weather – Page 23 – red paper boat

Instant Review: Harriet Brown Goes a-Visiting

December 1, 2005November 15, 2015 Shelly

Harriet likes to sit on the corner of the deck and look out over the neighboring fields. She’ll spend hours like that, sitting and watching. I think she may be channeling her namesake, Greta Garbo (Garbo used the name Harriet Brown as a pseudonym). Like Garbo, Harriet often wishes to be left alone.

Harriet had an exciting weekend. We went to visit my family, who live a couple of hours north of me. Harriet is a wonderful travelling companion, so I enjoy taking her places with me. She’s always eager to get into her car harness and settles down quickly in the car. While we’re in stop-and-go traffic, she stands up and presses her nose to the window, so that she can watch what’s going on. Once we’re on the highway, though, she curls up and goes to sleep. I mention this, because I think it’s interesting that the only thing I specifically wanted when I got her was a dog who enjoyed car rides. It’s funny how those sorts of things work out. Her previous owners never took her anywhere in the car, but as long as I’ve had her, she’s been a fabulous travelling companion.

Gabe playing with Harriet’s ears

She had a great time at my mom’s house. She always enjoys going there, and is nearly as relaxed there as she is at home. She even managed to do some kidney beaning and sassy woo-wooing, which she never does in front of anyone but me. She got to play with my brother’s kids, and got all sorts of attention from my brothers. She also got to eat all sorts of stuff she wouldn’t normally get to eat, and was entertaining in the process–there’s nothing quite like a kitchen full of people feeding green beans to a dog, who thinks they’re some sort of canine crack. I guess they’d never seen a dog eat green beans before. Harriet loves them, though.

This was the first time I’d taken the new car on a road trip. I was well pleased with it! As we reached Indy, the wind picked up, which was, um, exciting. It handled pretty well, though. Even though it’s much bigger and taller than my last car, it’s also much heavier, so it sticks to the road better. There were times in the Festiva when I’d crest a hill, and a strong gust of wind would nearly lift me off the ground. Talk about unsettling! That doesn’t happen in the Tracker. It’s just too damned large and heavy to go kiting. I did get pushed around quite a bit by the gusting wind, but it wasn’t all that bad.

Gas mileage was good, too. Even with all the wind, and running the AC because the windows kept fogging up, I only used a little over half a tank. I forgot to set the tripometer, but I’m guestimating that I used about 8 gallons over 250 miles, which would be around 31mpg–not bad at all for an SUV. Have I mentioned lately that I lovelovelove my Tracker?

Now, for the obligatory randomness:

I belong to umpty mail lists, most of them art-related. Artists don’t tend to be the most computer savvy folks on Urth, so I ought to cut them some slack. I draw the line at reading badly formatted messages, though. If there’s HTML coding, or if I have to hunt around to figure out which is new and which is quoted text, or if there is nothing but quoted text, I skip the message. I would think artists, being aesthetically sensitive, would take the time to make their messages look presentable, but apparently that’s not the case.
I’ve temporarily put my Netflix subscription on hold. Waaah! I’ll miss having good teevee to watch, but I just can’t justify spending money on it right now.
It snowed today. We were supposed to get two inches worth, then sleet and freezing rain, AKA Icy Death from Above[tm]. Welcome to winter in Indiana!
Christ died on a spruce tree for your sins. Wait, he didn’t? The use of evergreen trees during the winter holiday season dates back to at least Roman Saturnalia festival. Yeah, the Christians appropriated it, but the tree itself, along with its symbolism, is strictly pagan. So to complain about calling it a “holiday tree” instead of a “Christmas tree” is, I think, a little funny. But then, Mr. Falwell is a funny, funny man. And I don’t mean in the funny-ha-ha sense, either.
I don’t know why this should be surprising, but it was. It’s sad but true that all news really is just propaganda. From the administrator who was paid to promote No Child Left Behind, to “astroturf” (the opposite of grass roots) form letters sent to US newspapers, supposedly by local soldiers who supported the war, I think it’s a bad idea to believe anything that comes from or lends support to the current administration.
Firefox v.1.5 is out. If you’re using IE, I really recommend downloading Firefox and giving it a whirl. The tabbed browsing (ctrl-T) alone makes it worthwhile, but the lack of pop-ups and the ability to truly control text size (ctrl-mouse wheel up/down) are quite nice, too.
The Ebola virus has been traced to bats.

Sunset Another Day

Clouds were just beginning to creep in from the southwest. They must have thickened overnight, because this morning, it started to spit freezing rain. We were supposed to get two inches of snow, then more freezing rain and sleet, but it was too warm for it to actually stick. It’s still gross and disgusting, though, in a way that only Winter in Indiana can be.

