Small Talk: Out of Genoa

[valleycliffe]

21 minutes ago, Cupid Stunt said:

You inspired me to wash walls, clean/replace the refrigerator/freezer/ice machine/water/vent filters, wash windows and light fixtures, clean and reorganize the pantry, sort winter vs spring clothes, pack bags for SXSW trip, prepare saltwater fishing and kitesurfing gear for vacation … 

My shoulders and arms are killing me.

the only extra needed on this post was " and then i made lunch"...

[Cupid Stunt]

1 hour ago, valleycliffe said:

the only extra needed on this post was " and then i made lunch"...

<snerk> Eating cold pizza as I type. There will be no food prep in my sparkling clean kitchen until I return from Austin.

Thing1/2 and I are hitting the local taco truck for dinner tonight.

Spring cleaning has been going on in fits and starts all week. 

[peacheslatour]

3 minutes ago, Cupid Stunt said:

<snerk> Eating cold pizza as I type. There will be no food prep in my sparkling clean kitchen until I return from Austin.

Thing1/2 and I are hitting the local taco truck for dinner tonight.

Spring cleaning has been going on in fits and starts all week. 

Same here. Next is yard clean up. Bleh.

[boes]

1 hour ago, Cupid Stunt said:

You inspired me to wash walls, clean/replace the refrigerator/freezer/ice machine/water/vent filters, wash windows and light fixtures, clean and reorganize the pantry, sort winter vs spring clothes, pack bags for SXSW trip, prepare saltwater fishing and kitesurfing gear for vacation … 

My shoulders and arms are killing me.

Just now, boes said:

There's also the Quintin Crisp Guide to Household Cleaning - 

“There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse.”

Edited March 9, 2019 by boes

[Cupid Stunt]

2 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Same here. Next is yard clean up. Bleh.

Bleh is right.

The only thing clean on our patio is the tile and furniture for being pelted with rain. Mr.Stunt said he'd poke at it while I'm gone.

[Cupid Stunt]

Quote

20 minutes ago, boes said:

There's also the Quintin Crisp Guide to Household Cleaning - 

“There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse.” 

But then the Dust Bunnies don't want to share the remote, and the politicking for a cost-of-living raise to their allowance is endless.

-- "Five bucks more, but you have to answer the phone in a civil manner, improve your History grades, take out the recycling and compost before pickup, and y'all need to take birth control. Do we have a deal?"

Actual dust bunnies made from dust by Suzanne Proulx.

Edited March 9, 2019 by Cupid Stunt

[Cupid Stunt]

Student animation project by Beth Tomashek and Sam Wade

[peacheslatour]

Boy, that was a close one! Who knew a couple of dust bunnies could have me on the edge of my seat. Thanks,  CS!

[jpagan05]

So cute, CS, and also explains a lot!

Edited March 10, 2019 by jpagan05

[jpagan05]

Happy Caturday!!

Kemosabe

Puka

[FairyDusted]

@jpagan05 Oh what lovely companions! Now I need a kitty hug. 

Finally caught up! Sorry for blowing up the thread folks. It's been a real soap in my part of GC.....er...Ohio. 

And now I just lost an hour. Great. 

 

[Cupid Stunt]

Sunday Not-So Funnies From Austin, Texas!

What Are the Biggest Problems Women Face Today?  -- When you have to ask, you haven't been paying attention.

Here's something women want -- USWNT Players File Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Against US Soccer Federation

Franken-Salmon -- US regulators clear path for genetically modified salmon

Umm … Hard Pass -- US regulators outline oversight on meat grown in lab dishes

Lisa Frank on sugar and corn syrup -- Candytopia is a weird and wonderful candy wonderland

The Japanese space probe Hayabusa2  touching down on an asteroid called Ryugu.

2019 Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament All Hockey Hair Team

Edited March 10, 2019 by Cupid Stunt

[paisley]

Just read that Jed Allan passed. He played Don Craig on Days, Edward Quartermaine on GH, and C.C. Caldwell on my beloved Santa Barbara. RIP.

Just thought old school soap watchers would want to know.

[valleycliffe]

i loved c.c.caldwell on santa barbara...

LOL  my hubby of all people got me started on it.  he was working the midnight yard so was awake in the afternoon...watched it a couple of times and i was hooked.  sb was also the ONLY soap the hubster watched...then he got  the afternoon yard and that was it for the soap watching.

Edited March 10, 2019 by valleycliffe

[paisley]

Correction: I typed C.C. Capwell, my evil possessed Kindle decided I meant Caldwell.

Jed Allan played C.C. Caldwell and did it with gusto.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, valleycliffe said:

i loved c.c.caldwell on santa barbara...

