Beer Bottle Cap

There are 21 "teeth" on the standard beer bottle cap.

Useless information?  Perhaps, but it might win you a free beer on a bet in a bar.

Marie's Blog

I missed this when the show was on, but with the Breaking Bad marathon going on this weekend, the BB Facebook page did a post on it. If you are/were a big fan of the series, you might find it funny.

Marie's Blog

Run Like Hell - Pink Floyd

One-Eared Insect

The only insect known to have just one ear is the mantis, also commonly referred to as a "praying mantis".  Its single ear has two eardrums and is capable of picking up ultrasonic sounds, essential in detecting the echolocation cries of the bat, one of its biggest predators.

Oddly enough, it was just a few days ago I saw this bit of trivia on the same day of the anniversary of Vincent van Gogh cutting off his ear.

cryophobia

cryophobia - fear of extreme cold, frost or ice.

I don't "fear" those things but intensely dislike them...and it's not so much dislike of them but rather a hatred of the huge heating bills that accompany extreme cold, frost or ice.

Sometimes they make me want to cry...and that's a phobia I can do without.

Holiday Greetings to All!

Sincere holiday greetings to my online friends, family and everyone else who visits my pathetic excuse for a blog. I hope you have a lovely Christmas and a fantastic new year!

Holiday Element

I don't really think these result apply to me at all; I don't shine "especially bright" at this time of year and don't have a lot of fun, nor do I craft fun items.  Since the Cowboys usually melt down during December, I'm usually not enthusiastic or optimistic. I DO try to make the best of the holiday, though.  I really haven't cared about the holiday since my momma passed away. -sigh-

The one thing that's right is that my holiday element is fire- I wish I had a fireplace for a little extra warmth and to lessen the huge natural gas bills during the winter.

Your Holiday Element is Fire

You shine brightly every time of year, but you shine especially bright during the holidays. You have so much fun this time of year - whether you're getting friends together or crafting fun items. You are enthusiastic and optimistic about the holidays. You make the best of whatever holiday you're able to have. You know this is a hard time of year for some, so you try to cheer up everyone you know with cookie deliveries and little surprises.

What's Your Holiday Element?

EDIT TO ADD: No, I don't have a fireplace, but I had forgotten about this Hulu video I saw a while back. Guess I could get my electric heater and put it at chest level while I sit at the computer and have it blast on me while I watch the vid.  There are several versions, some w/ music.

Fireplace for Your Home: Classic Edition (2013)

You Just Might Be A Scrooge

From the archives:

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You Just Might Be A Scrooge...

If your only contact with three spirits on Christmas Eve is gin, vodka and bourbon.

If you turn on the lawn sprinklers on Christmas Eve to keep carolers away.
 
If you buy all of your Christmas gifts at a store that also sells gas.

If your favorite version of "Babes in Toyland" stars Michael Jackson.

If you get your Christmas Tree at a rest stop at night.

If you give bathroom fixtures as Christmas gifts.

If your prized Christmas ornament is Santa Claus shooting the moon.

If your favorite Christmas movie is Jurassic Park.

If your idea of Christmas dinner is a six pack of beer and a cheese log.

If you think "Ho, Ho, Ho" is a line from a Rocky movie.

If your best Christmas tradition involves a fire and reindeer meat.

If your favorite version of "Silent Night" is sung by OJ Simpson.

If your favorite past time is putting defective bulbs in your neighbors' string of Christmas lights or defacing Christmas lawn caricatures with egg nog.

And, finally - if your only holiday decoration is a rotting pumpkin - you just might be a Scrooge.

Silent Night

Silent Night was first performed Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, Austria. The song was written a year before, the lyrics by the young priest Father Joseph Mohr and the melody by Franz Gruber.

Over the years, the song's fame spread throughout the world, but neither man enjoyed the work's success. Mohr died penniless in 1848 and Gruber lived in obscurity and died in poverty in 1863.

