Saying yes...

Ahhh, the big, white shirt!

Neddie Jingo had a post up last week in which he was reveling in a spring rite of fashion for many women, the floral skirt and the strappy, wedge sandal. He swore it could never go wrong.

Yesterday, as I was returning from dropping Grizzled off at the train, I reveled in a man's spring rite of fashion... the big white shirt and no suit coat. It was warm yesterday so as all of the men were heading off to work, they were not wearing their coats. Yes! Women were heading off to work as well, but I wasn't looking at them.

I have long been a fan of the big, white shirt. Even as a young girl, there was something captivating about those shirts. Rod Taylor in "The Time Machine" comes to mind. Rock Hudson in his Doris Day years is another. There was something about men in long-sleeved white shirts. Men can't go wrong if wearing such a shirt.

The only thing that could have made yesterday's parade of shirts any better would have been if the men had been wearing them tucked into a pair of Levi's, sleeves rolled up and top button open. Yes, that top button open, revealing a small yet inviting poof of chest hair. In this day and age of waxing anything that moves, just remember, there are still those of us who like that strategically placed hair.

We've all been there...

Update- It's fake! The clip is apparently a skit from a comedy show. I was wondering about that yesterday, but didn't see anything in the comments until today. Still, it cracks me up and reminds me of the joys and perils of inappropriate laughter.

We've all had those moments of inappropriate, out of control, laughter. I know as a child, I had some of my worst laughing moments in church and Mom pinching me only made me laugh all the harder. Just when I'd think I had it under control, I'd feel the slight vibration of the pew, would look over and would see my sister trying to keep it in.

There is nothing worse than trying not to laugh when you know you have no control and the situation calls for anything, but laughter.

I ran across this on YouTube this weekend. Oh, do I feel for the man. At least none of my inappropriate laughter jags have been caught on camera.

My lips are sealed

I happened to spy my horoscope while reading Sunday's Arts section in the Trib. It said that today is a 5. Hmmmm. I was hoping for at least a 7.  It also told me to encourage others to tell me their stories and to save mine for later. I had a story, but I won't tell. I don't want to tempt fate and have my day turn into a 4.

I've spotted a cicada!

I was out and about this afternoon when low and behold, I spotted one of those elusive red-eyed beings. I was lucky in that I had my cell phone and my cell phone has a camera that I rarely use.

The cicada was hairier than I expected, but then I'm guessing they don't have barbers underground. I also didn't realize they smile, but it was smiling.

Surely this happy cicada is signaling the arrival of all the rest.

Anybody know what this is?

Updated below:

Yes, we're still on cicada watch. Nothing new to report. In the meantime, however, I spotted this interesting flying creature while taking the garbage out this morning.

It looks like a dragonfly shape-wise, but up close, its wings look a little more moth-like in texture and decoration. Whereas dragonflies tend to be fairly opalescent, this guy looked flocked. His wings almost looked leopard-like. Maybe I just caught a dragonfly wearing racy lingerie. Maybe it hadn't changed into its work clothes. Or... maybe these are its work clothes! The little strumpet!

Anyhow, if anyone knows what brand of dragonfly this might be, please let me know. I've seen plenty of dragonflies in my day, but never one as exotic-looking as this.

Update: Well apparently my version of *exotic* is really just common. After doing a little research on the internet, it appears this baby is most likely a common whitetail skimmer. It also kind of looks like the common brown spotted dragonfly. It resembles the skimmer (not BG's Skimmer) more than the brown though. Here I felt like I was in Belize, discovering some new species, but no... I've discovered common. Oh well. It was still exciting to see something new show up even if it is merely common.

Update part II- Idyllopus pointed me in the direction of Jim McCulloch over at Stone Bridge. Apparently he is the man to go to when one has questions about dragonflies. Mr. McCulloch was kind enough to solve my mystery. He said, "Your mystery insect is an immature male common whitetail dragonfly (same as a white tail skimmer), Plathemis lydia (or sometimes Libellula lydia)." I can now sleep in peace... until the cicadas emerge.

Jim McCulloch is also the person to go to if you'd like to see the most beautiful cat photograph I've ever seen. Tension and excitement exist in the edges and this photograph reduces the subject down to that electric edge.

Apparently the cicadas don't want to be in the burbs either...

Well, cicada D-Day has come and gone with nary a cicada. My daughter did see a couple at school and the Chicago Trib said "they were dribbling out in some areas". Dribbling cicadas... Guh!

I realize this is not an exact science or as exact as I would like it to be. I was hoping the powers that be could tell me the exact ETA of Brood XIII down to the second, but they can't, so I wait... I wait and I hope that Brood XIII hasn't decided the burbs aren't the place to be. However, if they have made this decision... if they don't come knocking on my trees, I can't blame them. I'd rather be somewhere else as well.

May 22nd, still D-Day for cicadas...

We're on official countdown. Tomorrow is still the projected arrival date for MILLIONS of cicadas. Yep, Brood XIII is supposed to tunnel out of their earthly homes after 17 years of celibate underground cohabitation. They will crawl out of the ground, will mate like mad, lay their eggs in trees, then die. The cicada orgy is expected to last from 2-4 weeks or so they say.

It's pretty quiet out here right now... hard to imagine the noise that is supposed to descend (or ascend?) upon us. I'm used to the usual autumnal locust/cicada noise, but they don't number like these will. It should be interesting.

I'm going back and forth on whether to cover one of our trees. The cicadas dig/eat holes in the tree branches in order to lay their eggs. They don't do major damage to grown trees, they are more or less nature's pruners. Where they can cause damage is with young trees. Grizzled has been nursing a baby red oak (Rufus) for 5 years now. It was a volunteer seedling that he brought home and put in a pot. It is now in our front yard and is doing well, but is still relatively young tree-wise. They suggest covering young trees with netting to prevent the egg-laying. Rufus is not one of the favored species. Apparently cicadas have a preference when it comes to trees, but I'd hate to take a chance and see Rufus nibbled to death.

