a wing and a preyer

I just went out to water one of our flower beds and saw a rather disturbing sight on top of the brick wall.

One wing.
One dove wing.
No dove anywhere near.

I guess Agatha is to blame for that. On the other hand, if wasps could be grateful, they'd thank the Cat Genius, considering how many of them are going in and out of the avian remains.

wishes that don't compute

Found today on Comcast's site...

Voters rewarded candidates who focused on jobs and restrained government in Tuesday's election.

That sounds like contradictory wishes to me, but what the heck do I know?

the quiet American

After I met some of my fellow bloggers in Oakland, at the end of September, Terry Karney said that I am much quieter in person than on the internet. That impression would have been quickly dispelled, had he been standing next to me yesterday while I was on the phone, trying to find why a check of mine was refused when I bought some office supplies. The nicest way my attitude and conversational style at that time would be described is... ah... brisk, especialy when it was explained to me that their automated filter had flagged me as suspicious. Fair enough. I mean, wouldn't you worry if a 54-year-old man showed up at your store to acquire an expensive printer cartridge and a few reams of paper?

one million farts

"Remind me why I do this again."
"Rotten eggs and the safety of mankind."
"Ah!"
- from 2004's HellBoy

It occurred to me that, since my wife is away in Australia, I should look for the silver-lining to the cloud of her absence. This means that tonight I can make myself some hard-boiled eggs and eat them and enjoy them, all this without comments that they make the place smell like one million farts.

talking the talk, and walking too fast

I had offered giving a talk about steampunk movies at the local SF club's November meeting. This is the talk I gave at WesterCon on July 4th, but not exactly the same. Tonight, I finally completed my revisions. I then did a rehearsal by myself, talking while running thru my slide show. 'Running' may be the key word. Even though I have slightly expanded the text, and even though I added many pictures, the whole thing clocks in at 33 minutes. That's almost 10 minutes shorter. I think I need to rehearse this a couple more times because I sure stumbled. And I should switch to decaf.

Too late for rehearsals tonight. Also, since my plans for Friday evening involve setting up our Christmas Tree, followed by some much needed relaxation, I'll work on the talk over the weekend.

I can't wait for Friday 13th.