Have a good weekend, everyone!

The last few days have been....ugh.

Tuesday the San Diego Fair (Del Mar Fair to some) charged me 7 separate times for my one entry. So that was $192 in over charges. So had to deal with that. Still isn't fully resolved.

Then the shower backed up. Had a guy at the house till 9:30pm last night fixing it. $250 bucks.

And finally, this morning I jammed my thumb watering the grass. I know, I know....how on earth can someone jam their thumb watering the grass?! I'm not even going to try and explain. But it was painful. And it still hurts. Just tapping the space key with my thumb kinda hurts.

Oh....and the woman I work with is out of hard candy so she has a mega sized bag of sunflower seeds and pops one in her mouth, cracks it open, crunches up the seed, then crunches on the shell (chomp, chomp, chomp), then spits the shell out in a big cup. In goes the next seed and it starts all over again. It will take her all day to get thru that damn bag! And you know what else? She talks to people on the phone while she is doing that!!! It's bad enough to be in the cubical next to her doing it....I don't understand how people can deal with that on the phone with her. *sighs*

On a more cheerful note, you can go watch the Mac/PC ads. I really like these. I was watching them and I like all of them, but two of my favorites are Work vs. Home, Trust Mac. If you want/need to kill some time, go watch them :)

http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/

County Fair

I've entered two photos into the Photographic Art exhibit for the San Diego Fair (Del Mar Fair to some). I considered what to enter for a long time. One person said the photo of Laura and I holding hands might do well in an exposition because of it's uniqueness. I agreed with that. It is unique and for that reason, it stands out. Technically, it has some issues, but they are subtle. So we'll see.

When I told people that was the photo I was entering, I got that...."Hummm" look which translates to, "It's nice, but I'd enter something else". I'd ask them what they like better, and in every case, everyone liked this one:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/photokitten/390185953

There is no way in creation this photo would make it. It's technically flawed in many ways. The most glaring problem is the shadow on the saucer. I should have had a key light facing the cup to offset the shadow, but I was just in my kitchen taking pictures and I didn't bother with any of that. That's just one of the problems with it. I could have done a reshoot....it would be easy enough, but I'm lazy and never got around to it.

So exception of with the initial suggestion to enter the one of Laura and I, I'm not entering any of the photos people suggested. I'm sending in what I think might do well. I'll find out around June 8th if I placed in any of the categories. Here are the photos I entered. Wish me luck!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/photokitten/416825012

http://www.flickr.com/photos/photokitten/370172608

a little blue

I've been feeling a little blue lately. I can't really put a finger on why....I'm sure it will pass eventually.

I finally sent my cards in for the Paper Crafts contest. Sending 6 total. Some you've seen and some you have not seen. I just don't feel like posting all the links. Below is a link to the card I like the best and just happened to be the hardest to make. After 3 attempts at making it, I finally got one that would pass. It's not perfectly lined up or "exact" in any way shape or form, but it's not supposed to be. It's got that "home spun" feel to it. Hopefully the judges will get that when they look at it. My saving grace is, I know the judges will be be stampers/card makers, so they will understand all the work that went into a card like this. It's in the "creative use of alphabet stamps" catagory. So wish me luck. Here's the card. That photo, by the way, does not do the card justice. It's much better looking in person.

I'll close with a funny story I heard about. This grandmother visiting her teenage gradkids went out to the beach with them. She stood at the shoreline watching them play in the surf on their boogie boards. When one of them got a little to far out, she started to get a little nervous and called to her to come in a little bit. However, the grandkid could not hear her. Panicked and unsure of what to do, the grandmother stated yelling, jumping and waving her arms to get the grandkids attention. Well, all this commotion was enough to make the grandmas dentures come flying out of her mouth, both upper and lower, and land in the incoming tide. The shriek from this happening got all of her gradkids attention and they came rushing in to see what was wrong. When they get to shore, they see grandma on her hands and knees in a panic looking for something. A moment later, they see a wave woosh over grandma. She was soaked. And the dentures....they had rolled out with the tide. The next day when they got back from boogie boarding, they told her they saw a fish wearing her teeth.

Happy Sunday!

Some people are just meant to find things.

I find cell phones. I've found 4 in the last year.