LOL  my hubby of all people got me started on it.  he was working the midnight yard so was awake in the afternoon...watched it a couple of times and i was hooked.  sb was also the ONLY soap the hubster watched...then he got  the afternoon yard and that was it for the soap watching.

My DH used to watch some soap back when he was between jobs in the eighties. I don't remember the name but it had Tina Louise in it and he was hooked. I thought it was so cute. Anyway he can't give me shit about "my stories" when I have that juicy bit of information at my disposal. 😜

[Cupid Stunt]

We're Addressing Gender Disparity in Engineering Too Late -- I disagree (from my career choice and experience in hiring) , but there are several salient points the author makes

Seven endangered species that could (almost) fit in a single train carriage

Can you hear the meat wagons?

Not a surprise -- Is lab-grown meat actually worse for the environment?

"Transient Anus" is the name of my Frank Zappa cover band

Warty comb jelly

Edited March 11, 2019 by Cupid Stunt

[bannana]

Came across this site, which is actually kind of funny.  

Comments by celebs

[Cupid Stunt]

In Gaza, women walk thin line between hope and despair

French musher was leading Iditarod, but then his dogs quit -- '… Libby Riddles, the 1985 Iditarod champion and the first woman to win the race, said the incident demonstrates why dog mushing is a fine art. It requires a balance between being competitive and keeping the dogs happy.

“People have this idea that you can force these dogs to Nome,” she said in a phone interview. “It’s not like that at all.”

“The amount of intuition and communication and trust and experience you have with your dogs is how it all happens and comes together, and Nic Petit happens to actually be one of the best in the business at this,” Riddles said.'

Rare 10-mile-long lake forms in Death Valley after heavy rains and flooding

Chicago is sinking. Here's what that means for Lake Michigan and the Midwest

Last, but not least … It's the World Wide Web's 30th Birthday!

[Cupid Stunt]

5 hours ago, bannana said:

Came across this site, which is actually kind of funny.  

Comments by celebs

[Cupid Stunt]

Creating the New American Meritocracy -- And to think we wasted our time telling Thing1&2 if they wanted to go to a good school they were going to have earn the grades to get there.

The full indictment charging actors, CEOs and others in a nationwide college admission scheme -- Interesting Masters of the Universe rogues gallery

[Sake614]

Did you notice there are two Abbots on the list? 😏

[Petunia13]

Not to vague post but send good vibes. G is a touch sick. 

@jewel21 how’s work, life, and the Jensen Ackles of birds Steve? 

[jewel21]

@Petunia13 - I hope G starts feeling better. 

Work is okay. I haven't had a decent/regular pay check since early December. We were closed for two weeks at xmas, then I was sick, then we were closed for two days during March break. It's starting to get to me. The other job is fine though. 

Life is okay. I'm tired and frustrated with winter and my long commute but other than that, I have no real complaints. 

I love the Jensen Ackles of birds comment, hee. Steve is okay. Flying and singing at times but I find his appetite has been a bit decreased the past couple of weeks. I think I'm going to bring him in for a blood test in April to re-check his liver rather than wait until his annual exam in August. 

How is your job and life treating you?

[Cupid Stunt]

I'm a great admirer of Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson. She was an activist who picked up the neglected baton of Eleanor Roosevelt and expanded the job of First Lady so deftly that most people don't realize it. Born wealthy, she campaigned for social justice for the poor. A daughter of the Old South, she risked her life to advance civil rights. She was an early champion of the environment, becoming one of the most influential First Ladies we've ever had. She was an extraordinary woman in the 1960s -- civil rights, assassinations, riots, and Vietnam -- standing at the epicenter, married to activist President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Mrs. Johnson came from southern bayou country of Texas and LBJ came from West Texas, and it is through these two landscapes her love of nature and environmental activism grew. Were it not for Lady Bird the Texas of today would not be blooming with bluebonnets and native wild flowers. She influenced others to embrace and protect the land that we may enjoy beauty, no matter how rare and fleeting.

Given the right job, they're all good dogs -- He couldn't hack it as a drug-sniffing dog. Now he's conservation's best friend

Winter goes out like a lion -- 70 million are in the path of 'bomb cyclone' set to strike the central US, bringing snow, hail and rain

'Bomb cyclone' isn't the only crazy weather term you'll hear this winter

Why you’re recycling wrong -- Just a small amount of contamination can ruin recycling.

Edited March 13, 2019 by Cupid Stunt

[pearlite]

21 hours ago, Cupid Stunt said:

Creating the New American Meritocracy -- And to think we wasted our time telling Thing1&2 if they wanted to go to a good school they were going to have earn the grades to get there.

