Stubborn, spoiled rotten, grouchy, lazy, dumbass cat Patty decided he needed to survey his territory no matter what this morning, so he somehow left from the cleared front of the house and worked his way around to under the snow-covered deck and got himself stuck. For whatever reason, he was fine walking through the snow to get there, but he wouldn't touch a flake to get out afterwards. So I wound up trudging through and standing in the snow for 20 minutes, before coaxing him to the edge and fighting to drag him out.
My damn feet felt like blocks of ice with tightness running up to my back, which is still sore from shoveling and feeling no better from that bending and reaching. Soaked my feet in hot water for about a minute before leaving for work, but I still feel a chill in my ankle bones. Gonna let that cat freeze next time. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
Some people complain about the crowds or the commercialization or fruitcake. But to me, the most dreaded part of the holiday season are the ghostly, undead zombie Christmas trees.
No head to shoot. No heart to stake. Vulnerable to fire, but you're liable to burn down the whole house that way. Fortunately, they're no more dangerous in undeath than they were in life, so the best thing is to just let them stand in the corner until the season is over... creepily. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
In a hilarious instance of life imitating art, a black man recorded a YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4DT3tQqgRM) of an HP webcam failing to track him with its face recognition technology, even though it does a great job tracking his white friend. Reminds me of that episode of "Better off Ted" (http://www.hulu.com/watch/82749/better-off-ted-discrimination) in which the building's new light sensors can't recognize black people. Sadly funny. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
Had a bit too much fun in the cold on Friday. Wallowed in general malaise yesterday. Now I'm looking with a clear head to dig out of the "Blizzard of 2009".
The back deck is almost entirely swamped. More than a foot along the railing, more than two feet in the middle. Our car is buried so deeply even the radio antenna was swallowed. If it wasn't for the side mirror, you'd never know the car was there. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
With the series finale of "Monk", I was very excited about dropping another hour of TV from my schedule. Perhaps too excited or not excited enough because I went and did something stupid and watched the first episode of "Dexter," (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_%28TV_series%29) streamed from Netflix. Why was that stupid? Because the show is so damned good. Now I've got four seasons to catch up on, jamming up my schedule worse than before. Curse you, magic moving picture screen. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
Andy Breckman, the creator of the TV series Monk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk_%28TV_series%29), when asked about the series finale warned, "This will disappoint you." (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-smerconish/mr-monk-and-the-end_b_379793.html) He wasn't being modest. The very end was quite heartwarming, and I'm pleased with where they left the characters. What's disappointing is the solution to the mystery of who killed Trudy. The final clue was not the last piece of puzzle, but the whole puzzle. All the previous clues and progress? Meaningless. Quite a let down for anyone expecting the clues to come together, but it should satisfy anyone who cares about the characters.
Friend and fellow GBM blogger, Warner Crocker, has released his annual "Best & Worst" list, The Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards (http://wickedstageact2.typepad.com/life_on_the_wicked_stage_/2009/12/the-fifth-annual-life-on-the-wicked-stage-ink-blot-awards.html), now into its fifth year, and who took the top Blot? Me, Sumocat, Best Tablet PC Blogger!
Okay, technically there is no "top" award and numerically it's something like #34 on the list. Still, it's the top award to me, and with all due modesty, I totally deserve it. Every post here is handwritten on my Tablet PC and since joining GottaBeMobile, I've been up to my eraser in TPC news (and look at the metaphors I use). I earned this one, baby. Thanks to Warner for the honor and putting the list together. Excellent work once again. You deserve the Blottie for hardest working man in the blogosphere. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
Why Obama's Afghanistan strategy is the correct one
Following President Obama's speech reaction from the right-wing nut jobs has been to cry about the timeline and insufficient troop escalation. Meanwhile, the far-left crazies are crying about the timeline and excessive troop escalation. Sounds about right to me. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
