For Lynne and her husband, on their first anniversary. Many happy returns!

caption not-contest #3 recap

Sorry I'm late recapping the caption contest. Friday afternoon, we headed down for a weekend visit with Hope and her family for her birthday, the first one with her new family. She turned two on Saturday.

Of course, she had no clue what all the hoopla was about. She just knew there were a lot of people at her house, and for some reason people clapped and smiled a lot when she ripped paper off stuff, which made her look around and grin. And there was a camera stuck in front of nearly every face. And since she has some of her Aunt Pat’s ham in her, she smiled and waved at the cameras, and “jumped” (no feet left the floor) and hooted and said “I uv oo” on command.

She had a set of grandparents and two full sets of great grandparents there. Imagine! Until December she had no family at all, and now she had all these folks to dote on her on her second birthday. It was wonderful.

Anyway, I took my laptop along. It being a longish trip, I settled into the back seat of the car with legs propped up and Simba shivering beside me (not cold, just not a good traveler, poor guy) and proceeded to do the caption recap. I had opened the comments page in my browser before disconnecting the laptop. I had also opened a "create post" page so I could type straight into it, figuring to get it all typed up, then hibernate the laptop and reconnect when I reached our destination. You know what they say: tblpomam ... in IM-speak "the best-laid plans of mice and men" ... OK, so nobody's actually used that in IM, but don't you think we should?

Naturally, the browser froze up after I had it all nearly typed in, and no manner of patience or coaxing would cause it to thaw out. So I had to shut it down, at which point not only was all my work lost, but I also couldn't see the comments. So, we got to Hope's house, dove into the weekend, and the recap just had to wait till my return. So, again, sorry!

So here's the recap in all its* glory:

(Click for a closer view)

Our very first entry came from Ed Tep from The Other Coast (you know, west, not east), a new "competitor" for our not-really-a-contest. His entry wins extra points for riffing off a show tune, and one that I've been known to bellow about the house from time to time, albeit with the original words:

I feel prissy. Oh so prissy!

So of course I immediately ran over to check out his blog, which has great recipes and fun writing about life in San Francisco, moving, eating, etc. Check it out!

Next up is the charming Ilsa, a/k/a Friend B, who nails it with (read with a German accent):

Hmmmm, left over right, or right over left......yes, I think left over right looks better. Yes, definitely. Phew, I'm glad that decision is done, now I can work on "To nap or not to nap," that is the question.

An actor's perspective, for sure. Gotta get that blocking right!

Barbara, a/ka/ She Who Has Simba's Twin, a/k/a She Who Knows Rodent-Chasing Canines, contributes this thought:

If a squirrel is running east at 5 miles per hour and a mouse is running west at 5 miles an hour, who would I chase? Oh decisions, decisions.......

Apt not only in its* subject matter, but also in its* cute, innocent, no-so-bright tone.

And the lovely Lynne, who secretly adores her dog just as much as I do mine --- just ask her --- points out the importance of permanent memorials to our pals. I happen to know Simba totally agrees.

I've got the pose right. Now they just need to build the statue.

We didn't have as many contributors as usual, but the quality was excellent! I get such a kick out of you guys, and thank you so much for humoring me, in all senses of the phrase!

_____________________________________________________________________

* Forigive me, but I just have to mention a pet peeve: when people use "it's" as the possessive for "it." The possessive has no apostrophe, puh-lease don't do that, you'll save my my mouth no end of tooth grinding, and it's* important for its* health not to grind its* teeth! Thank you so very much. :o)

The last straw for Charlie Bass

I'm extremely disappointed to learn that my representative in Congress voted today against Net Neutrality. I kinda liked ol' Charlie, till today. Voted for him in several elections. Guess that's going to have to stop.

Representative Joe Barton of Texas has sponsored a bill that would allow large telephone and cable companies to set priorities on traffic to certain websites. Now, I wonder what they would base those priorities on? Fees? Say it isn't so!

It's so. And Charlie Bass thinks it's a good idea. He voted for it.

So, let's say Yahoo pays AT&T a larger fee for a higher priority than Google. Suddenly, all the traffic to Google slows way down. You enter a search term, and you have to go get coffee while you wait for your results. Or, of course, you could try your search on Yahoo, which (amazing!) is very, very fast. Sorry, Google, I'm gonna have to use Yahoo from now on.

