This has been quite a few days!

First, Miss Priss starts having these little bumps on her. I didn't think much of it at first.

I thought it was a rash, or bug bites. They were on her back. Then they spread up under her ears. Had to take her to the doc. It was about time for her shots anyway.

I took her in a couple of days ago. The doc gave her a shot of steroids! She said they don't usually do that, but it would knock the bumps out in a couple of days. I'm still waiting for them to all go away. But MP is feeling better. Here she is working out! :)

That's the good news. Bad news: She won't be playing pro baseball this season! :)

More Bad News
MP is terribly afraid of storms. We rode out Katrina together. I've called the Mississippi Gulf Coast my home since '73, and I've never left for a hurricane. But that Katrina deal, it kind of changed my idea of what a hurricane can be. Today, Friday, August 29, 2008, is the third anniversary of that day that changed so many things.

And now, I've got this bully, Gustav, threatening to come for my Miss Priss. Here's the tracking map, as of early Friday morning:

On a side note, MP was my dad's cat. I'll do anything to protect her. We're waiting and watching. We'll leave if I think it necessary. But I don't plan on it.

So MP got her steroids shot, and worms and rabies treatment, even got some fragrance smelly good stuff on her coat! :) She was all chilling out when I tried to get her to say hello! :)



I don't know if this will work or not, but here's Miss Priss saying Hello! Or Leave Me Alone! :)

MP Says Hey TV.com Friends!

Hope the link worked! (just push play) I'm new to this sound deal. And I hope to be blogging again soon, Gustav willing!

:)
TG

I've got my Fantasy Football League up and running!

I know, the vast majority of the Friends I converse with will have Zero interest in this!

EDIT! In order to play, you need the League ID# in addition to the info below. The ID# is 477797. Thanks to Twopratt for pointing that out, and for playing! My marketing campaign has worked! :)

But, there's a lot of Lurkers out there! :) It's that unknown, where you have fifty, or over a hundred new views on your blog, but only 5 or ten make comments! Who are these other people? :) On a side note, for the past couple of weeks I've noticed my blog has had only 13 new views every day! I think maybe Diebold has taken over the counting process! :)

Anyhow, maybe a tiny fraction of my viewers might play fantasy football, or have a passing interest in it. Maybe one? So I'm inviting whoever's reading this to join my league!

Here's Some of the "Details"

It's on yahoo, so you would need a yahoo ID. It costs nothing, except a little time every week. It's a 12 team league, and I've got three teams (people) participating so far, including myself. We have a "live draft" this Sunday, at 3:30 CST. But you don't have to be there! If you have a team, the computer will pick for you in your absence.

Here's how you get in: Once you're on yahoo with an ID, go to Sports, then NFL. You'll see a "Play Fantasy Football" banner somewhere. Click on it, it should give you an option of joining a Public or Private league. Select Private!

Once you get there, the name of the league is Everybody Lies. The password is hugh. :) It's pretty simple from there. Name your team, select a helmet, confirm. My team's name is the "Raging Hectors". :)

If You're Curious,
But Mildly Intimidated...

I posted the league name and password here because, some Lurkers out there might like to play without having to interact with me! :)

But if anyone has any questions about how fantasy football works, and might want to give it a shot, PM Me! Or ask any questions in the comments. It's a lot of fun if you like football. There's only nine more spots to fill, and I will open the league to the general public Saturday afternoon. Unless Hurricane Fay hits! :)

Random Fact Number Four
In high school, I was both on the football team and in band! Second String Left Guard, First String Trumpet!

:)

TG

Maybe some of you already know about this little guy. I found out about him today.

I got this in an email. I'm just going to share the content of the email, with some of my favorite pics. Meet Faith!:

This dog was born on Christmas Eve in the year 2002. He was born with 3 legs - 2 healthy hind legs and 1 abnormal front leg which needed to be amputated. He, of course, could not walk when he was born. Even his mother did not want him.

His first owner also did not think that he could survive. Therefore, he was thinking of "putting him to sleep". By this time, his present owner Stringfellow met him and wanted to take care of him. She was determined to teach and train this dog to walk by himself. She named him "Faith."



In the beginning, she put Faith on a surfing board to let him feel the movements. Later she used peanut butter on a spoon as a lure and reward for him to stand up and jump around. Even the other dog at home also helped to encourage him to walk. Amazingly, only after 6 months, like a miracle, Faith learned to balance on his 2 hind legs and jumped to move forward. After further training in the snow, he now can walk like a human being.



