Flea pot

As some of you may recall, I've been on the lookout for certain items and I found at least one of them at a flea market this weekend.


I haven't used a drip coffee pot in well over 30 years, so I knew it was going to take a few tries before I could manifest a decent cup of coffee.

First of all -- cups were a lot smaller back in the day; and they were...cups...not mugs. And, if they were mugs, they were small mugs, not big honkin' mugs like I possess. So this 6-cup Wearever pot actually yields two Linguini "cups."

My first stab at using the pot and following the grounds amounts given on the pot gave me a cup of coffee that would peel the paint off the wall. There are those who would say that my usual cup of coffee does that, but these are usually tea drinkers who only occasionally venture into the world of coffee. I do make strong coffee -- but even I had trouble getting this morning's version down without copious amounts of creamer.

Timewise, it took just a little longer to make a pot of coffee, but not much more than usual. That was kind of a nice surprise. I don't like having to wait very long for my morning caffeine hit.

The nicest part of it, though, is that not having a coffee maker frees up precious counter space. Counter space is at a premium around here.

We'll try to keep it down

Yes, here at Linguini on the Ceiling we've always known how to par-tay. And today it's for the now-adult (depending on which law you're talking about) Heir 2.

Whoo-Hoo!

In celebration we revisit some memorable moments in Heir 2's past...

The cute ones:





























Aaaaaaand those awkward years:

The beginning of the Smart-Ass Period:



To looking like the guy everyone wanted to open the door
to when playing Mystery Date*:




Joe: The Man, The Myth, The Legend**,


*Oh, yes. I had Mystery Date -- the original Mystery Date.

**In his own mind.

Birds do it

To the dozens of birds currently on my lawn making spectacles of themselves:

Get a room!*

*Posting a photos** would be kind of creepy.

**Taking photos would be kind of creepy.

Busy work

Spring has finally arrived around here, bringing with it the usual spurt of energy. What this means is, I get lots of ideas which I dump onto Dirtman to manifest.

April 15 was the date that Wildbird Unlimited said the hummingbirds would be migrating into this area, so the feeders needed to be put out. We missed seeing them last year, but we had neither the means nor the inclination at the time (yes, it's been a year). So Dirtman came up with this:


The peonies should eventually spread, grow and hide the PVCishness. Think of it as recycled sculpture...

We planted herbs this weekend -- basil, oregano, parsley, mint (julep!) -- but I'd held back on rosemary. I'd read a book (it was fiction, so who knows...) recently that described a rosemary tree. Apparently, given time, it will grow to be a kind of tree or bush. But any kind of tree or bush that we own has to be portable and, frankly, if I wait much longer to plant rosemary, I won't live to see it reach the bush stage. Thank goodness someone had the foresight last year to throw the large flowerpots onto the moving truck (since, at the time, I was of the mindset that gardening was another of those things that I had lost my privilege to do).

We've placed this not far from the seating area I wanted on the side of the house, facing the bird feeder. With all due respect to the patio out back, it's hard to sit out there on summer afternoons with no shade. So now I'll have the patio for mornings and the side yard for the afternoon. All I need now, Dark Garden, is a laptop so I can work out there. (Because Dirtman discovered Hula and it's hard writing anything when cheesey 70s drama shows are blasting on the other side of the desk.)

Auntie Tam

Yup. Another battlefield tour in another Civil War battlefield.

45 minutes at the Smelly Visitors' Center

I will say, of all the battlefields (and I do mean all) I've toured, Antietam is the hardest to get through, mostly because the land is so vastly different from the way it was back in the 19th century. There are whole forests that are no longer there (cleverly labeled, like they're saying, "Pretend there's a bunch of trees here. Now pretend that you are standing on a rise in the topography that isn't there anymore. Now pretend that when you face east there isn't a honkin' big war memorial blocking your view...")

Corn-dog Jackson
"There he stands, like a Corn Dog."

But I can't 'splain it any better than Darkgarden:
http://releasethedark.blogspot.com/2009/04/battle-of-antietam.html

My favorite part of the day: At the Irish Pub (serving Guiness on tap!)

Arrrrrrrrr!