Or, let's say you keep a humble little blog. It's a form of self-expression, not a profit-making endeavor. Naturally, you're not going to pay AT&T to keep your priority right up there with Yahoo. Pretty soon, people will stop coming to your blog because it's just too darn slow. So, go ahead & express yourself, but nobody's listening.

Here are some other ways we could be affected.

Despite my personal pleas that he not support the bill, Representative Bass did support it. I rarely write to politicians, but I sent a personal email to Charlie a couple of days ago. So now next week the bill goes to the floor of the House for a vote.

It's time, people. Time for even the most apolitical of us to start making some noise. What can you do?

MoveOn.org is trying to organize the blogosphere (that's me & you!) to get the word to our representatives that we're, to put it mildly, concerned and unhappy about the prospect of this commercial activity forever changing the face of the internet. Let quality and utility determine which website gets traffic, not the money grubbers. Or, as we like to say in New Hampshire, live free or die!

Sign a petition.
Send an email.
Get a phone number and make a phone call.
Write a blog entry.
Tell all your friends.

Make noise. Make a difference. Save the internet.

wise old dog

... not! But doesn't he look like it? I wonder what's going on behind those contemplative eyes. "Ahh, a little lower and to the left, Ma!"

This is my entry for Weekend Dog Blogging. Skip on over to Sweetnicks Sunday night to see lots of cute dogs and to discover a wonderful community of food bloggers, not least of which is Cate (Sweetnicks herself!) , with all her fun descriptions of neighbhorhood goings-on, cookbooks, and a cooking magazine addiction so strong you might catch it just by reading her blog!

Funny Gannonisms

My pal Eva over at Running Home has posted some amazingly funny things her four-year-old has said. Today's post is a great example:

"I can't go outside at night because then I won't know where myself is."

Here's another one. And here. And here. Really, it's worth taking a trip to her blog just to search out the Gannonisms! But there's other good stuff there, too. Check it out!

want a free month?

I just got an email from Netflix saying I can offer a free month of the service to anyone I forward the email to. Their normal free trial is two weeks. Interested? Just leave a comment.

caption contest #3

(Click for a closer view)

Ok, folks, time for another caption contest, methinks! What is Simba thinking/saying/looking at/doing? Post your ideas, and I'll do a roundup at the end of this week, probably Friday.

Previous caption contest roundups:

Caption contest #2 roundup
Caption contest #1 roundup

This is my entry for the Weekend Dog Blogging event. Scamper on over to Sweetnicks' place Sunday night to see lots of lovable Goofys, Ladies, and Tramps!

in memoriam

Muriel Maxine Schwarz Damm

April 18, 1925 - March 1, 1994

Easter art

Which do you suppose was made by a six-year-old, and which by me? Hard to tell, isn't it?!

Tha Theata

[warning ... this is a long post. Pictures, such as they are, are at the bottom ...]

So, a while back I promised some musings on my experience as an actor in a murder mystery play. Having never been in a theatrical production in the past, I found the whole experience fascinating, and somewhat unnerving. It was a real test of my ability to adapt to a completely foreign culture ... a test that I only partially passed, I'm afraid.

You see, I've worked in the business world for many, many years. For the past twenty or so years, my work has been as a programmer, glorified programmer, team leader, etc. on large business system/software projects. In that world, you live and die by collaboration. Nobody can possibly know everything. The work is divided up among various individuals based mostly on their expertise. Even then, you will without fail come up against a question you cannot answer. And that's when you turn to your colleagues for advice, brainstorming, and sometimes outright handouts of programming code that will solve your problem. Regardless of rank, everyone is a resource and everyone needs help from time to time. When you do find yourself inventing something that you think might be useful to others, you offer it. They can take it or leave it, but you put it out there in hopes it might save someone else reinventing the wheel.

Now, our little theater troupe was pulled together from volunteers, with varying degrees of experience in community theater productions. Three of our cast members had done community theater. Two had done only college or high school plays. Yours truly was truly green. Nothing, nada, since grade school.

Naturally, the three with experience were our guides. One of them was given a chance to try her hand at directing our little group. And here's where things started to get interesting.

Did you know the director is god of her universe? Apparently, whatever the director says, goes. Any suggestions or comments must be made respectfully --- nay, reverently! --- and preferably in private. Did you know that actors belonging to the Actors Equity union can be fined if they make a suggestion to another actor?

