Happy St. Patrick's Day

Pinky the Poodle?

Woman defends right to pink poodle

BOULDER, Colo. (UPI) -- A Colorado woman says she broke no laws, or even Boulder city ordinances, when she colored her poodle pink.

Joy Douglas, owner of Zing Salon in Boulder, faces a fine of up to $1,000 a day for dying her pet, Cici. A hearing in municipal court Tuesday was postponed when Douglas said she has hired an attorney.

Douglas ran afoul of an ordinance that specifically prohibits dying "fowl or rabbits or any other animals."

"No person shall dye or color live fowl, rabbits or any other animals or have in possession, display, sell or give away such dyed or colored animals," the ordinance reads.

Douglas said Cici gets only natural coloring -- beet juice and occasionally pink Kool-Aid.

"Cici will be pink until they kick us out of the city of Boulder," Douglas told reporters.

She said one reason she dyes her dog is to raise awareness about breast cancer.




Copyright 2008 by United Press International

Now come on... I have a problem with the 'one reason she dyes her dog' pink... there are better methods of supporting Breast Cancer awareness than to dye your poodle pink. Let's grasp for straws, lady...grasp for straws.

Creepy Gnome?

Saw this on yahoo's front page...



Creepy gnome...maybe...but I swear he looks like a 'little person' a friend of mine in college dated... all her friends (including me) kept slapping him... because he kept telling us how great our hair smelled.

(yeah a bad joke... don't get upset)

But seriously it is creepy...

But... I really wanna be a Pirate...

I had a loopy dream before I woke up this morning. I dreamt I was at "Crazy Pirate School" learning to be a pirate like Captain Feathersword of the Wiggles. He's so funny and so cool...even if he acts a bit dense.



But... they threw me out of Crazy Pirate School because I wasn't silly enough. In fact, I was advised to change my name to "Scary Sherrie Danger of the Sea."

And survey says...

William and I were working on some homework last night... he had to add more details to sentences... like "I own a dog (that barks at people)" and so on... I left him to work on it on his own..and the last sentence was "The pilgrim ate turkey ..William added "and sushi."

lol... I didn't encourage him to change it but my sister did... poor kid... sad to have a mind like that programmed...lol

He didn't understand why the answer was wrong. He asked me, "Didn't they have sticky rice?"

But he had a point in a semi-right way...the pilgrims probably did eat fish, not sushi but fish. So he changed it to "and fish."

"Just like the white winged dove..."

For the last week, I've heard a Stevie Nicks song on the radio every day! Does this mean I should start listening to her songs and see if there are hidden messages for me within the lyrics?

I jokingly asked a customer who is around my age that very question and she said to seek God.

Sad ... how humor can fall flat.

The Ultimate Peep Show

(Thanks Nancer for this funny pix)

Heels Vs Duke

Saturday night's game was awesome. Instead of me rehashing it...here's the highlights.

It could have been like this...and some might try to say that it would take a team of ninja kittens to whip Duke.



But it was really like this, although in the second half Duke had the best defense I've seen in ages and for a while I thought they might pull it off...


But they didn't... The 'heels whopped ass.

Practice Makes Perfect

I thought today was St. Paddy's day ...so here I am wearing green. I didn't wear my "Kiss me, I'm Irish" button... maybe I'll only wear that next Monday...if I can find a patch of skin that is painless and prickly.

totally...

I could totally eat him up with some whipped cream and a spoon... since I can't sleep I think I'll plug some Bruce into my CD player and... let him coo me to sleep.

Blue...

Talked to my friend Sam..aka...Blue today (actually yesterday--since I drank so much coffee and can't sleep thought I would blog) for a little while. A train caught me and I decided to give him a call while I waited. The last few times, he's either been busy or I had to make it a quickie because of one thing or the other.

I am always speechless when I realize how much there is to tell and I don't have an idea where to start. That's how today was... he asked how things were and I said "Fine" in a slightly trembling voice.

And I don't know why.. things are fine but in ways they aren't...

He said, "No they aren't. I know you, my beautiful faraway friend. I know you."

Then he had a call and put me on hold. When he got back to me, he started talking about the young girl he had a fling with. He finally broke it off with her completely and told me he was relieved...that now he could be the romantic poetry guy he wants to be instead of the angry poet.

He went into detail about things that went on before they broke up and things that went on after--funny how angry break-ups take longer to dissolve.