Faith loves to walk around now. No matter where he goes, he just attracts all the people around him. He is now becoming famous on the international scene. He has appeared on various newspapers and TV shows. There is even one book entitled "With a little faith" being published about him. He was even considered to appear in one of Harry Potter movies.

His present owner Jude Stringfellew has given up her teaching post and plans to take him around the world to preach that even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul."

"I hope this message will bring fresh new ways of thinking to everyone and that everyone can appreciate and be thankful for each beautiful day that follows. Life is the continual demonstration of the Strength of Life!"

So that was the email. I thought the presentation was kind of schmaltzy. I mean, that last line must have been written by a bad motivational speaker.

But, the story itself is cool. And his name, Faith, is the underlying story. Would the story be different if they had named him "Drumsticks?" No, the story is about how this disadvantaged canine succeeded because of... Faith? I think it was because he had a lot of love and incentive, and he was able. If he could name himself, it might be Mr. Thanks O. Lot, Esq. :)

I posted this inspirational tale because it touched me. And because Miss Priss hasn't said hello yet! Maybe this will motivate her! :) I'll catch and post it when she does. Finally, I realized after the fact I didn't post a Random Fact last blog.

Random Fact Number Five:
I forget stuff!

:)
TG

I purchased this new gadget over the internets last week. They shipped it "FedEx Ground," with a three day window for when it would arrive.

That would be yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I knew it would be yesterday.

That's because FedEx has always been good about deliveries. Yesterday I hung out around the House before going into work. I knew they would show up. Here's the thing. I live in an apartment behind the main house. And we share the same address. So, I put a sign up on the door:

I stuck around a couple of hours, then had to get on to work. I track the package on the net at work. They tried to deliver around one o'clock. Nice feature! :)

Today, I decided to stay home to make sure I got the package. It's important. More on that in a minute. :) I put the sign back up this morning, and waited. Around noon, I make a nice panini sandwich for lunch. Before sitting down to eat, something tells me to check the sign on the front door. It's been raining a lot, and I wanted to make sure it hadn't blown off the door. This is what I walked up to:

Now There's Your Sign
Yes, the driver put another "no one home" notice above my sign! It said they tried to deliver at 12:10. My watch read 12:07. That means I'll miss my delivery in three minutes! Or that I JUST missed him and should jump in my car and try to find this... fill in the blank.

Where would a delivery driver go next? My first instinct is that it's lunchtime. I hit the closest main commercial road, looking for a FedEx Ground Truck at an eating establishment. And they're different. They have the EX in green, rather than red. YES! I found one just a couple of blocks away.

A False Positive
But no. The driver tells me that "residential" deliveries are handled by a different division. They're independent contractors, or something like that. Home owned and operated. The Amway of shipping, I guess. The guy tells me that residential trucks are smaller. "Are they labeled FedEx?" I ask. He says they are, but they have the image of a dog on the side of the truck. "A dog?" "Yeah," he says. "And he's got something in his mouth. A package, or bone, or something."

I go home, eat my now lukewarm panini, and stew. No, I didn't have stew. I was stewing. Ten minutes later I'm back out on the road, determined to find this truck. I know, not logical. I spent two hours cruising the neighborhoods within twenty minutes of my place. Did I mention it was raining? I saw five regular FedEx trucks, and maybe 12 U.S. Postal Service vehicles. I was chasing any big white truck. I felt like a dog myself! :) If there was a plus side, I got to see a lot of neighborhoods I hadn't seen before! Lots of homes for sale. Every home has a story, but it kind of made me sad.

FedUp?
I eventually gave up. No, I changed strategy. I went out to FedEx Central, where everything is happening. As soon as I walk in, the lady says, "Are you looking for FedEx Ground?" She saw the sticker they left, in my hand. That's why it's GREEN! She tells me to drive down the road to their "Ground" operations. And she tells me this: "When you get there, they've got this turnstill you go through that turns around, like prison." I swear.

Upon arrival, there's two folks outside the turnstill, smoking cigarettes in the rain. Never underestimate the power of nicotine! :) I tell them my story, even offer to show them pics of the sign I took with my camera! They decline. One guy asks, "Where was the delivery?" I tell him and he says, "That's Eric. His truck's in the shop. He's using a rental."

