Wordjanitor Strikes Again

Imagine if you will... It's Thursday afternoon in Cubeville. 3:17: Tra la la la. Sitting at your desk. La la la. Getting ready to leave at 3:45 for physical therapy. La la la. 3:18: A senior VP sends an e-mail to 5,000 people to announce this really great Web project -- you guessed it, the same one you'd been asked to hold until you received her approval. 3:19: Cubedwellers in earshot here a very perky, "Well, I guess that's approval!" Initiate IM search for Web developers. Uh, guys... 3:27: Compose e-mail, "Dear Boss and Boss's Boss, Imagine my surprise..." 3:35: Site is live -- warts and all. 3:45: Warts removed. 4:05: Praising existence of carpool lane on 101, consider personal budget for lavish gifts to Web developers. 4:35: Arrive at physical therapy prepared to get pummeled by 6'2" guy who has to release sciatic nerve tension by thumbs into calf and elbow into hamstrings and glutes. Tra la la. La. LA LA LA!

I hereby declare my couch once again to be a couch. I will sit on it. I will read. I will watch movies. I will use those fabulously soft blankets I bought for cozying up rather than serving as a helicopter deck. My couch has, at various times during this week, been: a helicopter a really big rescue helicopter a barge a fireboat a scuba dive boat And, even more randomly today: a chicken coop. @'s imagination is amazing and amusing at the same time. The detail he puts into his creations -- that he will at length explain -- is always very carefully considered. These pillows are the seats, but those pillows are the parachutes. The smaller animals are afraid, so they stay away from the doors and windows in the middle of the cabin. We were rescuing animals yesterday. The burping cat (aka a stuffed Garfield for which he does not know the actual name but saw on television at some point) had fallen overboard and the dogs were lowering the rescuer to save him. The gray dog was to do first ai...

My son has turned on me. Last week, @'s teacher interviewed the kids about their presidential choices and put the quotes up on the bulletin board. It's a jarring sight at 7:30a to see an adorable photo of your own child next to the quote: "I'm voting for John McCain because I like his hair. I love John McCain." Where have I gone wrong?!

"What could be better than to hold your hand out to people who are less fortunate than you are? That's simply the way I look at it." --Paul Newman, 1925-2008

" Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters. " - Norman MacLean

There's definitely something to be said for cute. Even an overload of cute. My friend Cristal like has this friend, you know. And her name is like Meg, you know. And she's really cool (Cristal too of course). Any like she -- Meg, not Cristal -- started this blog posting pix of cute little critters. And Cuteoverload.com , well, exploded -- in a good way. How good? The #1 selling calendar on Amazon.com Multiple Webby awards An appearance today on Martha Stewart Cristal and Meg just happen to be three of the leading ladies who provide the fab three-part harmony in the Bootcuts , one fabu rad band o' fun folks. And then check Cristal and Meg singing . All I can say is, RIGHT ON MEG!

John Stewart's researchers rock. I love this bit.

Oddly enough, or not, one of our annual traditions has become going to a local car show out in the woods where LD lives. It's an interesting deal with an odd crowd. LD usually enters a car in the show, but this year opted out -- something about energy, spiderwebs, 104 degree heat, etc. So, this year we were spectators. My faves are usually the 32-34 Ford Fordor or Tudor hot rod restorations and I'll admit I have a thing for flame paint jobs. One of the cars this year has the most bad-a** flames I've seen to date. The flames trail from the front with little bursts on the sides. And then there's the trunk... (The trunk pic is worth double clicking to see larger, trust me.) Keep in mind, this is all free-hand work. I can't draw freehand with a pencil and a giant eraser. Whoever did this work, did it on a car -- no eraser. @'s fave is a delivery sedan he calls the "bug car" because he likes the headlight covers. And for the flame traditionalists among you....