Sounds (that drive me) Crazy

Remember this Overstock.com commercial? It's been one of my favorite adverts of all-time. The woman is Sabine Ehrenfeld, a German model and actress born in Nov. 1963. I liked the commercial not just because she's pretty, but there's *something* about her voice that drives me wild, sending shivers down my spine. ("good" shivers) I'm not sure if it's the pitch or timbre of her voice that does it, but she's not the only female that does it to me; Shania Twain and Trisha Yearwood also affect me much the same way. 

Now, I'm not particularly a huge fan of Twain and Yearwood's music;  I like country just fine, but it's not my favorite musical genre.  I do have a few tunes of each perfomer in my mp3 jukebox, but haven't collected their albums like you might think I would, especially considering how their voices make me feel.  In fact, it's not Yearwood's singing voice that does it for me, but rather just her ordinary way of speaking.  I try to catch her new cooking show on the Food Network as often as possible, Trisha's Southern Kitchen.  I like her recipes just fine, but mostly enjoy listening to her talk.

While I'm on the subject of cooking shows, there's another lovely lady whose voice also drives me nuts and that's Nigella Lawson. I also try to watch her show as often as it comes on the network, but to be honest? Five minutes after the show was over I doubt I could tell you what she had cooked , but could definitely tell you the color of the sweater she had worn.  Worn very well. -ahem-

12 Days of Christmas

fiddlesticks

fiddlesticks fid·dle·sticks [fid-l-stiks] interjection
(used to express impatience, dismissal, etc.)

fiddlestick fid·dle·stick [fid-l-stik] noun
anything; a bit: "I don't care a fiddlestick for what they say."

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I had to laugh when I saw this as the World of the Day; just a couple of weeks ago, I was telling an employee of a store where I purchase the Beej's food that there hadn't been any on the shelf in over a month. "Oh, yeah." the young woman replied. "That's one of those things we didn't get on the truck.".

I didn't believe her.  "Fiddlesticks!" I said. "The office marks you out of the product?" I asked in a blustering manner, knowing how their inventory system worked. "Mmm-huh." the girl said with a surety I knew was feigned.

"Fiddlesticks!" I said again. I knew they had been having problems keeping employees, but it wasn't just cat food that wasn't being put out; I estimated that at least 10-15% of their shelving was empty.  "Why would they mark YOU out of the product when your other store always has it in stock?" I went on ranting: "That's where I've been having to go to get it.".

"What was that you said to me?" asked the young woman, acting offended. I repeated what I had said, that the other store had it and..."No, at first, that 'fiddle-something'?" I started to explain, but about that time the mgr. showed up and wanted to know what was wrong. I repeated my problem and the girl interrupted "He wants some sort of fiddle cat food."

The manager looked at me like I was nuts and I laughed and told her I had said "fiddlesticks", not believing they didn't have any of the cat food and that I bet it was in the back room. The manager, a woman not quite my age but quite a bit older than her employee, laughed too. "Fiddlesticks" said the mgr. to her employee. "It's an old-fashioned and polite way of saying 'Bullsh*t'!"

Anyway, long story short, the mgr. consulted her inventory sheets and the young woman was sent to the back room to dig though the mountainous pile of stock to find the cat food.  Sure 'nuff, they had loads of it. I bought a couple of cartons, enough to last the Beej for a few weeks.

From now on, maybe I shouldn't use such a polite term as "fiddlesticks".  I've got plenty of the regular curse words in stock.

Holiday Greetings

You Are Merry Christmas

You are a traditionalist when it comes to the holidays, and you aren't going to be politically correct about it. You celebrate Christmas, and you don't think there's any reason to hide it. Most other people celebrate it too. You are content to wish everyone a "Merry Christmas." It doesn't have to be a religious thing. "Happy Holidays" is just too generic for your taste. You aren't going to tone down your greeting for anyone.

What Holiday Greeting Are You?