One thing he said that has stuck in my head is how he told the young girl (actually she's around 19 or 20)... about an online 'love' of his who "alledgedly got a blue heart tattooed on her inner thigh" and he told this girl about it...she goes out and gets a blue heart tattooed on her left wrist and told her she was his "forever". He wasn't too happy about it, because of the problems they were having. But during one of their last arguments, she said some really mean stuff that totally made him blazing angry and he said, "if you feel that way about me, why don't you take a razor and slice that blue heart off your wrist."

She was appalled and said more angry evil things...and he replied with "Your love is so shallow, I bet you can wipe that tattoo off with a paper towel and some spit."

I don't know why...but I laughed...how silly it was. He laughed too and we moved on to a few other short topics before I had to go because the train was gone.

He wanted me to call him later tonight but I didn't. I've got something on my mind of late and I don't know if I want to talk to him about it. If he turns it around to him, it will totally destroy me... there are times when you need someone to listen to you too...and though he is a wonderful dear friend, he can get off target when you're talking to him.

Maybe I'll email him later today at his workplace...so he'll get it tonight. I've thought of blogging about what's bothering me..but can't find the words right now. I'm sure when the time is right, they'll flow off my finger tips...

Did you know that...

The statue by Auguste Rodin that has come to be called "The Thinker" was not meant to be a portrait of a man in thought. It is a portrait of the poet Dante.

Japanese inspired art by...

ME! All these are watercolor, btw.



Bamboo is fun to paint!



Cherries... yum!




A Ben inspired Red horse!

Poodled

Tuesday evening I went over to Lisa's to help William with his math and paragraph using 10 of his spelling words. I knew it would be hard for her to help him with them because she sucked in school... haha that sounds terrible...I mean she wasn't a good student.

When I pulled into her drive, the front door was open and there was a happy face at the door. Not Ben or William but Champ the dog. When he saw me, he actually did a double take...and I could see the door shaking--he was trying to get out to get me.

I stepped into the house and he went crazy, running in circles, jumping up and doing a funny little howl. I picked him up and he promptly licked my face. Never one for dog spit, I put him down and he still went crazy, which irritates my sister. She says, "You're the only person he acts up around." He got into trouble for barking. I felt bad for him. He can't help it if he goes nuts over a gorgeous woman :))

So... I go into the kitchen where William is working on a writing assignment. About a Leprechaun named Kyle. (He had to type it last night ... )


Kyle the leprechaun

One cold day in March I was walking in the woods. Little did I know a leprechaun just popped up from the bushes. Psspt the leprechaun said! I'm not gonna hurt you. What's your name I said. My name is Kyle, Kyle the leprechaun. I've lost my pot of gold, Kyle said. I'll help you. Thank you, Kyle said. We walked for one mile to find the pot of gold. Gosh this is long, Kyle said. We're almost there to find the pot of gold. I finally thought that we past the forest. I started getting angry about it. Where is the pot of gold? What are you doing , Kyle said. I am screaming that's what I'm doing. After that we walked five more miniutes to find the pot of gold. Guess what we found the pot of gold. I was happy for this to happen! Finally after that Kyle the leprechaun had vanished into thin air. It was finally over.

While he worked on it, Lisa and I chatted over coffee while Champ either jumped up on my leg for me to pet or brought a variety of toys for me to toss. A few times he tried to crawl up my leg and into my lap but I knew if he did, my face would be a sopping wet mess. To entertain Ben, I got Champ to stand on his hind legs and dance with me.

Once the Kyle story was over, William and I worked on his math which was about ounces, pounds, pints, quarts and cups. He breezed through it. Once it was finished, William took my hand and said, "Let's talk a moment." Lisa was at the sink washing dishes. I figured after writing such a great leprechaun story he deserved a moment of rest.

We spent a little time talking about the "Spiderwick Chronicles." He wants a journal like the one in the book. (I got him one off Ebay--but am saving it for Easter). After about 5 minutes of repetitious conversation, I asked what did he want to write about. He couldn't think of anything and turned the subject back to the Spiderwick obsession. Most of his spelling words were about careers like actress, painter, investor, chemist, etc... I suddenly got an idea..I said, "Hmmm.. William... what fantastical creature would make a great chemist?"

He thought for a moment...then said, "An ogre...he would make a mysterious chemist." Then I said, "Why don't we write about The Field Guide to Fantastical creatures and their careers."

