Fairy Tales and Dragons

I hadn't thought about this quote in a long time, but it's one of my favorites. I came across the quote again the other day on a Tumblr blog:

Not a dragon, but the closest thing I have in my Flickr account :)

“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” - G. K. Chesterton

via mbthecool

Merry Christmas!

We're having a nice quiet Christmas at home today. 

I hope your holiday is special and blessed.

 

 Missing a white Christmas this year? Google has a little present for you. 

Go to google.com, type in let it snow and wait a little...

Christmas Countdown: Am I a hundred years too late for this toy?

I was looking at some photos in the Library of Congress' Flickr photostream and noticed the Eiffel Tower in this window full of toys. Was this a model for a child to build, do you suppose? Some quick Googling didn't come up with anything, but I may take some time to search deeper later. Whatever it was, I think I would have wanted one!

Hobbit Countdown: 360-ish days and counting...

I've been waiting patiently for the first installment of The Hobbit to come out. Of course, the realization of the movie mostly seemed like vague reports and imagination to me, and I could handle that. And for some reason, I thought it was coming out this summer. No problem. I could wait perfectly well for that.

Then hubby sent me this trailer this morning, which both took away any patience I had and informed me that I have to wait until NEXT DECEMBER 14th to see it!


On the bright side, this gives me plenty of time to re-read the book, which I haven't read since high school.

And this just showed up in my RSS feed: Waiting for Bilbo: Comic: The Hobbit Trailer (just so you know, I wasn't one of those people. Really. I'm serious. Why don't you believe me?)

Christmas Countdown: If you don't have it, fake it...

No fireplace? 

Fake tree? 

No Christmas CD's? 

No problem!

A pine-scented candle, over on the left

(I'm always on the hunt for the most realistic Christmas tree scent since we can't have a real tree), 

+

Pandora Radio on the computer, 

+

a Fireplace video streaming through Netflix on the TV

(we do have a fireplace, but it's gas, so it doesn't have the nice pop & crackle of wood like the video), 

=

A nice holiday mood while I worked in my home office the other day.

Update 12/22/11: A Facebook friend posted a link to this fireplace video on YouTube, so you don't even have to have Netflix - although the YouTube video is shorter, so you have to press play more often ;)

Christmas Countdown: Packages, Packages, Everywhere!

The postal service says today is the biggest delivery day of the year, while tomorrow is the biggest mailing day of the year. I found this picture from World War II in The Smithsonian Institution's photostream on Flickr. Click through to see some humorous notes users have applied to parts of the photo (just mouse over the photo once you've clicked through). Unfortunately, more keep being added, so I think some of the funnier ones are getting buried - kind of like some of the boxes in the photo. :)

Click through!

 

Happy Birthday, Jane Austen!

I visited Jane Austen's house in Chawton in 1996. The pictures I took there have turned out to be some of the most-viewed in my Flickr stream despite being faded-looking scans. In honor of Jane's birthday, I thought I'd share a slideshow of those photos. Enjoy!

 

Here's a video of the house (including some improvements done a couple years ago). It all makes me want to go back again.

Christmas Countdown: Winter Wonderland [Photos]

Saturday morning everything was covered with frost, so I ventured out to take a few photos.


Berries on the burning bush. View on black.

 
I love how wooden fences seem to grow whiskers in the frost. View on black.


I played around with this one in Picnik and added their fake HDR effect, which turned out really interesting, I thought. View on black

Christmas Countdown: O Dragon Tree, O Dragon Tree...

My coworker Steve makes Study Dragons for students each year about this time.
It appears a few of the dragons took over the Christmas tree.

I really like this one :)

Christmas Countdown: Yum!

I baked! 

This doesn't happen often (though it's not as rare as me cooking dinner), but I found a recipe for Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread earlier this week and thought it looked like something I could tackle. Then today was one of those perfect snowy, lazy days when I didn't have to go anywhere and the house wasn't a complete disaster, so I was in the mood to bake. The result was yummy, even if I did eat enough of it to get a tummy ache.

And thankfully, it didn't turn out like Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake (sung here by Mick Moloney, whom I once had the pleasure of meeting in person). 

Christmas Countdown: LEGO Christmas Tree

St. Pancras railway station in London features a Lego Christmas tree this year. According to the St. Pancras website, the tree is made from 600,000 Lego bricks.

