Metz Darling

So, like i had nuttin to like do like Caturday, an like Metsakins din't like have anything to like do either so...

oh crap I can't keep THAT up.  Yay for meetups.  Caturday was extra speshul on so many levels.  I got to see two of my peeps in one day,  AND I got to see some cute critters and beautiful artwork to boot. 

It was hot and humid as hayle, but we survived, barely.  ;-)

First stop was the Frick Collection.  Very nice, and gave me lots of beautiful building envy.  I do so love good architecture.

The eerie part was seeing live and in person several paintings that have been LOL'd on Loltheist recently.  That was strange.  But I was good and just enjoyed the art rather than captioning it with a magic marker  ;-).

No really though there was some beautiful artwork there, not to mention (again) the building itself.  I can easily see why the Frick is Metsakins' favorite place.

After culture time it was time for us to be kids again.  So we headed off to the Central Park Zoo, another place I've never been.  It is a small zoo, and fairly inexpensive to get in, and the exhibits are VERY nice and really do give you an up close and personal feel to them, something you don't always get in larger zoos.  I got some pictures of their sweet Red Panda snoozing in a corner of his habitat.  (with OMG Paw curlage and a peek of Red panda tongue!)

These are just 2 shots, I haz many many more of this guy on my flikr page.

 

 

In the children's part of the zoo they had the requiset "petting" zoo, which is we all know really a "feeding" zoo, because if you do not have food in your hands you might as well be invivislbe.  This sweet alpaca was hangin out in the shade and just seemed like it had such a "I'm too cool for this place" teenager attitude.

 

This goat had the cutest "underbite" but would NOT stand still for me to take a pic.

 

 

 

 

Do you have any idea how hard it is to try to look like you disapprove when you're laffin' like a loon?

The heat drove us indoors for a while so we "forced" ourselves to go into FAO Schwartz (man I'm just knocking all kindsa firsts off my list today).  We walked around there for a while soaking up the A/C before braving the outside world again.

 

 

Meeting Metsakins was wonderful!!  She has such a great sense of humor and was so much fun and put up with all my antics and mad photo snapping at the zoo. 

After Metsakins and I said our goodbyes I headed off to meet my 2nd Vox/Cute Overload peep of the day.  DKN!

We hung out together for a while at her place gabbin (I'm sorry DKN I think I did most of the gabbin), before heading off with her friend Adam to my first meal in a real Irish Pub.  DKN sed we were gonna have OMGCheezburgers.  and by golly we DID!  Mine had bacon (of course) and it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good.  Thank you for introducing me to your friend, it was great meeting you Adam, and for sharing the sekrit of the OMGCheezburgers wit me!

I just wish that the heat and humidity hadn't made me so stupid by that point that I forgot to take any pics of my time with DKN!  Sorry dear!  I can only claim brain sweats as my excuse for not using my camera while visiting you!

Also I must note that I was in NYC from about 9 am to 10 pm.  I wore my anti-bleen shirt and toted my anti-bleen tote.

No one said a word or asked what it meant.  :-(  No one.  I whined to Metsakins about this just before we parted ways and she made an excellent point.  "Well we are in New York City."

Oh yeah!  IF I want reactions I must wear in small towns!  (silly me)

Enjoy the pics! Moar here iffen u can bear it:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/metzdarling/

 

 

My kittehs have been very uncooperative lately when trying to take pictures so I was forced to make do with an old one.

I made this LOL in response to the rash of Jesus spotting in various objects lately.

http://friendlyatheist.com/2008/03/27/how-much-is-that-jesus-in-the-window/

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/usworld/news-article.aspx?storyid=28783

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/11/20/State/Flapjack_Jesus_flips_.shtml

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22224584-2,00.html

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/9724051/detail.html

and I could go on and on, just google Jesus Image Ebay and you'll see.

This is what sent me over the edge into making this LOL though.

http://wsfltv.sun-sentinel.com/features/stv-jesus-french-fry-sacramento,0,6840349.story

 

moar funny pictures

 

I WAS trying to get a pic of the cats together with one looking at the other, I thought that it would be perfect to caption, "Hmmm, move a bit to the left, hmmm, nope, sorries can't see Jebus (or Ceiling Cat) in your stripes."

But of course they moved by the time the digital camera decided to actually TAKE the picture after I'd pressed the button.  So i got a nice shot of an empty chair and the tips of their tails as they disappeared.

Hmm, mebbe I could put that picture up on Ebay claiming Jesus appeared in it.

You know what, I have absolutely NO problem with someone who really needs it and needs to believe having such an image appear to them in their life.  But to sell it to Ebay to the highest bidder?  Seems kinda crass and insulting to the people who are truly faithful.

