Hot Toddy's Toaster Oven: Hypothetical Question

Hypothetical Question

Hot Toddy asks:

Do you ever sit down to update your blog and draw a blank as to what you can safely write about?

Hot Toddy wonders if (hypothetically) his conversation is not witty enough to blog about. He feels that (hypothetically of course) he ought to be ashamed to be blogging when other more pressing matters loom, such as mailing a package to a dear friend, returning a phone call, or doing whatever it is that one is supposed to be doing at one's job. Or perhaps he (or you or I - we're all in this together) will be in a non-blogging frame of mind just thinking about certain body parts. (Check his post for the exact description. Caution, don't be drinking any hot beverages while reading Hot Toddy. Unless you want to spew said beverage all on your keyboard and monitor.)

Random musings

QuirkyChick says:

"When someone says "wow, you look like you've lost weight!" it's really just a nicer way of saying, "wow, I thought you were fatter than that!"

I agree. And it's even worse when I've actually gained weight, but am wearing one of my outfits that tends to draw the eye away from my fatter parts. And then when the person says "you've lost weight" I feel that I must say, "no, I've never weighed this much before, it's just this flattering dress."

Except I've managed to quit saying that. Now I just say thank you, even though I wonder why the person is trying to compliment me by commenting on my size instead of saying that what I'm wearing looks good, or that I look good in it.

Fortune Cookies

Melina bemoans the lack of fortunes in fortune cookies nowadays. The little slips of paper are more like sayings, mostly trite and obvious, but sometimes things like "You are an exciting person."

As it happens, I have been saving my "fortunes" for years now. Here are some I have received from cookies over the years:

"You take a optimistic view of life." (sic)

"Stop searching forever, happiness is just next to you."

"You have inexhaustible wisdom and power."

"A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains."

"Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise."

Be sure to click on the title of this post to see Melina's custom fortune. I liked it a lot myself, and plan to show it to some of my friends at work who have been telling me that very thing!

And here's one for my buddy. (You KNOW who you are!)

Pamela Anderson has a blog

Just thought you'd like to know.

Hmmm a map or not a map

Hmmm a map or not a map
Originally uploaded by Beer10.

The photographer, Beer10, says:

Hmmm a map or not a map: I now have a new appreciation for those map making guys, cause they can make a map look just like they do in this picture.

Earth Day Quiz From "Ask Umbra"

To celebrate Earth Day, Grist Magazine's Umbra Fisk has a Climate Change Quiz to take. It's only 13 questions and there is no essay question. Here's what Umbra said about my score:

4-6 answers correct: Guessing well is an art, and you are Leonardo.

Anyhow, the quiz only takes a couple of minutes, and after finding out your score, you can find out the answers to such burning questions as:

True or False: Cow burps are a source of methane.

Click here to start.

Happy Earth Day!

Crazy Dogmama's Blog: a sad day?

A Blogasmic Blessing: May your saddest day be one where the worst thing that happens is having to blow your nose in a maxipad.

Crazy Dogmama's Blog: Sad Day

Touille (my dog) recommends this Caninecast on KDHX

Check out Memphis to Manchester on KDHX this Thursday April 21 from 8-10 AM Central Daylight time for the first ever Caninecast. That's right - nothing but two hours of songs about dogs. This will be an action-packed and fun-filled dogtravaganza for both two-legged and four-legged listeners. You can listen online with RealPlayer anywhere on the planet or tune in to 88.1 FM in the St. Louis, Missouri area.

Recommended by Touille, the mascot of KDHX's Lotsa A Cappella.

And if Touille recommends it, ya gotta give it a try.

park across the street (Lafayette Park, St. Louis MO)

park across the street
Originally uploaded by annappleaday.

Lafayette Park is near where I live. I like how the photographer has made it look like a really old photo.

Parque da Luz in Winter (Brasil)

Originally uploaded by drlynch.