It was, to me, an incomprehensibly arcane way of working. In my little programmer's universe, which I have inhabited for decades, everybody is eager and grateful for suggestions. Suggestions make our little world go 'round. Suggestions make our product better. In tha theata, suggestions are occasionally tolerated and often punished. Even though our director did her best to recognize where we non-professionals are coming from (and to be honest, I had more trouble with shutting up than the other two did), it was really, really difficult for her to let this be a collaborative effort. Understand, she had been in many, many situations where the director was in fact the dictator, so she was experiencing a culture clash of her own. So when she did accept a suggestion from me, it was always with some statement about how "in the real world" this sort of thing wasn't acceptable.

Argh. I hate being lectured. And obviously, I made the suggestion in a spirit of helping, improving our product. Argh.

It's actually amazing how much of what goes into a production doesn't appear anywhere on the script. If you read a script, it might have some directions regarding what the actor is doing at the time s/he is saying the line, but in most cases it does not. There's this whole dimension of the production that involves the use of three-dimensional space. Where am I standing? Where do I move to? What is my body doing during the line ... leaning in, out, waving, bobbing? Where is everyone else and what are they doing? How do we arrange things so that I naturally end up where I need to be when I have a physical interaction with another actor?

Likewise, the script does not often give guidance re: why the person is saying what s/he is saying. Am I surprised or disgusted when I shout "No!"? How am I reacting to the lines I'm hearing? Why did he say that, and do I care or am I just bored and waiting for him to finish so I can move the conversation along to where I want it to go?

And then there's the general ambience of the production. Is it going to be silly? Portentous? Clever? Goofy? Over the top? Subtle?

All these things are the purview of the director. The director has a vision for what she's trying to achieve, and the actors are just there to make the vision a reality. If you have a problem with the vision ... tough. Unless you're Meryl Streep, you don't have a say.

Actually, I didn't have a problem with the vision. Thank goodness! It was in the details that I wanted to ask questions, understand, react, think about what's going on. I have never been able to do anything halfway, which probably accounts for why I often end up being in charge of whatever I'm involved in. So, as you can see, not only was this a culture clash for me, it was also a temperament clash. And folks, while I didn't entirely succeed at turning myself into someone else, I also didn't entirely fail. I spent many rehearsals standing around waiting for direction when I could have just done something that made sense to me. I bit my tongue. I did what I was told. And, occasionally, when I forgot myself, I made a suggestion. Or asked a question that had a suggestion in it. Sigh.

So, that was the most difficult part of the whole experience. Now let me tell you about how much fun it was! So fun, that the director had to tell me to quit smiling so much. So fun, that we all cracked up when Ilsa the German nurse spoke her lines. It was a challenge to learn my lines (I had LOTS of them!) but way fun when I could get through a rehearsal nearly perfect. It was fun to learn so much about how a production comes together. It was fun to hang out with friend R and fun to get to know the others in the troupe, one of whom I had never even met before. Even when we were rehearsing nearly every night for the two weeks before, and I found myself not wanting to drag myself to the rehearsal, even then it was fun to be there and all my reluctance was forgotten.

But, people, most fun of all was being in front of the audience.

We had a dress rehearsal the night before. Everybody did very well ... except me. I froze on two of my longer monologues (does 4 consecutive lines constitute a monologue?). Absolutely could not remember the lines. Heart pounding, realizing it's the dadgum DRESS REHEARSAL and I am BLOWING MY LINES! Everyone was very kind, reassuring me that a bad dress rehearsal means a good play. I wish I were the type of person to be comforted by stuff like that, but I am not. I went home just feeling sick, wondering if I was going to ruin this play for everyone. Remember, I have no experience of success, no clue how I'm going to feel when there are 80 people looking at me.

I totally vented with The Huz. He tried once to say, "You'll be fine," and my response was "You can't know that." After that, he just listened as I whined. I didn't WANT a big part, I just wanted to have a small part! I have more lines than anyone else! And I have to say them with a British accent! And I have to be a different gender than my own! And on top of that, I'm responsible for the food, too! For goodness sakes, it's too much for a new actor!! What if I ruin the whole thing??

I was exhausted at the end of all that whining, which was a good thing. Against all odds, I slept like a baby. Woke up refreshed. Calm.

The play was structured so that my character makes an entrance after the others have already been rolling along for a couple of minutes. That night, as I waited, I paced and breathed and thought over my lines. I had one or two moments when I could sense my heart speeding up a bit, but I just took a breath to calm myself, and I waited.