Just to show that I'm not a TOTAL gloomy gus, here's the same pic LOL'd a different way.

moar funny pictures

 

I've been having trouble with the ICHC pics uploading right here so here's the link to both just in case.

http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/view.aspx?ciid=1383243

http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/view.aspx?ciid=1383150

Tagged by W.B. Mook, dastardly!  The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

Hmm, kinda boring in a sort of way.  I was a new mom, still getting used to my then 6 month old baby girl.  Every day was a source of new information and discoveries. //Hmmm, dancing and bouncing Gabby right after a jar of peas and sweet potatos was not such a good idea.  Gabby is ticklish under her chin.  Saying the alphabet and counting to 20 in super slowmotion is a sure fire laugh producer, and an excellent way to get her to hold still during diaper changes.  //

I was working at an architect's office as his secretary/office manager/gopher.  I haven't worked for him in over 8 years now and to this day I still say, "Hey!  We did that place!"  whenever I see a building he did plans for.  I learned a lot from that place, things I can still use to this day:

*  How to obtain building permits  :: this has come in use in knowing how to look for and understand town building codes with regards to our family home and any improvements we make.

*  How to wait in line for hours in an attempt to obtain said building permits  ::  Patience.  Use it every day, some days longer lasting than others.

 

*     How to operate an ancient blueprint machine  ::  To not be afraid to attempt to use unfamiliar objects/machinery.  If I can handle that dinosaur I can handle anything. 

 

*     How to breath ammonia fumes in a less than well ventilated area  ::  Hey, ever change a baby's diaper?  LOL  not to mention cleaning up the cat box and/or dog poo.  ;-)

 

*  How to interpret the architect's mumbling instructions  :: A clever technique used by bosses everywhere, when in doubt yourself about what to do, mumble some instructions to your employee, then if you're wrong you can blame it on the employee by saying, "No!  that's not what I said to do, I said to put the files in mmmmbbbb".

*    How to chase clients down via the phone in attempts to get them to pay  :: this has prepared me for tussles with my insurance company over treatment for my children and at times even myself.  Insurance companies want to pay about as much as those former clients did.

 

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today tomorrow (on account of today being almost over)?

1. Get to work on time.  One of my biggest faults.
2. Catch up on the work piled up in my 2 day absence.  (I was out sick with an allergy attack).
3. Return some books on CD to the library and get some new books to read and listen to.
4. Listen to my husband rave about how great the Spore Creature maker is and try to figure out a way to get a chance at checking it out for myself.
5. Cross off another day on the calendar in my countdown until the new season of Heroes.  (yes I am that pathetic LOL)
   

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Baby carrots with peanut butter, Pop Secret Homestyle Popcorn, Code Red Mt. Dew & Vanilla Ice cream soda, and Ruffles potato chips with jalapeno cheddar dip.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Pay off mortgages of my MIL, Parents, and Grandparents.  Large portions into trust funds for my children and neices for their educations.  Buy a house with lots of land in Michigan near my family and raise horses and have a sort of petting zoo for local kids and my own cute enjoyment.  Be socially responsible and help as many people as I can while still providing for my family (but not in the jetsetting sort of way lol). 

5) Places I have lived:

Three Rivers, MI Born & Raised.

Grand Rapids, MI

Kalamazoo, MI (yes, there is really!)

Allegan, MI

Virginia Beach, VA

Long Beach, CA

San Diego, CA

Long Island, NY

6) Jobs I have had:

Grocery store bagger, cashier, service clerk, & assistant manager.  Bed Bath & Beyond, towel folder/stocker.  OMG TOWERS OF TOWELS!  Marshalls & TJ Maxx (at different times) cashier, sales clerk.  Architect's secretary (see #1 LOL), Administrative Assitant at giant crappy computer corp, Secretary and general doormat at a video copying company, Hotel Desk Clerk & Assistant manager, Factory worker assembling aluminum vehicles for Northrup Grumman (in Sturgis MI).  And Civil Service employee at a county office.

7) Bloggers I am tagging who I will enjoy getting to know better:

Hmmm, I tag, (evil hand rubbing motions) Helene, CeeCee (u dun haz 2 iffen it gibs 2 much away dearie), Annie, Brinnann, Metsakins, kRista, Bugmom, Cyanide, Mr. Fred, Russia Moore, Oaklandcat, oh shoot, I'm just about getting all my Vox peeps.  (REALLY evil hand rubbing motions)

have fun guys! and Mook, thanks!  T'was fun!

Yay my speshul delivery came 2day.

I promise moar and better pics by the weekend.

