Art, Crankypantsing, Doodles

Staff Meeting Doodle

Shelly

Staff Meeting Doodle
ballpoint pen in steno pad
4 x 4 1/2 inches

We had our quarterly division meeting today. Thankfully, they’ve been scaled back to one hour long, but there was enough packed into that hour to piss me right the hell off.

First, we spent most of the meeting discussing IT crap. All stuff everyone who works here should know. All stuff there’s no excuse for anyone who works here not knowing. Like, how to properly log off workstations at the end of the day. We’re supposed to restart, not shut down, so that the machines are left on overnight. That allows LIT to install software when the network is the least busy. Duh. That’s been the official procedure since I started working here eight years ago, and I’m betting it’s been so much longer than that. And if there were people who were unclear on the subject (all of whom I bet skipped today’s meeting, because that’s how those things go) a quick, two sentence email should have been sufficient to clue them in. There was really no need to waste time on the subject.

Second, we were told that we will be required to take a series of workshops on such scintillating subjects as how to use MS Vista (because, after a year of using it, obviously we now need training? WTF?!), how to use Outlook (even more baffling, not to mention, our unit had to take a three hour long mandatory Outlook class last winter!), and something that promises to teach us “tips and tricks” for using web browsers. That last one should be especially exciting. And by exciting, I mean exasperating, because I would bet real money that it will cover Internet Explorer, a browser I do not use unless someone holds a gun to my head. The best part was that the guy in charge promised that there would be something to learn for all levels of expertise. And pigs might fly, but I’m dubious.

So basically, today’s meeting made the baby Shelly hoppin’ mad.

Pets, Photography

Miss Brown

Shelly

DSCN0047

From the end of the sofa, Harriet can keep an eye on the patio. She thinks she’s the neighborhood watch. She’s not at all barky, but grumbles and whines whenever people or other dogs trespass on her territory. And, her territory is everything she can see. She gets particularly upset when cats walk along the tree line at the other side of the back field.

DSCN0075

Harriet spent some time outside with me (away from the horrible, no good kittens) while I moved some plants around in the garden. She’s been very good about staying out of the flower beds, which surprises me. While I was working, she just sunbathed and pretty much ignored what I was doing.

Photography

Cobweb Weaver

Shelly

IMG_3750

DSCN0084

When I lived out in the country, I had these guys living in several of my windows, between the glass and the screen. I just left them alone, because they were harmless where they were, and they eat bugs. It’s also interesting to watch their babies hatch.

This one is on the outside of my patio door, sheltered in the overhang.

Music, Pets

Musical Interlude

Shelly

The mellow edition.


Opal, Harriet Brown

This is obviously where Miss Brown got her name. I fell in love with the song the first time I heard it, but it wasn’t until much later, when someone in one of my art forums pointed out the name’s origin, that I learned it was one of the aliases Greta Garbo’s used when she “Wanted to be alone.” It’s a sad and whimsical song.

Ms. Lea and I were roommates at the time. Her ex-boyfriend had made some tapes for her. One of them had Opal’s Early Recordings on one side and their Happy Nightmare Baby on the other. The apartment was tiny, and we repurposed the livingroom as a bedroom, so the only common area was the kitchen. That’s where the stereo was, with my room across the hall, so whatever was playing, that’s what I was listening to. Opal, The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Automatic, and T. Rex’s Beard of Stars are how I remember that time

Ms. Lea got Kizmet when we lived there. She was looking for a black cat to replace the one we’d been watching for her ex-boyfriend. Kizmet needed a home, and the timing was right. The only problem was that–we soon discovered–she was pregnant. That’s how I got Pandora. I wanted one of the kittens, preferably female, preferably the runt. I had her name picked out before she was born. I think there must have been a little bit of kismet at work there.

My Garden, Photography

Camera Test #3

Shelly

DSCN0013

DSCN0012

DSCN0010

DSCN0009

Apparently the peppers I started from seed (as opposed to the ones I got as seedlings from a coworker) were from a variety pack. There are purple peppers, long green ones, and yellow ones. Hopefully they’re all mild. Surely I would not have bought hot pepper seeds?

Camera-wise, the shots in this post are all untouched, aside from cropping. Those in the last post were pretty heavily edited.