cake - innocuous sweet base with a hint of . . . of . . .could it be? Yes, it IS coconut, especially in the batter. It is more of a scent, an infusion, not obvious. Can be experienced in the same way the oak in a wine is tasted in air around your lips and tongue after swallowing. Excellently paired with rich, chocolate frosting, not too sweet. Ate an entire cake over seven days to test hypothesis. Hypothesis is now a Theory.

Steak - perfectly seared, tender steak with a slightly pink center and freshly cracked pepper and sea salt to bring out the flavor.

Upon reflection, its better not to analyze meat. The minute I started thinking of meat as the actual muscles and fat that belonged to sweet faced cow not too long ago, it started to lose its appeal. Chewing felt less like chewing and more like masticating. Symmantics? Yes, but it matters. Dont get me wrong. I ate it all. Every bite. But it wasnt as enjoyable as it could have been. And that is why you should not analyze eating meat. Ever.