Bouphonia: Friday Nudibranch Blogging

Every Friday, Bouphonia has a different photo of a strange creature called a Nudibranch. I've never seen one of these walking around (they are sea creatures) but they are amazing to see in photos. Can they be eaten? Who cares, for they are gorgeous things just to contemplate.

Boy with stiches (from Nias, hit by the Dec. 26 Tsumami and the Easter Earthquake)

Boy with stiches
Originally uploaded by jogales.

The photographer says:

"My dad took these pictures. They are on Nias Island, which is off the coast of Sumatra. Nias was affected greatly by the tsunami, but then, got hit with a large earthquake on the day after Easter. There is almost nothing left there, and the people do not have food. To make things worse, the UN is saying that everyone has food, which is not the case. My Dad and team were able to distribute about 80,000 pounds of rice to the people.

Some online charity resources:

MercyCorps.org

Episcopal Relief and Development

American Red Cross

CharityNavigator.org scores charities so you can make an informed decision.

USA Freedom Corps lists more organizations that are taking donations.

greek door:chios

greek door
Originally uploaded by flatcoat123.

Greek doors photo set

Miasmatic Review: Accentless?

The illustrious blogger "Contagion" of Miasmatic Review was surprised to be deemed "accentless" by this online quiz.

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

MB's Linguistic Profile:

50% General American English

20% Dixie

20% Yankee

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

My linguistic profile appears above. I wasn't even able to answer one of the questions (about what you call an easy course) because I had never heard of any of the three choices. I do say "y'all" (even though I had totally quit saying it when I lived in New Jersey!) but all my other "southernisms" have faded (like saying you "carry" a person to the store). But I guess an occasional "y'all" is good enough for 20-Per-Cent Dixie!

Funny that I got ZERO percent Midwestern, when I've lived in the Midwest most of my life. Oh well, these internet quiz things are supposed to be just for fun. Your mileage may vary.

Yippee-Ki-Yay!: I'm Rick James, Ma'am!

McGehee says:

I think (Hattiesburg, Mississippi) City Council Candidate Rick James probably ought to consider using the name “Richard” in future campaigns.

I say: This Richard James oughta be glad his name "sounds familiar." He'll probably pick up a few votes because of it.

According to the New York Post, people in Hattiesburg have been stealing "Vote Rick James" signs at such a rate that the aspiring city councilman’s wife has asked Comedy Central for compensation... "Each time a sign is stolen, it costs us $4.75!" [complains Mrs. James].

I'd vote for him myself, if somebody would give me one of those signs. 'Cause I'm a Superfreak!

Funil dunes (from photo set "Around Ceara, Brazil)

Funil dunes
Originally uploaded by Kika BR.

The entire set

Peaceful.

Foot Fetishist's Guide to the Blogosphere

Jeff, writer, provocateur and nice guy, calls this one of his blog's "greatest hits" and rightly so:

All pix actual bloggers feet, with possible exception of one.

Another of his great posts (from October 04, but I'm just discovering it) is The League of Mean Girls, about teenaged girls blogging under fake identities.

Check out more of his greatest hits:

Beautiful Atrocities

Transparent Screens - photo group

Transparent Screens - alexlop
Originally uploaded by w00kie.

Transparent Screens photo set on flickr

Also click on the title of this post for the whole group pool.

I found out about it through this blogger: Robt's blogquacious who also has a post linking to Lotsa A Cappella which is the website for my radio program.

It's a small world after all, or should I say, it's a small blogosphere!

Aberdeen Graveyard

Aberdeen Graveyard
Posted by: lirpa.

Tartan Day Gathering of the Blogs

Absinthe & Cookies
The Country Pundit
Tributaries
Not Exactly Rocket Science
Lintefiniel Musing
The Pirate's Blog
Ninjababe's Ramble
Margi Lowry *dot* com
BabyTrollBlog
Miasmatic Review
TacJammer
A Celt
Misplaced Keys
Mixolydian Mode
Bobo Blogger
The Bull Speaks!t
Frizzen Sparks
Llama Butchers
Jenna Thomas-McKie
Physics Geek
Daily Vegetable
Aaron's cc
Boudicca's Voice
MB's Blogasm
Blackfive - The Paratrooper of Love
Swanky Conservative
MB's Blogalicious
Doggie's Blog
The Gun Line
Grim's Hall
Laughing Wolf
Villainous Company
Straight White Guy
Abraca Pocus

A Gathering 2005 post

From a family trip to Loch Lomond

Picture 105
Originally uploaded by cocovan.