These pictures are by Andrew Smith (McTumshie on Flickr)

What work must have gone into this tree! 

By McTumshie

By McTumshie

via In Pictures: The St Pancras LEGO Christmas Tree | Londonist

Christmas Countdown: Jim Gaffigan on holiday traditions

You know, it turns out we do some weird stuff for Christmas - trees inside, lights outside - but I still enjoy it all!

I love Jim Gaffigan's take on some of our traditions - the Christmas stuff is at the beginning, but he doesn't spare any of the holidays if you keep watching...

 
If you can't see the video above, you can find it here.

Countdown to Christmas: The Sith who Stole Christmas

via @DarthVader

The dogs' (and my) favorite chair

I had to move this chair into my office to make room for the Christmas tree in the living room. It has made my little office a bit overcrowded (notice the displaced items beside the chair), but the dogs seem to be enjoying it. Now they have an extra comfy spot while they hang out with me.

This is my "Martin Crane" chair - it's kind of ugly, doesn't go with any of the other furniture, it's kind of beat up and is even missing its two back feet; but the thing is so comfy I haven't been able to part with it. Maybe someday I'll re-cover it...or I might just keep it in the office where it doesn't really matter if it matches the living room, even though that will mean permanently eliminating some things from my office.

Do you have your own "Martin Crane" piece of furniture? Do you do any major rearranging to get ready for Christmas decorations? Let me know in the comments.

Update 12/28/2011: So, the chair didn't last long. I spent my evening taking the tree down EARLY (I usually leave it up until Jan 6) just so I could get the chair out of my office and back to the living room. The room is just too small for such a big chair - it was nice for a day or two, but then the whole room started to feel like a closet and I hated to spend any time in there. And now I'm not even sure I like the chair in the living room. As soon as the basement is cleaned out, I think it's going down there. It's a comfy chair, but it's just having a hard time finding a home in my home lately. :(  (I know, I know, first world problems...)

Black Friday got a little crazy

I looked out the back window of the house yesterday morrning and spotted this stray shopping cart across the street. My best guess is it came from WalMart...what its story is, I have no idea...

A thought for the day

Photo by denipet

"If the Christmas frenzy is wearing you out,
you've missed the point of Christmas."

from Dave Ramsey's December 2009 Newsletter

Happy Thanksgiving...Star Wars style

This was just so cool, I had to share!

From the Official Star Wars Blog via Flickr

I like pumpkin pie

View on Flickr

I spotted this sticker on the ground in my parking garage at work this morning. I have no idea who or what it's from, but I thought "Yes, yes, I do!" I think I look forward to the pie even more than the turkey.

So, what's your favorite pie to have after Thanksgiving dinner? Or, if you're not into pie, what's your favorite alternative dessert?

Martha Stewart isn't coming for Thanksgiving

I pulled this out of the depths of my email - it seems to have been making the rounds a couple years ago. I've searched, but can't seem to come up with the name of the original author of this (if you do, let me know - I'd like to give credit!)

Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving.
I'm telling you in advance, so don't act surprised. 

Since Ms. Stewart won't be coming, I've made a few small changes: 

Our sidewalk will not be lined with homemade paper bag luminaries. 

After a trial run, it was decided that no matter how cleverly done, 

rows of flaming lunch sacks do not have the desired welcoming effect. 

Once inside, our guests will note that the entry hall is not decorated

with the swags of Indian corn and fall foliage I had planned to make. 

Instead, I've gotten the kids involved in the decorating by having them 

track in colorful autumn leaves from the front yard. 

The mud was their idea. 

The dining table will not be covered with expensive linens, fancy china,

or crystal goblets. If possible, we will use dishes that 

match and everyone will get a fork. Since this IS Thanksgiving,

we will refrain from using the plastic Peter Rabbit plates 

and the Santa napkins from last Christmas.

Our centerpiece will not be the tower of fresh fruit and flowers that I

promised. Instead we will be displaying a hedgehog-like decoration

hand-crafted from the finest construction paper.

The artist assures me it is a turkey. 

We will be dining fashionably late.
The children will entertain you while you wait. 

I'm sure they will be happy to share every choice comment I have made
regarding Thanksgiving, pilgrims and the turkey hotline.
 Please remember that most of these comments were made at 5:00 a.m. 

upon discovering that the turkey was still hard enough to cut diamonds. 

