Anecdotes, Antidotes, and Anodes

Wordless Wednesday

Click 'em to Big 'em...

OK, so I can't post without talking...

Did any of the photos capture your interest?

Fun Monday #3 information is located in the following post.

Fun Monday #2

Fun Monday Continues...

Erik, The Electronic Firefly has instructed us to post some baby pictures.

So, here goes...

 

I was NOT happy about my bangs. My dad was Edward Scissor Hands when it came to trimming them.

Obviously, I was bribed with something but still wouldn't look straight into the camera.

Erik has tagged me to host our next Fun Monday which was the brainchild of Vicki and DubYaT.

Here are the Fun Directions for Monday, February 5:

1) No Thinking. Share the post that IMMEDIATELY comes to your mind when asked, "What is the most significant, powerful post you have ever read?"  It can be funny, sad, informative, quirky, a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g.  It is the post that comes to your mind FIRST !

2) Locate that post on someone's blog and link us to it. It can be one of your own posts.

Objectives:

1) Take us down memory lane. Remind us of stories we may have forgotten.

2) Take yourself down memory lane searching for the post that came to your mind FIRST.

3) Introduce us to other bloggers or reveal a story about a blogger we know but have not read.

I very seldom take the time to delve into a fellow blogger's archives, and thought this would be a nice way to learn something new or remind us of a story from the past. Plus, how easy is this? Link us to someone's story.

Example:

The post Not My Day To Die comes to my mind F.I.R.S.T at Julie's Another Chance Ranch.

If you want to be a part of Fun Monday, February 5, send me your e-mail address, URL, and any questions you might have about these directions. Leave a comment this week or send a message to [email protected]

OK ! OK ! You can link us to as many posts as you want when posed that question. You don't have to choose just O.N.E.

I am tagging Marnie to host the next Fun Monday. Her mission, should she choose to accept it, is to tell us what we are to post for Fun Monday, February 12.

And one FinaL shot:

Top Ten Things I've Learned About Blogging

BLOGGING CHICKS CARNIVAL 

Top Ten Things I've Learned NOT to Post on My Blog:

10. Stay Away From Politics !

Do NOT try to predict who might be our next President.

9.  Do not insinuate that certain Presidents are clowns.

8. Do not threaten people who never comment.

7. Do not try to sell your cat on your blog !

6. Do not try to start your own dating service on your blog.

5. Do not post pictures of what you turned your ex-boyfriends and husband into.

Remember, I AM a witch.

4. Do not post pictures of your current husband after his visit to Trinidad, Colorado, the sex-change capital of the world.

3. Do not post pictures of a Menage-de-Twa on your blog.

2. Do not post diagrams like this, survey your readers as to which is the male brain and which is the female brain, and expect your male readers to like you. (You will be accused of being a misandrist.)

And the #1 thing I've learned not to post on my blog...

A picture of Grandma in a Thong...

Any other ideas of what NOT to post on your Blog / Glob ?

Be sure to check out, Erik - The Electronic Firefly for what's going on with Fun Monday tomorrow.

2007 Weblog Awards

"AND THE WINNER IS..."

Well, at least she's been nominated for "Best Kept Secret Weblog."

How in the world she can be a secret is a mystery to me because I thought everyone knew about Pioneer Woman.

If you are interested in reading, listening to, or watching an entertaining Way of Life on a Ranch, just mosey on over to Ree's Place.

You will enjoy Tanner-the Pooping Dog, Ethel Merman impersonations, Fine Assortments of Burping, Listening to Her Children ask for Juice Bags, and see some of the most exquisite photography anywhere.

While you are there, take the time to vote for her. Just check out the right side bar to cast your ballot. It's so easy.  Let's send her to Austin, Texas.

Go get a cup of coffee and settle in for a good time. What else do you have to do today?  Laughing is so good for the body and soul and mind, and spirit, and whatever else you have that needs a good giggle.

So now, run, don't walk to PIONEER WOMAN.

Recipe for Fun or Disaster ?

Directions and Ingredients :

Start with some steps covered in snow...

Locate a garden hose, thaw it in the hot tub, hook the hose up and spray the steps with water...

This creates a type of luge just outside your front door...

Gently add a little boy...

Fold in another little boy...

Blend together one more little boy...

Dump into the mixture one great big boy...

Sprinkle in a sled, a rope, and a dog...

Sift in a sage brush...

Stir in a generous amount of courage...

Tumble in another dog and a deflated football...

Remove any common sense that the big boy might possess and remove the snow from in front of the big tree.

What's the number for 9-1-1 ?

