Married to the Sea

The comics on this website kill me.

Yikes!!

I've been fascinated by tornadoes ever since I was a kid. Back then I collected tornado postcards, had a tornado keychain, and even had a documentary-style VHS tape full of tornadoes from all over the country. I blame it on growing up in Kansas which takes a prominent place in Tornado Alley. Whereas kids in California had earthquake drills and kids in Texas have hurricane drills, we had tornado drills. Everyone down to the basement, sit on your knees, curl up into a ball, and cover the back of your neck with your hands! Because, you know, your hands will totally protect you from debris flying towards your neck at 75 miles an hour.

Anyway, CNN.com had a SICK video of a tornado on their website today. I pretty much just stared at my computer, mouth agape, for several minutes. And so I now present this video to you. May you be as awed by it as I was.

New Buddy

I took this picture before I left for Kansas, so this post is a bit out of order chronologically, but it's so cute that I couldn't help putting it up now anyway. This is Clara's new best friend, Kiva. Kiva lives in the basement apartment of the house I live in (I'm in the second floor apartment). She's a black lab hybrid of some sort, and she is obsessed (OBSESSED!) with fetching balls and toys. She can do it for hours and not even be out of breath. She and Clara have become good friends, and I've become friends with Kiva's owners, Amy and Kevin. Unfortunately, the whole family will be moving in August. Clara and I will have to take full advantage of backyard barbeques with great company while they're still here.

Dogland

This is currently what my parents' house looks like on a daily basis:

Clara and I, On The Way Back to Kansas

Sometimes it's nice to have your mom take care of you again...even when you're thirty. :)

Wildflowers

These cute little flowers popped up next to the sidewalk behind my house, rather unexpectedly. I thought maybe they were a variety of black-eyed susans or something, but when my mom came to pick my gimp self up to go back to Kansas, she said they were called Johnny Jump Ups. I guess my great-grandmother had a bit of a fascination with them. Which kind of makes me happy.

Mousetrap Never Works

I was fortunate to have a wonderful childhood full of toys, games, Garbage Pail Kids, and ridiculous numbers of neon things. However, there were two things I desperately envied my friends. One was Glowworm, the stuffed toy you squeezed and his head would light up. The other was the game Mousetrap. I must not have vocalized these yearnings very effectively because it's not like either one would have been a massive financial burden as a birthday or Christmas gift, but I never owned either toy or game and to this day I still have a bit of a fascination with both. Which is why this video makes me feel just a little bit better about the whole situation. I have to admit that at the beginning when they are setting up the game I did have a minor flashback jealousy flare up, but as the video went on, I got all smug about it, like, "Huh! At least I didn't have to deal with that level of frustration over a stupid game! Morons!" And then I went on eBay to see if they had any Mousetrap auctions.

Wanting, of the Chair Variety

I'm currently lusting after this green chair. It has shelves, folks. SHELVES! Think of the book-and-cup-of-tea possibilities!

First Day at the Dog Park as an Official Member: A Photo Essay

This guy should take his show on the road.

There exists in the world a bird called a lyrebird that imitates the sounds it hears around it. Mostly it imitates the calls of other birds, but the bird I'm about to show you happened to live in a zoo where construction was taking place. His powers of imitation will pretty much blow your mind. I defy you not to let your jaw drop when he starts imitating the drill (around 3:20).

Puppies!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a puppy fiend. I basically just sit around at home all day waiting until I can get my next fix. Lucky for me, there is a puppy store at the mall just down the street from my apartment called Furry Babies. Get this: the puppies are in CRIBS. It's so completely ridiculous and I totally love it. Of course I would never buy one from them or any pet store, preferring to give a home to a shelter dog in need, but that certainly doesn't stop me from going in there to "ooo" and "awww" over them on a regular basis!

Around Town

Paula's Getting Saucy...

Saw these in a kitchen store the other day. I guess I'm not really surprised that massages at Paula's house involve cooking spices.

Taking in the Spring Air

Clara loves an open window and a fluffy bed strategically placed in front of it. :)

Did They Leave It That Way on Purpose?