As accompaniment to the children's recital, I will play my recording of

tribal drumming. If the children should mention that I 

don't own a recording of tribal drumming, or that tribal drumming 

sounds suspiciously like a frozen turkey in a clothes dryer, ignore them. 

They are lying. 

We toyed with the idea of ringing a dainty silver bell to announce the

start of our feast. In the end, we chose to keep our traditional method. 

We've also decided against a formal seating arrangement. 

When the smoke alarm sounds, please gather around the table 

and sit where you like. In the spirit of harmony, we will ask the children 

to sit at a separate table. 

In a separate room. 

Next door. 

Now, I know you have all seen pictures of one person 

carving a turkey in front of a crowd of appreciative onlookers.

This will not be happening at our dinner. 

For safety reasons, the turkey will be carved in a private

ceremony. I stress "private" meaning: Do not, under any 

circumstances, enter the kitchen to laugh at me. Do not send small, 

unsuspecting children to check on my progress. 

I have an electric knife. The turkey is unarmed. 

It stands to reason that I will eventually win. When I do, we will eat. 

I would like to take this opportunity to remind my young diners that

"passing the rolls" is not a football play. Nor is it a request 

to bean your sister in the head with warm tasty bread. 

Oh, and one reminder for the adults: For the duration of the meal, and

especially while in the presence of young diners, we will refer to the

giblet gravy by its lesser-known name: Cheese Sauce. 

If a young diner questions you regarding the origins 

or type of Cheese Sauce, plead ignorance. 

Cheese Sauce stains. 

Before I forget, there is one last change. Instead of offering a choice

between 12 different scrumptious desserts, we will be serving the

traditional pumpkin pie, garnished with whipped cream and small fingerprints. 

You will still have a choice; 1. Take it or 2. Leave it.

I hope you aren't too disappointed that Martha Stewart 

will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving. 

She probably won't come next year either.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

A little nod to Monty Python for the day

I think I need to watch Holy Grail again soon...


see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

Birds on a wire

I'm a sucker for birds on a wire and sunsets, so I had to shoot this as I was leaving work yesterday. I love the little loopdey-loop in the middle. :)

How to Spot a Writer at a Party

This post over at Not Your Usual Suspects made me chuckle. From the looks of the comments, I'm not the only anti-social one out there. Phew!

How to Spot a Writer at a Party

Sigh...

http://www.gocomics.com/lio/2011/11/01

This is Halloween! [Video]

Halloween preparations are in full swing at our house. I spent last evening gluing labels on little vials of poison and some bigger jars of sundry witchy/mad scientist/wizard-y things. The night before was filled with debate of what, exactly, ogre snot looks like (and then reconciling that with what I had on hand to create said snot). Strangely, none of our costumes are ready yet - they're all in various stages of "not done yet."

Besides being just plain awesome, this video reminds me that I forgot to decorate much outside! I guess I'll have to work on that tonight...

How are you preparing for Halloween?

This is me :(

I keep telling LilGirl I'm an example of what NOT to do when it comes to math. Thankfully, Hubby is a math whiz, so there's some hope for her.

Math Homework

I love Savage Chickens. It's one of my favorite web comics. Check out the site.

Great class on creating conflict in your writing

I recently took this class and I learned a lot. Cheryl is offering the class again in November. She's a great teacher!

CONFLICT MAKES THE STORY

DATES:  NOVEMBER 1 – 30, 2011

INSTRUCTOR: CHERYL ST.JOHN

REDUCED ENROLLMENT FEE: $20.

(a savings of $10.)

REGISTRATION VIA PAYPAL: http://cheryl-stjohn-workshop.blogspot.com/

REGISTRATION OPEN NOW

 

Only a little over two months left of 2011! Did you accomplish everything you wanted to over the year? Writing improvement challenges? A new story proposal? A finished project? Here’s an opportunity to sharpen your skills and be prepared for those new goals, which are right around the corner.

 

CLASS DESCRIPTION:

No matter what writing topic Cheryl addresses, she hangs the most importance on characters. Conflict is drawn from characters. It’s based on their goals, their backstory and their motivation. It is opposing forces that come from within the characters themselves.

 

Webster’s Dictionary defines conflict as “the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction.” This definition is the essence of fiction, and we need to keep it in mind as we develop characters and plots. If there’s no conflict, there’s no story.

