Thought of the Day 2010 #133 - 'member

Don't forget to remember! Happy Memorial Day!

Thought of the Day 2010 #132 - Promises

Plant nurseries promise great things to come. Expanses of newly sprouted plants in greenhouses are rejuvenating...even if the greenhouse is swelteringly hot. Every time I visit a nursery, I find some new offerings. Today was no exception. Chocolate bell peppers! While I'm sure they don't taste like chocolate, the promised brown color is a new idea. Yup, of course I picked up a cell pack of them. Will it live up to its fabulous promise? Time will tell.

Thought of the Day 2010 #131 - How Much?

As a country, or even a world, how much time, energy and money do we spend on outward appearance? From cosmetics, to hair transplants, to Spanx tummy control, to shampoos or other hair products, diet programs, excess clothing, etc,etc. I'm thinking that we just have too much time on our hands. If we actually had to work to survive, that crap would be the last thing on our minds.

Thought of the Day 2010 #130 - Awwww Nuts

Why are they sooooooo good, and so dense in fat and calories? Why don't the leaves of the trees taste as good??

Thought of the Day 2010 #129 - Greasy Fingers

I've let some of my family touch the iPad, and it's taught me 1. How to share and 2. That some people have naturally greasy fingers.

Thought of the Day 2010 #128 - Not So Much a Thought

I spent several hours today listing artsy fartsy prints on Etsy.com. Take a peek: There's more than those that show here. Click on "catay" above to see the whole schmear.

Thought of the Day 2010 #127 - Annoying

I'm liking my iPad for the most part, but just trying to do the previous blog post about the pecans was insanely more complex than it needed to be. The upload photo options for Blogger, Flickr, and Picasa were all unavailable through the browser. I assume they're all using java? In any event, it was greyed out. Grrrr. So, I decided to email the photo to Flickr. That worked, but in order to get a direct link to the image, I needed to blog from Flickr directly. Anyway, all in all, it took about 20 minutes when in normal computer world, it would take about 30 seconds.

Thought of the Day 2010 #126 - OMG

This is manna from heaven - Emerald Glazed Pecans. If you like pecans at all, you will lurve these!

Priorities

Because nothing says "important to child develpment" like a ukelele. Hmm...maybe it's like the "recorders" of my school days? I hold those lessons close to my heart, I do.

 

Thought of the Day 2010 #125 - Chocolate Molds

I've been interested in collecting antique chocolate molds for, it seems, ever. During my recent trip to Oregon, I was lucky enough to find a couple of fun molds that were decently priced in an antique shop. Usually they're WAY overpriced and that's only if you do find them. They're scarce in most antique shops these days. Anyway, Ebay always has a healthy dose of them. I looked up chocolate molds and found this sweet item:

 

That's right...a gutted pig chocolate mold by Anton Reiche, one of the premiere mold manufacturers in the early 20th century. What little boy or girl wouldn't want to nibble on a gutted pig?!

Thought of the Day 2010 #124 - Rain

Have you ever seen the rain
coming down on a sunny day?

Ghastly Fabric

Combine two of my obsessions together, Halloween and fabric, and what do you have? Lurve! Found this fabric last night on Etsy. Bought it in a couple of different color families. Gotta hoard fabric, don'tchaknow? I particularly like the Gorey influence of it. Did I say LURVE yet? By the way it's The Ghastlies line by Alexander Henry if you, too, lurve it.

 

Wooohoo! I have an official follower!

Thanks for being my first blog follower, Paul!

How do you feel about the marijuana legalization movement?

I'm in favor of legalizing drugs. Legalization will neuter the drug cartels and potentially eliminate a lot of violent crime here and in Mexico as well as South America. Legalizing currently illicit drugs will allow for open treatment of addicts, it will eliminate the forbidden-fruit appeal of drugs, and it will raise large amounts of tax dollars. It's a win-win in many regards.

People are often concerned that legalization will encourage drug use, but I don't believe that's the case. The people who want to do it now, do it now. Those who don't, don't.

Ask me anything

Assuming you've seen the movie Fargo... After your years living in the Twin Cities, did you think it was an accurate representation of the people living in that part of the country?

Somewhat. There are definitely hints of truth to every stereotype, and Fargo's characterizations are no different. The accents are over the top for the Twin Cities, but if you go to the other parts of the state, you can hear some of it coming through.

Ask me anything

Thought of the Day 2010 #123 - iPad Annoyance

One of the things I miss on the iPad? The ability to use arrow keys. It makes it difficult to edit text passages. While the screen is very touch sensitive, I find that pinpointing a letter on a word is very difficult and time consuming. Viva typos!

