Life in Points: Alex, Super Bowl, and Choice of Socks

[dawn_felagund]

• I am making my Super Bowl prediction now. I think that Da Bears are going to take it. My reasons are threefold.
  1) Defense wins Super Bowls.
  2) Defense wins Super Bowls.
  3) Defense wins Super Bowls. I just have a feeling about Da Bears. I hate to say that they want it more, and I hate to bring up the fact that Peyton Manning seems jinxed (or chokes, depending on how much you like the guy), but...I just have a good feeling about them. Bobby says that they remind him of when the Ravens won the Super Bowl six years ago: the constant nay-saying as they face off supposedly insurmountable opponents whom they manage to thoroughly thwart yet never manage to convince people that they're actually good...so yes, I'm picking Da Bears.
• I often wonder why Bobby and I spend money on dog toys. Yesterday, Bobby got a package in the mail in a big cardboard box. He gave the cardboard box to Alex, who has been happier than a pig in slop ever since. Currently, he is chewing the box. Last night, Bobby had him in the box for a while, would loosely close the flaps, and then out pops Alex! Alex-in-a-box!
• Alex is also really dumb sometimes. He insists on tormenting himself. He knows that he is not allowed to lick the stuff in the dishwasher, yet as soon as the dishwasher opens, there he is, staring mournfully at the dishes that he is not allowed to lick. What is reinforcing about that? The temptation must be terrible, and he gets yelled at if he even gets close to licking the dishes. Still, he continues to torment himself.
• Congress is proposing a 9% raise for federal employees! Woo!
• And Bobby's miserly agency actually sprang for some really nice shirts for them that say, "CBP: Department of Homeland Security," and look all important and stuff. Bobby wore one last night and won the admiration of a really enthusiastic young man working at CVS who hopes to go into intelligence someday. Bobby got to play the role model and give the guy some advice on breaking into the field. It was cute. :)
  My advice: When they tell you that the clearance will only take two months, don't believe them. o.O
  The WAU gave me shirts long ago, but I've never worn them. Wearing a shirt that says "Department of Homeland Security" tends to win awe and admiration; wearing a shirt that says "Warrant Apprehension Unit" gets you shot.
• Alex is still making a fuss with that stupid box.
• We're having quite a crowd for Super Bowl tomorrow, which is odd, since whenever we plan parties, no one comes. When we make casual invitations thinking one or two might show up, then everyone comes. There's a lesson to be learned here, I think.
• I am wearing Christmas socks.
• Bobby had his final apprenticeship at the Aquarium this morning. I still have one left to go. I think that I shall have to email my aquarist and remind her that I exist.
• I am making some sort of ice cream treat for the party tomorrow, but I have not decided exactly what.
  Also, I was really excited the other day because my ice cream maker was shown on the Food Network.
• Besides the Christmas socks, my outfit is generally misguided. I am wearing my long black skirt with the sparkly bits at the top, a long-sleeved black shirt, and a silky pink tunic-type sleeveless shirt with a giraffe print over top of it. Of course, that sort of thing tends to happen when one puts together outfits based on what is lying on the chair because one is too lazy to rummage through the closet and also knows that wearing the clothes on the chair means that one can throw them in the laundry rather than hang them back in the closet again.
• I was insulted personally in another author's comment forum on the Pit of Voles. *sigh* One day, I will write a book--no a trilogy!--about all this. The first book will be called Fandom. The second book will be called Wank. The third book will be called Get a Life, You Stupid Asshat. Seriously, though, isn't this supposed to be fun?
• My condition is--I have learned--an excellent opportunity to work on getting over that pesky blood-phobia thing. And before you roll your eyes and call me a melodramatic fool for being "afraid" of a tiny little wound, keep in mind that phobias are by definition irrational, and don't think that that doesn't drive me nuts. Telling someone to "get over it"--meaning a phobia--is like saying, "Get over being female and grow a Y-chromosome, you whiny bitch!" At least, in the case of blood-injury phobias, there is evidence of genetic predisposition. Thanks, Dad.
• I am teaching Alex English. Meaning, I am teaching him to respond to certain words. So far, when I say "Football!" he gets his squeaky football. I am working on teaching him "Yellow!" (for the fuzzy yellow football), "Tire!" (for his tire tug-toy), and "Christmas!" (for his stuffed Christmas toy). Also, he knows, "Up the stairs!" and "This way!" And of course, sit, down, front, stay, wait, outside, go potty, and off, which are more useful commands, though not usually as much fun.
• Last night, I had a dream that I was arguing with Bobby because he wanted to see Hostel 2, and I didn't. That there is even going to be a Hostel 2--and worse, a The Hills Have Eyes 2--makes me slightly embarrassed to call myself a horror fan. Also, there was recently an advert on television that called Saw 3 "the scariest Saw movie yet"...the key word there being yet. Which leads me to believe that there might be a Saw 4. At which point, I officially give up.
• Oh, and the Maryland weatherpeople effed up again. We didn't get any snow. We did get what is commonly called in this area (I wish I was kidding) "a bag of wintry mix." Now, that makes me think of a snack consisting of cashews and peppermint pieces. But a "bag of wintry mix" basically means enough to make the parking lot slippery (and double the fun of walking Alex when I can only use one side of my body) but jackshit in terms of getting off of work. Boo.
  