He jumped on it and we had his paragraph written in no time and it was really cute and humorous. My sister was totally blown away. When we finished, William ran off to play in his room and she said, "How do you so that? I had a meeting with his teacher yesterday and she praised the work you've done with William. At first she kept saying 'you're doing great with him at home...whatever it is you've been doing, keep doing it,' I finally told her it was his Aunt who works with him. She said she would like to meet you. I'll let you know when we're having the next conference."

I didn't say anything. I sort of felt sorry for Lisa. I imagine it took a lot to admit to his teacher that she's not the one who's helped him come along so far.

And all the while, Champ sat at my feet or on my feet or trying to get into my lap. As she finished telling me what William's teacher said, she looked at Champ and said, "Champ doesn't usually act like this with other people who drop by."

I stayed a while longer, talking to her about other stuff. Then noticed the time--I had been there 2 hours! I got my keys and stood by the door talking to Lisa about some things going on with Dad. Champ kept jumping up on my leg again. I picked him up and held him like a baby, rocking him back and forth a bit. Then put him down. He ran around the house getting toys and putting them at my feet. I finally said good-bye and tried to get out the door but Champ was blocking the path.

Lisa said, "I don't know why Champ likes you so much!"

And from the couch came a small voice, "Because she's part poodle."

Ben! Man of Theories and Power Rangers.

Your What misses my WHAT?

After work yesterday, I ran a few errands. One of them was at the Office Depot. My goal was to get ink and get it fast, but I was held up by a woman who couldn't make up her mind about which flash drive to get—the 514 MB or the 2 G. The cashier and another guy were both competing with whom could explain the differences in layman terms the best.

After a few moments passed, a young couple got in line behind me. Their deep passionate kissing was hard to ignore. I smiled a bit because I've had uncontrollable displays of affection in the past but not as down and dirty as this kiss was getting. When they broke apart the guy said in a very deep boom, “I love how you taste in my mouth.”

This comment broke the contest up and all three of the flash drive squadron turned to stare at them. I didn't. But I could feel the girl's embarrassment. In a tight voice, she said, “I wish you wouldn't say stuff like that in public. You know I hate it.”

I waited for his apology and I think the others did too but instead he gave a satisfied laugh. He knew that this got under her skin and he liked it. With a whisper I said to myself, “Please don't let him get away with this...say ...say ...something.”

But she didn't. She stood in an uncomfortable silence that amplified with each breath. I was reminded of something or rather two things that happened years ago. The first was during my college reign. I was briefly dating a cute fun guy who never tried to go beyond first base. My roommate would leave us alone when he visited, winking as she left as if to say “Get laid.” But the only laying that was done was unopened text books on the bed.

After about two weeks, I decided to end the 'friendship'. So the next time he visited, we hung out in my dorm room but this time when we made out he had Roman hands. But he was a little too late. I had lost interest in finding out how endowed he was and if he could use it. When the time came to leave, I tried to think of how to break it to him that this was our last tango of tongues. We got on the elevator with two other girls. They stood in the corner by the button panel. We were in the opposite corner. Total silence accompanied us until he said in a loud voice, “Babe, the next time I visit you I'm gonna eat you really good.”

The girls gasped then giggled. I turned red and stared at him. But he wasn't looking at me, he was watching the reaction of the girls with a happy face. His goal with that statement wasn't to turn me on or to get me excited about a possible oral sex feast, it was to shock the girls in the elevator. And I wasn't going to have that...no way would I face them every day and wonder if they were thinking of me and him, wondering if he ever ate me.

So I said, “Come on Tim, we both know that if you had the choice to eat me or tacos, the tacos would win—hands down.” His shocked expression was priceless. The girls laughter was too. He departed from the elevator in two shades of red.

Every time I saw those girls (they seemed to be everywhere together), one or the other would say “Tacos or you?” and they would both laugh really hard at the joke. I was proud of myself for taking control of the situation and I bet he's never done that again.

The next time such an incident happened was in late 2000. I was on one of the blind dates from hell that those of us who are brave enough to face the blind date demon encounter. He was a nice guy but a bit boring. We had little in common and I was glad to get out of there after the meal was finished. I had parked my car in front of the entrance. On a bench by it, sat a couple of teenage boys smoking. They were either waiting for seating or waiting for dates. My date and I stood outside my car. I had opened the door and it was between us. I kept saying, “Well, that was nice” and looking at my watch as a covert means of saying I had to go.

