Yoda the Cat

With FOUR ears!

Mine has only two and I think even if he DID have four, he still wouldn't listen to me.

Election Polls Feed

Not for sure what's wrong with this thing; noticed a hit on this post and checked and saw there was nothing showing. I made a page with the script and it showed up just fine, only different than the original one. It used to be a nice feed, complete with quite a few different sources for the polls.

Sorry to have inconvenienced you.

Aestival Festival of Words

From the Word of the Day feed in the right-hand column:

aestival \ES-tuh-vuhl\, adjective:
Of or belonging to the summer; as, aestival diseases. [Spelled also estival.]

I can't recall ever seeing this word in print, but I had a suspicion as to what it meant.

Quite a few years ago, I was listening to the radio and a contest question was:

"What is the opposite of hibernation?"

For some reason, I knew the answer; it must have been one of those terms we had to memorize back in 9th grade general science, like "osmosis" or "mitosis", that have stuck in my head ever since.

I called the number, was the first one to get through and gave my answer:

"Estivation".

The host told me "Wow, you sure looked that one up in a hurry!" I tried to explain to him that I knew it, remembered it from h.s., but he didn't believe me.

He had the audacity to doubt my veracity, to insinuate that I prevaricate!

(For all my Texas readers: The sumbitch called me a liar!)

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So funny, I finished up this post and then went to my Excite start page to view the TV listings and on the Word of the Day feed there (from a diff. website) it was:

PEDANT
Definition:
someone who shows off learning
Example:
The graduate instructor's tedious and excessive commentary on the subject soon gained her a reputation as a PEDANT

Pedantic, that's me all right. I have nothing else to show off....

I noticed on my sister's myspace site that she said she would read anything, even the back of cereal boxes. It reminded me of a time when I was in the 4th grade; I had just discovered Heinlein and sci-fi and was spending all my time reading. When I ran out of things to read, I would read the dictionary.

(and I read some fairly adult stuff when I was a kid, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, GWTW, even the Mandingo series, pretty racy)

My grades were really bad that year, something unusual and definitely unacceptable to my parents and my dad forbade me from reading anything that wasn't school-related until I got my scores back up. The morning after the edict was passed down, I was sitting at the breakfast table, all sullen ("swole up like a poisoned pup") and with tears in my eyes from the injustice, blurted out to my mom:

"I wonder if it's all right if I read the back of this cereal box!!!"

It wasn't long after that day that I was taken in for an eye exam where it was discovered...in the words of the dr. ... "My God, Nita (my mom), this boy's blind as a bat!"

After I got glasses, I took a little bit of initial teasing, then my grades zoomed back up. Seems that I was just like every other boy of that age, I wanted to sit at the back of the classroom with the rest of the guys and I couldn't even see the dad-gum blackboard! (I couldn't even see well enough to cheat off of someone else's paper!) I didn't even like recess because the dodge ball would suddenly appear in front of my face in the split second before it smashed into my face!

Reading was the only thing I could do. I didn't know any better because I thought everyone else saw as I did.

My mom always got a kick out of what I said to her after first trying on my new specs:

"Momma...you look....so OLD!"

Mom would giggle, saying that I was so nearsighted I couldn't even see the wrinkles in her face, bless her.

(out of the mouths of babes often comes some hurtful words, y'know?)

She also would laugh, recalling that I read every sign on the way home after getting my glasses. "Stop!" "Yield!" "Highway 70!!!!" "Miami: 20 miles!"

I have always credited my modicum of success on the h.s. football field to my being nearsighted. After the first year of ball and my dad having to repair my glasses for the umpteenth time, he stated "It's either glasses or football!"

(he also told me that about smoking & football, but I paid no attention to him on that one)

Being nearsighted had its advantage playing linebacker; I wasn't often fooled by fakes, instead having to follow the general flow of the play, the guards pulling, how the blockers went to one side or the other. All I did was follow the clump of different colored jerseys, simple as that.

Even so, after I got to the mass of players heading to whichever side, I'd have to tackle them all, pull away guys until I found the one with the ball.

-wink-

Look Out!

This blog has head lice!

(click the graphic for larger view)



I had visited my lovely niece's MySpace site (she's lovely...her site is OK, but not nearly as pretty as she is) and left her a message telling her to drop by this blog when she got a chance. At the time, I was wondering if the link would be deleted...and sure 'nuff, it was.

I don't mind that the link was deleted, not really, because I do realize that's how people are lured to sites w/ malware, etc. but I DO mind this blog, pathetic as it might be, being compared to head lice.

Oh well, better that than crabs, I suppose.

Does anyone have a link for the Blogger equivalent of Kwell?

Signed,

Itchy in Texas

A Cool Jukebox

Ever visited a MySpace site? Many are full of flashing, glittery "sticky content" that could be an epileptic's nightmare. (come to think about it, that could describe this blog)

I'll admit I have one, but never have done anything with it. Due to all the hosted content and huge backgrounds, they sometimes take forever to load, then all of a sudden you're blasted by music you weren't expecting.

Most of those "jukeboxes" come from MyPlaylist, a site that indexes and links to music files around the 'net. The site is two years old, and hasn't been shut down yet, so....

I signed up for an account and started a playlist with some of my favorite tunes. Some of the links I searched through are invalid (and I'm sure a lot of that's from the webmasters being annoyed that their files are being directly linked) but I managed to create a small playlist.

I'm not sure that "Du Hast" belongs right next to Enya's "Only Time" though. That's how my musical tastes are, all over the map. (I guess that would describe my political leanings, too)

Senior Dress Code

From the email archives:

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Many of us 'Old Folks' (those over 50, WAY over 50, or hovering near 50) are quite confused about how we should present ourselves. We are unsure about the kind of image we are projecting and whether or not we are correct as we try to conform to current fashions. Despite what you may have seen on the streets, the following combinations DO NOT go together and should be avoided:

1. A nose ring and bifocals
2. Spiked hair and bald spots
3. A pierced tongue and dentures
4. Miniskirts and support hose
5. Ankle bracelets and corn pads
6. Speedo's and cellulite
7. A belly button ring and a gall bladder surgery scar
8. Unbuttoned disco shirts and a heart monitor
9. Midriff shirts and a midriff bulge
10. Bikinis and liver spots
11. Short shorts and varicose veins
12. Inline skates and a walker

And last, but not least

13. Thongs and Depends