The play was done in a community center, no stage. We had set up the tables in a circle around the "stage", like the spokes of a wheel. I was to enter through the kitchen's swinging doors. The kitchen was dark, and the house was quiet but for the play, so I could readily see through the window in the door and hear the lines. When it came time for me to enter, I was ready. Calm.

"Oh, Doctor! P'haps you should hold up there a moment!" in my best British accent. All eyes swung toward me. And, folks, I don't mind telling you, I completely loved it! And I was off & running. I only flubbed one line, saying ".. sounds familiar" instead of ".. rings a bell", which caused an awkward moment for the person who was supposed to follow with "It rings a bell for me, too!" but we recovered, thanks to M. Not only that, we discovered a critical prop was not where it should have been, but was actually downstairs! Friend R realized it, ad-libbed, and ran downstairs to grab it. And I was inspired with a tiny monologue, walking around the circle and diverting attention till she could return! And even managed to cover someone else's forgotten line at another point. Completely amazing!

Friends tell me they prayed for me. Based on my performance the night before, I readily believe I had lots of supernatural help that night. Thank you, friends, and thank you, God!

I have found my inner ham.

So, here, are some pics, such as they are. As I mentioned, I'm not featured in them at all, but you get a glimpse of the getup from the last one; that's me in the bowler & trench coat.

Next time, the photographer will have explicit instructions to get shots of all of us during the play! And hopefully we'll be able to videotape it, too.

Simbahhhh ...

The weather has been unseasonably warm all this winter and spring, giving us all access to the outdoors without having to bundle up like polar bears first. It's very unusual to have no snow cover at all at this time of year. There have even been days recently when I've been able to leave the back door open for Simba to go in and out, although now the flies are onto us so we have to keep the screen door closed. Often, I look outside to see him relaxing at the edge of the yard, on patrol ... sort of. More like on drugs. 'Ludes. Valium. Not that I would know anything about those.

If a rodent came by (our fond name for squirrels, chipmunks, and more rodentious rodents like mice and voles), make no mistake about it. He'd be in instant fifth gear, churning up the deck to get to the little guys. We definitely have a lower population since he's taken up permanent residence. He never catches 'em, but he causes 'em to consider other options for their meals for sure!

This is my entry in Sweetnick's Weekend Dog Blogging. Check out all the fun pups who make regular appearances on the page of a Sunday night!

caption recap

This is probably the longest my blog has ever "gone dark." The murder mystery dinner Saturday took all my time up till then and even the day after. Since then, I've been catching up on all the things that were put on hold in the runup to the play ... which was a complete hoot, by the way!

I've been waiting to post about it until I could get the pictures from the photographer. I was dying to post one for you all so you could see me in my disguise. Imagine my disappointment, then, to discover that there was NOT ONE PICTURE of my bewhiskered face! Most of the pictures that he took were of the audience during the clue hunt, not very many of the play. I must admit, I was crushed ... but I got over it. I'll post some musings about "the theatuh" experience and a couple of photos in a later post.

What is Simba saying?

Meantime, look at the fun captions everyone came up with for Simba's photo of uplifted arms. His previous owner called this his "Praise The Lord" posture; in fact, that's the command he knows. The command is nearly always followed by a treat, so he's very "faithful" in obeying it! He can usually stay up in that posture and wait until he can take very gently take the treat in his little teeth. This is a very fun dog, if you will allow me a little bragga-doggio!

Ok, enough bad wordplay, let's see what the clever folk had to say!

Eva Alice over at Running Home said...

"I totally love the new Denise Austin workout video. I've got to get these abs and thighs toned before swimsuit season."

Lynne at Lynne to Lean carried on the healthy body theme with ...

"This doggie yoga is doing wonders for my flexibility! I can hold the 'downward dog reverse position' for hours while I contemplate the meaning of life!"

Barbara (Biscuit Girl) was the essence of brevity...

Peek-a boo!

And the ever-charming Mike said...

Ok, ok, they're covered. I wonder if anyone can see me. Yooo whooo. Anybody there?

Margaret of the itchy back chimed in with ...

Oh, its that itch right in the middle of the shoulder blades that is SO hard to get.

I just couldn't resist adding my own two cents worth ...

"Yes, please, a treat, please, but please, no pictures! My hair's a mess today!"