Today I headed to my favorite little outdoor lunch spot that is kind of off the beaten path. I like it for that reason. As I sit down and notice a cell phone about 3 feet away. I picked it up and here was a text message on the screen that started out "hi love, just want to say hello..."

Now I have got to be the worst person when it comes to understanding how to use a cell phone. I have one, but I never have it with me. I use it maybe once every 4 months. Maybe. So I start pushing buttons trying to get to the main menu and it puts me in typing mode to reply to the text message on the screen! Yeesh. Somehow managed to get out of that and to the phone book. I always try to find a phone number that is called "home" so I can call their home number and leave them a message that I have their cell phone. But, no such luck finding a home number. Then I looked for something called "work". Nothing for that either. I have both of those in my phone, so should someone ever find mine, they can call me at home or work. There was a number called "the cheese store". Humm. A cheese hound's phone. Then I came across one called "mom". I thought about calling that, but it was a 212 number and I think that's New York. While I considered calling Mom, I turned the phone over and noticed something written on it. It was really faded, but it was an email address! Ah, thank goodness I didn't have to call Mom! I emailed him to let him know he could stop franticly searching for his phone because I have it. We'll see what happens when he writes back.

So, here is what you should all do. Write your email address in permanent marker on your cell phone or make an entry called "work" or "home" in your phone book so when someone like me finds your phone, we won't have to call your Mom :)

Just stuff.

I don't remember where I saw the ad for these flip flops, but thought I'd share them with you. Looks comfy. And the "about" section is kinda funny :)

Bonsai Sandals
About them.

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Unusual brownies that sound yummy! See a picture of them at 101Cookbooks.com ~ which is where the following recipe came from.

Moosewood Fudge Brownies

Heidi at 101 Cookbooks.com writes:
I used 71% Valrhona chocolate. White whole wheat flour works great if you would like to substitute. I also added espresso powder, half of a large ripe banana, and about a cup of toasted walnuts (per Mollie's suggestions at the tail end of the recipe). I topped them with a sprinkling of walnuts before going in the oven as well.

Let soften: 1/2 lb. butter (don't melt it)

Melt: 5 oz. bittersweet chocolate. Let cool.

Cream the butter with 1 3/4 cups (packed) light brown sugar and 5 eggs. Add 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract. Beat in the melted, cooled chocolate and 1 cup flour.

Spread into a buttered 9x13" baking pan. Bake 20-30 minutes (note: mine took 30) at 350 degrees.

Optional: chopped nuts, or 1 tablespoon instant coffee, or 1 teaspoon grated fresh orange or lemon rind, or 1/2 teaspoon allspice or cinnamon, or a mashed over-ripe banana, or none of the above.

Yet another option: instead of uniformly blending in the chocolate, you can marble it. Add chocolate last, after the flour is completely blended in and only partially blend in the chocolate. It looks real nice.

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I'm not sure what got into me this morning, but I opened Photo Booth and started taking pictures of the office. Not good pictures, I know. Photo Booth isn't good for distance shooting, and the "photo cam" is built into my monitor, so I was limited on how far and where I could position it. But here is what I have.

Taken from inside my cubical...I turned my monitor to face the two other cubes in the office.

This is my area. Thrilling, I know. That's my chair (round thing), my bulletin board with all my favorite Larson's I've collected from his calender this year, and my guest chair in the corner which currently holds my coat and messenger bag on it. Woo!


"Help! Help! A monster is chewing on my leg!"
Ok, not really. Hey, I have to entertain myself...and I think it's funny ;)

Me looking really bored and not wanting to work.

This picture kills me! I laugh every single time I look at it. If I'm having a bad day, I look at that photo because it instantly makes me laugh. As unflattering as it may be, I remind myself of Wallace of Wallace and Grommet. That was taken a while ago.....on another day when I didn't feel like working.

Ok, that's all for today. I do actually have to work even tho I don't want to.

What are the chances.

