This is me, not looking at my retirement fund for awhile.

La la la la la la!

There’s nothing I can add to this headline:
Man Wraps Head in Duct Tape and Attempts to Rob Liquor Store

Okay, I lied:

Store manager Bill Steele had some duct tape of his own, but his was wrapped around a wooden club that sent the robber fleeing

(via Hillbilly Sophisticate)

Note: My Grandmother had ten siblings, eight of who lived to adulthood (and many of whom lived to 90 years old). Her older sister was Sophie.

Grandmom: …because you could barely see it at the end of her life, I almost forgot about the big burn on Sophie’s leg. She never let it bother her and went to the beach and everything and wasn’t at all self-conscious about it.
Dad: Nor should she have been!
Michelle: How did she burn her leg?
Dad: Was that the fire that they thought was why Grandma lost the baby?
Grandmom: Yes, that’s what they said, because she was trying to put the fire out, but I don’t think….
Michelle: But HOW did Aunt Sophie burn her leg? (Trust me–interrupting was the ONLY way I was going to find out the answer to my question.)
Grandmom: (matter-of factly) Oh, the boys (their brothers) tied her to a stake and set her on fire.
Michelle & Dad: WHAT?!
Grandmom: (still matter-of-factly) They were playing cowboys and Indians. (To my Dad) You didn’t know that?
Dad: No! I didn’t know that! You never told me that!
Grandmom: I thought you knew that.
Michelle: Your brothers set Aunt Sophie on FIRE?
Dad: And you were mad at ME for ACCIDENTALLY setting the garage on fire?!

My entire house smells of chocolate.

I’m visiting family tomorrow, so this evening I made homemade oreos (every time I’ve made these someone has requested the recipe) and chocolate chocolate chip cookies, from the The Ultimate Chocolate Cookie Book.

I used four different kids of chocolate between the two recipes; cocoa, dutch process cocoa, semi-sweet chocolate chips, bittersweet chocolate.

Because if you’re going to have dessert, then HAVE dessert and make it worth the calories.

And at some point I still need to make scones to put in the freezer to bake and have hot one weekend morning.

Yum.

Saw it yesterday!

It was great!

But…

Curse my propensity for motion sickness!

We normally go see movies several weeks after they’ve come out, so this was my first time seeing a movie on one of the larger screens at our new theaters, and I unthinkingly sat in the same place we always do–about halfway back, perhaps a bit closer.

I should have sat in the back row, because partway though I got motion sick. There were lots of actions scenes where they raced on horseback through the forest. Or ran through the forest. Or raced through the air during a storm.

None of which went over well with my stomach.

So although we both really enjoyed it, there were large swaths I couldn’t watch, because I knew that if I didn’t close my eyes I was going to throw up.

So here’s my review: AWESOME! but sit in the back, just in case.

Also? Septimus was fantastic and amazing and just plain great!

Very unlikely…

(more…)

Okay, I am seriously thinking about ordering this.

Smashing a computer with a hammer is almost a good as throwing one off the roof of the building.

As I’ve mentioned before, I work in the Health Science Center for WVU. I would say that a majority–if not a vast majority–of the employees have job where we have to work with people.

So why does the cafeteria serve so many dishes with garlic and onions and other stinky foods? Are they trying to up their income from mint sales at the vending machines? Or do they have it in for the patients who have to deal with these doctors and nurses and administrators for the rest of the day?

Stardust opens this weekend.

It’s an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel/novel of the same name, that you REALLY SHOULD GO SEE!

Because Neil Gaiman is the BEST.

Plus, I’ve heard comparisons to The Princess Bride so it HAS to be good!

I am fascinated by this list of 1930s American Slang.

As I love crime novels and historical novels, much of the slang was either familiar to me or made sense. Although there were some words that even I–who use the word Trollop on a regular basis–found strange. “togged to the bricks” and “skin tickler” just sound weird, even when compared to “shake a leg” and “big house”.

But I am sure that this list will come in handy at some point.

(via Stereo Describes by Scenario)

No. Of course not.

I added a current reading list to the sidebar. As it appears both here and in my book blog, I’ll try to keep it updated.

And yes, I really do read that many books at one time–and that doesn’t count the books I started, put down, and left of the headboard thinking I’ll pick them up later.

I’ll also try to keep them in order, i.e. the books I’ve been reading the longest will be at the bottom. The books that sit on the back of the toilet tank will most likely have that honor, as will the books I stick in my pocket for waiting rooms and riding the PRT.

Mechanical bugs at Insect Lab.

Incredible.

As soon as I saw these I immediately thought of my supervisor/boss when I was an undergraduate student. The grooms cake at his wedding was two ladybugs.

“We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area.“

I actually heard about this several weeks ago, but didn’t find a print mention until now.

“What’d you think of (Person A)?”
“She’s SMOKIN’ hot!”

Ah, the joys of working with men.