Moonlighters

I'm sitting here waiting on the Cowboys/Redskins game that starts at noon and the host on the online radio show I'm listening to said it's raining in Washington, DC.  I decided I'd go look at the DC area weather radar to see if it looked like it would rain all through the game. (I'm thinking Dallas would benefit from good, dry weather because I think the offense will have to carry the day)

On the website header there is a graphic with two of the station's weather people;  I didn't pay them much mind at first, but after looking at the radar, my gaze was drawn back to them...they looked familiar:

The graphic says their names are Doug Hill and Jacqui Jeras, but I'm not so sure.

I think it's Joe Biden and Gwyneth Paltrow moonlighting at their second jobs.

Sober Santa

The object of the game is simple: Using the keyboard arrow keys, get Santa drunk by guiding him to the champagne bottles; after that, nab the gifts as they appear....all the while trying to keep him from falling off the roof.

Santa's pretty snockered, though, so you'll have to excuse his belching and passing gas.

Play Sober Santa

My Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

I've been good all year  most of the time   once in a while.

I'll just buy my own presents.

Love,
Mike

Right Addy, Wrong Sex

Took the link out; I didn't click on it and I certainly wouldn't want you to do so, either. As always, though, I left in the email address in hopes they get as much spam sent back to them as they send out.

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Daisy O'Neill   Daisy@thwllbawr.com

 

Hello Mike, I’m just a simple woman like you are trying to raise my kids decently and make my husband happy. Not too long ago, I also had an annoying boss in my daily agenda. Thanks God, it’s not the case anymore :) Today I am confident, relaxed and truly happy. I couldn’t have done it without my friend, Carla, opening my eyes. So here I am, trying to become a friend of yours, showing you all the things that changed my life. I’m talking about a few hours a day to raise your living standards. You’ll be able to spoil your kids, surprise your husband and dedicate some time for yourself Have I made you curious? It’s all in here, so just click!

Your entrance ticket here Mike

I’m quite new to this too, so I’d love staying in touch, watching each other’s progress :) Daisy

Saturday Siren Sounds

They test the system ea. Sat. at noon, except when there is stormy weather in the area or during high school commencement ceremonies. They also break in on all cable channels with a test message preceded by a different sounding and extremely loud and harsh-toned siren, interrupting my Martha Bakes program on PBS.

That is NOT a good thing.*

*Just in case you aren't familiar with Martha Stewart, "That's a good thing." is a signature phrase she uses.

transpontine

transpontine trans·pon·tine[trans-pon-tin, -tahyn] adjective

1. across or beyond a bridge.
2. on the southern side of the Thames in London.

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I had never seen this word in print nor heard it used, but after seeing it I was reminded of something my sisters and I used to do on trips with our parents; we'd come to a bridge and we'd all hold our breath until we got to the other side.

I remember one particularly long bridge we crossed while on vacation and my oldest sister and I gave up and started breathing again before we passed out but my other sister acted like she was holding her breath all the way. She had her lips pursed tight and face scrunched up like it was painful but it was obvious she was breathing through her nose because her chest was moving. After we got to the other side, she "let out" the air with an explosive gasp and denied that she had cheated. 

Years later she got onto me for telling my nephews how I would do when I had to jump center in basketball against a much taller boy; right before the referee threw the ball up in the air, I'd step on the guy's foot. Sometimes I got away with it, other times I got a foul called against me. It irked me to have my sister criticize me about cheating when she cheated at a childhood game like holding your breath while crossing the bridge. Oh well.

Like most other kids, we did things like that to pass the time. We'd also hold our feet up when crossing railroad tracks and touch the roof of the car when going under an elevated railway crossing when a train was passing overhead.

I still do that last one!

There's Something Fishy

About these quiz results!