Pets, Photography

Happy Post-Turkey Day

November 25, 2005November 15, 2015 Shelly

Wednesday Sunset (top) and Friday morning frost (bottom)

It got relatively cold last night, with lows around 12F, so there was a good layer of frost on everything when I got up this morning. And, guess what? I still don’t have a window scraper! I don’t have a winter coat, either, so coming home from Thanksgiving dinner was a little brisk. I usually wear layers, instead of a coat, because I like being able to vary my outer-wear to suit the needs of the day. Indiana weather is so changeable that I always end up being too warm or too cold if I wear a coat. Last night’s freezing cold temperature took me by surprise, though. The weather guy kept saying “It’s gonna get really cold,” but he never got around to saying just how cold before I had to turn off the teevee and leave.

The Orphans’ Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful. D. brought Quorn cutlets, which are now my favorite meat substitute. Oh my, are they good. She put barbecue sauce on them, which I usually can’t stand, but they were so good that I didn’t mind. I brought a left-over one home with me, and they heat up well in the microwave. Often, veggie burgers will get texturally weird when re-nuked, so I was surprised at how well Quorn fared when re-heated.

I took Harriet along with me, which is always a little stressful. She doesn’t get along at all with the resident bitch, and can be tweaky in large groups of people. She did fairly well, though, and even sucked up to one of the guys, which surprised the hell out of me. She’s always been freaked out by strange men. It was wonderful to see her enjoying being around other people. Unfortunately, though, she got a little resource-guardy during dinner, which resulted in a big snark-fest. It wasn’t serious–no injuries–and consisted of a lot of snarling and posturing and no teeth-on-skin, but I think it was a little nerve wracking for the non-dog folks who were present.

Overall, she did pretty well, considering. She’s always going to be tweaked in the head, no matter what is done to desensitize her. She’s just hard-wired wrong.

And, poor dog, her weekend is going to get even more stressful, but in a good way. As always, she’s going with me to visit my family. She likes car rides, and loves visiting my mom and brothers, but no matter how enjoyable it is, it’s still stressful. She also has to have a bath today. She’s very good for baths, even though she can’t stand getting wet. Everyone in my family is allergic to cats and dogs, so I always bathe Harriet with Dr. Bronner’s castile soap the day before we visit, then wipe her down with Allerpet-D right before we leave. It works pretty well.

Now, off to wash the dog and clean out the car. It’s amazing how quickly I can fill a car up with junk. I’ve had it less than two months, and it’s already full of trash.

Crankypantsing, Photography

Random Friday

November 19, 2005October 5, 2015 Shelly

But first, the obligatory cat update.

Rory had his week+ check-up last night (surgery was 10 days ago). I spent all day yesterday panicking, because that morning, he peed on the floor. He’s been been very good about using the litter box since he began recovering from the surgery. It was a relatively small amount of urine, and dark, too, so I was worried about him having another infection. In retrospect, that was silly, as he’s on antibiotics, so an infection was very unlikely. That’s the nature of panic, though–t’ain’t rational.

He also has managed to irritate the surgery site. It was inflamed and a little swollen. The vet thinks he may have used the cone to scratch it. I imagine it’s been itching like mad, so I can’t blame him for trying to find some relief. I was sent home with a few extra antibiotic pills and some topical antibiotic salve to put on his incisions, and instructions to take his e-collar off on Saturday. She warned me that he’ll lick himself like crazy when the collar comes off, but that I shouldn’t worry if his bottom gets sore and even bloody. Now, how I’m supposed to keep from worrying is beyond me, but I’ll try.

She also sent us home with a 4lb bag of Hill’s W/D. I’m not happy about having to support the Hill’s company. For one thing, I think the behavior of some of their employees sucks ass[1]. And, though I’m thankful that there are prescription foods available that will–hopefully–allow my cat to live a relatively long and healthy life, my cat isn’t much impressed by the palatability of either of the other Hill’s prescription diets he’s been fed. We’ll see what he thinks of W/D.

I’m also trying to figure out how to feed two different diets to my two cats, while allowing them both the run of the house. I was hopeful that Rory would eat canned food, but he’s not interested in it. I suspect that he associated wet food with being sick. Cats can be weird, that way. I could still do set feeding times, instead of a kibble buffet, but with cats, I find that they’re a pain in the arse. What I’ll probably do is let both cats have the run of the house during the day–sans food–then confine Rory to the bathroom at night. That way, I’ll be able to feed the cats at night and know that they aren’t getting into each other’s food. Water is going to be another headache, as Rory is supposed to have distilled water. At US$1/gallon, it’s too pricey to give to the dog and the cats.