The full indictment charging actors, CEOs and others in a nationwide college admission scheme -- Interesting Masters of the Universe rogues gallery

PearliteLite is still guffawing over this story! To the tune of, "I told you some of them were idiots"--one guy in particular in her Masters program freaked her out with his stupidity...he was just accepted into NYU for a PhD...

She immediately sent along this: https://www.thecut.com/2019/03/a-satirical-application-inspired-by-college-cheating-scandal.html

[Cupid Stunt]

4 hours ago, pearlite said:

PearliteLite is still guffawing over this story! To the tune of, "I told you some of them were idiots"--one guy in particular in her Masters program freaked her out with his stupidity...he was just accepted into NYU for a PhD..

Thing1&2 weren't the least bit surprised. Thing2 is acquainted with one student who's parent is under indictment.

There will always be legacy kids that get in the top tier schools because gramps gives a regular million to the library in his name, and that keeps the heirs slouching down the hallowed halls (That's how my brother-in-law got into business school). And that's what so idiotic about this scandal. If you give the universities enough dough, little Brittany or Tyler are an automatic admission.

There's the issue of parents spending 18+ years with little Brittany or Tyler and excuse those years of minimal interest in school until they are nearing their senior year. They've shown no effort to apply themselves to get into a Big10/Ivy/Pac10 college, so the parents pour their effort and lucre into bribery, photoshop and fiction writing? Really?

Any family that paid $6.5 million to a fixer get their slug of kid into their preferential college, should have given it directly to the school -- Little Brittany or Tyler would be welcomed with a brass band, carried from class to class by the Rugby Club team, with starving undergrads begging to write their papers and take their mid-terms.

The corruption of NCAA-associated sport departments ambles on unabated, because that generates lots of cash and is in keeping with how sports are regulated … Goddess knows we can't turn off the spigot. Playing the lower GPA ratio for athletic openings is an old game, but bribing coaches and department personnel to falsify openings for an acceptance letter is unique.

Makes you wonder how much more money the parents had to dish out for other people to write papers and ace finals that Little Brittany and Tyler would have been too hungover to complete. 

Quote

She immediately sent along this: https://www.thecut.com/2019/03/a-satirical-application-inspired-by-college-cheating-scandal.html

HA!

[Petunia13]

20 hours ago, jewel21 said:

@Petunia13 - I hope G starts feeling better. 

Work is okay. I haven't had a decent/regular pay check since early December. We were closed for two weeks at xmas, then I was sick, then we were closed for two days during March break. It's starting to get to me. The other job is fine though. 

Life is okay. I'm tired and frustrated with winter and my long commute but other than that, I have no real complaints. 

I love the Jensen Ackles of birds comment, hee. Steve is okay. Flying and singing at times but I find his appetite has been a bit decreased the past couple of weeks. I think I'm going to bring him in for a blood test in April to re-check his liver rather than wait until his annual exam in August. 

How is your job and life treating you?

Thanks! He had a bit of a sore throat but I think it was from a bully stick. 

My job is very busy (it’s one of the busiest in the entire chain) and I want to transfer to a closer store. Besides a shorter or nonexistent commute I’m hoping for a less hectic schedule, some days I’m throwing freight of 35-50 lbs for the entire eight hours. I also have to bartend and of course order. 

[Cupid Stunt]

Starting when she was 21, Helen Fagin was imprisoned in the Radomsko and Warsaw ghettos in Poland. Her parents were sent to Treblinka and murdered there, but Fagin and her sister eventually managed to escape and, after a long journey around Europe, made it to the United States. Fagin has offered lengthy testimony about her experience of the Holocaust (for the USC Shoah Foundation and US Holocaust Memorial Museum), but in this short video, she reads a letter she wrote about how reading and stories gave a spark of hope to those imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto.

And because "ignorance and fanaticism are ever busy and need feeding" … High school plastered with swastikas after Holocaust survivor visit

The Size of Life: Part 1

Kangaroo Ultraviolence is a video meme you've never heard of

Lines (57° 59′ N, 7° 16’W) -- A Light Installation in a Scottish Coastal Town Shows Future Sea Level Rise

[Cupid Stunt]

15 hours ago, Petunia13 said:

Thanks! He had a bit of a sore throat but I think it was from a bully stick. 

My job is very busy (it’s one of the busiest in the entire chain) and I want to transfer to a closer store. Besides a shorter or nonexistent commute I’m hoping for a less hectic schedule, some days I’m throwing freight of 35-50 lbs for the entire eight hours. I also have to bartend and of course order. 

<skritches> Get well soon, George.

That's a very long day. Has your work in grocery stores always been so physical? 

