Back To The Grind

Which means of course I've made the Starbucks run for the day. Oh yes, and I'm back at work after a fun filled weekend with the SIL. I dropped her off to visit with another friend yesterday afternoon. Then I returned home to clear out the empty gin bottles and kick the last of the boy toys out so I could get some rest after two days of non-stop partying. Our weekend included gambling, hot oil and chocolate. We did get in a couple of knotty situations but it all ended well.

It's Only Words

I like words and not just because they come in handy when I wish to talk. I like how words can be used to communicate but I also like to see them twisted in ways that amuse me. I come by it naturally. The first time I remember laughing at being silly with words was when I was about 7 or 8 and we were driving in the car with my mom. She said, "What's that up the road, a head?" which I thought was the funniest thing I'd ever heard. It still makes me chuckle. When my brother and I were 7 and 9, respectively, our mom took us on our annual shopping trip for new summer flip flops. We didn't call them flip flops then, we call them them zorries or, more often, go aheads. We had fun picking our new footwear and were quite proud of them, so that night when our grandpa came to visit we rushed out to show him our fancy sandals. He looked at them and said "Yes, they are very nice, now why don't you go ahead to bed?" We were ROTFL. :-)

Reading the paper the other day, I paused when I read the headline, "Death Of Dolphin Under Investigation" and the first thing I wondered was why the dolphin was under investigation and whether the investigation caused his death. Seriously. And then I laughed at myself.

Tick Talk

"United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said between one and three ticks were discovered"
Um. Would that be two?
Tick talk.

Hands Free

Remember if you live in California, it is against the law to talk on your cell phone while driving. Unless of course, you are hands free.

The Duck's Bed

I often have occasion to miss Jenny's Mondegreens but I haven't contributed lately and so I understand how it's been allowed to go fallow. I posted there about the Duck's Bed in 2004. I had another radio mondegreen today on the way to work. The announcer said we'd be hearing the story of the anniversary of "a tax that killed several people" which made me wonder how taxing people could kill. As the story continued, I quickly realized it was about the anniversary of "attacks that killed" and that made more sense. Not that attacking and killing every really makes sense.

P.S. In my 2004 entry I pondered whether my entry was a real mondegreen and today I can't figure out why I ever thought it wasn't. It was classic mondegreen even if not a lyric because I don't agree a mondegreen has to be in a song.

Holy Ravioli

I made ravioli today for the first time. It was much easier than I had anticipated and the result was a delicious plate of tender cheesy ravioli in olive oil, basil and lemon zest. I used Giada's recipe. I substituted crab for the chicken.

Next time I will try to get the dough a little bit thinner but other than that, I wouldn't change a thing.

Happy 4th

I was born on July 1 and rumor has it that, when bringing me home from the hospital on the 4th, my parents stopped for a while to watch fireworks over Centinela Park. I have no recollection of that ride home but I do remember Centinela Park. It was a great picnic park with a HUGE playground. There was one section with two giant hills with a rope strung between them. You would grab the rope and run up one hill and then swing across to the other hill. There were other fun places to explore and children to play with. We were allowed to run all over the park while the adults prepared picnic lunches for us.

Today the park is called Edward Vincent Jr Park. I suppose I'd discover the hills and rope have been dismantled; a child might fall and get hurt. Children will be cautioned to stay in sight - and to stay away from strangers. But I believe that, somewhere, there is a little girl and her brother joyously running through that park, making new friends and climbing up the hill to swing on that rope. When they are worn our and hungry they'll enjoy a picnic lunch with their mom - maybe Oscar Mayer hot dogs! And later, when it gets dark, they'll sit in the car on a hill and watch the fireworks.

Happy 4th of July!

Which Is It?

Obama ahead by 15 points or 3 to 6 point difference or Dead Heat

I seriously wish pollsters would go away and let us vote. And, for that matter, I wish we could vote today. I can't understand how anyone could be conflicted between McCain and Obama. Read their stands on the issues important to you and you'll know which one you want to vote for. Seriously!

P.S. Anyone who backed Clinton and has decided to now vote for McCain: You just shouldn't vote because you're not old enough - you're still living in Junior High.

UPDATED: A Republican who shall remain namebrianless explained to me that he is conflicted because he agrees more with Obama on the issues but isn't sure he wants to vote for a Democrat. I suppose I can understand that. But I told him to move into the 21st century and vote the man, not the party. No indication yet whether he'll listen.

Almost a Winner

I didn't win but I did make the honor roll. Wendy sponsored a contest. With prizes! My first set of entries is attributed to Anonymous because I was a lazy poster. My second set is attributed to me. I got honor roll for one entry of each posting. The first was "Kind of Interested George" and the second was "A Half-Hearted Wave To Arms" and I'm happy both got mentioned. I loved the idea of the contest and could have spent hours thinking up entries but had to play Challenge Sudoko with Debra instead. :-)