Mmmmmm...cookies...

I don't feel like blogging, so here's a recipe:

Fudgy Buttermilk Salad

1 c. buttermilk
1 3oz. pkg. vanilla instant pudding
1 8 oz. carton Cool Whip
1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple (drained)
1 20 oz. can mandarin oranges (drained)*
1 11.5 oz. pkg. fudge stripe cookies

Combine buttermilk, pudding & cool whip. Stir well. Mix in pineapple & oranges. Refrigerate. Before serving mix in crumbled cookies.

*If you can't find a 20 oz. can of mandarin oranges, you can use two 11 oz. cans.

Wow, that's...

Puzzling. Sorry, I should explain what I'm talking about. OK, so I'm sitting here watching afternoon cartoons (yeah, yeah, screw too old for that stuff) and there was this commercial. And I figure since I ranted about a girl's toy I should rant about a boy's toy also. I'm not going to go off on professional wrestling (I promise), but is this toy a good idea? Using ladders to injure people seems like a bad message to send to kids whose parents might own step ladders. And this might just be all of the gay porn talking, but this seems pretty homoerotic to me. Of course, pro wrestling in general is pretty homoerotic (oops, sorry). OK, that's enough for today. TTFN!!

Is it weird that I'm taking it personally?

As I was watching Sen. Larry Craig "set the record straight" last night, I was very irritated by the whole thing, but especially when he was picking on the cop who busted him. I'm thinking it's a Minnesota thing, but I don't really know why. Maybe I'm just irritated that a United States Senator is so stupid, regardless of whether or not he did solicit or whatever. What a dil-hole.

Things that irk me number...whatever.

Those of you who have known me for a while know that I tend to get up-in-arms about many different things. Sometimes several things at once. However, this usually leads to me ranting for a few seconds and then moving on to the next thing that pisses me off. Well, I have one I need to vent about in a public forum, so here goes.

I was watching Nickelodeon this morning (yes, it was a Fairly Odd Parents-athon) and I saw a commercial that raised my hackles. It was a commercial for the Dream Town Rose Petal Cottage by Playskool. It is a play house with a washer, dryer, furniture, etc. Now, I know there are lots of kitchen play sets and the like out there for kids. What struck me about this particular commercial was some of the wording. If you'd like to hear for yourself just click "Watch it" on the link above. A couple that stood out in particular:

• "...where her dreams have room to grow..." - Honestly, is this what parents want their daughters to dream about? Baking muffins and rearranging furniture?
• "...entertain her imagination..." - With what? Laundry?

I'm no femi-nazi, I have no problem with guys squishing bugs and such, provided that women at least know how. But, come on. I thought we were past the time when girls only dreamed of having babies and baking cupcakes. What about building bridges or curing cancer? I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having babies and baking cupcakes. Far from it. But is this the message we want to send to little girls? That their only purpose in life it to keep house?

Am I overreacting? Absolutely. As is my right and tendency. If I don't who will? OK, that's a bit grandiose, but you get the drift.

Completely changing the subject, go Gophers! TTFN!!

Only 5 weeks late...

Yeah, well, I can't help it if his parents are hopelessly slow. Yes, that's right, I finally have pictures of Adyn. I'm going to put up a couple of my favorites, and you can go see the rest here if you'd like.






























And did I mention the heart-shaped nostrils?

The state bird of Michigan is...

How the heck should I know? Ask my brother. Yes, that's right, we packed him off to Holland, Michigan with his gal Becky. Moving is always such a grand endeavor, and this was no exception. Actually, it was a pretty boring deal all around. Everything (mostly) fit where it needed to, and nothing ended up bouncing down the freeway at 70 mph. And I have to say, Becky has got this whole "getting Ethan to do what you want him to do" thing figured out pretty well. Of course, I'll miss having him around, but I think Becky will be worth the move. She seems to know the depths of his dorkosity, and loves him anyway. Plus she's a redhead, so we can buy sunscreen in bulk together.

So, good luck Ethan, and don't you dare become a Wolverines fan. Seriously, or a Badgers fan (Becky is from Wisconsin, poor girl). TTFN!!

Fun weekend

Probably one of the last nice weekends up at The Lake, and boy, was it a nice one. The weather was great, everyone was in fine spirits, and I got to meet Adyn. I'd show you a picture, but his parents seem to be woefully slow in sharing said pictures. He's pretty dang cute, though. And he has heart-shaped nostrils, which for some reason absolutely fascinates me. I spent the whole time I was holding him looking up the poor kid's nose. Hopefully he won't be scarred for life. Then again, he probably isn't the first, nor will he be the last, child to be forced into years of therapy by something weird I do. TTFN!!

A forensic PLUMBER?!?!?

I'm sitting here watching Forensic Files on CourtTV, and they've enlisted the help of a forensic plumber. Er, what? I think I'm going to become a forensic furniture refinisher. Yeah. Or maybe a forensic platypus wrangler. That would be cool.

Puppies and kitties and stuff, oh my!