As you all know, I watch Oprah. She had a show a few weeks ago about two couples who adopted baby girls from China. The two couples used the same adpotion agency but live 100's of miles from each other. The agency has a message board the adoptive parents can use to talk to each other....share stories, meet other adoptive parents in their area, etc. So one day one of the Mom's is online and one notices another Mom has a daughter named Mia who is 3 years old. That's her daughters name, too! She thought that was weird because she does not hear of many Mia's, let alone another one who is 3 years old. She wrote to the woman and asked when her birthday was. The answer was June 12. Her daughter's birthday was June 13th! She quickly wrote back and asked where her baby had been found. Both babies had been abandoned at the same factory within days of each other. They swaped photos.

Their daughters are identical twins. DNA tests sealed it.

But how did they have the same name? Both named Mia?!

It had to be divine intervention. Neither baby was named when they were adopted. Both couples named their daughters Mia out of sheer coincidence! It also had to be divine intervention that the two Mom's would find each other on the message board.

On August 2006, the twin sisters met each other. Moments after meeting, they were walking through the airport, holding hands. They had never met or seen each other before, but it was like an instant click. Both families travel to see each other frequently.

Amazing!

Is anybody watching the show Gene Simmons: The Family Jewels? I was watching Dog The Bounty Hunter last Sunday, which I watch now and then, and The Family Jewels was on after it. The episode was Gene and Shannon getting face lifts, so I watched it out of sheer curiosity. The show turned out to be pretty entertaining so I recorded it again last night.

I think I'm really going to like this show.

I have to be honest tho, before watching this, I'm not sure I would have been able to tell you who Gene Simmons was exactly. I know the name Gene Simmons is famous, but I don't think I would have been able to tell you he's the guy from KISS with the tongue. And without all the make-up, I wouldn't have any idea who he was to look at him. Sometimes I amaze myself tho, so maybe I would be able to tell you he was the guy from Kiss, but I know for sure I would not be able to tell you who he was without the make-up....well, unless he happened to stick his tongue out.

But now I know.

And his son, who's 18, looks just like him. And this kid is 6'7"! Good god! And has the same tongue. Which, in the episode last week, he says is longer than his dad's. Gene's tongue is said to be 7 inches long. Now, I know some people think that's cool and everything.....and it's.....interesting, I guess, but mostly that is just really weird to me. And don't think I'd be able to look at it in person. You know....tounges are really pretty gross to look at. But anyway, enough of that.

I just think it seems like a pretty entertaining show. It's a half hour which is perfect. If it were an hour, that would be too mcuh. But 30 minutes of this I can watch. Next time you're flippin' around of Sunday night, check it out.

Assumptions.

Assumptions are sometimes an okay thing to make, but most of the time I think they can really get you into trouble.

Today a bunch of people at work went out to lunch for someone's birthday. I got seated at the end of the table with a guy I used to work more closely with in a customer service role. We had to help people at a help desk. We both work in other areas now so I don't see him very much. He's a pretty funny guy and I really like him. He's Asian and his name is Nguyen (pronunciation: Win). So one day long ago when we did work together, this professor come in and Nguyen is helping him and I'm just sitting there watching since I didn't have a customer. His problem wasn't hard to fix, but for a non-technical person like the professor, it was like a nightmare. So Nguyen got it all worked out for him.

Now, keep in mind these two had not introduced themselves.

The professor is so happy the problem was resolved so fast and so easily. He thanks Nguyen profusely. Only, he repeatedly called him Tran.

"Oh, Tran, thank you so much!"
"This is just great, Tran. I'm so happy!"
"Tran, you're just the best!"

Nguyen kept looking over at me when he'd call him Tran. By the 3rd time he did it, I just could not contain myself and had to look away so the professor would not see that I was about to burst out laughing. As soon as the professor was gone, we were laughing so hard we got headaches. Nguyen was insulted, yet he thought it was funny as hell. It's just one of those classic assumptions made about Asian people....that they are all named Tran.

So today we got to talking about "the good ole days" and that came up. We started laughing so hard we got headaches again :)

Silver Springs

I wonder if any of you know this song. It's old....1970 I think. A Fleetwood Mac song. It's fast becoming the #1 song played on my iPod. It's a pretty sad song.....but it's sooo beautiful. Stevie Nicks has a young voice in the original recording and she just sings it so well. But I guess she would....since it's a song about her. She wrote this song after her breakup with Lindsey Buckingham, the band's guitarist and her long time boyfriend. She wanted to make sure he would never forget about her. Stuff like that just...I don't know....just strikes a cord within me.