Yes, the cicadas are coming. I'm not sure when tomorrow, but at some point the soil temperature will reach 64 F and will tell them to move out and get their groove on. Maybe I'll put on some Barry White in honor of the occasion.

Why is Monday here already?

If I recall, there was recently the promise of a weekend and weekends used to hold the promise of rest, the promise of relaxation, a break from the old grind. At what point did weekends become more frantic than the weeks?

We had an okay, yet odd weekend. I can't quite put my finger on it, but things felt just a few degrees off of normal. Saturday was a gorgeous day. It was warm, in the 80's. The youngest lamblet had a tee ball game, but it was over by noon. Planting was done, playing was done. It was a beautiful day, but I don't think I would call it relaxing.

Yesterday was just odd. It was not in the 80's, but was a good 30-35 degrees cooler and raining off and on. Both lamblets were supposed to be in their annual dance recital, but my youngest lamblet woke up with the pukes which continued well into the afternoon and then morphed into a fever. Grizzled took Lamblet the Elder to the recital since I had had the benefit of seeing the dress rehearsal.

We also got to see Ponce shed her skin yesterday. I know she's done it before. She's too big to not have, but we've only seen her picking at her looooong toes, the rest of the skin, already gone. Anoles eat their sloughed off skin. Mmm-hmmm. They do. Apparently it's full of nutrients. I'm glad we don't have to eat ours.

Anyhow, my oldest lamblet alerted me to the fact that is was happening. She saw as the entire skin was loosening. It comes off in ruffly white poofs. For awhile, Ponce looked like Carol Channing in some big chiffon number. Then it looked like she was wearing an Elizabethan collar which she promptly ate. She looked quite happy with herself and you could that if she could talk she would have said, "I taste FAB-ulous!"

The day ended on a rather bizarre note. One of our next door neighbors recently had her second knee replaced. She lost her balance on the driveway and fell straight backwards. We can see their driveway clearly from any number of windows, but somehow missed this. We didn't realize what was going on until the emergency vehicles showed up. They strapped her to a board and off she and her husband went to the hospital. They've both been to the hospital a lot in the past couple of years. They must be sick of it.

I noticed that there was a sizable circle of blood on their driveway. I didn't think anyone needed to come back home to a dried pool of blood on the driveway so I went over and hosed it off. The neighbors returned much later last night so I'm trusting everything is okay... more or less. I'm guessing when they get up this morning they will also wonder why it's Monday already and why their weekend was anything but restful.

Hands off my mug!

Updated below with bluey goodness!

Dave over at The World's Fair is gathering data on our personal coffee cups/mugs. He asks the following questions:

1. Can you show us your coffee cup?
2.  Can you comment on it?  Do you think it reflects on your personality?
3.  Do you have any interesting anecdotes resulting from coffee cup commentary?
3. Can you try to get others to comment on it?

Dave, I'm more than willing to answer.

1. Not only CAN I show you my coffee cup... I WILL!!! To the left you will see the beauty that is my current fave... a lovely Full Frito mug from 3 Bulls!

2. Yes I can comment on it and once again... I will! It reflects my personality to the extent that I'm slightly tweaked yet deep... understanding the impact of full frito in ones life. Any dog owner knows that every day holds the chance for full frito. What you do when obtaining full frito is your own business and that of your dog's.

3- Do I have any interesting anecdotes?
But of course. I would expect nothing less from such a unique mug. The first thing I noticed was the magnetic power the mug holds. The allure appears to be emanating from Smokey Dog's eyes. You can't look at those eyes and not be drawn closer.

I could be wrong, but I also believe I've seen tears... no not condensation, but real tears.
(I've also noticed increased cravings for Taco Bell after using the mug.)

It is a magical mug and not merely because it holds my magical coffee... no, there is something else going on here, something deeper. It's enough to make me sleep with my mug by my bedside just so Grizzled can't pilfer it and take it to work. He's tried. I've seen him. He swears he is not aware of what he's doing...  that something bigger is at work, making him NEED this mug.  And while I understand and feel for him and that unrelenting need, I tell him he can get his own!

Full Frito is ALL MINE!!@!1!

In answer to #4, can you get others to comment on it. I certainly hope so or all is lost...

Update:

The one and only Blue Girl is actually a listing on the Frito scale. It was hard to get a good shot of both Smokey Dog (at full frito) and her lower listing on the scale. Lucky for her, she comes in at just a hair over 0. Blue corn chips tend to be a little more on the reserved side...

Blunacy

Clarification below.

The Blue Moon survival pack arrived! It was supposed to have 4 pints of Blue Moon ice cream from different ice creameries. It only had 3 so only 3 will be scientifically analyzed and written into the final report. To be honest, I'm almost glad there are only 3. I was feeling like a blunatic after merely sampling the 3.

As is clear to see though, the ice creams are actually quite different upon the initial visual inspection. There is an obvious difference in color and texture.

Taste test report to follow, but I think I need one more sampling to get the many layers that is Blue Moon and to be honest, I'm not sure I'm up for that today. I'm thinking today might be a good day to sample something from Snag's dessert repertoire.

Clarification- Oops, I typed this early this morning and thought I had included an important fact... although the Blue Moon survival kit was to contain four brands of Blue Moon, ours only contained three. Icecreamsource.com, however, sent us five pints for the same price. What they did not have in variety, the more than made up for in quantity. My lamblets were thrilled. I'm feeling a tad nauseous.