Photo Selections of the Week

I actually updated SIX weeks worth today. I know, I know...quite the delay...and really probably not worth the wait, but there they are.

Thought of the Day 2010 #122 - Best Giggle in a Long Time

Ricky Gervais on a creative HIV avoidance leaflet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk6Ino37LQ0&sns=em

What is your favorite way to relax after a hectic day?

Nap!

Ask me anything

So where was the best place you ever ate? Me...Rick's Pizza Rio Grande NJ 1988. Plus a whole yr at half price.

Far too many to list, and too varied to make direct comparisons.

Ask me anything

Would it not be fun to hook up Barry Obama and Glen Beck to advanced lie detectors and see who's lying/deceiving?

I'm sure they both lie. Unless they're taking paternity tests on Maury, I don't really care.

Ask me anything

Did you see John Stewart's send up on Glenn Beck last night? It was stupendous!

Nope. I was on vacation. I'll have to try to find it on YouTube.

Ask me anything

Thought of the Day 2010 #121 - Road Food

Unlike hotel rooms, often the inexpensive, completely unknown,
off-the-beaten-path restaurants often serve the best food. It's usually
worth the risk...and if you end up not liking what's in front of you on
the table, don't eat it, just pay and drive to another no-name-dive.
You'll find good grub out there in nowhereville that doesn't start with
McD.

Thought of the Day 2010 #120 - Hotel Rooms

The difference between a hotel/motel room priced at 49 dollars a night
and one priced at 149 dollars per night? The more expensive room will
permit sleep. The cheaper room has a slab for a bed and cardboard
pillows which promise a toss-n-turn night.

Thought of the Day 2010 #119 - Moss

It's been a beautiful drive going down the Oregon coast. One thing that
come to mind if I were to describe what I've seen today -- moss. The
trees often have dripping moss on the bark, especially in the low lying
areas next to the little tributaries and rivers. It was such a pretty
green contrasting with the dark, damp bark.

Thought of the Day 2010 #118 - Ocean

I don't get to the ocean often, so I was surprised to hear it so angry
last night. I was expecting to hear swish-lap-swish-lap as the waves hit
the beach much as it was in Mazatlan many years ago. Instead, it sounded
like a freight train...a constant freight train... Not really pleasant.

Thought of the Day 2010 #117 - Roadtrip

Part of the fun of road trips is the random finds along the way. While I often ~try~ to find BIG stuff for pictures to potentially use on the BGBS website, almost every road trip we find more than expected. Today was no different -- a muffler man in Wendell, Idaho. Kind of like spotting a rare bird for bird watchers. Super bonus!

Thought of the Day 2010 #116 - Toys

No thoughts again...too busy playing with iPad.

In the last 5 years, what caused you to laugh the hardest??

Hmmm...I don't recall the specifics, but I suspect it would be something my friends or family said.

Ask me anything

did u ever have sex?

I'm not quite sure how to respond. You're missing a qualifier to that question unless you're assuming my life is over and I'm standing at the gates of heaven or hell?

For instance, if you are to add a time qualifier like, "...last year", "...when you were young" the question would make sense and I could say, "Yes."

You could also add a locale qualifier like "...in a truck" or "...in the desert under a blistering sun" or "...on your balcony in Saint Paul" or "...in a corn field" or "...on the moon." I would have to say "Yes" to all of them except the last.

So, you see qualifiers, often found in prepositional phrases, can be our friends.

Ask me anything

What is your favorite local diner like? What do you order there?

My favorite local diner is this hole-in-the-wall Mexican place. Just plain walls, industrial cleaner scent wafting from the back(along with the food smell), rarely anyone else in the place, except to get take out and run. The good thing -a the food and the staff's always friendly. Usually nachos or a combo plate. Yum!

Ask me anything

Thought of the Day 2010 #115 - Waiting

Waiting for my toy...err...tech tool...to arrive. My ipad is slated to
arrive tomorrow. FedEx shows it still in Anchorage, Alaska. Fly, baby,
fly!!

Thought of the Day 2010 #114 - Sleepy Day

No thoughts today...just lots of sleep. I blame hormones and not Cinco
de Mayo.

I promise I will not tell, what are you getting mom for Mother's Day (and no, this is not your mom or one of her many spies)!

My mom has been dead for 20 years, so it's been a long time since I purchased mom's day gifts. I do wonder if she's still got spies, though. Hmmm...

Ask me anything

Thought of the Day 2010 #113 - Viva Mexico!

In honor of our neighbors to the south, Viva Mexico! I'd like to invite
all the southern neighbors over for some chicken tacos, but I think
traveling en masse through Arizona and up to Utah may draw some
suspicion by Arizona's finest (and racist-lawmakers, too). Soooo, enjoy
the festivities where ever you may be!
Viva Mexico!