Iain Cochrane (the photographer) went to Loch Lomond for a wedding and got a lot of beautiful photos.

He also got some interesting shots on this day trip to Loch Lomond, to the same place where he later proposed to his girl.

A Gathering 2005 post

Loch Lomond from high up on Ben Lomond

Loch Lomond from high up on Ben Lomond
Originally uploaded by chrisorr.

Wow! Click on the photo to see it full size!

A Gathering 2005 post

George Square (Glasgow)

george square
Originally uploaded by McK74.

part of the photo set by McK74 he calls Glasgow, Glasgow, where are you?

A Gathering 2005 post

Paisley Place

paisley place
Originally uploaded by tarantulastar.

...by tarantulastar on 6 Apr '05. Part of the Scotland photo pool on flickr.com

A Gathering 2005 post

Rainbow Over Edinburgh

Rainbow
Originally uploaded by kianee.

A Gathering 2005 post

Highland Games Aboyne

Highland Games Aboyne
Originally uploaded by Project 404.

from a flickr.com photo pool Scotland The Brave

And here's one of my family name tartans, MacMillan Ancient Clan Tartan, from the website http://www.tartans.scotland.net/

posted by MB, a MacMillan on my mother's mother's side

Sandylands Piper, Aberdeen

Sandylands Piper, Aberdeen
Originally uploaded by stephenstills.

The photographer says:

"Taken as part of an installation piece, devised by Colin McKerral."

I like the way the kids look, too. What do you think they're saying?

I was thinking about posting the Robert Burns poem "To A Mouse" but another "Tartan blogger" has already done so, so I'll link to her here:

Jenna Thomas-McKie

"The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men / Gang aft agley..." (Robert Burns)

A Gathering 2005 post

Lone Piper

IMGP2606
Originally uploaded by kurioso.

Tartan Day is April 6.

A Gathering 2005 post

Dozens of Bagpipers

IMG_0289
Originally uploaded by aracine.

I have fond memories of when the pipers piped inside Christ Church Cathedral. There were just a few of them, but the sound filled the Gothic style cathedral space.

I am especially enamored of the fancy movements of the drummers. When you've got pipes and drums, you don't need anything else!

A Gathering 2005 post

Piper (Tartan Day is April 6)

Piper
Originally uploaded by rarcarman.

The whole "kit'n'caboodle"

A Gathering 2005 post

Bagpipes, Bumbershoot 2004, Seattle, WA

Bagpipes, Bumbershoot 2004, Seattle, WA
Originally uploaded by djwudi.

More photos to celebrate Tartan Day, April 6.

A Gathering 2005 post

Scottish Ho-Down

Scottish Ho-Down
Originally uploaded by Keyser Soze.

Tartan Day is April 6!

What could be more in the spirit of Scots culture than bagpipes?

MB, a MacMillan on my mother's mother's side.

A Gathering 2005 post

Nice photos from Milan

With no sky #1
Originally uploaded by Babsi Jones.

the set

I like the angle of this photo and the seeming lack of sky.

Kaiyukan#11 - from a surrealistic photo set

Kaiyukan#11
Originally uploaded by noqontrol.

It was hard to pick just one photo to give the flavor of the entire set. I like them all, for different reasons. The photographer's name is Maciej Toporowicz.

The whole set he call his Best Shots.

Battle Royale - from surrealistic photo set

Battle Royale
Originally uploaded by noqontrol.

