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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 18, 2024 11:19:24 GMT -5
Right now, she's looking out the window at all of the birds and dreaming of slaughtering all of them. I actually heard her make a chattering noise, one day, as she stared at birds in the shrubs, outside the window.
Every now and then, usually when I am getting dressed for work, she decides she wants to jump up in my arms and snuggle against my chest....strictly on her terms, of course (if I pick her up, she wants to jump down). She will purr and nuzzle my hand and I will look at her and say, "You're pretty affectionate, when you take the edge off."
And then she bites me.
Not hard, but, she likes to play and it involves a lot of teeth and claws, where she leaves playful scratches and blood.
Never trust a cat.
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 18, 2024 18:57:01 GMT -5
Today would have been Barb's 60th birthday. I doubt , even in happier times, if she would have looked forward to it (though she wasn't self-conscious about her age). Had she lived and been in better physical health, we probably would have gone out somewhere for crab legs.
Barb loved Progressive Rock, especially Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. So, here's Happy Birthday, in the style of Keith Emerson....
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 19, 2024 21:51:41 GMT -5
I don’t think I mentioned this, but #2 son graduates from Georgetown Law the middle of May, so I’m headed back to D.C. for a week. Flying both ways this time. Theoretically my in-laws are supposed to be coming with us, but I fully expect my Father-in-law to end up canceling. So confident I got refundable tickets for the two of them.
Not entirely sure what all we will be doing. Graduation and the gala are Sunday. My son apparently is getting us tickets to see Little Shop of Horrors at Ford’s Theater. And a nice dinner with my son’s girlfriends Mom & sisters (we’ve met them once before). Part of it will depend on if the in-laws actually do come. If they do we’ll be repeating a number of things we’ve already seen, including Arlington, the big monuments on the Mall and the Holocaust Museum.
Still, should be plenty of time for new stuff.
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Post by impulse on Apr 20, 2024 9:59:39 GMT -5
Not to get into details, but venting a bit. We've made a fairly considerable life change in the last two years. It's a move we believe is in the longterm best interest for our family, but it comes with a lot of change and is a huge effort. As with anything, regardless of planning, certain aspects are more convoluted and taking longer than expected. Still don't regret the decision, but it's just been a lot, with resultant additional stress on myself and my wife. The kids are doing very well with it which is the most important part, and longterm we'll be all right, but it's just tough.
Not helping things, after a long visit from my family which comes with a disruption to our normal routine and lots of cleaning/restoring after, we all picked up COVID again, too, so after over a week we don't have our house fully restored. All you can do is laugh sometimes.
Thankfully, this current round is much milder than the first time I got it, so much so that I almost missed it. A friend got sick and tested positive, so I took one just in case, and lo and behold. Even mild COVID sapped my energy for a few days. I thought it was just exhaustion from restoring the house after company and a cold.
Anyway, rambling. It's been a lot lately, but we're moving in the right direction.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 21, 2024 15:18:34 GMT -5
Zagreb's annual comic show, which the organizers insist on calling a comicon, was held this weekend - it started Friday evening and ended late this afternoon. Unfortunately, I had work commitments and also yard-work to deal with on the preceding days, so I was only able to go today, but I nonetheless went to a few interesting panels. The first was a Q&A session with Italian comics artist extraordinaire Claudio Castellini.  ( that's him in the middle in case you're wondering) He talked about his start at Italy's famed comic publisher Bonelli, and then his move to working for American publishers, mainly DC and Marvel, but also others, like CrossGen, and also about his influences (if you've seen his work, you can tell he was particularly inspired by John Buscema and Neal Adams) and his process, the differences between collaborating with writers in Italy vs. the US, etc. A little later, at his table...  ...he signed my battered copy of the first issue of the Croatian edition of the popular Bonelli SF series Nathan Never (which he drew):  Also, the Croatian edition of AWA's Hotell was released to coincide with the convention, and it was formally presented by its artist, local boy Dalibor Talajić and John Lees, who flew in from Scotland.  ( l to r: Talajić, Lees and moderator Stipe Kalajžić, also a comics artist) Lees announced that AWA has optioned the series for a movie adaptation, which is apparently already in the preliminary preparatory phase (i.e., a director has already been hired). And both Lees and Talajić signed my copies of the American editions:  Nice day, all in all, as I otherwise caught up with a few of the local comics guys, not just Dalibor, but also Goran Sudžuka, who I hadn't seen in literally years. |
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Apr 21, 2024 19:48:45 GMT -5
I heard someone say today "Please be patient with me, I'm from the 1900s" and I felt called out.