He said in a booming voice (why do embarrassing moments like these have to be amplified?), “My penis will miss you.”

His... his what?

The teens laughed so hard they almost fell off the bench. I saw my date give them a sideways glance without turning his head. He didn't mean that statement as a compliment or a come on. He meant it to get some laughs from those kids. I felt a flash of anger but controlled it—barely. Instead I said, “Really? Wow! What a predicament your penis is in! Missing something it never had. Wow!”

This sent the boys into another spasm of laughter. My date's forehead became another shade of embarrassment. He turned away without another word and I never heard from him again.

Experiences like these aren't created for the pleasure of the recipient of the statement. They are made to exploit embarrassment and discomfort. If you let someone create this atmosphere around you, then you let them gain control of your discomfort. The only way to stop this is to take control and turn the tables.

I wanted to tell that girl at the Office Depot this, but I don't think she would have listened. Not everyone is able to turn the tables around in their favor. Which is really a pity.

Oh yea... Homemade wine..

I posted the last post before finishing it. Oh well...

I left out the homemade wine part. Sunday night Al called me to say he was headed home. He kept saying stuff like "you're hotter than a hot pocket" and "I dun got my woe man some wine." "You a wino chick, baby?" He would say it in a funny redneck or drunk voice.

I figured he was joking...but he wasn't. He had some homemade wine in a mason jar. A guy he works with makes wine for fun and sent some to me. It was actually very tasty and very potent. A sweet high... I had two glasses and figured I had better eat dinner or else I was going to rip Al's clothes off...

Rednecks, beer cans and homemade wine

I had a nice weekend at Al's. He worked during the day and I spent some time relaxing and doing little things...like cooking some killer meals. I was in the mood to cook something different ...and didn't have my recipe books with me...so I sorta invented a few dishes (well, maybe not invented them...more like created my own recipes).

I didn't cook Friday night. Al had leftovers because I had already eaten and didnt' feel like cooking. Saturday morning, I cooked steak and eggs... yummy... Al was happy and I sent an extra steak with him for his lunch. He left for work at around 2 and I spent the day doing some laundry and shopping.

For supper, I cooked some coconut rice, sauteed shrimp and some early peas. I melted butter in olive oil and sauteed some minced garlic, once it was soft and not quite brown I added the shrimp and cooked them until they were slightly pink and curled up.
The rice was cooked in coconut milk and salt... I added about a 1/4 of a cup of water to the c. milk and cooked the rice in that... I swear it was all 'melt-in-your-mouth' good. I'll have to add the recipes to my cooking blog later.

So after dinner, I cleaned up and Al watched TV. Al tends to channel surf when nothing's on. I did up the dishes by myself because he tends to get in the way when he's helping. After I finished, I sat beside him on the couch. He stopped on a show called "My Big Fat Redneck Wedding." The bride-to-be was showing her mom where her wedding was going to be held...at a flea market...and how she wanted bales of hay in certain spots...and that the aisle to the alter was to be directed between pool tables...if someone wanted to play pool before sitting down, that would be ok with her.

Tom Arnold hosts the show and would pop up with commentary remarks through the thing... and we laughed our asses off. The bride and groom went to the florist and told her that they didn't want anything 'foo foo' for their wedding... so the groom gets an idea and polishes off his tall boy beer that he had in a paper bag...cuts the top off and adds some stuff that was sitting on the counter ... some sort of dried straw and tells her to put flowers in it. The florist was like "You want me to make your arrangements out of beer cans?" The bride says, "I think it's kinda cool."
As the happy couple leave the place, he pees her name in front of the store. The Bride says, "I can't believe you peed my name in front of her store. It's cool but you forgot to dot the i" (her name is Gail).

They decide to have a beer can arch...and the groom supplies the empty "Bud" cans for it.

The dress arrives from the internet...a size 8, when it should be a size 28! But the helpful groom does his best to get her in it...kept saying 'Hold it in.' An oversized shoe horn wouldn't have gotten her in that dress, much less him.

The wedding day arrives and the bride's lost her teeth but don't worry...her mom offered to let her use hers. They find it. She poly-grips it and the wedding begins.

Before the wedding the groom along with his granny worked on his vows...I can't remember all of the bad rhyme but part of it was 'you're hotter than hot pockets." And granny pipes in "I looOOOove hot pockets." After hearing all of it, she offered him some advice...in polite terms she told him it sucked and to work harder. But he pulled off a really touching vow at the wedding.