Heir 1: Did you see where those pirates are complaining about being shot at?

Me: Yeah, that idiot Limbaugh was complaining about that too. He said they were just teenagers who were about to give up.

Heir 1: They were pirates. It doesn't matter how old they were. When you're a pirate, you have to expect to be shot at. That's why a pirate who is alive is so awesome!

Me: (nodding)

Heir 1: I don't know. They just didn't seem like real pirates to me.

Me: Was it the lack of a parrot? Or perhaps the lack of an eye patch?

Heir 1: (shrugs) They were too young, I guess for an eye patch. You have to earn an eye patch.

Me: Like the Cub Scouts?

Heir 1: Yeah!

Focus

Whiskers is staring intently out the window at her version of...

...The Food Network

Facing Facebook

So I signed up on Facebook. I did this so it looks like I'm not afraid of new technology.

Okay, I'm afraid of technology. I'm afraid to click on anything for fear the thing will say "Sisiggy is clicking on things because she doesn't know what she's doing."

Now what?

No, seriously. I don't know what to do about it. I searched through my old high school stuff and none of "my crowd" is there (figures...). So now what?

I only clicked on one "friend" (thanks, Jag) who I knew wouldn't turn me down. Because I'm totally afraid I'm going to ask Dirtman or one of the Heirs to be my friend and they would be joking around and turn me down and they I'd have this entry on Facebook that says, "Dirtman does not want to be Sisiggy's friend," which would be really embarrassing.

...and what is the point of all that, anyway? Do you really care what I'm doing in that kind of detail? Really?

Well, I guess I'd better put a face on Facebook. Or part of a face.

Just a warning, though -- and an apology. If something of mine -- my address or name or URL or account or location or whatever -- showed up somewhere in your meters or software: I'm not stalking you. I just don't know what I'm doing. I may have dropped by, but I didn't know I was there, so I didn't say hello or anything. If I'm annoying you, my e-mail address is in the sidebar and you can yell at me that way.

I know how to work e-mail.

Barack and Kumar Go To (The) White House

Okay, Heir 2 and I were pretty ticked off with House* Monday night, but we knew something was up with Kal Penn since the writers did such a half-assed job of writing his character Kutner out of the series.

Honestly, do we really need Kumar in the White House?

*When you go to the House website, you might think that Kal Penn has died, instead of his character. I'm waiting for Fox to offer grief counseling.

Useless information

This ticks me off. Articles like this.

Oh, not the "money-saving" part. I'm all about money-saving, believe me.

It's that someone got paid to regurgitate this old information -- and it's from Kiplinger. I wouldn't have the nerve to submit an article with such hackneyed tips as calling for cheaper car insurance and cutting back on dining out -- especially to Kiplinger. I was waiting for the paragraph on brewing coffee at home to save on "those $5 designer lattes."

We were so over the designer lattes a very long time ago and, when I say "we," I mean anyone who has read a paper, surfed the net or turned on the TV in the past year and a half. And, just in case the Wall Street Journal or Forbes is cutting checks for writers dishing out more of these recycled no-brainers, just know that we've already put light-saver bulbs in all our lamps, checked our insulation, had our cars in for a tune up, cancelled any unnecessary magazine subscriptions and go to the library instead of purchasing books.

We've clipped, bargained, swapped, thrifted, stretched and reused. And why is anyone still including a tip like, "stop all impulse purchases?"

I don't need some snot-nosed twenty-something with no kids, no mortgage and no life experience telling me to "manicure your nails at home and save on those trips to the salon" or "shop around and get the best price on designer labels." Are you kidding me? I've never had a manicure or a designer label in my life (this last, just on principle) and, if I had, that certainly went out the door when I had to "cancel my maid service" and do my own cleaning.

So, please, until someone comes up with some fresh ideas, let's declare a moratorium on these "money-saving tips" articles; and, while we're at it, any weight-loss article that mentions "smaller portions" and "fill up on fruits and veggies*."

*I hate, hate, hate, the word "veggies." I no longer call blankets "blankies" or pajamas "jammies." So, if you are older than ten, it's "vegetables." Thank you.