Gosh, I Wish I Had the Internet at My House

I love nothing more than paying BellSouth for DSL only to have it work as well as me standing in my shower shouting and calling that being in contact with the outside world.
Whoever has the wireless network “Lemmings in Leiderhosen,” I swear, I don’t want to steal from you, all perched on the edge of [...]

The Good, The Bad, The Somewhere-in-Between

The Good
–I found my Christmas money out on the kitchen table.
–Magniloquence has a blog!  And you should read it.
The Bad
–After work, a concerned co-worker told me she thought I might benefit from anti-depressants.
The Somewhere-in-Between
–I have no marketable skills.
–I suspect I’ve sucked at every job I’ve ever had.
–I have nothing I’d want to do all day [...]

Lyrics that Deserve to Be in Better Songs

1.  “Ain’t nobody’s hero but I want to be heard”–Puff Daddy, “All About the Benjamins”
2.  “I’ve got a Mustang.  It’ll do eighty.  You don’t have to be my baby.”–Martina McBride, “When God Fearing Women Get the Blues”
Others? 

Games Recommended by the Folks at Aunt B.’s

1.  “Tony Hawk’s Project 8″–As I have discerned from watching the Butcher, if you like cussing a lot and having to get up and pace around the room and throwing your new Nerf Playstation controller on the ground dramatically and if you also like to stay up until five in the morning, this is the [...]

Pleasure and the enthusiastic yes

Aw, damn, now you guys have me all overthinking who I link to and why.  Does Amanda at Pandagon really need me to link to her? Does linking to her legitimize some notion of a hierarchy of feminist bloggers–some of whom set the conversation that the rest of us take up?  And should I just link [...]

The Red Beard

I have never had a nickname, well, except B., which isn’t so much a nickname as a nick-letter. But no one looks at me and calls me Bubba or Stumpy or Crackerjack or Pooky or Martin Amis or whatever. I guess I just look like I have an adequate number of names to [...]

Random Things–The Sleeping Like Shit Edition

–I am sleeping like shit.  I’m tired in the day and wake up repeatedly through the night.  Last night was the first night in ages I’ve had three hours of uninterrupted sleep.  Unfortunately for the dog, those three hours came between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m., so she did not get a walk.  This would [...]

We Go Bowling; My Mom Goes Dancing

You must imagine my mom, standing in the glare of the bowling alley’s lights, her slight shoulders sagging under the weight of a ball she’s not quite happy with, her pants not quite reaching the top of her Christmas socks.  She shuffles to the dotted line, looks back, and grins like she’s about to do [...]

Straight from the Tiny Cat Pants Test Kitchen

It’s really too bad that the Tiny Cat Pants test kitchen is in California while I am in Tennessee, but I guess it goes to show that for all the convenience of the modern internet age, there are some drawbacks.
Still, Magniloquence has put together some recipes that she found here and sent me pictures of [...]

My Parents Stay at a Fancy Hotel

My parents are staying at the hotel the Butcher works at, because he got them a nice discount (which means they’ll only be spending one night with us!).  Aside from the few nights my dad spent out at the Opryland Monstrosity, this is the nicest hotel my parents have ever stayed at.
As you might imagine, [...]

Let’s Take Off Our Shoes and Dance the Blues

Y’all, I have kicked off my shoes.  I have put on a little Memphis Slim playing the “Cow Cow Blues” and though I have no idea how one might dance to it, I’m happy to try, especially if it means I get to feel your arms around me and hear you humming to yourself right [...]

Giving the Park the Chance to Work Its Healing Powers on Everyone

I took my parents to the park this morning to walk the walk Mrs. Wigglebottom and I walk to soothe our souls and wear out our bodies.
There were a few blue jays and some cardinals, but otherwise, it was pretty cold and quiet.
I don’t know if it worked or not.  We’ll have to see.
We aren’t [...]

I’m Left Twisting in the Wind

A lot of folks I read have been coming to the conclusion that now is the time to stop linking to “I Blame the Patriarchy.”  In a recent thread, a few readers descended into froathing-at-the-mouth trans…beyond phobia, but let’s call it transphobia because I don’t know of a word that properly gets at the level [...]

Merry Christmas!

The chicken noodle soup smells fantastic.  Hopefully folks will overlook the fact that I forgot to actually procure some noodles.  I’m going to throw in some macaroni and call it good.
The recalcitrant brother is doing laundry.
The Butcher is doing laundry.
I wish I could accurately describe how funny this is, listening to them fighting over the [...]

“And there is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the wheel’d universe”

When the Butcher came home yesterday, he asked, “Were you crying on the phone when you told me about our cousin? Why would you cry for him?”
I was, but I denied it.
The Butcher has no love lost.  I don’t blame him.  The Butcher’s whole life, my cousin has been borrowing from death a few dollars [...]

A Happy Toe Christmas

Avant-garde art? The stupidist movie yet? A showcase of awesome toe hats? A plethora of made-up accents?
The lastest in films shot on my bed is all this and more… or less… Well, you’ll see.

The Dirty Underbelly of Veganism

Yesterday was just weird.  We tried to improve it by going over to Kate O.’s birthday/Christmas/Chaunaka/Solstice/etc. party.
There were carollers and mulled apple cider and Chris and Amanda and Scott and the Butcher in his funky jacket and it was such a nice time, as opposed to the sadness of the rest of the day, that [...]

Unplanned Things Happening Today

1.  Mrs. Wigglebottom is getting a bath.  She smells.
2.  I’m cleaning the tub again (because the dog is getting a bath).
3.  The recalcitrant brother is coming.
4.  I’m wrapping presents (so that the recalcitrant brother doesn’t see what he’s getting).
Crazy day, anyway.  Off to the park.

He Died How He Lived

My cousin, who you may recall, had just come out of a year-long substance abuse program at Thanksgiving and got a big write-up in the paper which pissed me off to no end, did what you’d expect last night.
He overdosed and died, leaving his body for his daughter to find.
I feel kind of like a [...]

Our Christmas Tree

Peg’s Shrimp Corn Chowder

Spicy Shrimp Chowder
7 cups homemade or canned vegetable broth (If I don’t have homemade, I use the Better Than Bouillon concentrated base)
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, shells reserved (I cut the shrimp in half)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 medium carrots, peeled & diced
3 ribs celery, diced
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 to 1 [...]

Come On-A My House; I Want to Give You Candy!

The interview would have been longer, but someone (cough*Butcher*cough) put 226 photos of dice on the camera and I only had three and a half minutes.
Still, good fun.

Feed My Family

I’m thinking of feeding my family a hearty chicken noodle soup as our Christmas dinner.
I’ve got a recipe but it seems to consist solely of chicken, carrots, onions, and noodles.
But I’m open to better suggestions.

The Recovering Baptist Saves the Day!

The Recovering Baptist came over and cleaned my bathroom, swept my steps and my landing, and somehow made cleaning the kitchen not suck so bad.
She is magic.
It was amazing. I think she really likes to do that stuff.  And it looks good and it smells good.
I did my first bed interview with her, which turned [...]

Go Ahead and Just Pop One of Those in Your Mouth

How can you resist? Look how cute they are? And the freckle?
Come now.
A willfully obtuse woman with such darling toes?
I bet you’re thinking about smooching me right now.
Who can blame you?
(I’m totally digging my camera phone, can you tell?)