It’s really bassackward of me, but I’ve never read Neil Gaiman’s fiction. I’ve only read his blog. I keep thinking that I need to rectify this sad lapse on my part, based on how he writes about his activities and the little things that make modern life bearable. Such as glow-in-the-dark 256MB rubber ducky USB storage devices. They exist; they are described as “somewhat less sinister ducks” in Mr. Gaiman’s blog entry. Somewhat less sinister than what? Mergansers? Canada geese? Hawaiian nene? There are always Canada geese lurking on the corporate parklands that dot my part of the Chicago suburbs.…

I went to Ask Peeves today and found that my work firewall won’t let me access the site, probably because it has naughty langwidge. Langwidge!! Suffice to say, I’m peeved today. It’s Take Yer Sprog To Work Day The air conditioning is blowing Reekette’s stale tobacco funk in my face This makes my chest tight, my eyes water, and of course there’s coughing and sneezing too Didn’t bother to bring inhaler or nasey-poof spray because allergies had improved I forgot I was supposed to dress up today because of a visiting VIP I ran late Placeholder for a peeve to…

There is no rest for the dead, and there is apparently no privacy for the dying – if you’re famous, that is. CBS: this is disgusting, shameful, and beneath the dignity of a Big Three network. Diana, Princess of Wales, has been dead nearly 7 years. She was literally hounded to death by the newsies, and they’re still picking her bones for a story. Yeah, I’m touchy on the subject of Diana. Like many women my age and thereabouts, I was a “fan” of sorts – I consumed stories about her like mad when she first showed up on the…

Right. I’m disorganized and easily distracted. That much should be obvious to anyone that stumbles across this site looking for plumbing or flooring help. The design (or lack thereof) and scattershot categories speak volumes. So today I went looking for helpful websites, because in the last couple of years I’ve concluded that I probably have some form of ADD, which was never diagnosed when I was young. And I thought I might find some new information, because there aren’t that many studies or books published on ADD/ADHD in adult women or girls as of yet. And this is what I…

FOOD 5.2 MOBILITY 0.7 SHELTER 7.4 GOODS/SERVICES 5.4 TOTAL FOOTPRINT 19 (in acres) IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON. WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON. IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 4.2 PLANETS. via Pale Blue Dot I know that we could do better than 19 acres per person just around the house. David drives a lot farther to work each day; his acreage is higher than mine. The fact that we don’t have kids is another factor that reduces our footprint – we don’t have any…

I had jury duty today. I’m extremely happy to announce that I don’t have jury duty tomorrow – I’m not sure why not, but I was excused after the first round of “voir dire.” I was excused by the prosecutors – first one called up to sit in the jury box, first one excused. As I was leaving with one of the other lucky excusees, I leaned over and whispered “score!” gleefully (we were out in the hallway with our checks for $17.50 in hand). I wouldn’t mind serving – just not at California Avenue Criminal Court. It’s a pain…

Just a couple of orange couch potatos – I love this photo. Actually, there’s a whole series of shots, but the ones showing me full length are too horrible for the Internet. Stuey’s also the reason I’m in a gardening frame of mind. I got all the plants in the ground tonight at last – somehow $95 worth of perennials looks kinda small, but I’m pretty sure they’ll grow (some of them will grow to 2 – 3 feet). There’ll be a rain barrel right near them so watering them won’t be a chore. I got lupine, spiked gayfeather, blue…

An example of synchronicity? The world knows no boundaries of nation or language; if it’s spring, there’re plants for sale tempting people to try to get them to grow. Earlier today I was plant-shopping in Schaumburg. Meanwhile, Mediatinker was plant-shopping in Japan. Lamb’s Ear is the softest plant ever. I love stroking its leaves and was very happy to do so at the herb shop we visited today. I didn’t buy any, though. Instead I picked up parsely, sage, rosemary, thyme, margoram, basil, shiso, lemon balm, tarragon, wild strawberry, lettuce, yarrow, lavender, and eucalyptus. I would have purchased more, but…

Happy Easter, Hurray Spring, and so on. It’s been a interesting weekend for a holiday. Easter for me was last night, because Holy Moly chooses to do all the Easter celebrating on the Saturday night Vigil service, and skips a Sunday morning service entirely. Every parish does things “the way it’s always been done;” our way takes the view that nobody wants to go to church late one night and early the next morning if they’ve got little kids (theoretically, at least, on the “if they’ve got little kids” score). Here’s how it’s done, according to the powers that be.…

There’s been a website for To-Do Lists for a while now, so I thought I’d take a look at it as long as I have a little list of my own. Things To Do This Week(End) Bring fruit salad for work food day thing tomorrow Get extra for 2nd fruit salad for reception after Easter Vigil Clean out garage, get mower loaded into RAV. Start some seeds. Do some yard cleanup. Get to Holy Moly with fruit salad in tow by 730pm. Happy Easter! Sleep in, no church Sunday morning. Try to accomplish something undone from list before leave house…