Have a blessed Hanukkah.

Go!

During my lunch walk, I came to some conclusions about fashion. At least, my opinions about fashion.

To put it plainly, I don’t get it.

Take shoes. I admit that I buy expensive shoes, but that is because I want my shoes to be comfortable, and I’m willing to pay well to make sure my feet don’t hurt. But I see no reason to wear shoes that draw attention to themselves.

Why do I want someone staring at my feet?

Same goes for clothing. I try to dress at least someone professionally for work, because I feel that if I look professional people are more willing to accept me as an expert. No, it’s not fair the world works that way, but there it is. If I am teaching, I want people to look at me as the expert in the class, and so I dress accordingly. But I do not want clothing that will draw so much attention to itself that people are looking at my clothes and not me.

I want people to look at me and to listen to what I am saying. I don’t want them staring at my shoes or at my clothing. Those things are the background and should remain in the background.

And if I’m not teaching, I want clothing that will allow me to blend into the background and remain unremarkable. Why? Because that’s how I am.

I used to dress aggressively to give off the attitude, “don’t bother me,” and although I liked that and it was effective, it’s not very helpful for getting assistance if you need it. So instead I go for wallflower. And don’t understand people whose clothing wears them, instead of vice versa.

(What prompted this? A pair of boots that looked like a cross between a moccasin, a bedroom slipper, and a dead rabbit.)

When Michael and Grandmom got back from the store, Michael yelled at me to look at the crows. I looked out the front door–nothing. So I slipped on my clogs, grabbed my camera, and went out the kitchen door (where he and Grandmom were coming in).

I’ve never seen so many crows before; when the traffic eased, you hear the raucous noise they made all cawing together.

I’m reminded of a story in the Sandman series, “A Parliament of Rooks.”

Why were so many crows all gathered in one place? They were circling in the sky, and perched in the top of trees, so it doesn’t seem like anything on the ground was the cause (at least I hope not, considering the sheer number of crows).

And here is a good page from Cornell about crows. It doesn’t look like crows in this area should be migratory, though I suppose it could be a group coming in for the winter. Though that seems unlikely.

Yesterday and today, I awoke from my nap to discover that the server on which my website lives had gone down.

Not only do I have the sense of missing things while I’m asleep, I wake to discover that I was actually missing things while asleep.

This happens once more and I’m going to be afraid to take a nap.

So my website was down for about three hours, and I have to say my dealings with Dreamhost were about a thousand times better than my dealings with iPowerweb. I received updates on my Dreamhost Panel and then through e-mail, as to the status of my website.

Of course down time always sucks, but I understand it happens sometimes, and appreciate knowing what is happening.

In the meantime, Grandmom has returned; Mom and Dad dropped her off before the game.

And speaking of the game, WVU is playing Cincinnati, and things aren’t going well for our heroes.

(sigh)

ADDENDUM the First:
Umm… Tony just called Pat White “tough as an acorn.” I think he just made that up.

Plus, Pat White just took a swing at someone? WTF?

ADDENDUM the Second:
HOLY CRAP! OVERTIME!

ADDENDUM the Third:
Shit.

Sorry. Nothing Halloweeny here.

Move along.

And winter is peeking around the corner.

And that means it’s now officially sweater weather. Yippee! Sweaters were pulled out, and shorts and short-sleeved were put away. Plus, I pulled out the down comforter. I think snuggling under a down comforter is definitely one of the better things about winter.

The down side to this was I spent the entire day washing bedding. Not just the bedding that was put away for the winter, but also our blankets, and the blanket and comforter on Grandmom’s bed as well. Plus the normal assortment of sheets and such. Let me tell you, there is little more boring than spending the entire day at the beck and call of laundry.

On the bright side, however, I had leftover pizza and apple pie for lunch. Yum!

For Janiece

Boo hiss. Can’t be embedded. Sorry, you’ll have to go to YouTube to watch it.

Also for my ex-roommate Steve Kulley.

For those who may have missed it, Leonard Nimoy was the guest on Wait Wait Don’t Tell me this week.

If you listen, you can hear Peter Segal TOTALLY geek out.

And for the REALLY geeky? A picture of Leonard Nimoy AND CARL KASELL!

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Fats Waller

(to get around the character limit, write the previous word = and then your word.)

Heh. I love Val Kilmer in this movie.

We apologize, but we are unable to entertain you today.

Please accept one of the following excuses:

I am unable to be entertaining because the cat ate my mouse.
I am unable to be entertaining because 12 pounds of cat is demanding my attention.
I am unable to be entertaining because the cat got behind my computer and pulled out all the plugs.
I am unable to be entertaining because I cannot see my computer screen.

Once you have selected your desired excuse, please move into the lounge and relax until entertainment returns.