Comments

[juno-magic.livejournal.com]

There is someone else in the world who is wearing Christmas socks when it really, really isn't Christmas.

*happy sigh*

Also - DRAMA! Are you willing to link? Since I left HASA my life has been woefully void of any fandom drama.

Oh, and boxes ... I hear you on that - our cats are the same. They are sooo happy with just bits of paper and cardboard. Why do we have expensive cat furniture for them?

[dawn_felagund]

Personally, I think that buying special socks to wear on only certain days of the year is silly, especially when said socks are some of the most comfortable that I own. And have Snoopy on them. ;)

And of course I'm willing to indulge your need for drama! I understand that quitting HASA admin duties fandom drama suddenly can cause unpleasant symptoms of withdrawal. *sage nod*

So here be ye fix. Really, I've heard worse, but it is noteworthy that until French Pony clued me in to this, I'd never spoken to or even heard of this person in my life. Just scroll down to the review by "bookminion."

Also, you'll probably like the story it's attached to...it's about Elrond. ;)

[sinneahtes.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha! "I'm so tired of people not catering to my personal tastes that I'm going to take a lame shot at some author who doesn't know me as if that's going to do anything for the author I'm talking to now!" Hee!

[tarion-anarore.livejournal.com]

I don't know where you get your dog toys, but we get ours from some catalog/online, and we buy the really cheap ones (like the 25 cent ones). It's not like the older dog won't kill it anyway, no matter how much it cost!

The temptation must be terrible, and he gets yelled at if he even gets close to licking the dishes. Still, he continues to torment himself.

Maybe it has to do with fixed-action patterns. My dogs are the same way.

"Get over being female and grow a Y-chromosome, you whiny bitch!"

...I guess I should stop using that line then. ;)

Meaning, I am teaching him to respond to certain words.

I tried to teach my dog "left" and "right" so that we'd have an advantage in the obedience ring. It started to work, but I don't think it was worth it.

[dawn_felagund]

I thought about teaching Alex left and right but settled on "This way!" which means "look up you eejit and stop sniffing the ground 'cause I'm going in a new direction!" At least until he learns to heel properly, this lets me keep him off-lead in my office.

We get Alex's toys from the pet store, but aside from bones, we haven't gotten him any since Christmas because he's already a spoiled little boy and doesn't touch most of them!

[tarion-anarore.livejournal.com]

Do you know/do the "watch" command? (Or "look" or whatever you want really). It what I use when I want to say "Hey stupid, pay attention".

Our dogs only get new toys on Christmas, especially now that we're not in the showring. It used to be, "Oh, Loki won a major! Yay! Pick out a toy!" Or sometimes, we take a toy away for awhile, then give it back and it's almost the same as having a brand new toy! :)

[dawn_felagund]

"This way" seems to be doing the same trick as "watch"...though this was entirely accidental. Still, however it happened, I'm not complaining. ;)

We're trying the same thing with Alex. All but a few of his toys are in his toy box, and every now and then, he gets something new, and it's like, "OMG! This is awesome!" And Bobby and I laugh behind our hands. :^D

[tarion-anarore.livejournal.com]

I like 'watch' just because it can be used in any situation where I want my dog to look at me, not just walking. It's especially for me when I was doing breed shows, I could use watch to make him stop looking around at all the cool stuff going on nearby.

Sometimes, we just grab a toy from the bottom of the box! We try to keep things "picked up", but apparently Loki's turtle has to be laying in the kitchen or thereabout. If we put it away, he takes it out again, chews on it for a minute, then just leaves it in the kitchen again! Silly face. :)

[rhapsody11.livejournal.com]

Mick (my previous cat) loved box, no matter where or how: he just had to get into one. Let me find an image...



I was insulted personally in another author's comment forum on the Pit of Voles. *sigh* One day, I will write a book--no a trilogy!--about all this. The first book will be called Fandom. The second book will be called Wank. The third book will be called Get a Life, You Stupid Asshat. Seriously, though, isn't this supposed to be fun?

No Dawn, people love to be like that over there. Honestly, I got so fed up with people snarking/flaming/trolling at others there, especially through the comments forum of another author (as I experienced as well), that I deleted everything and have not logged in since December. What those people do is childish, immature and what more. I find myself withdrawing more and more, I just... bleh.

