Friday/Friday

Here's the dilly,
Write something silly,
'bout willy nilly.

Use your skillies,
Impress all the fillies,
but earn your billies!

Keep it ill,
there's time to fill,
It's Friday, so chill.

If you're willing,
compose something thrilling,
Keep your thoughts distilling,
See y'all at the bar swilling!

I thought it'd be fun to read something today that's fun--anyone want to be brave and write a short little something? a haiku? a fun poem? a paragraph of nonsense?

The prize is an ear of corn from our garden in a few months if the stuff grows.

Networking Help

Hey Y'all

I need someone to do the networking (IT) in my office.  I am going to go paperless so I need help to get all my PCs talking to each other.  I have one quote from someone, but I want to know if that seems to be the going rate.  Do you anyone or have you worked with anyone at work that I could call?

Thanks!!!

Mile Ho City

My college roomie and I are going to visit my brother and sis-in-law in Denver this weekend. Any recommendations from those who've been there before?

Exclusive First Look...

Marmaladecheeks in the Kitchen

Now you know what I do when Trouble goes to band practice and I'm home alone.

Wish you guys were all here to have Sketti and Red Sauce!!

New Header

I just picked these photos-- if anybody has any better ones, email them to me and I'll make a new collage header.  

I know we need something with firmtennisballer and jellybean in the photo. Are there any from the T&A housewarming?

Aren't we cute?

Live from New York City

Last night I drove out to Brooklyn to see my b-in-law and his girlfriend for dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Mutard (a French place). Needless to say, the appetizers used a lot of mustard. The escargot was in butter and pesto and was slammin.

The issue of the dead horse came up again b/c the restaurant has Foie Gras on the menu. It is made of goose/duck Pâté, where the goose is kept in a small pen so it can't move, and then the goose is force fed to build up a giant liver to make the Pâté. I don't know how to spell Pâté, so I used spell check for those keeping score at home. So there's now free range Foie Gras, but since goose will continue to eat so long as there is food around, it's pretty much the same old stuff. As a meat eater, this raises a fundamental contradiction to me: when is it okay to use an animal for sport, when is it okay to use an animal for food, and what is the spectrum of tolerance between those two points? Horse racing is purely breeding an animal for sport, and the Foie Gras is breeding and torturing an animal for an overpriced cracker topping. But where does cruelty become the underlying definition of our relationship with these animals? At first, the horse dying had very little impact on me b/c I didn't see it. But the Neverending Story scene of Artax sinking into the swamps of sadness played itself out on the track at Churchill Downs. And there was no giant turtle sneezing to lighten up the mood.

After watching it on you-tube, this internal contradiction that likes animals but likes to eat and chase them has surfaced and I'm not so sure that my general relativism can brush this back under the carpet. Knowing my penchant for extremes, I'll probably declare myself a vegan by lunch today.

Has this horse incident affected you all in this way? Do you think that there is applicability of that situation to other things like eating meat? Don't you think that Mutard is a fun name--it's like a slow cow...

Kentucky Fried Euthanasia

So every year for the last 3 years, I go to a Kentucky Derby party at a friends house. The only thing you have to do to gain entrance to the party is to put money down on the races. So jellybean and I put down some money to be good sports. Let me tell you this... we have never even come close to winning any money back previously. But wouldn't you know it the first time we ever win, it would be on the horse I affectionately call 'the one that died 2 minutes after the end of the race.' So since I like animals more than most people, I have felt really bad for winning money on the horse that died. It is like blood diamond money or something. You will be discouraged to hear that jellybean and I came in a dismal last place in the 'Human Races' which take place at the aforementioned party, after the horse races. Jelly bean then re-broke her leg at the end of the race and we had to put her down immediately. (just kidding about that last part) I blame my poor performance on my emotional state. You would laugh though if you saw jelly bean pushing me blindfolded on a toddler sized big wheel... So anyway, the question of the day is what should we do with the 30 dollars in 'blood money' that we won off the late great eight belles? I think it should be something to properly honor the greatest philly ever, that proudly went balls out and gave her life to try to win us money.

We love you Eight Belles. Shine on you crazy diamond.

Thoughts, prayers, meditations, and mojo

Just got word from Mom that Mema has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Don't know any details, but T or I will share when we know more.

