along with death and taxes…

tell me about it.

see more Funny Graphs

My parents were right, dammit.

mars is laughing at us.

I am both utterly perplexed and totally amused by this video (which is way, WAY not appropriate for viewing at workplace or within earshot of children, btw):

Cheer up, it could be worse, we could be like Cananda:  “What’s going on, eh?”  The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and we’re not in nuclear winter going “WTF?”  It’s all good.

We may be “le tired” but the weekend is here!!!  Have a good one, friends!

fragile

via NewMath.com

Our cracking bones make noise.

flickr friday: spring! edition

Yeah, this is pretty much where my head has been lately, which is my ready-excuse for not blogging with any kind of regularity.  Actually, that’s not entirely true — my head has been consumed with so many other things that blogging just kind of naturally fell to the bottom of the “to do” list.  But today I’m stepping forward very quietly and giving you a shy little wave after having been away for so long.  Hi.  How have you been?  I’ve missed you.

This picture does aptly illustrate where my head is today however.  Seriously, I’m been working away here at my office and I can’t seem to get out of my own way!  I really don’t think I’ve accomplished much of anything.  I blame spring.

Oh, yeah!  SPRING!!

Let’s have a show of hands:  who here is really pumped that it’s officially spring?

Yeah, that’s what I thought — WE ALL ARE!!

So, in honor of the spring equinox, today’s flickr friday favorites all revolve around my favorite time of year — here goes:

ranunculus – One of my favorites.  I seriously love these flowers — they’re sooooo lush and full.

lovely as a tree – Soon the maple tree on the edge of my yard will look like this — I can’t wait!

sweet and low – Mmm, magnolias, a sure sign of spring.  I’m looking forward to those, too.

blush – As you can tell by my page header, I’m more a red tulip kind of girl (they were my Mom’s favorite), but this is such a soft, sweet pink.

tendril – The soft white-and-green-ness of this photo makes me swoon.  Sooo pretty.

why always “not yet”? – Great question.  No time like the present, eh? And, hey look, more ranunculus — surprise, surprise.

euphorbia – I might argue that this photo should be titled euphoric euphorbia.  This is spring for me — this recklessly vibrant shade of green.  It makes my heart swell with happiness.  Man, I love spring.

Does spring make your heart swell like that, too?

Thanks again for being here, for sticking around, you guys — I really appreciate it.  I hope this riotously colorful return makes up for my extended absence.  Have a great weekend, friends!

spring!

That happy new header up there (Yay, for red tulips!) is for Uncle Lew and Aunt Alice for being such enthusiastic fans, even when I go more than a month without posting.  I love you, guys!  Happy First Day of Spring!!

If there’s anyone else out there who hasn’t given up on me — don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.  Thanks for sticking around!

flickr friday: sweetheart edition

popham gloaming, september 2008

So, it drives me absolutely crazy when people say Valentimes Day instead of the correct Valentine’s Day.  And don’t even get me started on the travesty of Balentimes Day.  Like I’ve said before, I am a self-proclaimed language geek and tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.  It just seemed like the most appropriate time to share that little tidbit of information about myself.

And now, time for some Valentine-themed flickr friday favorites:

valentine’s day cupcakes – Yum.  I’ll have one of those, please.  Except they’re almost too pretty to eat…

valentines day

dreamy pink balloons

a little less conversation – A little more action?  Rowrr! (And just for the record, I think it’s pretty obnoxious that there is a conversation heart that says “U go girl.”  Gah!  But I’m glad there are still sweet ones like “First Kiss” and “Kiss Me.”)

franco zeffirelli

!

for you – Also, for you.

Happy Valentine’s Day, my little chickens — have a great weekend!

non-flickr friday

So this is pretty much how I’m feeling, too.  T.g.i.f.  I think I need to go home, drink many adult beverages, and sleep wherever I fall.  Oh, please — who am I kidding?  I’m too scared of getting sick to drink right now.  (Alcohol suppresses your immune system, did you know that?)  I’ll probably fall asleep on the couch watching Ghost Whisperer…I’m that old.