So, I've spent the entire afternoon on a wild goose chase looking for a truck that was actually in a shop getting repairs. In the rain. Craning my head around like a wild badger. That was the bad news. The good news was, they got Eric on the phone. We met up, and I got my gadget! :)

Why It Was Important
The gadget is a relatively new digital audio recorder from Olympus, the LS-10. I've been looking for a decent audio recorder. One, to record live music, and two, to maybe make recordings I could share with friends! :) This is what I've been looking for. Here's what it looks like:

The reason for the urgency, my nephew-in-law is getting married this weekend. And my bro is doing the video. One of the big problems with video taping weddings, and in general, is sound. So, my epiphany. Record the nuptials separately from the video, with a decent recorder. Then dub the good sound over the video! But now my bro is on a learning curve. They leave for the wedding on Friday, wedding Saturday. He's a tech guy, he'll make it work. :)

This sound thing is a whole new universe for me. I've heard about "podcasts," but I think that's above my pay grade at the moment. I hope to be able to incorporate it into my blogs here. We'll see. I do know one thing. Miss Prissy wants you to hear her say HEY!

:)
TG

I got myself a new grill last week! Same as the old grill, a Weber Kettle. If it's not broke, why fix it? Because it's twelve years old, and functions on sentimentality.

On a side note, I love the acting of David Morse. Watching "The Long Kiss Goodnight." And Morgan Freeman. God Bless Morgan Freeman. Oh no, it's Samuel Jackson! Sorry, got Morgan in my thoughts. Okay, Geena Davis rocks too. :) This is a great movie!

As for Morgan Freeman, he was in an automobile accident Sunday Night. If you can't place him, this is Morgan Freeman:

Yeah. His home is in north Mississippi. He rolled a 1997 Nissan Maxima. That's keeping it real. Fortunately, he's going to make it. Let's not lose this national treasure. Godspeed, Mr. Freeman.

So here's the... it's not a problem. I don't consider it a problem, but a situation. I cook too much food. When I grill, I don't want to waste the grate! Tonight, actually this weekend, I decided to try something different. Smoked Salmon. Never made it before. And there's lots of different recipes.

It's basically a two step, one where you soak the salmon filets in a 'brine," which is basically the same as a marinade, then you smoke it. And that can take a while, between three and eight or nine hours. Depends on the heat and smoke. I decided if I was going to spend this much time on it, I was going to fill the grate! With what? Shishkabobs! This is an aerial view of my efforts:

Everything turned out very tasty. My problem, or situation is, much of this food often goes wasted. I share with my bro and sis-in-law, but there's always much more that should be shared. I enjoy cooking, for taste's sake! :) If more could taste it, it would be much more merrier than to waste it!

I've thought about taking leftovers to work, but I think it's bad policy. If I were in Human Resources, I would forbid it. Soooo... maybe I should cook in much smaller portions. It's not easy. When you take time to make something really tasty, you want to make a decent portion. I love taste, but don't like waste. Maybe a food pantry or soup kitchen could use it. But it goes bad after a couple of days. I don't want to make homeless people puke. Bad Karma. I'll find a balance.

Random Fact Number Six:
My Hip Is In My Foot
When I was around 12 or 13 years old, I had a doctor convince me my right foot was deformed. He said it had more bones than usual, and that's why I had pain in my foot. So he took bone from my hip and fused it into my right foot. I didn't know what I was getting into.

As bad as it was, in a way I'm glad I got to know pain like that, so young in life. There's no way to describe the pain from bone fusion. Gripping your mother's hand, pulling it against your cheek. Screaming, "Why? Why did you let this happen?" And pops is at work. It builds character, right?

The kicker was, the guy, the surgeon, he misdiagnosed me. Or he just lied, so he could do some bone fusion surgery. So I've lived a life of perpetual, chronic pain, the result of a couple of bad decisions. Maybe that's why I don't mind throwing a stone on occasion, because I don't live in a Glass House.

But I've had many, many good times and experiences, based on random decisions and judgments. And I intend on having many more! Try to never let a moment, or meal, go to waste!

:)
TG

While catching up on my Gold Star negligence, I forgot about those Random Facts. If you remember one thing, remember- you always forget something else!

And in complete disclosure, I'm doing this because all those other great blogs aren't ready yet. :) A few blogs ago, my bud TF tagged me for ten random facts. I've been parsing them out in these here blogs.

Random Fact 7: I'm Claustrophobic

I didn't know this till a couple of weeks ago. I've been playing golf every weekend, something I'm quite proud of. Without going into Details, my golfing buddy invited me to lunch at his place after a game. Great! But, you're covered in sweat after nine holes, so you need to shower.

