Beaker sings "Ode to Joy"
OK, I was pointed to another fantastic Muppets video on YouTube. Beaker sings the "Ode to Joy" with disastrous results (as usual). It's actually quite impressive.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Disgruntled cat
I don't seem to have a lot of actual content to add here lately, but I saw this over at Lolcats and thought it was great! Enjoy!
By now, everyone who comes here knows I'm very easily amused.
more cat pictures
Does that cat look annoyed or what?
By now, everyone who comes here knows I'm very easily amused.
more cat pictures
Does that cat look annoyed or what?
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Finances
I posted a few days ago about taking some time off to visit my parents, maybe go to Gettysburg. Well, I've done a bit of an about-face since then. I was doing pretty well for about a year on my goal of becoming debt-free. However, in the last few months I've really lost my focus and the only way for me to get it back is to concentrate on paying it off and getting more into my savings. To do this, I'm putting off any travel for the next 6 months or so. I told my family so they know I don't plan to travel for the holidays, and they understand. They want me to be financially secure. I'll still have that stinkin' student loan for a while, but this way I can get everything else out of the way and then I can put extra money toward the student loan.
I have one exception that I will make. If my sister visits my parents at some point, I will probably go ahead and visit at the same time. She's in CA and I'm in PA, so we try to make plans to see each other if one of us is on the other coast for anything and have a little extra time. A 5-6 hour drive to NY is cheaper and quicker than the flight from Philly to San Francisco.
It's going to be tough, but I'm trying to keep the big picture in front of me. How great will it be to only have that student loan to pay off, and then not even have that? It's also important to me to boost what paltry savings I have, as I work for a nonprofit and if the government starts making budget cuts nonprofits will probably be one of the first sectors to really feel it. We are a successful nonprofit, but we do get a lot of funding from government grants.
Now, that's not to say I'm not going to take any time off. I do plan on taking a day here and there and maybe do something local -- go out to Longwood Gardens on a work day in the fall, go to Fireside Stitchery during the day to pick out some nice threads for the Christmas gifts I'm making, etc.
I have one exception that I will make. If my sister visits my parents at some point, I will probably go ahead and visit at the same time. She's in CA and I'm in PA, so we try to make plans to see each other if one of us is on the other coast for anything and have a little extra time. A 5-6 hour drive to NY is cheaper and quicker than the flight from Philly to San Francisco.
It's going to be tough, but I'm trying to keep the big picture in front of me. How great will it be to only have that student loan to pay off, and then not even have that? It's also important to me to boost what paltry savings I have, as I work for a nonprofit and if the government starts making budget cuts nonprofits will probably be one of the first sectors to really feel it. We are a successful nonprofit, but we do get a lot of funding from government grants.
Now, that's not to say I'm not going to take any time off. I do plan on taking a day here and there and maybe do something local -- go out to Longwood Gardens on a work day in the fall, go to Fireside Stitchery during the day to pick out some nice threads for the Christmas gifts I'm making, etc.
PSA
If you and your coworkers come up with a great practical joke on your boss while you're out having a few beers together, it's probably not a practical joke you should actually go through with. Everything is forgiven I think, but what we thought was hysterical, uh, wasn't.
Next time, just say No.
Next time, just say No.
Labels: PSA
Monday, July 14, 2008
It's alive!
Well, I think I am, anyway. Felt really crappy last night and this morning and slept most of the day. My head is still pounding but I feel a little better. I find that when I feel like that -- head feels like it's going to explode, etc. -- it's best to sleep as much as possible.
At any rate, I was feeling better so took some catch-up pictures of my stitching. Now I can't find the stupid cable that connects my camera to the computer. D'oh! I usually put it with the camera but it's not there. So, once I find that piece of vital equipment I'll update my photos.
I can tell you that I finished Alpine Garden on Saturday, so that's something I can take off that long list on the sidebar.
I'm thinking of taking a vacation day around either Yom Kippur in October or Veterans Day in November, as I have both of those days off. I was going to take a mini-vacation to Gettysburg last fall and didn't, but I'd like to do it this year. I suppose it depends on if I'm getting together with my sister in Petersburg, VA at Thanksgiving this year. We planned it last year but canceled at the last moment because she was just exhausted and couldn't deal with the flight from CA to PA, which I totally understood. So, it may make more sense for me to go in October. We'll see. I really enjoy getting out there and it's a nice opportunity for me to take a couple days off by myself. I haven't been out there for about 7 years, so it's time for me to go back for a few days.
At any rate, I was feeling better so took some catch-up pictures of my stitching. Now I can't find the stupid cable that connects my camera to the computer. D'oh! I usually put it with the camera but it's not there. So, once I find that piece of vital equipment I'll update my photos.
I can tell you that I finished Alpine Garden on Saturday, so that's something I can take off that long list on the sidebar.