In the meantime, drool over this you jealous Bleensters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really wanted to include some shots of me wearing the t-shirt and sportin' teh tote, but everyone is asleep (damm insomnia!) I'd always sworn I'd never take a mirror shot, but desparate times call for desparate measures.

Please please please ignore the horrendously messy bathroom mirror.  I swear I'll make it up to you by wearing the shirt in public and blogging people's reactions as well as I hope getting some action shots.  ;-)

 

 

 

So if the anti-bleen symbol is shown backwards does that mean I'm anti-anti-bleen?  :-p

I so love these! 

Descriptions, the tote is a nice simple canvas tote, nice and roomy, the handles are a bit shorter than I like but it is totally livable.

The t-shirt feels great.  It is a bit more obvious where they've ironed or screen printed on the symbol compared to the way they applied the symbol to the tote, but doesn't take away from it in my opinion.  I would definatley recommend though getting a size larger than your normal size, even in the women's size.  I ordered a 2x and it just fits.  I'll have to be careful about shrinkage in the laundry, else I'll be posting some pics of our doggies or kitties wearing the shirt...hmmmm.

 

Anyway, I am quite pleased with my order. Yay for Anti-Bleen!

BTW:  In Cute Talk Land Antibleen means "last!"  ;-)

I made the voting pages on Graph Jam!

 

http://graphjam.com/vote/

 

:-D

 

and thanks everyone for the cheers!

Pyrit wanted me to try a different cropping approach to one of my pics from the photo contest.

Here ya go dearie.

Added bonus, a graph I made & submitted to Graphjam.

 

 

This is my 1st ever graph thingamabop, so go easy on me in teh critiques.  ;-)

Show us what you'd most like to see delivered by UPS today.

http://teho.vox.com/library/post/no-bleen-for-everybody.html

http://www.cafepress.com/puddinghockey.264808057

http://www.cafepress.com/puddinghockey.272897110

any day now... and I HOPE it will be today. 

 

This is my first submission to the photo quest group contest.

I used a digital camera set on B&W, technically not like the true old fashioned 35 mm kind, but I guess you gotta work with what you've got right?  :-)

 

Photo #1) There's this lil' house with a picket fenced porch near to where I work.  It is on a very full/busy street and the yard is often quite overgrown. I think there's even another house directly behind it sharing the same driveway.  On the other side of it is an overgrown wooded lot that borders to a small creek or even possibly a pond, can't quite tell.

Anyway this house has always facinated me because I usually drove by it in the evenings in the fall just as the sun was starting to go down.  The light coming through the trees onto the house and yard just gave it a fairy tale (or spooky tale) quality.  Every time I passed it I resolved that the next time I'd stop and take a picture, and I knew it would have to be in Black and White not just to best capture the light and shadows, but also because the owners had painted it an awful yellow color.  But each time I was unable to stop, and whenever I did have the time the light just wasn't right.

I put all those excuses aside and took a pic of the house anyway, even though the light wasn't just right.  Not too bad of a result, and it has only strengthened my resolve to return in the fall and try for that elusive moment.

 

 

Pic #2)

Playing around in my own yard with the camera I snapped this one on a whim and am quite pleased with the results.

They're innocent little plaster yard decorations but somehow they look kind of creepy and slightly sinister in the tall grass (note to self:  remind husband to get busy with the weedwhacker).

 

which brings me to Pic #3)

Again in my yard, taken at a low/close vantage point to our resident Angel/Gazing ball sculpture hidden in the tall plants and grass.  Which to be honest I've never quite viewed in the same way since the Dr. Who episode with the stone angels.  (shudder)

 

 

 

So that's it folks.

Here's some alternate croppings/shots of the above photos for your perusal/pleasure too.

 

 

 

Ben was playing around with some Iron Man Sunglasses I assume he got from a McKinglish Childtype Personage Meal.

Renee our Pom mix was nearby.

This was the result.

:-D

 

Also just for fun here's some photos of the kids and (gasp) me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peeps, I have a problem,

I cannot

CANNOT

STOP saying

Pirate Pup PJs on a Poofy Pom!

and variations of the above.

This is why. 

 

I must also add, as soon as I saw this, my first thought, ok 2nd after "PIRATE POM PUP PJS!!!!" was

"I HAVE to show this to Pyrit!" and all my peeps, just so I can say,

Lookit!  Lookit!  A Perfect Pom in his Pirate Pup PJs Peeps!

Ok Ok, I'll stop now.

maybe...

edit:  Ok I can't stop an it's spreading::  http://cutebabyfix.com/2008/05/31/bff/

I cannot be held responsible for posting this comment wherever this pic appears.