 

Conflict, of course, can be either light or heavy. In a humorous story, the problem may not be life threatening, but it still must be important to the characters. The characters’ motivations must be equally important to them. In suspense, the conflict is often life-threatening. All well-developed plots stem from creative use of conflict, and conflict is what keeps the reader turning pages.

 

In order to understand conflict and how to develop it, we must first understand what conflict is, what conflict is not, and what conflict can be. The elements that make up a story are so closely meshed that at times it becomes difficult to dissect and make a firm delineation between them. In a masterfully developed story, characterization, plotting, and conflict are all intricately entwined.

 

Cheryl will explain opposing goals and how to create conflict that will sustain a story. She’ll give practical advice on:

• Motivating characters
• Creating characters with built-in conflict
• Revealing emotion through conflict
• Internal and external conflict
• Simple and complex conflict

 

More info here.

One of my favorite Halloween books

Or, really, one of my favorite books, period.

I don't know what happened to my copy of Popcorn by Frank Asch (I hope one of my brothers has it) but while I was searching for a replacement copy recently, I came across Frank Asch's site, where he will read the book to you (and your little ones):

Popcorn by Frank Asch

Wait, I need to read this...

"Cultivating a regular daily practice of actually showing up and creating is the only way you will ever progress your talents, your ideas and you ambitions in creating."

From Theorist To Artist: Why You Need A Lot Less “How To” And More “Just Do” | A Big Creative Yes

Yes, this is me. Just one more article...one more grid to fill out...one more sticky note to put on the board...one more...Hey, where'd my time go???

via @thecreativepenn

The Stanford speech + LilGirl's tribute to Steve Jobs

Of course, this will be played over and over in the next few days, but it's a great speech and you'll only hear snippets on the TV news. Here's the whole thing:

 

Last night, when we first heard the news (via Twitter) we then turned to TWiT and watched their Tribute And Remembrance Of Steve Jobs, which was sort of a techie wake. It's worth watching - more heartfelt and in-depth than mainstream media's coverage, I think.

LilGirl didn't act interested and disappeared into my office where she seemed to be digging through the craft drawers whenever I checked on her. But after she had gone to bed, I found this on the kitchen table:

From Random

Sometimes she finds the best way to express her emotions is by creating things. In this case, that's superbly fitting.

Talk like a pirate, walk like a pirate...rap like a pirate?

I heard these guys for the first time on this week's NSFW (which isn't really "Not Suitable for Work" except that you might get in trouble for laughing too hard).

Cluck! Er, I mean, Arrr!!!

It's Talk Like a Pirate Day and the Savage Chickens never let me down:

Lots more here: Pirate Cartoons | Savage Chickens - Cartoons on Sticky Notes by Doug Savage

(Yes, I had to sneak Star Wars in)

Awww, isn't that sweet...wait...what?

When I look at photographer Trey Ratcliff's blog, I usually skip to the photo at the bottom, then go back up and read the stuff at the top which explains the photo, thus my initial reaction to this photo was "Ooooh, that's just the most perfect old French cottage!"

Click through for full size

Then I read the photo description. Of course it's "the most perfect old French cottage," that's what it was painstakingly designed to be: It's part of the “Hameau de la Reine," Marie Antoinette's own sort of Disney-fied version of a French hamlet. I'd heard of it, but had never seen a picture before.

Anyway, it's still a nice photo, so here ya go.

Tiny House in France

Ghostbusters is coming back to theaters

I'm actually kind of excited about this. It's not a reboot, and as far as I know it's not having 3D added, it's THE MOVIE in all its unadulterated unaltered-ness (yes, I'm looking at you, George Lucas). WooHoo! (So maybe "kind of excited" is an understatement. Sosueme.)

‘Ghostbusters’ to Get Theatrical Rerelease (via /Flim)

Movie Night: Your Highness

We watched Your Highness last weekend. I had pretty low expectations for this movie, and even those weren't met. I love screwball comedy, but when it seems to have been written by a bunch of horny 14-year-old boys, that just doesn't cut it. Done right, this could have been something like the Spaceballs of the sword-and-sorcery genre, but it was just a bunch of  bad accents, puerile jokes and sexism hung on a flimsy plot.

Normally, if I don't like a movie, I can still see where someone would enjoy if they were "into that sort of thing" like war movies, horror movies, or whatever other genre I don't usually go for. I can usually pull some redeeming value from even the worst movies, or at least come away with a "well, they tried, it just didn't work" sort of attitude. But with Your Highness, I really just want those 102 minutes of my life back. I really can't recommend that anyone rent it.