I shower in the back bedroom bathroom, with a stand up shower. No big deal, I've been doing the stand up shower thing for many years now. Growing up, I never thought the big bathtub would become such a precious commodity! :) I would have used it a lot more.

I love swimming, and floating. But back to the stand up shower. Every one is different. This particular one at my buddy's place, it was maybe four feet by four feet. It looked a little bit like this:

The key is, there's not a shower curtain. It's a door. I had a great shower, all hot and steamy, refreshing. When I turn off the water, I go to open the door, and it won't open. It's one of those crystal glass doors, and the steam had filled my enclosure.

I couldn't remember which side had the hinges! I'd push, kind of go haha, then try to find a latch or something. And the steam kept rising. I couldn't open the damn thing! I knew I could bust the door down, but that wouldn't be cool. My breath became short, glancing side to side, beating on the door. I actually started yelling. But I was too far back in the House for anyone to hear. I should've known better. I was freaking out! And I don't freak out.

I eventually pressed hard enough on the right side of the door, a big magnetic strip kept it closed. But the irrational, manic feelings I had, it convinced me. I can be claustrophobic, given the right conditions.

On A More Aquatic Note...
I really do love water. I like floating in water, and swimming, or paddling around. I like going underwater, diving for pennies and such. Seeing how long I can hold my breath. I have dreams where I can breathe underwater. I need a pool! :)

I lived in Taos, NM for a few years. There's this place about an hour away, called Ojo Caliente. It's hot springs, with different theme pools and a big general swimming pool. Here's a couple of pics:

They've also got a mud pool, where you pack mud all over your body and let it dry in the sun! That was cool. Then you wash it off and dive in a pool. :) The different pools were refreshing in their own unique way!

I only went there seven or eight times maybe, but I want to go back. If I find myself in that claustrophobic place again, I'll think Ojo.

:)
TG

Two blogs ago, I featured the new words for 2008 in the Merriam Webster Dictionary. In my blog, I promised a GOLD STAR for any of my Friends who made comments that included one, or some, of the new words.

I forgot about that. So, I apologize.
Here's your GOLD STAR!



This is where I'd like to mention that I cherish all comments from my Friends. These commentators were the ones who met the criteria! :) If I missed anyone, I'll eat a shoe or something.

Next Up...

I got my car back! The two carless days weren't that bad. Except for that Mamma Mia Movie. It was all over tv. You get to the point where you've purged ABBA from your consciousness, and then a bunch of commercials try to make you a Dancing Queen! It's okay, I can always fight it off. But it's not easy when I'm alone! :) The body shop did a great job.

Here's the before...

Here's the after!

Not only that, but they cleaned my car, inside and out! They vacuumed, and took all the crap in the seats and put it in the trunk! They even cleaned the whitewalls on my tires! I forgot I had whitewalls! :) I would have tipped them, but couldn't find a jar.

I would like to take a moment here to say... "If you find your auto in a crunch, you can't do better than the bunch at Performance Auto Body and Paint Center (key background music). If you're looking for someone that cares about something more important than you, and that would be your ride, slide on over to Performance. Tell them TG sent you..."

Signing Off
I pass this place every day. I love the sign on the side of the building:

LOL! This place is an historical landmark! Gotta check out their wine cellar! Need some Carbon 14 Dating here!

:)
TG

I put my car in for the body work yesterday. So for two days, I have no car.

It's the repairs from the Diet Coke Boom 2 Incident. Procrastinator? Maybe. I prefer discriminating body repair afficionodic... procrastinator. It's more distinctive. :)

So I'm without my car for two days. And I gotta tell ya, I've got CABIN FEVER! Can't leave the House, left to watching the tube and surfing the net. It's almost like camping! :)


I did try to break out, on my sis-in-law's bicycle. It's a beautiful bike, a flyer/cruiser type, with one speed: peddle! The tires were flat. I tried to fill them, but the air compressor didn't work. Give me a regular manual air pump any day! One of those deals where you pump the handle down a long tube. It's as basic as the umbrella!

I really want to take this bike for a spin. It's like my jail break! This is where I announce Random Fact Number 8: I prefer girl bikes. The difference? Girl bikes lower that section between the handle bars and the seats. Why wouldn't guys want that feature? I know if I hit a big bump, I'd rather land on my feet than that bar between my legs! :)

Fever Pitch
There's so much I'd like to share with you! :) I've been stuck inside this House for over a day now, and a bored mind is a dangerous mind! :) I'll shoot some stuff out and call it a night!