In a way I admire you for handling it so well, I just no longer can't. {{{hugs}}}

[ssotknapsack.livejournal.com]

Ha! I love that it says "Box for 2" and just manages to fit one comfy-sized cat. :-P (My cats love boxes too, fwiw.)

[dawn_felagund]

*hugs back* I understand. Unfortunately, they're messing with the wrong one here because I tend to be a little bit stubborn (to be nice about it; some would say "tend to be an outright bitch" :^P), and the more they push, the more I'll push back, i.e. the more of my heretic crap I'll post there. Though I know that not everyone is like that. :)

And Mick-in-the-box! Awesome! I have a theory called "animal osmosis" whereby animals gravitate to the area that has the lowest presence of animals. So boxes, behind the couch, under the bed...though in Alex's case, he prefers to lie in boxes much less than he does ripping them to shreds!

[rhapsody11.livejournal.com]

Teehee, that was my first laugh this morning.

Nelyo being spineless? *giggle* So a character can only show some macho manliness if they snarl and spit on the ground? Good gracious, I tend to write my Fëanorians with a sexy manliness & edginess *pets Celegorm*. She would hate my vignette Devious Council and probably would have preferred that Maedhros would have beaten up Caranthir (hmmm perhaps a wrestle in the mud would be nice) in that scene I wrote, instead of the stragetic move Maehdros makes. *shakes her head*

But that was a) a shallow comment with a typecasting of doomsday b) well I think it is spineless that she/he never said it to you directly. Oh oh oh.

[frenchpony.livejournal.com]

I firmly believe that cardboard boxes are the only appropriate gifts for animals and any human under the age of 14 months.

Mmmm, cashews and peppermint pieces. Salty, sweet, with a little bite. Sounds great. You're the confectioner, I bet you could make a good mix with those. Put it in a nice bag with a ribbon, it'd be a great holiday gift.

Da Bears: Just east of the loop, there is the Field Museum of Natural History And Leftover Stuff From The 1893 World's Fair*, and there is a brontosaurus skeleton out on the front lawn. We drove by it on our way to the Evanston gig last night, and we saw that the brontosaurus is wearing a Bears jersey. Brian Urlacher's, in particular. If Da Bears don't win, Chicago will be one hurtin' town. Fortunately, I will spend my afternoon at the Lincoln's Birthday Singing tomorrow.

I was insulted personally in another author's comment forum on the Pit of Voles. *sigh*

But now you gotta give a link so people can go point and laugh!






*The Field Museum was actually started as a gigantic neoclassical warehouse for leftover World's Fair odds and ends, including the Sundanese gamelan from the Java Village on the Midway, which is across the street from the U of C Music Department. True facts.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I love Chicago--lived there for five years, Southside near U of C. Took my son the Field Museum regularly and he played on the U of C campus like it was a park (great fantasy atmosphere with all the buildings with gargoyles and all that); loved the Greek restaurants near the loop and going to the lakefront in the summer. Winters really bad though.

[frenchpony.livejournal.com]

That's where I live!

Being a U of C student and all. . . The weather today is not fun. The expected high temperature is 0F

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

That is the Chicago I remember. My ex-husband graduated from U of C, where I met him. (I was working there! Very small, weird world.)

[dawn_felagund]

I gave the link to Juno, so let the pointing and laughing commence! :^D

So how bad is the apathy in Chicago right now? I was very sorry to see the Bears lose (even as I wasn't really willing to commit to a favorite....)

Also, my sister and I had great fun with a cardboard "house" that had once been a refrigerator box until fairly late in years. My parents always said, "We buy them the toys; they play with the box!"

[frenchpony.livejournal.com]

Both the Trib and the Sun-Times had the requisite Front Page Of Woe, but people got over it pretty quickly. Part of it is that the Bears were kind of a long shot anyway, part of it is that people could blame the rain, and, to be honest, part of it is that it's only recently gotten warm enough to snow, so people here have had other things on their minds, such as how to avoid freezing their cocinaches off.

[ford-of-bruinen.livejournal.com]

Yup, cardboard boxes are the toy of choice this year as it was last. Min still gets all hyper and happy if she finds a cardboard box and tries to lie in it/chew on it/tear at it/dig a hole in the bottom of it no matter how small or big the box is...

ah, fandom drama. How glad that makes me that I am next to a Hermit fandom wise these days.

Have fun at your party!

[dawn_felagund]

Min's behavior sounds just like Alex! He was obsessed with scratching the bottom of it, and since the bottom was slightly rippled, it was quite grating after a while...but he had fun, so I put up with it. ;)

But that you could have seen our floor, post-box. Aiyiyi....