I wrote this review on Sunday, but let it sit for a few days to see if I still felt this way before publishing it. Yep, still do, even though I think said review has a "You kids get off my lawn" feeling. Maybe I'm just getting old, but man, I was really disappointed in this movie.

Following weather events with a Twitter list

Hurricane Irene, August 26, 2011
by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

I've been curating a list on Twitter for weather events for some time, but it just occurred to me today that I should make it public (I usually make my lists private by default) and let others know it's there. It's been great for following the progress of Hurricane Irene without having to be glued to the TV (or even the computer, since I can check the list using my smartphone).

The list is by no means exhaustive and it's constantly growing. I've tried to throw in nationally known meteorologists (from the networks, for example), some government agencies, and some storm chasers. I add more as I come across accounts which are relevant.

The few locally-based accounts I included are mostly focused on eastern Nebraska. This is really all the list was when I began, but I started adding accounts with broader coverage after the tornado in Joplin, MO this summer.

I've also added some earthquake-related accounts. I didn't feel like making a separate list when I only had a couple accounts for those and there's quite a bit of overlap in reportage. (On a side note, did you know that you can Google "earthquake" and Google will put a list of the most recent earthquakes at the top of the search results? It's handy.)

The great thing about Twitter lists is that you don't have to be following the accounts you put in there, so if you don't want a lot of extra noise in your main Twitter stream, but you want to be able to check on what's going on with a certain subject, you can throw the relevant accounts in a list and then check it from time to time. You also don't have to have a Twitter account at all to view the list, just follow the link.

Announcing: Mary's Ramble Annex

I've been a bit frustrated lately. I've had this mental argument with myself going on for some time about what to do with links I want to share, but don't necessarily want to write an entire post about. I sometimes share those on Twitter, sometimes on Facebook, sometimes I just hit "Share" in Google Reader which puts them on a public page at my Google Profile, as well as posting them to Google Buzz (where I never seem to go anymore, sadly) and the list of those ends up on the "Recently Read" page here (which will probably go away soon). None of these options are very satisfying, though. I'm basically just handing the links off to someone else to handle. They are shared in someone else's format, difficult-to-impossible to edit, and difficult to find again later. 

I've often thought about just sharing the links on Mary's Ramble, but there are nights I want to share EVERYTHING I see, and I really don't want to fill up someone's RSS feed, Twitter stream, or Facebook wall with a ton of trivial stuff. That's not what I feel like people have signed up for when they follow this blog. I'd like to keep MR, as much as possible, for the times when I have something of my own to share.

I've often thought about starting a Tumblr blog (or something from a similar service), but every time I almost set one up, I decided it really wasn't what I wanted. 

At last, I decided to create Mary's Ramble Annex. That way, if you're not interested in the five things I read when I couldn't sleep last night, you don't have to be annoyed by it in the feed from the main blog. But if you are interested, you can click through once in awhile, or subscribe, or whatever, knowing that it's likely to be high-volume and low-commentary.

We'll see how it works, or if it works. 

Yep, it's been one of those weeks

Click through for the larger version: The Brads - Twitter Week in Review

Meanwhile, I've been buried in a hurricane of paperwork since school started. I don't think I filled out this many forms for college, and LilGirl is only in 6th grade! I've had more homework this week than she has...

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Bike For Me!

If only I could afford this...

If only I knew how to ride...

When we stopped in Deadwood, we checked out the old slime plant - doesn't that sound like a great spot for a Scooby Doo mystery? It used to even look like a quintessential Scooby Doo bad guy hideout, but now it's been renovated and just opened as the Deadwood Mountain Grand. When we were wandering around inside, we found the artists' colony, and in true Black Hills fashion, much of the art had to do with motorcycles. In fact, some of the art was on motorcycles. This one made me squeal like a little girl:

The Pirateglide by True Kustom

If you have any trouble viewing the slideshow here, click through to see it on Flickr.

It wasn't until I was editing these photos that the irony struck me of finding a bike in Deadwood with Ian McShane on it...or is that more dorky than I want to sound?

(Just in case you're confused now: Ian McShane, who played Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, also played Al Swearengen in the HBO series Deadwood)

Even the gnomes are bikers this time of year

We just had a great vacation in the Black Hills, visiting family (cuddling the new nephew!), playing tourists, and checking out the motorcycles which were EVERYWHERE for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. I've got lots of fun stuff to post about, but I'm crawling into bed early so I thought I'd just post this little teaser for now.