And we welcome a new contributor, My (Mike? Is that you?) who mistook my fluffy little guy for a girl (happens all the time) and said ...

In doggy language (or is it "doggie"? I'm never quite sure!) she's saying I'm in my happy place here at home so I trust things enough to lie on my back, but also my mommy raised me right that a lady keeps her dignity at all times!

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. Even during the countdown to the play, I took a few moments to enjoy the comments as they came in. You gave me some normalcy in the midst of all the craziness! And now, I sign off, to return soon with some Easter pictures and the promised theatuh musings. Till then ...

caption recap

This is probably the longest my blog has ever "gone dark." The murder mystery dinner Saturday took all my time up till then and even the day after. Since then, I've been catching up on all the things that were put on hold in the runup to the play ... which was a complete hoot, by the way!

I've been waiting to post about it until I could get the pictures from the photographer. I was dying to post one for you all so you could see me in my disguise. Imagine my disappointment, then, to discover that there was NOT ONE PICTURE of my bewhiskered face! Most of the pictures that he took were of the audience during the clue hunt, not very many of the play. I must admit, I was crushed ... but I got over it. I'll post some musings about "the theatuh" experience and a couple of photos in a later post.

Meantime, look at the fun captions everyone came up with for Simba's photo of uplifted arms. His previous owner called this his "Praise The Lord" posture; in fact, that's the command he knows. The command is nearly always followed by a treat, so he's very "faithful" in obeying it! He can usually stay up in that posture and wait until he can very gently take the treat in his little teeth. This is a very fun dog, if you will allow me a little bragga-doggio!

Ok, enough bad wordplay, let's see what the clever folk had to say!

Eva Alice over at Running Home said...

"I totally love the new Denise Austin workout video. I've got to get these abs and thighs toned before swimsuit season."

Lynne at From Lynne to Lean carried on the healthy body theme with ...

"This doggie yoga is doing wonders for my flexibility! I can hold the 'downward dog reverse position' for hours while I contemplate the meaning of life!"

Barbara (Biscuit Girl) was the essence of brevity...

Peek-a boo!

And the ever-charming Mike said...

Ok, ok, they're covered. I wonder if anyone can see me. Yooo whooo. Anybody there?

Margaret of the itchy back chimed in with ...

Oh, its that itch right in the middle of the shoulder blades that is SO hard to get.

I just couldn't resist adding my own two cents worth ...

"Yes, please, a treat, please, but please, no pictures! My hair's a mess today!"

And we welcome a new contributor, My (Mike? Is that you?) who mistook my fluffy little guy for a girl (happens all the time) and said ...

In doggy language (or is it "doggie"? I'm never quite sure!) she's saying I'm in my happy place here at home so I trust things enough to lie on my back, but also my mommy raised me right that a lady keeps her dignity at all times!

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. Even during the countdown to the play, I took a few moments to enjoy the comments as they came in. You gave me some normalcy in the midst of all the craziness! And now, I sign off, to return soon with some Easter pictures and the promised theatuh musings. Till then ...

in the countdown!

The banquet and murder mystery play are tomorrow night. This week, our two male actors both fell ill with the flu. One has been unable to rehearse for most of the week, barely able to get out of bed. The other just fell ill last night; I haven't heard how serious his illness is. They're both troopers, though; if they can be there, they will. Friend R hurt her back gardening this week. Friend M just began having a sore throat last night. I'm fighting a UTI and significant arm pain. I haven't seen a doctor, but I'm fearing it might be carpal tunnel.

Only one of our little troupe is physically whole going into this little adventure. So far.

But never fear! The show will go on, even if we have to hand scripts to audience members! We've promised a murder mystery dinner, and a murder mystery dinner it shall be.

P.S. If you're a praying person, you know what to do! (Please?)

caption contest #2

What is Simba saying?

Who knows? This could turn into a weekly event. There certainly are many enigmatic Simba pictures around.

But this time, I won't put myself through the trauma of judging whose entry is the best. It's just for fun! But I'm thinking of picking one or two and creating those balloon things ... what are those called? like in a cartoon? ... as well as listing all the comments in a post next week.

I am dying to see what you come up with this time. Last time was loads o' laughs!

Leave your caption in the comments, please. I'll do a roundup next Wednesday.

watching

When you hear the first geese of the season, you just have to sit down and watch them fly by