On a tangential note, the Cat Care Clinic is way out in the country (the vet and her husband also run a horse rescue farm). As I was leaving, the sun was setting. Their farm is up on a hill, and the ridge to the west was like something out of Arizona Highways magazine. I’ve never seen such a perfectly beautiful sunset in my life. And, wouldn’t you know it, I didn’t have my camera with me. That’s okay, though. I think I enjoyed it even more, as I got to just stop and take it in.

Since I didn’t get a picture of the lovely sunset, I’ll post this photo that I took Tuesday. The sunset that day wasn’t much to speak of, because the clouds thickened back up when the next line of storms moved in. We got a brief break, though, which was quite nice.

Here’s a photo taken the same day, by someone in the Evansville area. If I’d seen that, I think I would’ve peed my pants. It was plenty scary enough here, but, thankfully, it was raining so hard that I was unable to see anything until after the worst had passed.

Did Someone Say Random?

It is notnotnot okay to drive around in the pitch black without your headlights on. It’s doubly notnotnot okay to do so, then turn them on suddenly when you see someone coming. It’s likely to scare the Jeebus right out of them.
I want one of these
Still no window scraper, despite the fact that it’s been around 20F the past two mornings, and there has been a thick coating of frost on my car. Perhaps, this weekend, I’ll get around to it.
I love that my remote “key” does not make my car beep its horn or flash its headlights or call attention to itself in some other way. I know which car I’m heading to; there’s no need to announce to the entire world which one it is, though. Stealthy is better.
I’m not amused that random bits of my mail have been mysteriously returned to sender (including one credit card statement and my car loan statement), nor that three Netflix I returned on Monday ended up back in my mailbox yesterday. Perhaps I should burn hecatombs to the Mail Gods? If so, what would constitute an appropriate sacrifice?
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire comes out today. I am beyond excited. I probably won’t get to see it for a few days, which might kill me.
Something smells like fried bread.
I have a scar in the middle of my forehead[2], just above the hair line. No matter what I do, I cannot get the hair there to lay properly. It wants to go in the opposite direction. I only mention it, because it’s being particularly annoying today.
I hate it when people use my name when talking to me. Yes, I know who I am, you needn’t remind me. I’m distrustful of anyone who does so, because I feel like I’m dealing with a pushy used car salesman.
Speaking of dead things. See, that’s what’s wrong with frat boys. And, at my alma mater, no less.
I’m craving Babbs’ no bake cookies. Not any old chocolate can substitute, either. It has to be Babbs’ no bake cookies, or nothing at all.
Skipping breakfast is a Very Bad Idea.
I’d say they’ve got this one the wrong way ’round. If there’s an insult there, it’s to Pit Bulls, in likening them to lawyers.
I’ve been watching All Creatures Great and Small. I loved it when it was on PBS in the ’80s, and it’s held up well over time. One thing I didn’t realize, and that surprised the hell out of me, is that in the first three series, many of the medical procedures were done in real time in front of the camera. There were vets on-set who supervised the less complicated parts (e.g. the classic “arm up the cow’s jacksie”). Things like actual surgery were done by the supervising vets. They would hunt around locally for animals suffering from the appropriate conditions, then they’d operate on them. The owners received free medical care for their pets in exchange for letting the procedure be filmed. The BBC picked up the tab for everything. That would never happen nowadays, or even in the ’80s, when series 4-7 were filmed. All of those later episodes contained faked surgeries.
I’m searching for the perfect CD wrangling solution for my car. I suspect that piling them on the passenger seat really is not a very good long-term plan.
I love grilled tomatoes on top of pizza. I love them, I do, to a degree that is nearly unnatural. I also love fried green tomatoes. And tomato sandwiches. And tomatoes with cottage cheese. Basically, I love tomatoes.
Also, I love dill pickles. Not sweet pickles, though. Those are ptoui.

________________________________________
[1] In particular, two Hill’s employees have made a practice of participating in various pet-oriented Usenet groups, where they have repeatedly shilled for the company without disclosing their employer’s identity. Further, both the people in question have been unspeakably rude while doing so, going so far as to liken those who questioned their motivation or the information they provided to suicide bombers and members of the Taliban. I’m sorry, but that sort of behavior is not what I want to support with my money.

[2] When I was four or five years old, I was scratched by what I insisted was a fox. Looking back, I’m sure it was just a neighborhood cat, and that it had good cause to scratch me. Kids can be, um, inventive, especially when they know they aren’t supposed to be playing dress-up with the neighbor’s cat. I think that probably cured me of trying to put baby clothes on animals, though, so at least I learned something from the experience.

[3] If you haven’t seen Cannibal the Musical, hie thee to your nearest video store.