From Random

I saw this pair in the window at Prairie Edge, one of my favorite stores in Rapid City. I'm not usually a big fan of gnomes, and these were on the large side (3-feet plus, I think) but I'd definitely love to put this pair in my yard.

My current wallpaper

I've started posting whenever I change my desktop wallpaper, mostly so I have a searchable record of what I used when, but also to share the wallpapers I find (and occasionally photos I've taken myself which turned out really well).

This was taken by Trey Ratcliff of Stuck in Customs. Click through to the post about this photo to see a much larger version and then explore the rest of his site - it's inspiring!

The cause of my dogs' excitement/drama this morning

"OOH, IT JUMPS! WHATISIT? WHATISITWHATISIT?"

I wish I was at Comic-Con...playing with Legos

Geek Heaven, aka Comic-Con, is going on right now. Even though there are so many other amazing things to see and do there, I think no other picture has made me wish I was there more than this one:

I'd be all "Yeah, yeah, you go see the True Blood panel or the Star Wars stuff or The Guild signing or all the other stuff, I'll just stay here with the LEGOS!"

photo via GeekMom: San Diego Comic-Con Day One: Star Wars Legos, Ewok Attack!

Friday Fun: Augmented Reality Cinema

I've got my money in hand for when this app comes out...someday. This would be soooo cooool:


Video Link

Website: Augmented Reality Cinema

Crepes for Bastille Day...Yum!

My first crepe!

Today is Bastille Day and GeekMom celebrated by making crepes and posting her recipe on her blog. I read the post and decided that I the Non-Cook (note the capital letters - I mean business) would make crepes for dinner.

Occasionally I get delusions of cooking abilities (especially when I've been reading My Life in France by Julia Child, which I have been lately) and hubby gladly steps aside to let me try my hand (especially on a hot July weeknight).

Later on: These are folded right, but not as browned
(still yummy, though)

Did I mention I've never made crepes before? But I can do pancakes and omelettes, and crepes seem like a cross between the two, so they weren't that different.

They didn't turn out too bad for a first try. I think the best sign was when Hubby and LilGirl both asked for more.

I'll definitely be trying these again. I'm thinking of trying the Nutella and banana ones next time. :)

Badgers Badgers Badgers Badgers...for 10 HOURS!!!

YouTube now allows 10-hour videos. Whatever they intended that for, in practice it seems to mean we'll have lots of stuff like this!



(Hopefully there's a link to mental help at the end of the video)

Original video (much shorter!) is here.

As if I didn't love my Gmail enough...

It just saved me from that embarrassing moment when you realize you forgot to attach the document that was the whole point of sending the email.

I think I turned this on when it first showed up in labs years ago (It "graduated" to everyone's Gmail last year), and I don't think I've needed it until now, but I'm glad it was there when I finally did.

Some Monday cuteness

by Attila Lábodi  

I came across this photo today in the featured photos in Picasa Web Albums (soon to be Google Photos) and had to share. Enjoy! :)

Field of Dreams 2

This is funny! Make sure you watch all the way to the end for a special cameo. :)

Field of Dreams 2: NFL Lockout with Taylor Lautner from Taylor Lautner

It's in the detials

Reality Check Comic Strip, June 21, 2011 on GoComics.com

Ever have one of those typos? I like to think I'm detail-oriented, but I feel like saying so is asking for the cosmic banana peel to trip me up.

Funnily, it does remind me of the sign my daughter made years ago to protest our nightly spelling practice.

It said: "No spling"

Obviously, she didn't get out of practice that night.

This just landed in my yard! #alienattack #irony

I kid you not!

So weird after this morning's post.

What to do if aliens attack today...hey, it could happen!

Happy Fourth of July!

I wanted to post a video of fireworks today, but what I shot came out pretty lame, and what I could find on the internet didn't impress me enough to post, so I decided to go another way. After all, one of my very favorite alien movies is Independence Day (see what I did there?)

So here ya go. Enjoy, and I hope you learn something you can use, too. :)


Video Link

Stay safe tonight, whether you're shooting fireworks or fighting aliens...or both.

UPDATE: This just landed in my yard!

A video game for Jane Austen?

Love it!

via we are large, people