One Of Many Problems

I am working on my own website to tout my abilities and show off work I have done. Hopefully, I will drum up more work.

I have had the domain name and space on a server for at least 2 years and for all of that time there has been a static page with a link to my recently updated (community) college portfolio.

The problem? Now that I have settled on a look for my site, I am having trouble tooting my own horn. When I did my horn tooting for my college portfolio, I just thought of my main instructor who knew absolutely nothing about what she was getting paid the big bucks to teach and outlined my accomplishments. I made myself look like a self taught prodigy.

Now it just looks sad to me. I am good at shooting myself in the foot so I don't know if my previous horn tooting is solid, slightly stretched reality or total bullshit.

And here is another problem: I am pj of notmyrabbit here. Only persistent and relatively sane people people know who I am. (Crab falls in only one of those catagories. Easy to guess which one.) I don't even use my whole real name on Facebook, where I can be crude and rude. Crude and rude has no place on a professional website.

I cannot link my site to my blog. It has way too much personal information. I am one big chicken!

I am ready for advice and will send the link to my current site to the persistent, relatively sane people who ask. You can be honest and tell me I'm in the wrong line of work then hire me to herd cats or something.

Swine Flu In Iowa

Here are some things I learned on the local news last night.

• It is not a matter of if the flu will come, it is a matter of when. (Cue ominous music)
  
• Don't travel! Especially don't go to Mexico!
• You cannot get swine flu from eating pork products or contact with a pork producer. Unless, one would have to assume, the pork producer had just come home from Mexico with flu symptoms.

So before you hug your neighborhood pork producer, make sure he hasn't been doing something stupid like vacationing in Mexico.

Since You Asked...

There has been a clamoring for information! O.K., one person asked a question. This will teach her.

Birding has not been very exciting. The black birds (brown headed cowbirds, red wings and grackles) are thick. The blue jays added color to my winter but have abandoned me this spring. The goldfinches always leave me in the winter (my folks have them all year) and come back in the spring. The other day I saw a couple but haven't seen them since. I think they want me to fill up the thistle seed feeder.

Today I saw a house finch, which is much more colorful than a house sparrow. I have been watching the fox sparrows scratching and hopping under the cedars. Also in the sparrow department there have been Harris' sparrows.

One day I saw a hermit thrush but he didn't hang around. Same with a red-bellied woodpecker.

The mourning doves have returned. They're sweet.

I am ready for the orioles. And if I filled my thistle feeder, I would be ready for the indigo buntings, too. I look forward to all the transients.

Much more exciting birding at my parents on Easter. I couldn't tell you how many different kinds of birds I saw. I have resigned myself to the fact that I don't live in a major flyway and until a river flows in my back yard and acres of trees sprout up, I won't.

The Color Of The Day: Sweet, Tender Green

The trees are budding and the grass is turning green. The black birds (grackles, redwings, brown headed cowbirds) are innumerable and cacophonous. They also account for most of the activity at my bird feeder. I put out oranges today in anticipation of the orioles. They will arrive soon, I hope.

Some of the sweet, tender green:

Lilac buds

Cottonwood buds

I can't wait for the cottonwood fluff! It is more fun than snow and just as pretty.

Birds in the willows

My poor linden tree

My poor linden tree has seen better days. Looks like it has been making the woodpeckers happy, though.

Branches

Another color of the day: black. As in birds and dirt. It's planting time!

Planting with birds

This is not a product endorsement

Life Out Here

Yes. I live. In spite of the efforts of the universe to crush my spirit to dust. I have proof of my existence. I have been taking photos even though I have been very lax in posting and commenting on them.

Misc.

Fungus. Very dead, but I still keep it around.

New cat

The new cat amuses herself.

Have you ever heard (or had the experience) that you buy a kid an expensive toy and wait anxiously for them to enjoy the hell out of it only to find they are playing with the box the toy came in? That is what this cat is doing to me. I bought her a frigging play station with dingles, dangles and scratching posts. Her favorite toys? The bathroom rugs and the dog's food. Really, I think she likes the dog's food the best. And the very best thing is to scoot dog food under the rug.

Bowling

The season never seems to end. I'm sick of it and yet -- it is the only time I see people. Except for my weekly shopping. Which is not "shopping", it is going to town and buying shit. Big difference.

The entire bowling alley. I'm not kidding!

You know what's really funny about this 6 lane alley? Every week one team has to bowl alone (the blind) because we only have 5 teams of 4 women. Move here! Join the Strikettes! Make things interesting! Any team than I am on will still be in last place. You have a chance to make the sports news in the local paper every week.

Waiting for spring

Hope springs eternal. I haven't been kvetching about the long, arduous winter like I did last year because I foolishly thought spring was here on March 20.