Crazy Dreams III

So- last night I had one of those dreams that was so crazy that I thought if I didn't write it down when I woke up, I wouldn't remember it. I didn't write it down. But, here's what I remember:

I was in a big office/hotel type place, where I was supposed to be seeing patients.  It was basically a HUGE waiting room, and people kept filing in, most of them random faces I know from Memphis-- bands, shows, maybe real patients...  So, I'm doing half-ass exams, trying to keep up.

Then, I learn that Dr. G is seeing patients next door, and filtering most of them to me. It's a Saturday, and I'm supposed to be done at 2pm, but I look at my watch, and it's after 3. So-- I rebel and decide to leave.  The patients that know me decide to follow me outside.

There is a big hill (the hill that was down the street from my childhood home) right outside the door, so people decide to "pile on" a skateboard or two, and ride down the hill. At the bottom of hill was a building with a set of stairs where everyone decided to sit and hang out to watch a basketball game that was going on in the lot in front.

Participating in the game was random folk and Eddie Vedder. Not the current old guy, but the 1994-esque long-hair vigorous Ed.  Some dust was kicked up, or what not, and Ed had his hands over his eyes.  One of the other Shaq-type players brought him over to the stairs and said, 

"He must have herpes simplex because even after rinsing his eyes he still is sensitive to light."

At that point, all the techs from the "office place" all run over in their scrubs with their transilluminators and start lookin' in his eyes.

He must have been okay, because he ran over to a stage where they were having a play/show to benefit "the kids".  The show was like The Muppet Show, but everybody was furry and had big eyes.  Ed's muppet was the drummer, and his suit was a big, hairy muppet whose head went up and down and eyes were blinking a lot. Then all the muppets were bobbin' up and down and blinkin' their eyes.

Then-- flash! I was in a drive-thru where I needed some quarters, so I was searching through the cup holder change in my car. Apparently, I was searching for quarters in real life on Tom's chest, and he grabbed my hand which woke me up.

Anybody got anything crazier??

A very bitter sweet day.

So yesterday was craaaaaaaaazy. It all began with having to get up earlier because I had my first physical in like 5 years. The sweet: I got to the Doctor's office and he said everything seemed good... Good blood pressure, good pulse, breathing ok etc... The bitter: Of course when I was being examined, a physicians assistant student was observing and that can be weird. The sweet: When I had to get undressed she almost fainted =) The bitter: The doctor did say, 'You have a couple of moles on your neck and face that you may want to have removed.' So I said ok we'll have to schedule it one day. So got finished with the doctor and got in the car and ate a banana because I wasn't allowed to eat earlier because I was having blood taken. THEN I decided to get coffee because I didn't have to be at work yet. The last time I read about how many calories a Starbucks coffee had, it scared me. So I decided to try a 'Skinny Mocha Latte'. It is like a diet coffee or something. Let me tell you this... it tasted like shit. Imagine if Lucky from Lucky Charms Cereal pooped into a cup of paint thinner, that is how this 4 dollar cup of coffee tasted. So I throw this coffee away and go to work to find that I have a bunch of patients to see... this is bittersweet because yeah it is nice to make money, but if you take a half day off, you would prefer some people rescheduled to other days rather than just shove your entire days schedule into a half a day. Midway through a mountain of patients, I find out that the person is in the parking lot to fix my windshield. This is also bitter sweet. Sweet: because I find it really fun to watch how the guy takes out the old windshield with suction cups and gently places the new one in... Bitter because I broke my windshield and I have to pay him to do it since I gamble and don't have comprehensive insurance on my car=( Also bitter because while I watch the 'repair glass window show' for 30 minutes, all the patients that are waiting for me get furious=) Then at the end of the day I am talking to Trey (one of the surgeons that works with me) and he says, "If you need to take those moles off we can do it right now." The sweet part of this is it will be convenient, and why have a primary care doctor take shit off your face when a surgeon can... the bitter part is, the next thing you know we are shooting my face full of anesthetic and he keeps saying, 'as long as we are here we should probably cut this off too.' So the next thing you know I am driving home looking like a mummy with a bunch of bloody gauze on my face... So you bloggers out there, make me laugh by telling me something bitter sweet that has happened in your day lately. (And yes I write this much because I know that my life is really interesting and you must be insane if you don't want to hear about it). Have a fun day!!!!!!!!!

Dinner last night

Carrie you are a genius. Last night, I made your lasagna bake, and it was fabulous. I am so excited that I get to eat it for lunch today too! Of course, I did go visit a customer with some of my simmering sauce splashed on my shirt, (Anderson Cooper 360), but it was so good. I may have to eat a little bit now...