When the preacher pronounced them husband and wife, instead of releasing doves...they released chickens...but that's only a side bar...they had a mechanical bull at the reception and did a mating-dance-ride on it...talk about my eyes seeing more than I wanted...

it was really funny. I can't give it justice in this blog.

Anybody can Write

My sinuses are giving me a fit again. Yesterday by 4 pm, I felt as if my head would explode, but I didn't leave work until 4:45 and only because my PC crashed. I had opened too many photo files. To make a long story short, I went to bed at 9:30 pm. I wasn't really sleepy but my head was achy and I felt a bit feverish. Thinking I needed help with my sleep, I looked for a boring book to read. I found one I hadn't read yet...a book on writing. It was in the clearance bin at Barnes and Noble, begging me to buy it, so I did.

The book is "Anybody can Write" by Roberta Jean Bryant: A playful approach; Ideas for the aspiring, the beginning and the blocked writer. On the back it gives a detailed message of what to expect (we all know how these books go and what they usually say). There are naturally some writing exercises like: Engage in paper and pen conversation, Free your creativity through escape writing, Keep an "anything goes" journal, Learn to fingerpaint with words, and Have a conversation with your muse or even with your writer's block.

So I picked it up and began to read...and found myself relating to what Mrs. Bryant had to say: that creativity can be stifled by well-meaning teachers and parents. She gave an example from her youth. During the third grade, she was introduced to finger painting. She was very excited about it and thought, 'I wonder what will happen when I put this color beside this color...' and she would dab different colors, excited about how they looked beside each other, wondering what would happen with each color. Suddenly, her teacher was beside her and asked, "What are you painting?" and she thought, "Uh?"... then said tentatively as if questioning, "Flowers?"... the teacher grabs a brush, runs it through the green paint and says, "You need to add some leaves and stems"...and she destroys Mrs. Bryant's painting...changing it from what it was...an experiment with creativity.

I remember reading "The War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells in the 5th grade and writing a report on it. Instead of writing "color" and other words like we Americans normally do, I wrote "colour" like the English do, because that's how those words were written in the book. I got a D on the report and I asked why. The teacher said because of my misspellings--that I knew better. I said that I wrote them like H.G. Wells had done...that the report was on his book and should be written in the same way... she and I argued over this and I think she was at a loss of explanations as to why I was wrong and she was right. She knew I had a point but she also knew she couldn't let me by with it because it went against the grain of her teaching method and took away some of her teaching power. In the end, she said I could re-write it in "American" grammer. I rewrote it but the damage was done. She had installed a hint of doubt to my instinctive creativity to writing reports or any type of project. After that incident, I painfully completed essays, projects and reports, fretting over the outcome.

How many times have we been told our method of doing a task is wrong, when in the end it probably comes out to the same results?

I wish I had a hundred dollars for all the times I've heard people say to me "Oh I wish I could paint like you or I wish I could cook like you or I wish I could write poetry, etc." I always reply, "But you can. You might not do it like I do or like anyone else but you can paint or you can cook or you can write..." and so I tell the story of my crocheting experience. I can crochet but not very well...and if the person is in my house I show them my crochet project--a very crooked afgan. I have never thought I couldn't do something I really wanted to try to do. So many people experience defeat before ever trying a task or an adventure into the unknown.

You can write, you can read, you can do anything your heart sets its sights on...just because the outcome isn't exactly as you imagined it would be, doesn't mean you failed. What it does mean is that you succeeded in trying and imagining that you could and who knows...maybe your next venture will be a success.

I'm glad I started reading the "Anybody can Write" book. I'm looking forward to the adventures waiting within the pages.

You Are a Crossword Puzzle

You are well read, and you have a good head for remembering facts. You are a wordsmith. You have a way with words, and you're very literate. You are a mysterious person who enjoys dropping little clues every now and then.

What Kind of Puzzle Are You?

William Rocked

William made an A+ on his oral presentation. He got the highest grade in the class and was the best presenter. He's proud of himself...and told Mom that when I saw his grade I would scream with joy.

Glad she told me ahead of time that I was suppose to scream with joy... so I did. He grinned at me and I felt all the pride he had... how it shined in his eyes and I almost cried.

He's come so far... and it's been a long road to travel. I'm glad I've been there to hold his hand and to guide him over the rough spots. The journey is far from over, I know...and there will be rougher roads ahead, but today... for now... my heart is full of love and pride.