[Cupid Stunt]

Celebrate Pi Day!

With the most famous pie fight in the history of film

[jewel21]

I want all those pies posted above. 

Today I saw this strange dog being walked. It was massive and looked like a freakin' bear. It was super calm and sniffed my hand a bit. Turns out it was a Russian Mountain dog. Never even heard of it before but it was gorgeous. 

[ByTor]

On 3/7/2019 at 1:15 PM, AngelKitty said:

On 3/7/2019 at 10:23 AM, Cupid Stunt said:

It's simple. I want Congress to pick the one with the most sunlight and stop the meddling with their citizen's internal clocks.

Well, that's the thing, isn't it? There's no reason to switch back and forth that I can see. It would be nice to just pick one and never change again.

Amen!

On 3/7/2019 at 12:46 PM, pearlite said:

I have some early classes--8:00AM, and it's just started to be light when I'm driving. And now...back to the darkness in the morning. 

This is what’s killing me!  I’m an early morning runner, I like my AM light!

On 3/7/2019 at 10:56 AM, peacheslatour said:

This is it exactly. I hate DST. It takes me a good week to start feeling normal again.

You’re lucky it only takes you a week, I feel useless for a good month.

[Cupid Stunt]

New York, feds join to get 100K rape kits tested around US -- Justice 

Wet winter ends California drought after 376 straight weeks

How to Make an Elephant Explode: The Size of Life Part 2

AP Monthly Staff Photo Contest

[Cupid Stunt]

12 hours ago, jewel21 said:

I want all those pies posted above. 

Triple Berry Pi for you!

Quote

Today I saw this strange dog being walked. It was massive and looked like a freakin' bear. It was super calm and sniffed my hand a bit. Turns out it was a Russian Mountain dog. Never even heard of it before but it was gorgeous. 

That's a lot of dog.

Edited March 15, 2019 by Cupid Stunt

[peacheslatour]

38 minutes ago, Cupid Stunt said:

Triple Berry Pi for you!

That's a lot of dog.

Big sweetie!

[PatsyandEddie]

George Michael's art collection raises $14.6 million at auction
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/george-michael-art-scli-intl-gbr/index.html

[jewel21]

3 hours ago, Cupid Stunt said:

Triple Berry Pi for you!

That's a lot of dog.

Haha, yup! His paws were massive. I just kept thinking thank god that dog was calm, cuz if he's been tugging on his leash, the girl walking him would have been dragged down the street, heh. 

This actually happened to me when I was 10 and trying to walk my friend's Rotweiller. He got a whiff of some garbage and took off running to a neighbour's garbage can and started eating a dirty diaper. I was dragged two houses down on my stomach with my friend yelling at me to "let go of the leash!" I didn't, fyi. 

ETA: That pie looks divine!

Edited March 15, 2019 by jewel21

[valleycliffe]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm pie

[Capricasix]

I’m so sad, fam. I’m heartsick about the mass murder in New Zealand - I cry every time I think about it. I had to caution my 13yo autistic son not to watch the video footage if he saw links to it on Youtube, and I wept when he asked me why someone would do something like that. How do you explain the depth of hate that some people feel?

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, Capricasix said:

I’m so sad, fam. I’m heartsick about the mass murder in New Zealand - I cry every time I think about it. I had to caution my 13yo autistic son not to watch the video footage if he saw links to it on Youtube, and I wept when he asked me why someone would do something like that. How do you explain the depth of hate that some people feel?

Sometimes people decide that they have the power to end other people's lives. They feel people who are different are not human and do not deserve to live.

[boes]

1 hour ago, Capricasix said:

I’m so sad, fam. I’m heartsick about the mass murder in New Zealand - I cry every time I think about it. I had to caution my 13yo autistic son not to watch the video footage if he saw links to it on Youtube, and I wept when he asked me why someone would do something like that. How do you explain the depth of hate that some people feel?

I don't understand it - comprehend it, maybe, but not understand it.  Holocaust, Rwanda, Northern Ireland, Norway, the uncontrolled hate of Charlottesville, Miami, Oklahoma City, just trying to name the unspeakable is heartwrenching.

He's got you and everyone else to counter that hate in his life, but what you can do other than hold him tight is beyond my comprehension.

Love to you both and us all.

[Cupid Stunt]

2 hours ago, Capricasix said:

I’m so sad, fam. I’m heartsick about the mass murder in New Zealand - I cry every time I think about it. I had to caution my 13yo autistic son not to watch the video footage if he saw links to it on Youtube, and I wept when he asked me why someone would do something like that. How do you explain the depth of hate that some people feel?

(((Capricasix and Son)))

Remind your son that these people cannot win.