Yesterday was a kick-ass day at the shelter. For those of you unawares, I volunteer 3-4 days a week at the Humans Society of the Lakes animal shelter just north of Detroit Lakes. Now, I know there are those of you out there who are probably of the opinion that shelter dogs are not as good as pure breeds, and I could go off for several pages about the shelter in Brooklyn that has to euthanize 30 dogs every day and puppy mills and inbreeding and the like, but I'm not going to do it. Really. And while I do understand wanting a certain kind of dog, the fact is, you can probably find that kind of dog in a shelter. A couple of weeks ago we had a Welsh Terrier that had papers and everything. His owner had to move and couldn't take him along, so she asked us to help him find a good home. Which we totally did.

This job has probably done more for my mental health in the last six months than all of the medication, therapy and group meetings put together. I could go off for pages about the warm, fuzzy feeling I get from helping a family find just the right pet, but I'm not going to do it. Really. Suffice to say all the sappy Hallmark cards in the universe couldn't come close. And if you want a little bit of that feeling, (here comes the sales pitch) you can donate time, or money, or even just old blankets to your local shelter. The Humane Society of the US and the ASPCA would be good places to start. Thank you for letting me preach at you.

Attacked by wolverines

I look like I have been. Honest. I'd post a picture but my brother has the digital camera in Michigan or something. I wasn't actually attacked by wolverines (duh). I was helping give kitty shots at the humane society and a couple of them decided I'd make a good scratching post. Oh well, at least it's less embarrassing to explain than "tripped over a crack in the sidewalk" or "burned myself making microwave popcorn". Nothing interesting to report, although I did make molasses cookies. TTFN!!

I had a really cool title in mind...

...but then I forgot it. Oh well.

Anyway, I've been reading lots of Stephen King lately. I have read his stuff in the past, but kind of got out of the habit for a while. I started again because I thought his stories would be engaging enough to keep my attention. And, lo and behold, I was right. I'm on my third book in three weeks. That's a really big deal for me. I've spent the last year and a half feeling like half of my brain fell out somewhere, and now I feel like it's maybe back in there. Not quite up to speed yet, but getting there.

In other news, er, my cat seems to have stopped pooping in the living room. Wow. That's honestly the most interesting thing that's happened lately. Wow. I really need to get out more. Also, I learned that the aspartame in diet soda breaks down into formaldehyde. Not enough to really hurt you unless you're drinking an obscene amount of it, or if you're bipolar. It's a bad idea to drink or eat anything that has Nutra-sweet in it if you're bipolar. I'm just saying. Well, the cat's snoring has distracted me to the point of losing any sort of train of thought I may have once possessed. That, and I'm about 20 pages from the end of Cujo. TTFN!

I'm an auntie! (Sorta)

I'm excited to report that Kay had a healthy baby boy yesterday at 6:50 pm. He was 8 lb. 11 oz. and 21 inches long. His name is Adyn William Lienke and mom and baby are doing just fine. Good job to everyone involved!

Dane Cook is NOT the new Ryan Reynolds, dammit!!

OK, so I don't think anyone has actually said that, but I'm staging a preemptive strike, here.

• First of all, Dane Cook is not funny. I will admit that, at first, I laughed along with everyone else. After about 5 minutes, though, I realized that he's really just a younger, scruffier version of Jerry Seinfeld without the whiny voice. Pointing out obvious things so show how hilarious they are is not , in my opinion, comedy.
• Second, Ryan Reynolds is obviously much hotter than Dane Cook. He does clean-cut better, and he does scruffy better. Even though Dane Cook has never done ripped hottie, I'm still willing to bet Ryan Reynolds does it better. I mean, have you seen Blade 3? Horrible movie, granted, but come on! Yum!
• Third and theoretically most important, acting. Dane Cook plays Dane Cook very well, but that's the extent of his range. Ryan Reynolds can do comedy, drama, action, etc. I'm not saying he's the next Marlon Brando, but he's better than at least half (okay, maybe fifty percent) of the actors out there.
  

So, in conclusion, (even though I know it's cheating to use those words to begin the conclusion) Ryan Reynolds rules and Dane Cook drools. The end. TTFN!!

Ta-da!!

Whoo! I bet y'all thought I'd forgotten about this thing. Not forgotten, so much as ignored. Too much pressure and all that. So I decided to just start blogging about whatever the heck I feel like, and if no one on the planet but me ever reads it, eh. In the spirit of renewal, I have given the blog a new name. If you didn't get the Ocelot reference, I would like to apologize on behalf of everyone who has ever conspired to convince you that you need a Windows computer to get along in the world.

So anyway, the splog is back in action, so watch out. Or in. Nevermind. TTFN!!!

Solving crimes with math...

Possible, or not? I'm watching NUMB3RS and Charlie is trying to catch robbers with math. Hmm.

In other news, that schedule I made for blogging really worked out, huh? Yeah, I wish there was a font for sarcasm. Maybe I should invent one. How about something like italics that lean left instead of right? It could work.

On the brain front, I think it's growing back. Slowly. Not enough yet that I feel like writing anything substantive, but it's coming. TTFN!

Someone help the Wild!