What's a good philosophy for living a happy life?

I've always enjoyed "Don't sweat the small stuff; it's all small stuff."

Ask me anything

Any Cinco de Mayo plans? At least tequila shots or a taco?

Si! I'm planning on making some Mexican food for dinner, dancing some traditional folk dances (maybe a Mexican hat dance?), and learning one new Spanish word.

Ask me anything

Thought of the Day 2010 #112 - Poplin

I really like the crinkly, poppy, snappy sound of crisp cotton poplin.

what will computers be like in say 10 yrs?

I expect they'll be smaller than they already are, but aside from that, I really don't know. I think it's an exciting prospect, though.

Ask me anything

What did you do for fun this past weekend?

It was a really low-key weekend. I slept in on Saturday. Yay for a little more sleep!

I worked on getting some stuff listed on ebay. (My fabric stash is out of control.)

Did some baking on Saturday: a yummy cream cheese carrot cake loaf from Baking Bite's new cookbook. (http://www.bakingbites.com). Yesterday I made some pizza from scratch. I love homemade pizza dough made in the food processor. So good. I know the majority of the ingredients in it, which I think is good. I can control the salt and keep out the preservatives and other chemical mysteries. One pizza was made with basil pesto that I made from last year's massive basil harvest. The other was a traditional tomato based, cheesy pizza made with homemade sauce, again made from last year's harvest. The only real mystery is cheese. I don't know a lot of people who make their own cheese. Maybe someday I'll figure that out...although the enzymes needed to do it kind of gross me out.

What did you do for fun?

Ask me anything

Photo Selection of the Week RSS Feed

Not sure if anyone want to have this feed, but since I created it for the blog's side panel, might as well have it for feed readers in the event I actually update the photos anytime soon. http://feedity.com/rss.aspx/catay-com/UVJRW1ZR

What is your dream occupation?

I always wanted to be a doctor. I've always liked the sciences, helping people, and potentially making a difference. I just don't have the dedication that it requires.

Ask me anything

Thought of the Day 2010 #111 - Amnesty

I granted a spider free passage as he trailed down to the ground and
back to the ceiling. Maybe I'll kill him tomorrow. (Yup, definitely some
hormone issues...)

Is there a BBW scene in Utah?

Nope, none at all. There were a couple of Yahoo groups that claimed to host events, but there was some sort of melt-down drama between the two groups and a diva in charge a groupA removed any members from her group who belonged to groupB. A certain guilt-by- association bonanza. I do so loveth the drama so much so that I really haven't looked any further into the "scene".

Ask me anything

Why did you leave the Twin Cities and move to Utah?

I married a Utahn and we decided to move to Utah rather than Minnesota.

Ask me anything

Thought of the Day 2010 #110 - Time

There's just not enough of it...especially when I'm in a poor time management mode.

I don't know if it's hormones or just mental energy ebbs/flows, but there are times when I can do a million things in a day and ask "oh, I can do more!" but then realize that the clock really is my enemy. There are other days when I struggle to get anything done on those days, the clock is just my scapegoat 'cuz I'm my own enemy while I waste my own time. I feel, unfortunately, that more often than not lately, my time enemy is myself. I'm lost in my own mind, trapped by random fears, or just wasting time on passive activities. Letting life (and time!) pass me by. It's really depressing when I think of it.

I know that I am fairly productive all in all. Probably more productive than a lot of people, but I have interests in a million areas and I do delve into all of them from time to time, but I feel none of them are getting the attention they deserve. There's just too much unused, wasted or passive time. I look back and kick myself for wasting time on X, Y or Z when I could have been doin A, B, or C.

Maybe I just need to readjust my priorities? And kick myself in the butt prior to wasting time?

Oh, dang...I gotta go...

how big is the universe?

If you really need to ask, then you cannot possibly fathom it.

Ask me anything

how do you potty train a tcup persain cat

With a very small litter box, I would think.

Ask me anything

Do you believe aliens have visited earth?

You may want to ask the Arizona governor about this. I'm sure she'd know.

But seriously, I think there are a lot of unexplained things on Earth that could more easily be explained if there were advanced beings visiting. (Stonehenge, Easter Island, Nazca Lines, etc, etc.)

If the advanced beings aren't the answer, then we may have to rethink our view of ancient man and that may make our brains explode.

Ask me anything

Thought of the Day 2010 #109 - Formspring "Questions"

Hey, just a little bit of housekeeping for this site. Please limit the
use of Formspring's "Ask me anything" form just for questions. I don't
really want comments about posts in there. There's a little "comments"
link at the bottom of each blog post. Use it! You can post there
anonymously just as you can with Formspring.me. Thanks!