Post Visual: "Sand-surfing dolphin"

Post Visual: Click to see the Dolphin

This blog is for images of all kinds. The bloggers ask us to email them any images that mean something to us, and they will include them on this blog. I liked this one of the dolphin; I hadn't seen it before. There are other photos on their blog that have been around in email for awhile.

One of the Post Visual bloggers, Rocker, also has another photo-blog called Snapshot Planet. I like Snapshot Planet a lot.

Another blog with really cool photos: Morbida's things

I don't speak the language, but I love the photos and artwork.

ForensicLawyer: The Case of Terry Shiavo -- What Can an Autopsy Resolve?

ForensicLawyer: The Case of Terry Shiavo -- What Can an Autopsy Resolve?

This article is quite long, but the forensic lawyer, Elaine Field Sharp, summarizes some of the issues in the Schiavo case such as:

What Is PVS (Persistent Vegetative State)? (It is estimated that 43 percent of those diagnosed with “PVS” are misdiagnosed.)

...whether consciousness is the sole, defining characteristic of human life. Medical and forensic science is not capable of answerng that question.

Is tube feeding medical treatment?

Are PVS patients dead already?

What is the intention behind the withdrawal of food and fluids? In the case of Terri Schiavo, was it a quesion of, "Let poor Terri die," or was it a case of "Let's kill poor Terri"?

Sara's Musing: God Does Not Play Dice

Sara's Musing: God Does Not Play Dice

Imagine a world without Albert Einstein.

Sky and Wires (Buenos Aires)

Originally uploaded by SMeaLLuM.

I really like the unusual angle of this photo. (I'm always trying to take pictures of wires and other geometric forms.) I also love the brilliant blue sky.

This photo makes me feel at peace.

Terri Schiavo dies

When I posted this originally, I had some comments which got wiped out somehow. So here's an update for today, April 1.

This morning I watched part of the Today Show on NBC with Ann Curry interviewing Michael Schiavo's Lawyer, George Felos, who stated that he had been in the room with Terri and Michael to witness Terri's death. Why is a lawyer in the room, when Terri's blood relatives are not allowed to be with her at her death? The lawyer stated that Terri's brother could not be present because a police office would have had to be present as well, and this would be an invasion of Terri's privacy. So a lawyer being there is not an invasion of her privacy? I don't get it.

But in my email today, my buddy Gabriel had forwarded me some lawyer jokes. They are not all new, but somehow they seem appropriate this April Fool's Day.

LAWYER JOKES

Q: How can a pregnant woman tell that she's carrying a future lawyer?
A: She has an uncontrollable craving for baloney.

Q: How does an attorney sleep?
A: First he lies on one side, and then he lies on the other

Q: How many lawyer jokes are there?
A: Only three. The rest are true stories.

Q: How many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: How many can you afford?

Q: How many lawyers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Three. One to climb the ladder, one to shake it, and one to sue the ladder company.

If a lawyer and an IRS agent were both drowning, and you could save only one of them, would you go to lunch or read the paper?

Q: What did the lawyer name his daughter?
A: Sue.

Q: What do you call 25 skydiving lawyers?
A: Skeet!

The Post Office just recalled their latest stamps. They had pictures of lawyers on them, and people couldn't figure out which side to spit on.

Q: What do you call a lawyer gone bad?
A: Senator.

Q: What do you call a lawyer with an IQ of 50?
A: Your honor.

Q: What do you throw to a drowning lawyer?
A: His partners.

Q: What does a lawyer use for birth control?
A: His personality.

Q: What happens when you cross a pig with a lawyer?
A: Nothing.There are some things a pig just won't do.

Q: What's the difference between a lawyer and a vulture?
A: The lawyer gets frequent flyer miles.

Q: What's another difference between a lawyer and a vulture?
A: Removable wing tips.

Q: What do you have when you've got 50 lawyers buried in sand up to their chins?
A: Not enough sand.

Q: What do you get if you cross a crooked lawyer with a crooked politician?
A: Chelsea Clinton.

Q: Why does California have the most lawyers in the country while New Jersey has the most toxic waste sites?
A: New Jersey got first choice.