And I thought I was hearing things...

Emergency Sirens Triggered Accidentally - Omaha News Story - KETV Omaha: "OMAHA, Neb. -- Douglas County officials said emergency sirens heard over the noon hour Wednesday were set off accidentally."

CNN knows who to contact about missing cobras :)

So you've probably heard the Bronx Zoo is missing a cobra, unless you're living under a rock (and if you are, have you seen the cobra anywhere under there?)

CNN wanted more information on just how dangerous this cobra is, so they called the same person I would call: my second cousin Terry Phillip, Curator of Reptiles at Reptile Gardens in Rapid City, SD.

How to catch an escaped cobra:


More of Terry's comments here: Reptile Gardens expert weighs in on snake fiasco for CNN.

And if you'd like more from the Bronx Zoo's Cobra, check out its twitter feed. :)

Tearing down the Kline Center at Chadron State College

I spent many many many hours in this building, working on the college newspaper. There are some great memories in there. It's a little sad to see it go.



via KOTA - WeatherBug

The view from my window tonight

A few days ago, we had 70-degree weather along with with hail and tornadoes (which, thankfully, missed us). But winter apparently isn't quite done with us yet...

Heh...

A chuckle for you at the end of the day:

Facebook Photos Help to Incriminate Bigamist: "A word of caution to any would-be bigamists who may be reading this: If you’re posting photos of your second wedding to Facebook, you might want to make sure your first wife can’t see them."

Could you have said no to this face?

Neither could we, so we brought Quinn home from the Nebraska Humane Society six years ago yesterday (Yes, yesterday. We never can remember an anniversary until the day after *sigh*). 

He's slowly turning into a bit of a grumpy old man but he's as much of a cuddle monster (and bed hog) as he ever was.

A Nebraska version of beef & cabbage for St. Pat's :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

For those of you not familiar with runzas, they're a mix of ground beef & cabbage baked into a bun. They're German-Russian, not Irish, but I did enjoy this one with a Guinness. :)

I should make my own (my mom used to make a ton at once then freeze them), but with a Runza restaurant just a couple blocks away, I never do.

Recently Read: Apple's Role in Japan during the Tohoku Earthquake

Kevin Rose posted a couple emails from a friend of his who works in an Apple store in Tokyo. Whatever else I may think of Apple, I think it's awesome that they stepped up in such a way for their customers and employees in such a hard time.

Kevin Rose - blogg - Apple's Role in Japan during the Tohoku Earthquake

The whole thing is a great read, but this part especially impressed me:

"You know how in disaster movies, people on the street gather around electronic shops that have TVs in the display windows so they can stay informed with what is going on? In this digital age, that's what the Tokyo Apple stores became. Staff brought out surge protectors and extension cords with 10s of iOS device adapters so people could charge their phones & pads and contact their loved ones. Even after we finally had to close 10pm, crowds of people huddled in front of our stores to use the wifi into the night, as it was still the only way to get access to the outside world...Even after we had to close, many of the staff stayed outside the store to fixing iphones and teaching people how to contact family or stay informed via wifi. "

Et tu, Tuesday?

Beware the Ides of March...


YouTube - Julius Caesar: the Ides of March

Happy Pi Day!

Today is Pi Day! Why not celebrate with pie? :)

By pauladamsmith

Recently Read: The awesomely terrifyingly amazing power of counting to three

Mom-101: The awesomely terrifyingly amazing power of counting to three: "I love that the mere act of counting to 3 can make my children quake with fear."

Ain't it the truth! Click through for a cute story of "misusing" this superpower.

Remember the 'lost civilization' of Friendster? [video]

Someday, will we look back on Facebook, Twitter, et al in the same way?


Internet Archaeologists Find Ruins Of 'Friendster' Civilization


via Explorator

Celebrate International Women's Day with women writers

I've been in a Nyquil coma for days, so I almost missed noticing today is International Women's Day. The Google Books blog has a great post on Five Female Trailblazers in Literature You May Have Never Heard Of:

"Though it's impossible to compile an exhaustive list, we're highlighting a few individuals who went places no woman, and sometimes no man, had ever gone before in the world of words. These woman made history with their pens, quills and ancient stone tablets...The 100th anniversary of International Women's Day is an apt opportunity for us to look back and celebrate the profound influence of these often unsung female stalwarts. Without the pioneering work of Enheduanna, Hrotsvitha, Lady Muraski, Aphra Behn and Selma Lagerlöf (not to mention: Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen, Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing, Emily Brönte, Charlote Brönte, Willa Cather, Edith Wharton, Pearl S. Buck, Frances Burney, George Eliot, Amy Tan, Eudora Welty, Gloria Steinem, Louisa May Alcott, Agatha Christie, Flannery O'Connor, Emily Dickinson, Anne Frank, Mary Shelley, Sylvia Plath, Alice Walker, Harper Lee, Danielle Steel, J.K. Rowling and many others), who knows where we might be?"

Work as a game

I got a kick out of this post by Chris Baty, depicting his workday as a series of online "games." I'll have to ponder a bit about the best way to characterize my job in that light. It will have something to do with getting books and articles from across the country (sometimes from around the world - bonus levels?) in the fastest time at the lowest price. Maybe finding an article free online = bonus points? Hmmm....

What would your job be like if it was a game?

The Office of Letters and Light - Playing Online Games at Work 

The lonely life of a writer...not so much

Saturday, Rainbow Rowell's latest column for the Omaha World-Herald focused on how writers in Omaha often don't realize how many other writers are local, how it seems hard to find and feel part of a supportive community when writers are such solitary creatures. It's such a common trait of writers that it's practically a stereotype. But she did uncover one special secret:

"Nebraska's tightest-knit, most welcoming writing community has to be the romance writers. The Heartland Writers Group (the local chapter of the Romance Writers of Nebraska America) meets monthly and is open to all sorts of writers, published, unpublished or just getting started." [the correction is mine]

Cut to me with a big grin on my face - Heartland Writers Group is MY writers group!

I've never met a more welcoming group of people, writers or otherwise. I look forward to our monthly meetings and any other gatherings we can come up with and I'm really disappointed when life interferes and I have to miss one. Thankfully we have an active email loop (several, in fact) where we give and get support 24/7 between meetings.

I'm so thankful I found this group - they keep me going in so many ways - and it warms my heart when others notice what a great group it is.

So check out Rainbow's column, then come visit us at our website and blog! If you're a writer, you might even want to visit us in person. If you're not, I hope you have a community in your life that's as supportive of your goals, whatever they may be, as Heartland Writers Group is of mine. I love you, HWG ladies!

In case the world isnt high-definition enough for you:

Hey, they're cheaper than a TV :-)

How to accept your Oscar

Photo by prayitno

Highlights from Accepting Your Oscar: A Guide:

• Thank the spiritual being of your choice. Point up/over/ wherever (probably not down).

• Definitely act surprised. Practice this one in the mirror beforehand.

• Thank significant other, then blow a kiss to him/her. Have significant other practice “in love” face.

via Shoebox (they have a great blog)

A Lost Choose Your Own Adventure Book? That would be awesome!

I wish this was real:


Lost Choose Your Own Adventure by ~Hartter on deviantART

Trying Jedi mind tricks

Hey, it could work...

Christchurch earthquake on Flickr

Some amazing pictures from New Zealand, both of the devastation but also of people helping out in such a tough time:


via a search set up by Flickr Blog