I'm thinking of taking a vacation day around either Yom Kippur in October or Veterans Day in November, as I have both of those days off. I was going to take a mini-vacation to Gettysburg last fall and didn't, but I'd like to do it this year. I suppose it depends on if I'm getting together with my sister in Petersburg, VA at Thanksgiving this year. We planned it last year but canceled at the last moment because she was just exhausted and couldn't deal with the flight from CA to PA, which I totally understood. So, it may make more sense for me to go in October. We'll see. I really enjoy getting out there and it's a nice opportunity for me to take a couple days off by myself. I haven't been out there for about 7 years, so it's time for me to go back for a few days.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Stitching, movies
Well, I still haven't uploaded any new stitching photos. I suppose people are used to that, but I've really gotten lazy about keeping up with those things. Maybe I'll get my act together this evening and post some. I've made progress on Joan Elliott's Autumn Angel, Tsunami Sampler, L&L Oh Christmas Tree and DT's Alpine Garden. In fact, I think I can finish Alpine Garden this weekend if I apply myself. I may be forced to buy some more Drawn Thread designs after working on this one. They stitch up very nicely and the diagrams for special stitches are very good. I can see that Oh Christmas Tree will take some time, though. All that green! Well, it IS a Christmas Tree, but all that random green in various shades was starting to make my eyes cross. At least I'm far enough down that I can do a little work on the kids to take a break from the tree.
Didn't do much for the Fourth, which is the way I like it. I feel conflicted about it, as here I live just a 20-minute train ride from where the Declaration of Independence was signed, but I just can't deal with the huge crowds downtown on the Fourth. So, Tim and I went to see Wanted yesterday afternoon. Oddly enough, I liked it a lot better than he did. The whole Brad/Angelina thing gets on my nerves because it's difficult to get away from it, especially now with the twins. (Yes, they're having twins -- like people do every day and get on with their lives.) However, I do like her in the movies, usually. Plus, I *really* like James McEvoy, so I guess he was the main reason I wanted to see it. He didn't disappoint. What bothered Tim was the whole "curve the bullet" thing. He's a gun guy and it drove him crazy, even though it's not meant to be a realistic movie. Anyway, I liked it. :)
After that we went out for dinner and came home to watch something on On Demand to get away from the crowded theater. We ended up watching Untraceable. Yikes. I knew it would be twisted, but I didn't realize it was going to be so graphic and as twisted as it was. I expect movies like Saw and Hostel to be gross, which is why I don't watch them. I guess I thought that since this had Diane Lane in it, it wouldn't be so bad. Well, I liked the plot but could have done without some of the really disturbing parts. I'll leave it at that, in order not to give anything away.
Speaking of gross movies, I'm soooo thankful that I read The Ruins so that I knew there was no way in this life or the next that I wanted to see that movie. If I hadn't read the book (and about gagged) I wouldn't have realized how icky it was and would have paid money to see it. I enjoy a good horror book, but that one was over the top -- not to mention that I didn't like any of the selfish little brats in that book. I wasn't even upset over what was going on, just disgusted.
So, let's see if I can get myself together and get some photos updated this evening. Probably should see if I can find those extra batteries for my camera, as I'm betting the ones I have in there are dead.
Didn't do much for the Fourth, which is the way I like it. I feel conflicted about it, as here I live just a 20-minute train ride from where the Declaration of Independence was signed, but I just can't deal with the huge crowds downtown on the Fourth. So, Tim and I went to see Wanted yesterday afternoon. Oddly enough, I liked it a lot better than he did. The whole Brad/Angelina thing gets on my nerves because it's difficult to get away from it, especially now with the twins. (Yes, they're having twins -- like people do every day and get on with their lives.) However, I do like her in the movies, usually. Plus, I *really* like James McEvoy, so I guess he was the main reason I wanted to see it. He didn't disappoint. What bothered Tim was the whole "curve the bullet" thing. He's a gun guy and it drove him crazy, even though it's not meant to be a realistic movie. Anyway, I liked it. :)
After that we went out for dinner and came home to watch something on On Demand to get away from the crowded theater. We ended up watching Untraceable. Yikes. I knew it would be twisted, but I didn't realize it was going to be so graphic and as twisted as it was. I expect movies like Saw and Hostel to be gross, which is why I don't watch them. I guess I thought that since this had Diane Lane in it, it wouldn't be so bad. Well, I liked the plot but could have done without some of the really disturbing parts. I'll leave it at that, in order not to give anything away.
Speaking of gross movies, I'm soooo thankful that I read The Ruins so that I knew there was no way in this life or the next that I wanted to see that movie. If I hadn't read the book (and about gagged) I wouldn't have realized how icky it was and would have paid money to see it. I enjoy a good horror book, but that one was over the top -- not to mention that I didn't like any of the selfish little brats in that book. I wasn't even upset over what was going on, just disgusted.
So, let's see if I can get myself together and get some photos updated this evening. Probably should see if I can find those extra batteries for my camera, as I'm betting the ones I have in there are dead.