Generously add cookies...( a plate full for each little boy)

and cups of hot chocolate...

. . . and there you have it...

A Recipe for Fun ..or Disaster... depending on how many bones were broken.

This is a sign-up sheet for those who want to be in charge of theHansMan for awhile:

1.

2.

3.

Reading MeMe

Another MeMe...This time, a Reading MeMe assignment from CLAUDIA. The directions are:

1)  Grab the book closest to you

2)  Open to page 123. Go to the 5th sentence

3)  Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog.

4)  Name the book and author

5)  Tag 3 people (optional)

If you click this to big it, hopefully, it's readable. If not, be creative and just make up your own captions.

Page 123:

I need hardly point out that when he did get one it tended to be good. Einstein's next idea was one of the greatest that anyone has ever had---indeed, the very greatest, according to Boorse, Motz, and Weaver in their thoughtful history of atomic science. "As the creation of a single mind," they write, "it is undoubtedly the highest intellectual achievement of humanity,"  which is of course as good as a compliment can get.  In 1907, or so it has sometimes been written, Albert Einstein saw a workman fall off a roof and began to think about gravity.

Title:    "A Short History of Nearly Everything"

Author: Bill Bryson (one of my favorite authors)

And because I just can't do a post without a picture or 10, I provided the setting whilst I was reading this book...

What I was doing...

... and looking at ...

What book(s) are you reading ? I need a new list, so please share.

Thinking MeMe

Janet at Westcliffe Tagged Me with a Thinking MeMe.. I wasn't exactly sure how to complete this assignment, so I just decided to do it with song.  Each link is either a video or song...just "read" between the lines.

1) If you had to choose one vice , or another , in exclusion of all others, what would it be?

2) If you could change one specific thing about the world what would it be?

3) Name the cartoon character you identify with the most.

4) If you could live one day in your life over again, which one would it be?

5) If you could go back in history and spend a day with one person who would it be?

6) What is the one thing you lost, sold, or threw away that you wish you could have back?

7) What is your one most important contribution , another version to this world? Lyrics Here.

8) What is your hidden talent that nearly no one knows about?

9) What is your most cherished possession. Words are here.

10) What one person influenced your life the most when growing up?

11) What one word describes you better than any other?

12) What message would you send your significant other ?

13) What period of time in your teen age years bring back vivid memories?

14) My wish for YOU. 

15) And may your dreams come true here.

A-B-C MeMe

Thank ! You ! Jenny at Mama Drama. After you tagged me with this ABC MeMe, I have categorized every waking moment of my life since then with a letter of the alphabet.  My research took me to Stephanie who was the culprit who tagged you. So ... Thank ! You ! Too ! Stephanie.

It is my understanding that the directions are to relate each letter of the alphabet (thank goodness there are only 26) with something that pertains to my blog or about MeMe. It didn't say anything about writing a poem, which I found that Min at Mama Drama also felt compelled to do.

In keeping with the general theme here at The Asylum, I have chosen to just ramble with randomness, provide links here and there, and sprinkle in some pictures along the way.

A is for:  A Story of How All This Began

B is for: Being Bald  (Many October posts were about Breast Cancer Awareness.)

C is for: Cruella...

D is for: Daisy Dog... (A sweet little Blue-Heeler who plays with Junior, now.)

E is for:    Elmo: ... and Elmo, Again:...

F is for:  Family and Friends ...  (Ladybug Julie in her OSU garb pictured on the Family and Friends link)

G is for: Girlfriends...

H is for: Hurry Home Ben, our son-in-law stationed in Iraq (and for Harrison)...

I is for:  Icicles in Colorado...

J is for: Junior...

K is for: Kathy...another MeMe and another MeMe

L is for: Lurking my Blog with Bubba...

M is for: Moon...

N is for:  Notes left for theHansMan...(click it to read his Notes back to me.)

O is for:  OU Sooners, West

P is for: Pilots...

Q is for: Quail that live at my house

R is for: Refrigerator with a pictorial story of its own and a Hanstory ...

S is for:  SwampDrainer:  aka: theHansMan...pronounced theHawnsMawn...

T is for: Tailhook.

U is for: UP a Tree Without a Paddle...

V is for: Valhalla. The reason I was on ABC News and the "Daily Show with Jon Stewart"

W is for: "Whose horses are these...could they be Ree's?" ( a short little ditty of a poem)

X is for:  Xylophone...an instrument I can't play but this 3 year-old can.

Y is for:  You fill in the blank ________________ with questions or comments.

Z is for: Zorba the Greek... a story I have always liked.

