I haven’t had much to say recently. Between recovering from the visit of the 3 1/2 year old, and the sudden onset of an icky cold, I just haven’t had much to say. So…

If you were bored, here are the top ten things to be found on my website:

Yup. Other people besides me don’t know that puncuation is actually spelled punctuation.

And if you’re really really bored, there’s always Corn Cam or the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices (both old favorites)

Two days till my birthday and I think I’m coming down with a cold.

This is entirely unacceptable.

Where’s the complaint department?

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote that the campaign against terrorism notwithstanding, “a state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation’s citizens.”

Inter arma silent leges?

Perhaps not.

Giant Eagle, probably in response to Kroger’s, has finally dedicated an entire aisle to organic items.

The aisle is located at the far end of the store, just opposite the bakery, and aisle that I never go down. It used to be “seasonal items” and it’s placement across from the bakery guaranteed I didn’t go down the aisle. I never need “seasonal items” and if I don’t see the doughnuts, then I don’t buy them.

But now organic items are there, so I have to walk down that aisle.
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Guess it’s true.

It’s one thing to know that we’ve spent a lot of money on the house this year–replacing the air conditioner wasn’t cheap.

It’s something else entirely to look at a graph of our spending for the past year and see, “GAH! We’re hemorrhaging money!”

Similar to the top 200 books, only different.

Bold is what I’ve seen, which is more than most people would expect, all things considered
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The Lions of Al-Rassan Guy Gavriel Kay

This is a very good, albeit very depressing book. Set in the same world as Sailing to Sarantium, this book describes the battles between the followers of Jad versus the Asharites.

If Sailing to Sarantium reminded me of Rome, this book reminded me of Spain. Of the Crusades. Of Christianity and Islam, with Judaism caught in between.

Read More about The Lions of Al-Rassan

Witches Abroad, Mort, Wyrd Sisters, Small Gods, Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

I’m still going through Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. This set of books included three books about the Discworld witches Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlick; another book about Death, and a book about the Gods of Discworld.

I think I liked Mort, where Death takes an apprentice, best of this group.

Read More about Witches Abroad, Mort, Wyrd Sisters, Small Gods, Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

The Boy Who Drew Cats by Arthur A. Levine. Paintings by Frederic Clement

I first read this tale when I was in elementary school. It was one of the stories in my reading book (it was 4th, 5th or 6th grade, I can’t remember for certain), and for some reason, this tale stuck with me. Several years ago, Erin found me a copy of the story in a small collection of Japanese folktales, and it was just as I had remembered. (For this, I am eternally grateful to Erin.)

Read More about The Boy Who Drew Cats

Scientists in Norway are going to be accurately measuring and studying glaciers. These Autonomous Sub-Glacial Probes will be set deep into glaciers and measure temperature, pressure, and speed, and analyze the sediment.

Although the implications for studying global climate change are tremendous, what I find most fascinating is just the idea of it. Technology has advanced so far that we can place an electronic “rock” deep into the bowels of a glacier. It is advances like this that keep me from being overwhelmed by all the negative technological advances humanity makes.

You can also check out some pictures of glaciers.

Happy Belated Birthday West Virginia!

Yes, we are a separate state.
No, we’re not near the beach.
Yes, we do get snow here.

It’s so cold in parts of the building today, that I’m expecting frost and snow to appear in the hallways.

If we build a snowman, I’ll take pictures.

Rep. John Peterson, R-Penn., said if hunters support ending logging or road building in the Tongass, they’re misguided.

“I don’t know how many of you hunt, but my hunters hunt where people timber,” he said. “Old-growth forests don’t have a lot of wildlife because there’s no food there.”

What kind of idiot are they electing up there in Pa?
(via pericat)