They need to remember how to win! Maybe they should practice with the Gophers for a while ;)

Therefore, since today is Thursday, I'm going to talk a bit about the incredibly, incredibly weird stuff on Adult Swim, which is shown late at night on the Cartoon Network. This lineup features shows about things such as a talking ass who happens to be a detective, a crime-fighting force made up of a box of fries, a shake, and a wad of ground meat, and what is, in my opinion, the stupidest show ever made, Family Guy. And some random deity help me, I love them ALL. Even Family Guy, which I hate. OK, actually, the newest one, which is called Assy McGee, makes me angry and I don't watch it, but all the rest are like crack for me. I don't know what it is. One of my favorites is Home Movies, which is about an eight year-old kid who fancies himself a filmmaker. It's absurd and ridiculous, and I love it. The kookier, the better.

I'm also going on record and saying that I like cartoons, period. Well, not all of them, but I think everyone who bothers with this blog knows of my unnatural obsession with Spongebob Squarepants. And I don't think this makes me any less of an adult. I know there are older, more "mature" folk out there who will point to my love of cartoons as a sign of immaturity. Well, to those people I say - It's rude to point. So critics be darned, I am a 32 year-old watcher of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, and I refuse to apologize for it! TTFN!!

Hockeyhockeyhockeyhockey

I *heart* hockey. That's all, nothing profound about it.

Thinking, on the other hand... I used to *heart* it. I used to be good at it. Now, not so much. So what do you do when a big part of how you identify yourself as a person changes? How do you reach out to people who don't understand for a single second what you're going through? What if they don't like you anymore? What if the thing you've pinned your identity on for so long is the only thing people liked about you? How do you make them understand that forgetting things like birthdays isn't becuase you're an inconsiderate, self-absorbed ass? How do you create a whole new identity for yourself when it doesn't feel like you have anything else to offer people?

OK, that was muy depressing. I don't know how to end this, so TTFN!!

Daniel Craig is nummy

I saw the new Bond movie last night, and in the immortal words of the fat, pimply South Park kids, it was "uber-cool"! The new 007 is hot, and ruthless, and a major badass. Awesome! The foot chase near the beginning is one of the coolest chase scenes ever. It was also funny in parts and not nearly as cheesy as some of the past Bond films. Definitely a must-see.

Ahh, Thanksgiving. It's tomorrow, and since my bro is in Michigan visiting his new lady-friend, my parents and I are going out. Of course, we'll cook a turkey with all of the stuff on Saturday, but hopefully it will involve less drama than an actual Thanksgiving dinner.

Hope everyone has a great holiday! TTFN!!

Vote, dammit!

Nothing about me today, just want to make sure y'all get out and VOTE! I don't care who you vote for, just as long as you do it. In Minnesota it is easy, easy, easy to do, so no excuses! Even if you don't know anything about your local races, at least go and vote for governor, or senator, or there's a transportation amendment thingy, too. Your ballot is still counted even if you don't vote in every race. This site gives you all the info you'll need in one easy package. There's info there on where to vote, what you need to register, and also some good info on the constitutional amendment on the ballot. Please, please, please vote. Seriously. I will haunt you if you don't. I know where you live. TTFN!!

Bring back DST!

Well, I'm at six months post-loony bin and I feel like crap. I know I've made forward progress and that I've achieved some really positive things in the past six months, but at this moment in time, I feel just as lousy as I did when I checked in to the previously mentioned psych ward. I saw my med lady last week, and she asked if I had ever considered ECT. Um, yeah. When it is working properly, I like my brain the way it is, thankyouverymuch. Plus the fact that there are whole families of meds that we haven't even tried yet. Keep your electrodes to yourself, devil-woman.

There is a therapy out there that I have used in the past with success for my SAD, but because of my Lupus, I can't do it anymore. And since the weather has started changing, some of my Lupus things have been acting up, which necessitates going back on prednisone, which can cause depression. Arrghh!!! It's like a lose-lose-lose-lose situation. Which is extremely uncool. I haven't yet reached the point of not wanting to try anything more and just wallow in my misery, though, so that's good.

I'm having some issues with people not getting it. And by "it" I mean the fact that I am not this way on purpose, and that I don't forget things because I'm lazy, etc. Some of my friends and family do. Get it, that is. They understand that if I could snap out of this, I would. Contrary to what some people might think, I do not enjoy being flaky and irresponsible. The fact of the matter is that my neurons are not firing properly, and I am doing everything I can to fix that, but it's a long, exhausting process. The reason I don't call people is not because I don't need my friends now more than ever, it's because part of my brain is telling me I'm worthless and nobody would want to talk to me anyway. There is a part of me that knows that's not true, but right now it's pretty hard to find. I am having a lot of trouble lately remembering why anyone would want to bother putting up with me.

Sorry for the downer post, and I'm really sorry if it doesn't make any sense. My brain function is really in a slump at the moment. I tried reading an actual article in the paper yesterday, and I had to read it twice just to get the point. This is all really frustrating for me, especially since being the "smart" one is part of my identity.

To end on a positive note, the Gophers swept Colorado College (Saturday night was a bloodbath!), and new episodes of ATHF are on the television. So things could be worse. TTFN!!