"I remembered one morning when I discovered a cocoon in the bark of a tree, just as a butterfly was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out. I waited a while, but it was too long appearing and I was impatient. I bent over it and breathed on it to warm it. I warmed it as quickly as I could and the miracle began to happen before my eyes, faster than life. The case opened, the butterfly started slowly crawling out and I shall never forget my horror when I saw how its wings were folded back and crumpled; the wretched butterfly tried with its whole trembling body to unfold them. Bending over it, I tried to help it with my breath. In vain.

It needed to be hatched out patiently and the unflolding of the wings should be a gradual process in the sun. Now it was too late. My breath had forced the butterfly to appear, all crumple, before its time. It struggled desperately and, a few seconds later, died in the palm of my hand.

That little body is, I do believe, the greatest weight I have on my conscience. For I realize today that it is a mortal sin to violate the great laws of nature. We should not hurry, we should not be impatient, but we should confidently obey the eternal rhythm." 

---Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis

ABC's for life:

Accept differences

Be kind

Count your blessings

Dream

Express thanks

Forgive

Give freely

Harm no one

Imagine more

Jettison anger

Keep confidences

Love truly

Master something

Nurture hope

Open your mind

Pack lightly

Quell rumors

Reciprocate

Seek wisdom

Touch hearts

Understand

Value truth

Win graciously

Xeriscape

Yearn for peace

Zealously support a worthy cause.

An ABC idea from my days in the classroom:

This is a little book that can be used to record memories. It is especially useful for children when traveling or just as a "journaling technique." List names of people, places, events, phone numbers, restaurants, draw illustrations, etc. in ABC order.  Different trips can be dated and color-coded, and the book can be used many times. Makes a great reference book for later.

Or, a sheet of lined paper with the ABC's listed down the pages works just fine. These pages can be titled, dated and kept in a 3-ring notebook.  "Kids" like the idea of jotting down words or phrases instead of complete sentences.  This teaches "note-taking" techniques with the use of key words.

Whew ! ...Oops ! I forgot ! Stephanie, in her comment, reminded me of this one:

T is for:  Testicle Sorority of which I am a member at Mama Drama.

Error 6A00

Ever Had One of These Days ? . . .

. . . when your alarm light was blinking on and off...and on and off ?

So, you "Googled" Error 6A00 and found that about 1,000 other people had experienced an Error 6A00 day, too.  So, you read their stories and follow the instructions to "fix"  Error 6A00 and had the same kind of luck they did.  None.  That you only ended up with black fingers.  So, you call the tech-help-support line and wait for someone to answer your call...and wait...and wait... So, finally, after 4 cups of coffee laced with Bailey's, and about 15 songs you never want to hear again, Gandhik answers your call.

Gandhik was very nice, I'm sure. His voice was soothing and accomodating and reassuring. I just wish I knew what he said. Something like, "send receipt, receive confirmation, refurbished machine mailed you, mail your machine in box," ... and the seasons have changed a couple of times.

I tried to explain that this machine was only 131 days old. That I didn't want a refurbished machine. That I wanted my machine's alarm light to stop blinking. That I wanted Error 6A00 to go away. That I just wanted my machine to make that pretty humming sound and work today.  Please.

Gandhik, bless his heart, tried to walk me through the steps I had already followed that turned all my fingers black. I explained, "That didn't work."  He summoned a co-worker to "walk" me through the next procedure.

On a bright note, I clearly understood, "Ma'am, the closest qualified repairman is O.N.E. hour away." 

I said, "I want my machine to work N.O.W. !  Was there a defect with this particular machine? "

"No, Ma'am, I don't think so."

"Then why were there 1,000 other people who "Googled" Error 6A00?"

"Ma'am, I don't know."

"Sir, I have an idea why."

I also know that if anyone wants my machine complete with Error 6A00 and a pretty alarm light that blinks, just call me. It's in a box.

It will make a nice conversation piece for your cocktail table.

Swampwitch Has Temporarily Left the Building

Just left on an impromptu trip...did not have my scheduled post ready, so in the meantime I've left some random photos for you.  (You can click 'em to big 'em)

If I haven't responded to your comments or visited your place, hopefully will be "back at it" soon.

Framed...

Poin-set-tee-ahs ?  ... or Poin-set-ahs ?  ...  How do you pronounce it?

Colorado National Monument at Dusk...

Colorado National Monument at Midday...

Mt. Garfield with no sun...

Mt. Garfield with sun...

 

Adds a wholenother meaning to "Frost on the Punkin' " ( Abstract Snow Art at Wholenother link)

Was there one that you liked?