The person below me

[catinthefunnyhat]

Nope, can't think of the tune.

TPBM makes a mean chicken soup.

[theCryptofishist]

Well, I understand you have to start with a mean chicken.
TPBM backspaces and retypes to make correction, rather than proofing and making changes to a finished post.

[catinthefunnyhat]

Both. I do a lot of backspacing and retyping, then go back and rewrite things: Sentence by sentence, then again paragraph by paragraph, and section by section (for longer forms). This is how I write forum posts, emails, letters, and papers.

Yet I still miss tonnes of things, so I also lean heavily on the "edit" button.

Even when almost too drunk to talk, I've sent letter-perfect emails. They just took forever to write, as nearly every keystroke had to be attempted more than once.

TPBM thinks I should take this shit a little less seriously.

[Trishntek]

Seriously? Really? Join the rest of us!
TPBM catches themselves taking trivial things too seriously,,,

[catinthefunnyhat]

I find myself taking serious things trivially and trivial things seriously. These are poor life choices

TPBM takes dessert very seriously.

[maryanimal]

Mmmmmm...tiramisu...

tpbm takes the desert seriously.

[Eric]

I grew up in the desert (Sonoran, not Black Rock), definitely take it seriously.


tpbm has plans to watch the full moon tonight

[lucky420]

No I think we're going to have cloud cover here in N. Nv, which is to bad because I think this moon is supposed to be bigger than average?

TPBM wonders what "bigger than average is"

[maryanimal]

That's a good question...

tpbm is somewhere in between.

[theCryptofishist]

I don't understand the question.
TPBM is going to paste a fantastic video in here.

[Eric]

Sure, what the hell:

[youtube][/youtube]


tpbm really wants the kittens to settle so they can Go To Sleep

[bubbavic]

Not exactly, but close.

TPBM wishes there was such a thing as an on/off switch for rambunctious and destructive dogs (especially when TPBM is dog sitting 4 at once for a week).

[OregonRed]

It's been a few years since I had dogs, but I can certainly sympathize.

TPBM needs more sleep.

[theCryptofishist]

True. But this being sick business is all about doing something between the sleeping. Although at 4:55 there's not a whole lot I can do.

TPBM is crazy about a book.

[catinthefunnyhat]

Two.

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. It's a few years now since I read it. It was incredibly moving. Very, very sad. But so much beauty, too. I liked the ambivalence of the characters -- perpetrators of some of the vilest acts also made the most noble and loving sacrifices, and the protagonists, who were largely sympathetic, were occasionally sources of such disappointment. The setting was also very rich and lush... I still have pictures in my head when I remember the book. I hope they never make a movie from it. My partner started reading it and gave it up early, because he found it "too depressing," but I found that odd. To me, the book revealed so much light in the darkness...

Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Fishy, I know you hate that book because the English class-system is such a dominant theme, and Grahame seems to be reinforcing it. I get that, but I think there's some satire going on. It's just too exaggerated to be serious. The whole "Animals Like Us don't go into the Wild Wood, because it's the domain of the Weasels and Stoats" thing; the friends' repeated defense of the incorrigible Toad, despite his utter selfishness and excess... those things are so "over-the-top," I think they're meant to reveal the ridiculousness of the class system by ironically supporting it in the face of its idiocy (at least, that's the effect it had on me). And the author is clearly a Romantic (vis. the motor-car as a symbol of destructive and corrupting industrialization; the Otter baby's dawn encounter with Pan); I'm not sure, but I think the Romantics were kind of ambivalent about the class system. Many of them were aristocrats, but there was this whole essentialist fascination with country folk that I think was indicative of, if not a rejection of the class system, at least a questioning of its assumptions. Anyways, what I love about that book isn't the class stuff but the simple joie de vivre -- Mole coming out of his little hole, ditching his chores to explore the sunlit world; Ratty with his little boat, always ready for adventure and a picnic; even Toad, with his unfettered arrogance and self-indulgence -- they're all reveling in life. The whole book is just permeated with a sense of joy and wonder and play. And it's such a quick, fun read.

TPBM is good at Bridge.

[theCryptofishist]

That's my father, actually. Mathematician.
TPBM remembers that the games played with the family could be stressful.

[catinthefunnyhat]

Ach! We played a lot of family games, and they were hilariously stressful. Mostly Scrabble, in particular. My Dad's very mild-mannered, but he's got a competitive streak, and he takes Scrabble, in particular, very srsly. He'll spend ages and ages on a turn, mumbling and grumbling at his letters the entire time. In the end, he'll mutter something like "well... it's not much..." and put down a single "X" or something, making 4 separate words and racking up dozens of points. None of us, including my Mum, ever really tries compete with him. When he gets into mumbly-pondering mode, sometimes my Mum and I break into uncontrollable fits of giggles, prompting Dad to exclaim something like, "What is wrong with your women!" This makes us laugh even harder. Sometimes we have to go into separate rooms to calm down. So, I guess those games are mostly stressful for Dad.

Mum has her own annoying habit, which is "helping." Because she's a bit of a control freak (MASSIVE UNDERSTATEMENT), if any of us is struggling with our letters, she'll grab them and start offering word suggestions. That is stressful for me.

I also remember bawling one night because I had my solid lead taken away from me when Mum got a bingo on a triple-word score. Of course, I was punished (rightly so) for being a sore loser, but that just made me even angrier. In my defense, I was 10, and I was very excited at the prospect of winning a game.

I miss those stressful/hilarious family games nights. I should visit my folks more often...


TPBM has made homemade cheese.

[theCryptofishist]

No.
TPBM likes brevity.

[catinthefunnyhat]

Hahahahahah...

Ahem, sorry.

TPBM is patient.

[maryanimal]

No, but I'd like to make some whole milk ricotta!

tpbm can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it isn't a train!

[theCryptofishist]

It depends on the circumstance. I can wait. I don't like it, but I can do it.
Well, unless something spectacularly ill happens to me today, I'm going to try going back to work tomorrow.
TPBM remember potato prints with some fondness.

[catinthefunnyhat]

Actually, I remember being horribly disappointed in them.

TPBM has recently added another supplement to his/her regimen and is wondering if she/he should cut one out in the interest of keeping things (relatively) simple.

[theCryptofishist]

No. I'm still integrating the arm bike. I think I need it in a more accessible place, but the whole quasi-horder thing gets in the way.
TPBM is a controlled collector.

[catinthefunnyhat]

Controlled by my smallish living space. And not so much a collector as someone who can't bear to throw things out, lest they prove useful in future, or because they have some sentimental value. Every now and then, the clutter drives me insane, and I spend a month getting rid of things. Only to start again...

TPBM has a place for everything, and everything in its place.

[theCryptofishist]

Ha!
TPBM wonders if catinthefunnyhat and I are carrying on some sort of bromance in this thread.

[catinthefunnyhat]

Oh, I don't think we leave much room for wondering.


TPBM plucks his or her eyebrows into artistic shapes.

[theCryptofishist]

Never, dammit! But I do enjoy Amanda Palmer's brow work...
TPBM enjoys Amanda Palmer's playing the uke.

[catinthefunnyhat]

She uses it to remarkable effect. I'm listening to her cover of "Creep" right now, and I'm pretty impressed.

TPBM hates that song except when it's sung by Sad Kermit.

[theCryptofishist]

don't know the song... So much to delve into...
The person below me knows the work of Zemlyane.

[Dr Helix]

Fishy, you always get me to go look when you throw something out there I've not heard of. A Soviet Rock Band? Who knew? Now I have to go listen to some of their music.

TPBM knows what M.I.G. stands for