Don't get me wrong; I like fish sandwiches.  I've bought fish sticks and put them on a bun (hot dog, preferably), slathered it w/ tartar sauce and chowed down. (Aren't fish sticks the equivalent of a hot dog, anyway?  You really don't know what-all types of fish are in them)

That said, I am definitely not a fish burger.  I thought about getting a hamburger tonight after I went to the grocery store, but I always want fries w/ them and that many carbs are just not good for me.  Still, if I had to choose between a fish burger and a hamburger (cheeseburger!), I'd almost always opt for the hamburger. (with cheese!)  I guess if I had burgers every day for a week, I might want a change-of-pace and pick the fish burger, but straight up I'll choose the hamburger. (with cheese, please!)

You Are a Fish Burger

You tend to be a healthy eater, but not because you try so hard. You simply like a variety of interesting foods. You love flavor, spice, and interesting new creations. You may not consider yourself a foodie, but you are a very adventurous eater. You are an optimistic, good-humored person who loves to step outside your comfort zone. Normal is boring! You are curious about the world and other people. You live an open and expansive life that you're constantly adding to.

What Kind of Burger Are You?
 

Blogthings: 100's of Fun, Free Quizzes and 3 Stupid Ones

Shape Trace

Shape Trace is a maddeningly frustrating game, so much so I can't put the tag "fun" on this post.

You'll be shown a shape and then be asked to use your mouse to trace the outline:

The big trouble with that normally easy task is when you start, the shape disappears and you have to do the trace from memory:

That was my best effort, and it still wasn't good enough to move on to the next level. I'm not sure just what excuse I should offer up, because I'm not drunk nor am I hungover...maybe I should go get tested for Parkinsons? (seriously) It's not that I can't recall where the lip of the bowl was, it's that I cannot get my mouse to cooperate.

I never was much good with an Etch A Sketch®, either.

Play Shape Trace

A "bump" from 2009.

Christmas Presence (Part 2) - Simon's Cat

Cat v. Chicken

Sorry it's so huge of a file, but I thought it really funny.

misoneism

misoneism mis·o·ne·ism [mis-oh-nee-iz-uhm, mahy-soh-] noun

hatred or dislike of what is new or represents change.

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I wasn't familiar with this word, but definitely am familiar with the definition. I'm one of those people who resist change, but it's basically with websites or operating systems or the layouts of my favorite stores (especially when products I often buy are put somewhere else!).  When I get used to something, it's hard for me to change over to the new system...but I eventually do.  What annoys me the most is when I don't see the upside to the change and think that it's just change for changes sake.

I've never seen this term applied to them, but many conservatives get accused of a hatred of change, but in most cases, that's not true or deserved.  I can't speak for other conservatives, but as for me, I don't generally dislike the change after I get used to it, but I don't like things to be changed just to be changed.   If the change is good...and doesn't cost a ton of money...then I'm all for it.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.   Dallas Cowboys, why in the world did you abandon the run when it was working so well?  The conservative approach was winning the ball game.

creepy

creepy – adjective, creepier, creepiest

1. having or causing a creeping sensation of the skin, as from horror or fear: a creepy ghost story.
2. that creeps: a creepy insect.
3. Slang. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a person who is a creep; obnoxious; weird.

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This isn't the word of the day from our feed in the right-hand column. No, it's the first word that came to mind when I viewed the following video.

(and I was spot-on with the word I chose, according to the definitions)

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It's Lonely in My Skull

Not much in there besides some shallow thoughts.

You Live a Solitary Life

You love to be alone in quiet contemplation. If you are forced to socialize, you tend to be a wallflower. You like to focus more on fantasy than reality. You are concerned with what is possible not what is actual. You'd like to be remembered more for your work than who you are as a person. You want to make important contributions. In fact, you're the type of person who others may not understand until they have seen what you have created.

The Sugar Skull Test

Solitary Man - Neil Diamond

umbriferous

umbriferous um·brif·er·ous [uhm-brif-er-uhs] [uhm-brif-er-uhs] adjective

casting or making shade

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I've slimmed down quite a bit, but at one time I was umbriferous.