Five Days A Week...
USA Network has announced it will be showing House episodes Monday through Friday this Fall! So take the Beatle's tune "Eight Days A Week," and change it to Five! :) Mondegreen on the fly! This is really going to influence my tv viewing habits!

My Obama Moment...
I don't talk politics here. But something happened at the office a few days ago, gotta share it. One of my closest coworkers was laughing in her office. She was reading an email. "He's such a liar!" she says. "Who?" another coworker asks. Barack Obama, of course. Then my coworker who asked "Who?" says, "And he talks all about diversity, but he's not really African American, he's Muslim."

I really do steer away from talking politics at the office. But, you know, it's a matter of setting the record straight. "Anyone can be a Muslim!" I said in a loud voice, "It's a religion. It has nothing to do with race!" Another coworker comes out of his office and says, "You can hate him because he's a Muslim, or you can hate him because of his crazy Christian preacher, but not both!" :) I said, "I try to hate everyone equally." :) True story. The subject is so sensitive, it's scintillating!

I'll try to put together a more visually aesthetic blog this weekend. I should have plenty of time to work on it tomorrow! Unless I can figure out how to fill those tires with some hot air!

:)
TG

I had a couple of stories to tell, but it would make too long a blog. Let's stick to the matters at hand!

Merriam-Webster announced the new words for its dictionary this year. Can you make a sentence or two out of them? :)

Okay, I'll tell one story. :) Monday, I was leaving work to pick up lunch. It was really hot. Our main street is being worked on, so I've got to take this one lane road down a block to get on another main street. And it happened. There's a puddle on the left side of the road, and there's this dude on the sidewalk, leaning against some wood pallets against a building. Wrap around shades, no shirt, brown baggy pants.

Yeah, I splashed him. :) I've never done that! Soaked him. I mean, the puddle soaked him. I was just a catalyst. I looked back in my rear view mirror. I had my window down. He had shades off, pants clinging to his legs. "Aww, dude! DUDE!" All I could say was "Sorry man... I'm SORRY." I kept moving! Has that ever happened to you?

Here's The New Words
They're in alphabetical order, and the date is the first time they are known to be used in print communications. There were over 100 words inducted, but these are the ones featured by the "mainstream media."

Air quotes (1989): gesture made by raising and flexing the index and middle fingers of both hands, used to call attention to a spoken word or expression.

Dark energy (1998): hypothetical form of energy that produces a force that opposes gravity and is thought to cause the accelerating expansion of the universe.

Dirty bomb (1956): bomb designed to release radioactive material.

Dwarf planet (1993): celestial body that orbits the sun and has a spherical shape, but is too small to disturb other objects from its orbit.

Fanboy (1919): boy who is an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies.

Note: 1919? It's been around since 1919, and it's just now being put in the dictionary? I'm a Fanboy of Fanboy! :)

Infinity pool (1992): outdoor swimming pool with an edge over which water flows into a trough, but seems to flow into the horizon.

Jukebox musical (1993): musical that features popular songs from the past.

Malware (1990): software designed to interfere with a computer's normal functioning.

Mental health day (1971): day that an employee takes off from work to relieve stress or renew vitality.

Mondegreen (1954): word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung. From the mishearing in a Scottish ballad of "laid him on the green" as "Lady Mondegreen."

Note: Mondegreen is my favorite new word! Samples of Mondegreen include: When Creedance Clearwater Revival (CCR) sings, "There's a bad moon on the rise," People hear "There's a bathroom on the right." Or when Jimi Hendrix sings, "Excuse me, while I kiss the sky," people hear, "Excuse me, while I kiss this guy!" In the most extreme example I know, a friend of mine thought the Beatle's tune "Day Tripper" was "State Trooper." "He was a State Trooper, and I'm a driver yeah! It took me so long to find out, but I found out." For real. :) It happens all the time!

Netroots (2003): grassroots political activists who communicate via the Internet, especially by blogs.

Pescatarian (1993): vegetarian whose diet includes fish.

Pretexting (1992): presenting oneself as someone else to obtain private information.

Prosecco (1881): a dry Italian sparkling wine.

Racino (1995): racetrack at which slot machines are available for gamblers.

Soju (1978): a Korean vodka distilled from rice.

Subprime (1995) 1: having or being an interest rate that is higher than a prime rate and is extended especially to low-income borrowers; 2: extending or obtaining a subprime loan.

Texas Hold 'em (1995): Poker in which each player is dealt two cards face down and all players share five cards dealt face-up.

Webinar (1998): live, online educational presentation during which participating viewers can submit questions and comments.