You can hear a clip of it at Amazon.com. Scroll down to "Listen to Samples". It's track 8 on disk 1.

Here are the lyrics:

Silver Springs

You could be my silver spring
Blue-green...colors flashin'
I would be your only dream
Your shinin' autumn....ocean crashing
And did you say she was pretty?
And did you say that she loves you?
Baby I don't wanna know....

I'll begin not to love you...
Turn around, see me runnin'
I'll say I loved you years ago...
Tell myself you never loved me....no......
And did you say she was pretty?
And did you say that she loves you?
Baby, I don't wanna know....oh no.....
And can you tell me...was it worth it?
Really, I don't wanna know...

Time cast a spell on you...but you won't forget me
I know I could've loved you, but you would not let me

Time cast a spell on you...but you won't forget me...
I know I could've loved you, but you would not let me...
I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you...
You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you...

I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you...
Was I just a fool?
You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you...
Was I just a fool?
I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you...
Give me just a chance
You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you...

You could be my silver springs...
My blue green colors flashin'...

Planet Earth

Is anyone else watching the Planet Earth series on the Discovery Channel? It stated about a month ago.

See more here.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch it or not. I saw a few clips from the 11 part mini series, and it shows you that life on earth is not warm and fuzzy. I know this, so I wasn't sure I really needed to be made more aware. I tend to get emotional over animals and their plight. Thus, I chose not to watch. Well, two weeks ago I was flipping around on Sunday night and low and behold, there it was. I sat and watched for a few minutes thinking I'd change the channel as soon as all the death and gore started. It was the episode I reallllly didn't want to see....the polar bears. I have intentionally not watched the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" because everyone talks about how sad the polar bear segment is. Now I can watch the movie because I ended up watching the whole show and saw the sad polar bear story. I've also continued to watch the series. It's sad, but it also has a lot of parts that are not. It's not a total downer to watch it. So watch it next Sunday...8pm.

But I am digressing from what I was going to post about. This past Sunday it was all about sealife. The ocean scares the crap out of me...no wait, the things in the ocean scare the crap out of me, so I was a little uneasy the whole time I was watching. But it turned out to be okay. And while I was watching, I learned something I have always wondered about....always been curious about. Sand dollars....they were once a kind of sea urchin. They are talking about this deadly octopus that scours the bottom of the ocean eating sand dollars. They showed it suck up this flat spiney sand dollar, liquefy all but it's skeleton, and a monemt later the octopus spits out the skeleton and moves onto the next one. So the pretty white sand dollars we find on the shore are actually skeletons of dead sea urchins. And those things that rattle on the inside of a sand dollars....teeth or something. Makes them a little less charming now. I guess I should have known it was a sea urchin kind of thing. Makes sense now that I know. Just kinda weird.

Here is more information from Wikipedia:

Sand dollars are in the Echinoid (Echinoderms) class of marine animals. When they are living, they are covered with a suit of moveable spines that encompass the entire shell. Like its close relative the sea urchin, the sand dollar has five sets of pores arranged in a petal pattern. The pores are used to move sea water into its internal water-vascular system, which allows for movement by the creature.

Sand dollars live beyond mean low water on top of or just beneath the surface of sandy or muddy areas. The spines on the somewhat flattened underside of the animal allow it to burrow or to slowly creep through the sand. Fine, hair-like cilia cover the tiny spines. Tubefeet or podia that line the food grooves, move food to the mouth opening which is in the center of the star shaped grooves on the underside of the animal called the oral surface. The anus is also located on the bottom, near the posterior edge. Its food consists of plankton and organic particles that end up in the sandy bottom.

On the ocean bottom, sand dollars are frequently found together. This is due in part to their preference of soft bottom areas, which are convenient for their reproduction. The sexes are separate and, as with most echinoids, gametes are released into the water column. The free-swimming larvae metamorphose through several stages before the skeleton or test begins to form, and they become bottom dwellers.

The name "sand dollar" is a reference to their round flat shape, which is similar to a large coin.

