Family Photos

Kevin @ 16


& who's in the photo on the wall?

Happy 40th, Kevin

As Lucinda Sans says, Kevin did love that Kliban poster. Go to http://www.eatmousies.com/intro.html to see a Flash animation/song of it.

Kevin also loved The Three Stooges, which drove our mom nuts. We did seem to watch them all, didn't we? I can still sing that song "B-A, BAY, B-E, BEE, B-I, BAY-BEE-BY, B-O, BO ..."

Miss ya, Kevin.

Random Thoughts for a Snowy Day

Well, we finally got some snow, even if it's only about an inch. Enough to make the yards white-looking, with taller stuff sticking thru. Too bad the Kiddies can't go skiing, however, they've mid-term exams to study for. I wasn't scheduled to work today, the SO is a government employee, and school's out for MLK day, so it was nice that the whole family got to sleep in. (It's past 10 am and we haven't seen Kiddie A yet.)

There's a rumor going around here in southcentral PA that Gov. Rendell is going to ask that if there is an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl that it be held in Beaver Stadium, State College (Penn State's stadium). On a couple of levels it does make sense. Beaver Stadium can hold at least 100,000 people (but frequently attendance at games seem to be over 107,000) which is a lot more than Heinz Stadium at 65,000 (home of the Steelers). The Super Bowl is set to be played in Jacksonville, FL, in a stadium that has a capacity of 83,000 if they add temporary seats in the south end zone (this is more than I usually know ... I just looked it up). Normally I only care about collegiate football, noteably Penn State. But since we tuned in to the end of the Steeler-Jet game (just to see what the score was) and ended up seeing the end of the game (pretty fun!) I've been paying a little more attention.

Girl Scout cookie sales for my Kiddies has been slower/lower than in past years, mostly due to my not making them go door-to-door (got tired of them whining) and people just not responding. My Cookie Mom and I are hoping that we get to get a booth at the Home Builders Show in March to help make up for slow sales.

Pratt left a nice comment, and got me thinking about a new blog poll on Irwin Allen productions. I certainly watched enough of them as a kid, especially The Time Tunnel and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (which is what I had in mind when I typed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in my TV SciFi Poll. I guess it's been toooo long since I saw that one! I need either the SciFi or TVLand channels to start rerunning that one. Have seen a couple of the ol' Macgyver series recently.

Which reminds me ... somewhere there is a blurred photo of me with RDA, but you can only see the top half of my head (thx SO!). And that we're hoping to get down to VA to the Stargate convention next month. It's been years since I've been to a SF con, and my Kiddies have never seen anything like one. Should be very interesting!

And now, it's time for another photo ... here I am, the family Cat Couch. First Chatham sat on my lap, then Salem decided that he had to be up there, too. He likes to climb higher than Chatham does. btw, Chatham is 17 and Salem is 7 years old.

Other Blogs, Part II

Been surfing other blogs again. I'm surprised by all the repeats that I see ... wonder how many blogs there are and why a supposedly random next blog key would bring up a few more than once. Also I got "not found" blog sites w/o a button to go onward - several times.

So many blogs are not in english. There seem to be more that are evangelical than of a liberal religious bent (I have come across a couple where the blogger was complaining about family pressuring them to be more Christian). So many seem to be Canadians or from the U.K.

Anyway, kinda interesting. Here's one that has some nice photos of the author and a rather large cat: http://rhini.blogspot.com/ (also some interesting photos of her w/ a scarf... why?)

Here (http://prattoons.blogspot.com/) is a site by a Philly person who likes rabbits. On a photo down the page shows a wall w/ a lot of lighthouse photos, one of SO's favorite things to photograph.

Here's another Pennsylvanian http://bumpintheroad.blogspot.com/, some funny things, some sad. I'm tempted to answer his "ARE WE THERE YET?" with a NO!

http://www.sephlawrance.co.uk/news.htm reports the murder of a young man who reminds me of Kevin. It makes me wonder what he would've thought of all of this, and what he might have blogged. Actually, that's almost a scary thought ... don't know whether to laugh or cry!

Well, Salem is on my lap, snoring, and SO is asking what's for dinner. I dunno. Being culinarily challenged w/ two Kiddies who don't like most of what I make, it's a question that I hate. Gotta go for now.

M.C.O.L. Redux

You might remember some weeks ago I blogged that the "Pickles" comic strip made a big impact on our family. I emailed the artist, Brian Crane:

Especially loved your strip today (12/8) ... I have been called "Cat Couch" for some years now. This morning one of my daughters said that I was M.C.O.L. = Multiple Cats On Lap (we've two)

He replied:

Thanks for the kind words. I wish I had thought of "M.C.O.L." That would've made a good strip too.

I emailed back to tell him to feel free to use it ... and he did!

Hey, Dog!

Thanks to Aral, I'm this kind of dog - not what I would've picked, fer sure! 'Specially since I'm not small by anyone's reckoning! I'm more likely to crush small kids, not the other way 'round. LOL

You Are a Chihuahua Puppy

Small, high strung, and loyal. You do best in the city with a adults - young kids could crush you!

What Breed of Puppy Are You?

And then dear ol'Mom counters with "What is your authentic Indian name?" click here: http://www.aspalta.cbc.ca/deaddog_asp/aininfo.asp. Mine is Corinne Lanky Sweater.

But She Started It ...!

Isn't my dear ol' mom a good influence on me? After taking that "test" I thought that I would come out pretty boring and near-normal. Boy, was I surprised to find that 82% are more normal than I am! (Only 13% are more wierd and 5% are just as wierd, according to the results)

And wow, a second posting in one day.

It's Pennsylvania Farm Show Time

It's January and Farm Show time again in Pennsylvania. The local myth is that we get a ton of snow when the Farm Show is going on. We've sure gotten alot of rain - if it had been colder then we would have had a ton of snow. Here at home I've kept the TV on the official Farm Show channel PCN, but it hasn't been my favorite stuff. Kinda amusing to see all the Ag kids who have been crowned princess, queen or ambassador of this or that - Lamb & Wool Queen, Dairy Princess, etc. One was Maple Sweetness something or other. FFA President, Penn State Ag Student Representatives and more. There were about a dozen of these young people. Then there was a State Police Mounted Drill, Gov. Rendell's opening ceremony, with bits of Edible Nut and chocolate cake judging thrown in. Then it was High School Rodeo events for the rest of the day.

The Sheep-to-Shawl (Wednesday afternoon) and Horse/Pony pulls are my favorite events. Draft Horse hitches, too. Going over to eat baked potatoes and fresh milk shakes is fun, too. You can get the recipes for the prize-winning foods here.