Wing nut (circa 1900): Slang: one who advocates extreme measures or changes; radical.

I'll try a sentence or few:
We were drinking Prosecco and Soju by the infinity pool when fanboy shows up, pretexting himself as a netroot who participated in one of my webinars. He brought some "subprime" (airquotes in the stage play) ribs for the grill. That's when I busted him, because I'm a Pescatarian, and he's a wing nut.

Everyone who tries to use these new words in a sentence or two gets a GOLD STAR! :) Just to make this a really long blog, here's the other story.

I was waiting for my bro to come home from work this afternoon, and he was running late. I was about to nod off in my Executive Chair, when my cat, Miss Prissy, jumps up in the window with a big bird in her mouth! She jumps down to the floor, runs under my computer table, and drops it. She just walks out from under the table and lays down, all smug like.

Naturally, I jump up and open the door and say, "Miss Prissy, pick that bird up and take that bird out of here!" The bird is obviously dead. Its neck was broken back, I guess MP snapped it. I try again. "MISS PRISSY, PICK THAT BIRD UP AND TAKE THAT BIRD OUT OF HERE!!!" I couldn't have been clearer. But she just lies there. She was quite proud of herself.

Finally I say, "If you won't get the bird out, I will." So I take the broom and brush the bird out from under the table. It's lying there between MP and me. MP looks up at me. Then the bird cocks its head up, and MP looks at the bird. They're like two feet apart, eye to eye. Suddenly, the bird lifts its wings up, and takes flight between us! She shoots towards the wall, banks left, and out the window! :)

MP wasn't happy at all. And I've been razzing her all night! But I've told her many times not to bring birds into the House. She's been a bad girl, now she's grounded to her computer.

Heeyyy Miss Prissy!

Where's the Bird? :)

And before I go, Slow Burn Random Fact #9: It's a twofer: I hate lobster, and I've never seen the movie Titanic! I'm pretty sure I'm the only one with both those traits. Listening to Pink Floyd right now, Wish You Were Here. "We're just two lost souls living in a fish bowl, year after year." I'll bet there's a Mondegreen in there somewhere!

:)
TG

I was tagged a while back. It's a nice gesture, whether you participate or not! I decided to give it a go, although I'm pretty sure I've done something similar many blogs ago.

I'm requested to list Ten Random Facts about myself. As a lazy person (is that a random fact?), I can't do them all at once. So, I'm going to reveal facts here and there, as random blog tidbits. I'm also supposed to "tag" five people to do something similar. Not gonna happen! I'm too lazy. :) By the way, thanks t_f! :)

Fact... Should it be One or Ten? I guess you should count down. TEN! I'm Left Handed, Right Armed
I write and eat with my left hand. I mean, use utensils. I eat with my mouth. :) I play baseball, football, and golf with my right arm! And bowl. Ever notice how you play most sports, but you don't play bowl? You just bowl! :)

So my right arm is a little bit bigger than my left, but my left hand is a little bit smarter than my right! :) And there's always exceptions. I play frisbee with my left hand (and arm). I love frisbee, I've spent many, many hours flinging a disc. It's a great sport, requiring delicate hand dexterity! Oh, and ping pong, left. But I open pickle jars with my right (hand). So that's Random Fact Number Ten. I'll not get into the right brain/left brain analysis!

Funny Coincidence
Last week, I was watching a rare episode of Law and Order, SVU. Rare, because I hadn't seen it before! Quick synopsis: It was typical, or vintage, SVU. Women getting raped, the detectives trying to find a common denominator. They finally narrow it down to a doctor. They arrest him at the hospital, and there's this janitor with a mop and pail watching from over on the side:

Yeah, it's Kal Penn, aka Kutner! (he's the one on the left) Of course I'm yelling, "You've got the wrong guy!!!" :) They eventually figure out it was Kal's character, and he played a pretty good psycho. He was the Doctor's son.

But the great irony, to me, was that Kal Penn would be playing a janitor at a hospital! :) Bet that looked good on his resume when applying to be a new duckling! Life imitates art becoming art in life! Or something like that. Jumble them up till it sounds right. :)

I'll Leave With A Funny
A buddy emailed me this one:

A Spanish Teacher was explaining to her students that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

"House" for instance, is feminine: "la casa."

"Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz.."

A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the students into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether "computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that "computer" should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora"), because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

(THIS GETS BETTER!)

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ("el computador"), because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The women won.

I guess that's why I never learned Spanish!

:)
TG