Long before that I started some petunias. It is something I have never done before but this year tried it with seeds I harvested from dead petunias. Have you ever seen a petunia seed? They are smaller than a period in one of these sentences.

I planted them and gave up on them. But they didn't give up on me. They actually sprouted.

Teeny tiny tunias.

What spring?

Still waiting for spring. Flurries here and there. Windy. Dreary.

You can't see it, but there is snow.

I Love Him More Today Than Yesterday (But Not As Much As Tomorrow)

If he breaks my heart I will die. Or go on a rampage and never, ever trust another human being again.

I am talking about Obama, of course.

~~~~~~~~~~~UPDATE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I started this post a long time ago, got interrupted, and didn't get back to it until now.

It was written after Obama's address to Congress and contained various gushy stuff (love him! love Michelle!) and snarky stuff (Ruth Bader Ginsberg's doily over her Justice robe) and notes on what Obama said. I took notes during the speech because I wanted to be prepared for bowling night.

It turns out that the congressional speech was not discussed at bowling but the address to the nation a few weeks earlier had been. From that discourse (I bit my tongue for a change and was all ears) I learned that: he talked in circles during his press conference and said nothing; the stimulus package is full of pork that will benefit big business; the damned Democratic Congress will rubber stamp anything Obama says; that under Obama's health care plan you will no longer be able to choose your own doctor; and Obama is trying to turn this into a socialist country.

I'm glad I didn't have to argue Obama's case after the Congressional address. It would have been a waste of air. I am in the wrong place, or I am thinking wrong. I must be thinking wrong. The letters to the editor in the local paper tell me so! The other bowlers tell me so!

I think I'm going to be stubborn and contrary just a bit longer. And bite my tongue often. You will recognize me and others like me by the blood dripping down our chins.

Fun With The Animals

I'm Alive

I see that before tonight the last time I posted was January 23. Thanks for calling to see if I was still alive.

I have had two people this month check on my viability. Crab doesn't count.

This is what I spent on gas from December 29 2008 and January 29 2009: $21.39.

I don't get out much. When I get in my car to make my weekly shopping trip (as I did today), I realize the last time I was in the car was Thursday night the week before when I went to league bowling.

I'm doing my part to save the planet. And I am still driving around with a burned out CFL bulb in my car.

Always About Weather

Today was kind of a crappy day. Right now the wind is blowing hard and it reminded me of the last time the wind blew hard. I thought this old house would implode.

It didn't, but the lights went out. It afforded me the opportunity to cook by candle light with the aid of a small flashlight in my mouth.

Cooking by candle light.

Dining by candle light

The lights weren't out for very long and we didn't freeze. The temps had been unseasonably warm for days and we lost our lane glacier and snow cover in flat places. Piled snow, drifted snow and snow filled ditches remain.

Today was a mixed bag of flurries and spitting stuff. I was compelled to replace my windshield wipers when in Big Town. The kid that sold them to me actually went out and replaced the blades for me. I could tell the passenger side blade was too short but by that time I didn't care. I had new blades that worked and got to go home and listen to the wind whistle through this old house.

We Are Here

Again

January Thaw Preview

The January thaw is coming tomorrow! One day above freezing is something to get excited about. Late this afternoon I went for a short walk with Gretchen and took some preview pics.

Gretchen

Gretchen's butt

The corn stalks glow in the light

The 911 address sign has ruined this for me

I mean really. No one lives there. Why does it need a frigging sign?

Drift

RR Xing

Tracks

I can't believe a collector hasn't snagged these insulators

Scrub trees

Fence Line

More fence

I hope you enjoyed the photo walk. Tomorrow I will be going to the supermarket. I don't think it will be a photo journey.

Getting Comfortable

The new cat, Skittles, is continuing to make her place in the family. Sometimes I think she is channeling her most recent predecessor. Tonight she climbed up the back of my chair, over my shoulder and into my lap, demanding the attention she felt she deserved.

Here she is finally getting brave with the giant Mouse:

Attack!

It is futile to resist!

The *Gown*

Dress from the front

She couldn't control the thing and kept tugging at it.

The back, close

The back

This has nothing to do with the dress, but wouldn't that hurt after a while?

I Have No Room To Talk -- But...

Michelle Obama's gown looks like a chenille bedspread.

She looked gorgeous on election night. She has a great figure and could wear anything. So why would she drape herself in the spread off the bed?

I leafed through pictures of gowns designers were begging her to wear. Most were stunning. This thing is not becoming at all.

Like I said, I have no room to talk sitting here in a dirty sweatshirt and jeans. This is not the biggest problem our country faces. But OMG, that dress is horrible.

Inaguration (Part Two)

"Please stand while Barack Obama takes the oath of office."

I stood in front of the TV.

I wasn't instructed to, but I cried.

The time has come at last.