Sorry, flickr friday favorites for today.  I put off this post for too long and now I don’t have time to go find my favorites and include links to them.  But you’re welcome to go check out my favorites page for yourself if you’re at all interested…here’s a link to it:  susie_songbird’s favorites. (Wow, now that’s a cop out if ever I’ve seen one.)

Let’s see, what’s on deck for the weekend?  I’m getting take-out tonight, going to a play on Saturday night, and probably cleaning and laundering for the rest of the weekend.  What about you — what are you up to?  Hope it’s fun, whatever it is!

Have a good one — see you next week!

thinking

cushing pines august 2008

Right about now, you’re probably saying, “Oh, hey, look!  She’s still alive.”  And you are completely justified — I’ve been very delinquent and erratic (at best) in my posting habits of late.  I apologize.  In my defense, my life is kind of screwed up lately.  Work, life, relationships…all of it.  I’ve been wanting to talk about some of it here, but I’ve also been reluctant.  Fragments of some potential posts have been rattling around in my head for quite a while now — about a year, actually — but I struggle with how to articulate it, how much I feel comfortable sharing, how much is appropriate to share, etc.  So, if I’m vague and cryptic, you know why.  Anyway, what I can say is that I’m going through a really tough time right now and it’s…well, just kind of, generally, all-around icky.  But I keep reminding myself of all those clichés that people spout when they’re in a difficult situation:  “It could be worse.”  “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”  “This is a great opportunity for growth.”  blah blah blah  My favorite for a while now is, “It is what it is.”

It is what it is.  It is what it is.  It is what it is.  It is what it is.  It is what it is.  It is what it is.  It is what it is.  It is what it is.  It is what it is.  It is what it is.  It is what it is.  It is what it is.  It is what it is.  It is what it is.
Repeat ad infinitum.

Basically, I’m trying to be more accepting — of myself, others, feelings, realities.  Truths.  Of what I can and cannot change.

Ok.  Wow, yeah, it feels kind of good to get that out there.  And also kind of scary, which is why I’ve turned off the comments for this post.  I don’t want this to be weird — I don’t want any of you, lovely readers, to feel obligated to comment, I don’t want to feel obligated to reply with more information or make assurances about the future.  But I do want you to know why I’m so quiet over here.  Well, not today — clearly I had plenty to say today — but, lately.  Ok, I’m going to stop now.  Phew.

On a completely different topic, I love that picture up there at the top of this post.  I took it on a gloriously beautiful day at a lovely spot up the coast — thankfully, some things are comfortably unchanging.  Really, thank heavens for that.

gotta dash

You Are a Dash

Your life is fast paced and varied. You are realistic, down to earth, and very honest. You’re often busy doing something interesting, and what you do changes quickly.You have many facets to your personality, and you connect them together well. You have a ton of interests. While some of them are a bit offbeat, they all tie together well. You friends rely on you to bring novelty and excitement to their lives. (And while you’re the most interesting person they know, they can’t help feeling like they don’t know you well.) You excel in: Anything to do with money You get along best with: the Exclamation Point

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

My friend Lara sent me the quiz (thanks, Lara!).  Because she’s a fellow geek herself (although more in the math/science arena) she knew how much the grammarian in me would totally geek out over it.  So yeah, I’m a dash, which makes a lot of sense because I really like to use dashes of all varieties.  (If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you probably already know that.)  Yes, there are different varieties of dashes — em dash, en dash, and hyphen.  See?  You learn something new every day.

Ok, now I really do have to dash — I’m packing up my office for The Big Move across campus.  Have I mentioned yet that my department has just undergone a huge reorganization?  Ah, the joys of a new vice president.  My workgroup, consisting of 6 people, is being moved from our lovely century-old home with fireplace, cathedral ceilings, enormous windows, and full kitchen to the main administration building (a.k.a. 60s cement-block prison) and another workgroup is being moved from there to our former space.  My new office is about 1/3 the size of my current office and I’ll be sharing it with another person.  And it has no windows.  Yikes.  But as we’re all fond of saying around here lately, “At least we still have jobs.”  True, true.