Saturday Evening

Earth Hour

Tonight from 8PM to 9PM Chez Sphincter will not be using electricity. Why? We are observing Earth Hour. In case you haven’t gone to Google or seen the Weather Channel pieces: Earth Hour is a symbolic worldwide gesture, originated by the World Wildlife Fund. Do I believe that the world will magically change because I live in the dark for an hour? No. But I think that it could be the start of awareness in this country that is WAY overdue. We need to dramatically slow our energy consumption. And I don’t think it would take all that much to do it, if everybody did their little piece. Here’s the basic deal, from the website www.earthhour.org.

Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America including Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, San Francisco, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.

Don't be afraid of the dark!

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Has anybody read this book? No cheating—seeing the movie doesn’t count. I have not read it. This brings me shame. I feel like it’s one of those classics that one should have read long ago. And if I go ahead and read it now, thus publicly admitting that I have never read it, the world will know my previous inadequacy. And the thing is, whenever I do read a classic, I am often awed at how cool it is. Like, maybe the classics choosing dudes aren’t colluding to bore us to death after all.

What got me thinking of this most recently is this mission. Yes, I know, this is space and not the sea at all, but you get the J.V. connection. Clearly, this was an author who was ahead of his time. Even now people recognize this. Yet, I’ve never read the man’s works. Am I alone? C’mon, you can tell me.

Happy Easter, Happy Spring

This photo is from last year. We've got a lot of snow to melt before we'll see flowers in this part of the world.

Um...Yeah.

Today, a woman squatted down and peed outside the library in full view of the windows. I don't know what else I can possibly say about that...

Leave it to CNN

Leave it to CNN to sexualize this dude’s disturbing behavior. This wasn’t some guy who streaked past some people for shock value; this guy was out of his gourd and volatile. Cool, CNN! Be sure to zoom in on that package of weenies. Who cares that he could have hurt somebody? He was nude, and that makes it HILARIOUS.

Crap that is our nation’s media.

Deliverance

I’m reading Deliverance by James Dickey. Yes, THAT Deliverance. And so far, it’s really good. I’ve never seen the movie, but of course I know of the more infamous events. Nothing especially exciting yet. It’s just plain good writing. Yes, it is. Seriously. No, you get out.

Is Crap a Swear?

This question has plagued me for years. A twelve year old once accused me of swearing when I said crap. I was never of the opinion that crap was a bad word.* This particular kid was allowed by his parents to say pissed and sucks. Both of which seem way worse than crap to me. I recently heard another person assert that crap was on the naughty list. Can anybody shed some light on this for me? Is crap OK or evil? If you will, please tell me your rationale.

*I’m quite pro-crap, but don’t (in most instances) want to be offensive. I use it interchangeably with stuff. “There’s a bunch of crap in the way” = “There’s a bunch of stuff in the way.”

Beware the Quail Eggs

So, I wonder who Mabel pissed off to receive such special attention? And why was she trying to feed us highly acidic Jalapeno pickled quail eggs in the first place? And is Fargo as weird as it is in the movie?

Mabel's Taste of Home, a.k.a. the evil empire.

Addressed

I am relieved to tell you that the situation in the previous post has been addressed. These individuals are no longer welcome at our establishment. Thank you all for your feedback!

Questions for the Blogosphere

If somebody is making rude and offensive remarks to you, is this wrong? What if the things being said are of a sexual nature? What if it has occurred on several occasions? And it happens at work, which is a public place (NOT by fellow employees.) Is this wrong? What if the person making the remarks is an adolescent? Is it still wrong? What if you have made it clear that remarks are unacceptable and still it continues, and also continues toward others in the environment? Opinions on this seem to be mixed, due to the age of the perpetrator. I am of the mind that if an adult was behaving in this manner, I would take legal action. But it’s a minor. Am I being over-reactive to want this behavior to be addressed immediately, regardless of the person’s age? I’m not set on legal action, and I certainly don’t want to be branded a hysteric, but I want it to stop. It’s unpleasant for me and others present.

Example: Today this person and a friend approached a woman and said she smelled like tuna.

Am I over-reacting? I'm hoping for some outside perspective.

Sphincter the Dooce Tempter

As Promised (Put on your Depend Undergarments)

Path to the propane tank.


The newly excavated mailbox.


The Hub wagers a guess as to where the well head may be.

The cat sizes up the situation through the sliders.