[ssotknapsack.livejournal.com]

I was insulted personally in another author's comment forum on the Pit of Voles. *sigh* One day, I will write a book--no a trilogy!--about all this. The first book will be called Fandom. The second book will be called Wank. The third book will be called Get a Life, You Stupid Asshat. Seriously, though, isn't this supposed to be fun?

I third what everyone else has said so far: I wanna read what they said!

[dawn_felagund]

Your icon still owns my soul!

Go here and scroll down to "bookminion" (is the fourth review at the moment). It's not even all that bad but more random...and also rather misguided since she/he/it is comparing my character of Maedhros living in a paradise realm to French Pony's Maedhros about a thousand years later after having been imprisoned, tortured, deprived of a hand, and having watched his family die one by one...and my character compared to that has any reason to be grim? *siiiigh*

[ssotknapsack.livejournal.com]

Wowww. She (?) should at least have had the decency not to make her snipes behind your back. *Evil eye in the direction of bookminion* But then, subtly in critique isn't a skill everyone possesses coughbookminioncough. ;)

Just for you, you get another funky chicken.

[genchaos.livejournal.com]

*sigh, roll eyes* Which genius was it that dissed you over there this time? Homer or Celegorm? The latter gives their namesake a bad name.

[dawn_felagund]

Actually, this late-breaking announcement comes from the organization known as ASS: Asshat Surveillance System. ASS has recently posted a bulletin that The Last Temptation of Homer has changed her name to The Battling Bard.

*evil grin*

And she has a LiveJournal now too! :^O

In fact, said comment came from someone called "bookminion." ASS is now keeping an eye on that one too. ;)

[atanwende.livejournal.com]

And she has a LiveJournal now too! :^O

OMG! LJ-drama! *waves pitchfork* ;)

[ann-arien.livejournal.com]

Superbowl party? Now that sounds interesting...

Awww! for Alex and his box. Sounds rather mess, if you say he's chewing it, but aren't messy things generally the most fun for pets?

Re Fandom Wank and the jack-asses at the Pit of Voles: They don't call it the Pit of Voles for nothing. Hope you're not too annoyed by all these incidents and random insults tossed by Eru knows who and why. Remember when I told you about a kid reading my totally slashy and incestuous stories? Said kid called me some pretty colorful names, but I found it mildly amusing, at best. Don't let shit like that get to you. But please do write that trilogy. I think it will be loads of fun to read. *winks*

Re: Saw 1, 2, 3... whatever!: The first one was scary and sick. My kind of movie. As for the sequel(s)... meh!

[dawn_felagund]

Those eejits really don't get to me. I find it amusing, really. It's like if a bunch of old ladies in a knitting circle suddenly and randomly started poking at each other with knitting needles. Also, this particular eejit never once commented on my work to me but took out her/his/its displeasure with French Pony. Ayiyi....

As for Saw...the first was rather innovative, I'll admit, though blood-phobic me went and read all the gimmicks before seeing the movie! :^D Now, though, the whole blood-and-guts-torture-movie genre is really wearing on me. Last year saw Hostel, The Hills Have Eyes, Wolf Creek, Saw 3, Turistas, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, all which seem to aim to outdo the previous torture movie in terms of blood, guts, and gimmicks. Horror movies in general of late make me want to put my head through a plaster wall. (Or maybe cast myself in a torture movie! :^D) Few really make any legitimate attempt at creating true horror, imo, aside from cheap scare tactics and lots of fake blood.

[atanwende.livejournal.com]

I often wonder why Bobby and I spend money on dog toys.

It's the same with our tomcat. He's got all of that pet toy stuff yet he finds things like cardboard boxes or sticks from the garden (or shiny stuff on our Christmas tree) soo much more interesting... ;)

And he also likes to lick the stuff in our dishwasher...

Besides the Christmas socks, my outfit is generally misguided.

Oh please, my usual weekend-ly outfit is much, much worse... I often wear shorts, a tank top, thick, thick socks and legwarmers when nobody sees me (when I get too cold like that I usually drape my cashmere shawl around my shoulders... o.O). Add to that a vast array of mismatched colours and... well, you have the general idea. ;) I guess nobody would confuse me with the girl the know from university like that, haha. And last saturday I wore a normal outfit, but I had my hair braided up and a bandana tied around it all day (this had practical reasons at first because I was siwmming and my hair was still damp when I walked home, and later it prevented me from raking my fingers through my hair but I guess I still looked rather peculiar...). So, nothing to fear. :-D

I was insulted personally in another author's comment forum on the Pit of Voles.

I always wonder why you get these comments and I never do, really. Firstly, I think you're a really, really eloquent writer (in contrast to soo many on the PoV), secondly, if somebody accused me of merely catering to my own romantic fantasies in my stories - why - I couldn't even deny it! (I mean, I try to keep up to certain standards but in the beginning WRU essentially was written because I though Haleth/Caranthir would be a hott!pairing... ;-P)