Love is why they will ultimately fail.

The carnage and senseless loss of life make it look like the madness has the upper hand. but what was attempted to destroy, another power flies straight in the face of the horror -- the defiant shared heartbeat of humanity. It’s that force that propels people into harm’s way to help strangers, that moves them into the fray to care for others without regard for themselves, because there are cries and blood and death and pain and we respond to help.

This is courage the madness can never embrace. It is character killers can’t comprehend. It is compassion that is counterintuitive to their hatred. It is hope that is anathema to their heart.

There is always an immediate response from good people that violence can’t control or anticipate or destroy. It's not met force with force or hatred with hatred or bloodshed with bloodshed; this would be playing into the same vicious sickening game. It is a strident show of strength that transcends race or religion or homeland or native tongue. It cannot be killed or destroyed or chased into the darkness. It is love that defeats hate.

Take heart, Capricasix. We are with you.

[Cupid Stunt]

Inspired by #MeToo, Serbian woman speaks out and fights back

Incredible pictures capture rare 'Elephant Queen' in Kenya

After the crash: How Wall Street is driving up homelessness

[Petunia13]

On 3/15/2019 at 7:14 PM, boes said:

I don't understand it - comprehend it, maybe, but not understand it.  Holocaust, Rwanda, Northern Ireland, Norway, the uncontrolled hate of Charlottesville, Miami, Oklahoma City, just trying to name the unspeakable is heartwrenching.

He's got you and everyone else to counter that hate in his life, but what you can do other than hold him tight is beyond my comprehension.

Love to you both and us all.

❤️ 

[Cupid Stunt]

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Meet the man who dyes the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day

Race, economic status and especially partisanship help define what women think and what women want. -- Despite Common Concerns, American Women Remain Deeply Divided

Students strike for climate change action

The design tricks that keep skyscrapers from swaying

In France, the Force is strong with lightsaber dueling -- “With young people today, it’s a real public health issue,” Serge Aubailly, the federation’s secretary general, told the Associated Press. “It’s becoming difficult to [persuade them to] do a sport that has no connection with getting out of the sofa and playing with one’s thumbs. That is why we are trying to create a bond between our discipline and modern technologies, so participating in a sport feels natural.”

Instead of containing plasma, the lightsabers being used for duels here on Earth are made from rigid polycarbonate — not to be confused with carbonite, eh, Han Solo? — with LED lighting and, in some cases, proper sound effects built in.

[valleycliffe]

man performs haka dance at mosque in christchurch nz

makes me cry

Edited March 17, 2019 by valleycliffe

[pearlite]

Happy St Patrick's Day to those who celebrate it!

I did just learn that it's also St Gertrude's Day, and she's the patron saint of cats. I also have a Gertrude...who is not particularly saintly...

Edited March 17, 2019 by pearlite

[boes]

11 minutes ago, pearlite said:

Happy St Patrick's Day to those who celebrate it!

I did just learn that it's also St Gertrude's Day, and she's the patron saint of cats. I also have a Gertrude...who is not particularly saintly...

Gertrude is beautiful!

Sainthood is in the eye of the beholder and some halos come cat-sized.

[valleycliffe]

translated words to haka dance

Ka Mate! Ka Mate! Ka ora! Ka ora!

Ka Mate! Ka Mate! Ka ora! Ka ora!

Tenei te tangata puhuru huru

Nana nei I tiki mai

Whakawhiti te ra

A upa … ne! ka upa …ne!

A upane kaupane whiti te ra!

Hi!

Translation:

I die! I die! I live! I live!

I die! I die! I live! I live!

This is the hairy man

Who fetched the sun

And caused it to shine again

One upward step! Another upward step!

An upward step, another… the sun shines!

Since 2006, the All Blacks have added Kapa O Pango, which was written in 2006 by Derek Llardelli, a haka composer, to their repertoire.

Kapa O Pango kia whakawhenua au I ahau!

Hi aue ii!

Ko Aotearoa e ngunguru nei!

Au, au aue ha!

Ko Kapa O Pango e ngunguru nei!

Au, au, aue ha!

I ahaha!

Ka tu te ihiihi

Ka tu te wanawana

Ki runga ki te rangi e tu iho nei, tu iho nei ihi!

Ponga ra!

Kapa O Pango, aue hi!

Ponga ra!

Translation:

All Blacks, let me become one with the land

This is our land that rumbles

It's my time! It's my moment!

This defines us as the All Blacks

It's my time! It's my moment!

Our dominance

Our supremacy will triumph

And will be properly revered, placed on high

Silver fern!

All Blacks!

Silver fern!

All Blacks!