I [heart] Davids It helps me to say these things aloud, I think.

Last night, Motsy organized a big group of people to hit the Flying Saucer for glass night. It’s 2 PM the next day and I still have a headache. 🙂

Here’s who David thought were coming, though I don’t know half of these people so I don’t know who all showed up!
Kristi & Shawn, David Mannheim & Alan Wroble, Grace Ueng, Karen Furlong and a bunch of her friends, JoAnn & Todd (maybe), Ed Holloway (maybe) & Linda, Lane Mangum & Jeff Girard, Katrin Burt, Grant Kitchin, Marie Burns and her friend.

Dave and I ended up talking with Beanie, Kandi, Karen and Allison most of the night. We got some good hoppy beers and I got my regular – The Chicken Snack with a side of wing sauce – mmmmmmm!

Good times!

This morning I was coming in to work and saw a worm crawling across the sidewalk. I am into vermiculture, so I did a double-take when it didn’t have a typical worm shape. A closer inspection revealed a worm-farmer’s worst nightmare – a land planarian! GROSS!

This picture shows just how long this planarian is – I photographed my toe for scale cuz I didn’t have my tape measure with me.

Here’s a second planarian, worming his way down the sidwalk.

And here’s a good close up of his head. “Strangely, the planarian’s mouth isn’t on its head but halfway down its belly.”

I found a third planarian inside the building, in a little dessicated pile of planarian slime. Yucky!

A bunch of people from my company went to see the Durham Bulls play on Saturday night. Fun!

Jeni & Wool E. Bull

View from our seats

More pictures here.

My trusty orange hoodie is missing. It looks like this:

Have you seen my hoodie?

So, do you think this is Poison Ivy?

Methinks it might be, but if you look for pictures, it turns out that can look very different from plant to plant. I used RoundUp and killed anything that had 3 leaves.

On a lighter note, here’s a photo of our white crepe myrtle in full bloom. Pretty, huh?

Why is it that the houses I always see being moved around Raleigh are such crappy houses? I’ve seen three houses being moved on big flatbed trucks in the last few months, and all three of them have been old, run-down houses. Look at this one:

I wish I could show you a picture of what it looked like before they wrapped it in plastic, but let me assure you that it’s no palace.

Can someone explain why anyone would go to expense and trouble of moving an entire house instead of building a new one? This can’t possibly be a “historic” home. So strange.

Last night we went for a walk after dinner. It was right when it was starting to get really dark outside – perfect time for frogs!

I remembered that we had bought pots for the sole purpose of making toad houses, so I got them and used some crude tools (hammer and screwdriver) to make “doors”. I’m no engineer! I should have gotten Dave’s help.

I made two toad houses and set them out, then I rounded up a frog and shoved him in one of them to check out the accomodations. He peed a gallon of frog pee on me when I picked him up, and I think that’s how he christened his new house. He left when I went in to get the camera, so all I have is this shot of him vamoosing. See him on the left?

So, Sunday afternoon Dave and I went to give blood. I try to give blood regularly, but find it an uncomfortable procedure. So few people in my generation feel that giving blood is something they should do on a regular basis, and that compels me to try to give more regularly. I also used to work on the mobile Red Cross blood mobiles every summer during college. The people who work on the blood mobiles, the Red Cross phlebotomists, are pretty interesting people and I have a lot of respect for them.

Anyway, Dave hadn’t given blood in over 10 years. The last time he went, he passed out. That’s made him a bit nervous about going back. It was only under my cajoling that he went on Sunday.

No need to worry, it went fine! My guy, Peter, did a wonderful, painless job on my arm and Dave had no problems. Perhaps he’ll be inclined to go back again sometime.

After the donation, however, I did feel a little woozy and left with very low energy. The plans I had for Sunday afternoon went out the window. Instead, I went shopping! Nothing makes you feel better than spending a little dough on a favorite pastime when you’re feeling down and out, even if it’s only physically.

So, I went down to Hillsborough Street to visit Capitol Comics and Foundations Edge. I also ran in to Nice Price Books. At Nice Price Books I picked up Elfquest New Blood in hardback (full color) and several Bob Shaw paperbacks. At Capitol Comics I got Civil War 3, Wolverine Origins 4, Astonishing X-Men 13, WE3 trade, Elfquest Discovery 2-4 and a few related Civil War Marvel titles. The very helpful girl at Foundation’s Edge sold me a few more Civil War tie-ins, including a Young Avengers & Runaways tie-in.

I’m currently reading the manga Elfquest: The Grand Quest. I’m getting ready to start volume 9 so that means only a few more left until I’ve finished the series. I just recently subscribed to Astonishing X-Men, Runaways, and Wolverine Origins via Marvel online subscriptions but they haven’t started arriving yet. I think I’ve got enough to read until them. I’m also reading Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.

What got me into my latest Elfquest craze?
Here’s what I found recently in my bookshelf, with a 1983 inscription from my great-grandmother on the occasion of my birthday:

Anyway, there’s where my $60 went.

You know what’s wrong with the Star Wars movies, the concept of the Jedi, the good, the ugly and the Dark Side?

You get a real good sense of how to be a bad Jedi. We’re practically taught that by Palpatine. Use your anger, your agression, your fear. Basically, give way to the parts of us that are anti-enlightenment. However, what we see very little of is how to be a good Jedi. Yes, we see them getting trained to concentrate and hone their fighting skills, but what part of their training is them deciding to be good, not evil. If you fight for the Dark Side by channeling strong negative emotions, how do you fight for the good? (Is it called the Light Side?) Do you think fiercely about happy bunnies in meadows as you’re slicing down the 20-odd Stormtroopers in your way? Surely Jedis fight with agression, fear, and even anger. CERTAINLY Obi-Wan was angry when he cut off three of Anakin’s limbs – why did he not go to the Dark Side?

Well, back from Vegas. I achieved my goal of SkinnyMinny by arrival, Woot! I think I learned some good lessons about fat and diets, too, which is nice. Had a terrific time in Vegas. I’ll post pictures later. We did the whole shebang. We went to a bass-thumping, liquor drinking nightclub where the tension got higher and higher all night as the thugs drank more and more. We went and layed by the pool and drank Pina Coladas. We went to the spa, got massages, hung out in the sauna, steam room and whirlpool and felt like the ladies who lunch. We walked all over hell and creation. We had a fancy dinner at a sushi restaurant and paid exorbitant amounts for teeny portions of food. We bet on a fight and won money on the underdog! We went to a show complete with half-naked ladies in giant headdresses, boys in leather pants, and a comedian, too. It was fabulous!!