-M
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Apr 22, 2024 11:26:54 GMT -5
Happy Earth Day  -M |
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Apr 22, 2024 19:24:06 GMT -5
Happy Passover to those celebrating.
-M
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Post by driver1980 on Apr 24, 2024 12:16:51 GMT -5
A small gripe about breakdown organisations, so not to be taken too seriously… In the UK, we have the likes of the AA (Automobile Association), RAC (Royal Automobile Club), and Green Flag, not to mention other minor companies. You pay for breakdown cover and, should the worst happen, they’ll come out and either fix your vehicle at home (if you have home start cover), fix at the roadside, or tow you to a garage. All good, you get what you pay for. But you don’t get any items included with your membership now. Years ago, the likes of the AA would include a magazine, car sticker, other gifts. Now you get…nothing!  Same if you had, say, home contents insurance. Sign up and you might get a pen or a diary. But now, nothing. Bring back sign up gifts. I want my breakdown car sticker and a diary!!! |
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 24, 2024 19:25:13 GMT -5
A small gripe about breakdown organisations, so not to be taken too seriously… In the UK, we have the likes of the AA (Automobile Association), RAC (Royal Automobile Club), and Green Flag, not to mention other minor companies. You pay for breakdown cover and, should the worst happen, they’ll come out and either fix your vehicle at home (if you have home start cover), fix at the roadside, or tow you to a garage. All good, you get what you pay for. But you don’t get any items included with your membership now. Years ago, the likes of the AA would include a magazine, car sticker, other gifts. Now you get…nothing! Same if you had, say, home contents insurance. Sign up and you might get a pen or a diary. But now, nothing. Bring back sign up gifts. I want my breakdown car sticker and a diary!!! You end up paying for that stuff, in the end; so, I'm happy to not receive junk gifts. Lower rates are enough of a gift. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2024 7:19:30 GMT -5
A small gripe about breakdown organisations, so not to be taken too seriously… In the UK, we have the likes of the AA (Automobile Association), RAC (Royal Automobile Club), and Green Flag, not to mention other minor companies. You pay for breakdown cover and, should the worst happen, they’ll come out and either fix your vehicle at home (if you have home start cover), fix at the roadside, or tow you to a garage. All good, you get what you pay for. But you don’t get any items included with your membership now. Years ago, the likes of the AA would include a magazine, car sticker, other gifts. Now you get…nothing! Same if you had, say, home contents insurance. Sign up and you might get a pen or a diary. But now, nothing. Bring back sign up gifts. I want my breakdown car sticker and a diary!!! I like the gifts as well. Our electric company is a co-op, and they publish a little quarterly magazine that has lots of great info on things going on around the region. Yeah, I could go search the web and find out similar info, but it creates this feeling of a sense of community still. Plus it's really well-executed, and I doubt it really adds a lot to my electric bill at the end of the day. I don't need a fully utilitarian society, little touches within reason like you describe are day brightners IMO. And when they do remove little extras like this, they never pass the savings back to the customer. It's all about the corporate bottom line, that's what most "expense initiatives" are at the end of the day. |
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Post by driver1980 on Apr 25, 2024 7:41:32 GMT -5
Indeed. I mean, the AA Magazine used to have some good articles, curated by someone who clearly cared. And having a sticker to put in your car window was nice.
It’s the well-executed word you mentioned which resonates with me.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 25, 2024 13:36:26 GMT -5
Probably a good thing that there isn't a politics thread today.
That's it. That's the post.
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Post by impulse on Apr 25, 2024 14:59:30 GMT -5
Today and the last few...years.
It sure is nice to see the sun shining so brightly finally. I was tired of the winter aesthetic.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 25, 2024 14:59:52 GMT -5
Probably a good thing that there isn't a politics thread today. Agreed. That's a thought I've had pretty much on a daily basis for a year, too! |
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