The new cat

The new cat is now on my bad list. He leaped onto the television last night, kicked the DVD player off of it, leaped onto the piano, and knocked over my prized thermometer.

























The thermometer broke and spilled the oil inside it all over that corner of the living room.

We had a bit of a tussle.

He's in kitty prison on the back porch.

This is why I hate cats.

Saturday Shakespeare

What an ass at thou! I understand thee not.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona 2.5.21

Can't Stop Listening to

I ran across The Weakerthans 2003 release on Amazon.com's downloads. I think they have three sample songs there. Once I played them for The Woman, we had to buy it.

This is a great album -- hard to categorize musically and filled with lyrics that brush the edge of poetry. Who am I kidding? I would love to be able to put together the words to songs like the title track or "Our Retired Explorer (Dines with Michel Foucault in Paris, 1961)."

Buy it. Buy it now.

Saturday Shakespeare

Saucy controller of my private steps!

Titus Andronicus 2.3.60

It's so true

I found this on the Dilbert website for today.








I can't imagine a more true cartoon.

The weather is finally beginning to cool. I don't mind heat so long as I have a breeze, but cool temperatures are really my element -- especially if they involve rain.

Hmm, I like damp and cool weather.

It must be all those English, Irish, and Scottish ancestors.

Saturday Shakespeare

I will not take her on gift of any man.

As You Like It 3.3.60

Bono speaks

Sometimes when I'm walking down the street a passer by will say "love your work on Africa, Bono, great cause." Sometimes, they wish they hadn't. As I'm Irish, I love to talk to strangers. I love to talk about Africa. It can be hard to get away... Each time it makes me think we need to do much more to get the message across that this is not a "cause," this pandemic that we and so many others are working on. 5,500 Africans dying a day of AIDS, a preventable, treatable disease is not a cause. 5,500 Africans dying each day is an emergency.

Enter Product (RED). (RED) is a new idea we're launching to work alongside the growing ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History. Over the past year, almost 2 million Americans have joined ONE, in churches and chatrooms... on soccer pitches and movie sets... at Nascar races and rock concerts. By 2008, we're aiming to have 5 million members – that's more than the National Rifle Association. Just think for a moment of what that kind of political firepower could achieve for the poorest of the poor...

Finals

Here I am grading finals. The quarter is almost over. I want a cheeseburger.

Cats

The Woman and the kids have adopted a stray cat that has been hanging around the house. I hate cats, but I have no say in this matter. They are plotting to catch the thing this week and have him fixed.

I suppose that's his reward for trusting humans, poor guy.

Saturday Shakespeare

All goodess
is poison to thy stomach.

The Life of King Henry the Eighth 3.2.282-283

The mad genius

There I was, yelling at the kids while they dawdled in the bathroom instead of getting ready for bed. Finally, Chaos came out of the bathroom and began brushing her hair in the front room floor.

"Is Mayhem done?" I asked.

"Nope," Chaos said, "she's washing the lead off her fingers."

Now I must explain. I grew up on a farm where people made their own ammunition. I have played around with bullet molds since I was big enough to walk. I am well aware of lead's toxic properties. Instantly, I was on alert. "How did she get hold of lead?" I thought as I sprang to the bathroom.

There was Mayhem, in her pajamas, rinsing her fingers off in her drinking cup.

"What are you doing playing around with lead?!" I demanded.

"I'm collecting it so I can feed it to my kidnappers," she chirped.

"You plan on being kidnapped?"

"You never know."

"Um, okay, where did you get this lead?"

"From my pencils."

You could have knocked me over with a feather. At least it was only graphite.

Cereal

I have inherited, through The Woman's mother, a box of healthy cereal left over from the reunion last weekend. Now I know that I'm a hillbilly (and I freely admit it), but this is the weirdest cereal I have ever seen. Apparently, simply by eating it, I am supporting world peace.

Well that's nice.

The cereal also claims to be 73% organic.

Not sure how that's computed.

Still, I'm sure the folks who make it are well intentioned, and the cereal itself is tasty. It's just a different experience for me. I'm used to something that might be 73% digestible.

Back to my oar

The big weekend is over. We went to a family reunion at a nearby national park. The Woman's extended family (those who could come) stayed in the same lodge, and all the cousins went bananas on the playground together. It was fun but exhausting.