Catch-up and Cabin Fever

Cheesy spam subject line of the day:

If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn?

(Perhaps the clue lies in the accompanying Viagra ad? I think Steven Wright should press those spammers for royalties.)

It's been a busy week, and I consider myself lucky to have finished even one thing despite the continual interruptions. It seemed as though everybody needed to have something from me this week, and that I could only provide that document if I laid down another one (also due this week) and gave that one my full attention instead. Unfortunately, the blog suffered. After a week of writing reams of stuff to satisfy everybody else, I ran completely out of both time and words.

I couldn't talk about the inauguration even if I'd had the words. Unspeakable. Literally. I gladly accept sympathy notes from all my Canadian blogger-buddies, on behalf of the rest of us.

Sharon at Knitknacks is as tired of winter in Michigan as I am of winter in Maine. With another snowstorm on the way (I've lost count of the number of days it's snowed in the last couple of weeks, but too damn many), I've just about started counting the minutes until we leave for New Orleans. The locals in NOLA will not be happy if the temperatures only get up into the 50s, but anything's better than -7 F (-14 C) with more snow on the way... except for Pirate's -31 F (-35 C) up in Alberta. Here's hoping that Pirate's too busy playing her shiny new grand piano to notice the weather!

Since my birthday is next Monday (standard work day for me, first day of the semester for Greg), we're hoping to celebrate this weekend instead. I'm not sure what the plan is yet, if any -- another snowstorm may put things on hold. All I really want is to not have to cook my own dinner, and if we don't have to dine out at one of the two halfway decent restaurants in Sanford, so much the better. I really like the sesame chicken from Golden Palace, but if I see it just one more time this month, my head is going to start spinning around and I'll spit pea soup at people.

(I've been sooo virtuous, but I broke down yesterday. I ordered a box of See's chocolates from California for myself for my birthday. I haven't had chocolates since I can remember when.)

The lack of inspiration that Sharon reports has hit here, too. I'm a pretty decent chef in my own right, but we've been eating more take-out in the past week or two than we have... well, ever. I s'pose I shouldn't feel guilty about feeding Greg hot dogs, baked beans, and brown bread, spaghetti, and such. He loves the stuff and is easy to please... but I'm capable of so much more when I have the desire to cook. Maybe a long weekend in Cajun/Creole heaven will fix the problem.

Freakin' Sweet

May 1 is the official start of the new season of "Family Guy."

Thanks, Misanthrope, for the pointer to B2's commentary on censorship and "Family Guy." Personally, I think that Fox is censoring the wrong buttheads on their network.

Fifteen Minutes a Day

I swear that's all the time I've had to myself lately: 15 minutes. It doesn't ordinarily take me a week to knit myself a 2" wide boa scarf to wear to New Orleans, but it's taken me that long to finish the Skacel Peacock scarf I started.

The red bag now has its strap and awaits its hot, soapy bath. If we're to be stuck indoors again this weekend, then I'll make some time to felt it. That'll take about 15 minutes, give or take a couple.

The fuchsia felted bag -- my very first foray into felting -- finally arrived in LA and has received rave reviews from my college classmate. She's using it as a cell phone bag.