The term "sand dollar" can also refer to the test left when a sand dollar dies. By the time the test washes up on the beach, it is usually missing its velvety covering of minute spines and has a somewhat bleached appearance due to its exposure to the sun.

Take Me To Kittens!

Today I was browsing Flickr, and, like usual, I came across a nude photo. It just happens. I was looking at the photos that made the top 50 yesterday and I clicked on a photo that wasn't a nude shot and I got a warning message (which is new, I've never seen this before) and it said something like "this persons pictures are outside your interest realm" or something like that. I was curious....I mean, I guessed this person didn't take pictures of flowers and cats. I'm guessing Flickr has some software that looks at your photo tags and sees they don't match the tags of the person you are about to look at. Anyway, there was a box that said something like "yes, look" and one that said "no, take me to my home page". Being the curious girl that I am, I said "yes, look" suspecting nudity but I wasn't really sure what I'd see. Well, it was pictures of a half nude flabby girl who is not even mildly attractive. Eww. No wonder they posted a warning. At the top of her photos there is a message that saying something like "You've changed your mind about wanting to see this persons photos - click here and take me to KITTENS!".

I almost burt out laughing at that little message. The people at Flickr are pretty cool. So I clicked the kittens link and it look me here. Then I really did burst out laughing. Some of these photos are just halarious.

Thursday Nights

I know a few people who watch Survivor and I started watching last season. Some of it is boring to watch so I always record it. Then, 20 minutes into the show, I start watching what has recorded. This way I can watch what I like and FF through the stuff I don't find interesting. The 20 minute jump the recorder has one me is usually plenty. I always stop it watch it when they interview Edgardo...giggles. I think he's cute and I love his accent. Anyway, last night I decided to "rest my eyes" during the 20 minutes. BAM, I fell aleep. I could have just watched the whole thing when I woke up, but I stumbled off to bed and watched it this morning before work.

Wow. I watched the whole thing!

Perhaps a first.

So that Lisi chick really runs her mouth. I tell you, I could not be friends with her. Not only is she crass and annoying, but she's stupid, too! She said she ran the gamet of things to do on the show and she'd had enough. Well, not exactly ture there, Lisi....there is this thing everyone is playing for.....it's called A MILLION DOLLARS! Winning that and getting to the end would be running the gamet on Survivor!

*Rolls eyes*

So now what I want to see is Lisi and Rocky hanging out behind the scenes. Because those two are just like lit firecrackers most of the time. They both always have an opinion and speak their minds openly and often. Hey, maybe they will end up making out after a long bitchfest? Because after all, isn't that what Rocky said girls are for?

I can only imagine what you must be thinking if you don't watch the show.

Let Them Eat Cake!

If you need some entertainment, go to MarthaStewart.com *today* and watch the video of Martha with the woman making the apple spice cake...there are two segments. This woman who is making the cake is fun to watch. Plus, the cake looks yummy.

So after watching that, I just had to post some cake recipes!

Devils Food Cake

1 1/2 cups water
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

1. In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil.
2. Remove from the heat. Stir in sugar and butter until butter is melted. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.
3. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
4. Add to butter mixture and mix thoroughly.
5. Pour into a greased and floured 15 x 10 baking pan.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

For Frosting:

1. Beat butter, confectioners' sugar, cocoa, vanilla and enough milk to reach a spreading consistency.
2. Frost cake.

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Pound Cake

3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 4oz bar sweet chocolate, grated
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the cake flour.
3. Sift together remaining flour and baking powder. Set aside.
4. Toss the chocolate and walnuts with reserved 1 tablespoon of flour. Set aside.
5. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
6. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated.
7. Fold in the chocolate and walnuts.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Interesting post on 101 Cookbooks today ~ "A Letter from an Unwilling Cook".

Go check it out.

April Fools!

Do you know why Aprl 1st is called April Fools Day?

In 1539 (guessing on the year, but close to that time) New Years Day was April 1st. Weird, huh? Someome else thought so too, and they changed it to be January 1st. Anyone who still celebrated New Years on April 1st was subjected to pranks for not getting with the new times. Boy, things don't change very much, do they.

There you have it. Happy April!

And....uh...Happy New Year.

And no, this is not an April fools joke.

I swear!