Art, Artist Books, Collage

New Vessels

November 17, 2005October 5, 2015 Shelly

Merry-Go-Round
10 x 14 1/2 inches
collage on paper

Mathematics
7 1/4 x 10 inches
collage on chip board

These are the two newest additions to the Vessels book. Someday I’ll finish the content, so that I can bind it. The only problem is that, as soon as I do, I’ll end up with more stuff to put in it. I’m not very happy with the top one; the bottom one turned out much better, I think. There are also some nit-picky problems with the scans. I’ll probably re-scan them before uploading them to the website. If I don’t, they’ll annoy the crap out of me.

Obviously, we didn’t get sucked up in a tornado last night. The winds were intense, though. The weather guys on Channel 10 were guestimating that we’d get overnight gusts of up to 80mph. I don’t know if it got that windy, but it sure sounded like it did. I got almost no sleep, and decided to chicken out on trying to drive to work this morning, because I hate driving in the wind. It was a good thing, too, because my car title finally came this afternoon. Whee! I haven’t a clue why it took so long, but my second temporary plate expires on the 20^th, so I’m glad it came when it did.

Now, to clean up the unholy mess I made arting and figure out what to make for supper. Hmmm.

Photography

Auntie Em, Part Deux

November 16, 2005October 5, 2015 Shelly

Egad. This was a good day to stay home. It poured rain earlier, then on and off throughout the afternoon and evening, we’ve been under various storm and tornado watches and warnings. Basically, it’s hella stormy. The first line of storms went through earlier, and the second line is currently passing over Terre Haute. There were several funnel clouds reported, and at least one tornado has touched down. I believe the tornado was south of us, but it was part of a cell that later passed right over my house. Yikes!

Have I mentioned that storms scare the hell out of me? I spent most of the time glued to the television radar, but when the worst of the storm had passed, I got out my camera and took photos of the sky. There were some lovely cloud formations.

The full set of photos from the storm is here.

I can hear thunder, and the wind and rain have picked back up, so the next line of storms must be moving in. Time to get off line and shut down!

Photography

Autumn Photoblogging

November 8, 2005October 4, 2015 Shelly

St. Andrews Cross Spider (Argiope aurantia)

The grasshopper was hanging out on my deck this afternoon. It’s a little late in the season for bugs, but it’s been warm, so they’re still active. There was something cricket-like chirping away last night, and the evil Japanese beetles are swarming.

We’ve had a few nice sunsets recently. The third photo is of the last full moon, rising in the east, with the Belt of Venus.

I had been dubious about the trees turning color, but we seem to have gotten enough rain in time. Most of the leaves have dropped, after last weekend’s blowing winds, but I got a few photos before that happened. I love the contrast of the oranges, yellows, and reds–lit by the near-setting sun–against the heavy, grey clouds.

Auntie Em! Auntie Em! As I mentioned, we had a hell of a storm over the weekend. It had been super windy during the day on Saturday, but warm and the sky seemed to clear up a bit in the afternoon. That night, the wind picked up, with gusts up to 65mph. Yikes! I woke up at 1:45, scared half to death. There aren’t any storm sirens, because I live in the country, so I turned on the television to see if there were any weather alerts. The Terre Haute stations, which usually have the best weather coverage for my area, were still on regular programming. ABC from Indy had radar up, but, because Indy is the center of their universe, they weren’t showing or discussing what was going on in the southern part of the state. Bastards!

A little after 2:00am, CBS from Terra Haute started covering the storm. We were under a severe thunderstorm warning, but as far as the radar and coverage went, the storm didn’t sound all that serious. It slacked off a bit, then it started to hail, then all hell broke loose. Um, that’s when tornadoes usually occur–on the back end of the storm. And they’re often accompanied by hail. Yikes. Luckily, all we had were heavy straight-line winds. The folks south of us, though, were not as lucky. [ETA: According to Wikipedia, 25 people died. It was the deadliest tornado to hit the state in 30 years.]

Tangent Alert! While I was flipping channels, looking for storm info, I came across an episode of Soul Train. That show is still on? Oh my. What really caught my attention, though, was the animated Soul Train logo. How rude! I looked to see if I could find it online, but couldn’t. So, I shall attempt to describe it. Picture an animated, silver steam engine. Picture it with a big, fat penis on top. Picture the penis ejaculating spasmotically. Picture the train thrusting in time to the penis’ spasms. O ick. Perhaps that might explain why the show airs at 2am?

I’m supposed to go to Chicago tomorrow night, so see Bauhaus. It doesn’t look like it’s going to happen, though, which I’m bummed about. Rory-cat is having surgery this afternoon, and will hopefully come home tomorrow, so I’ll have to stay home to keep an eye on him. He spent a week and a half hospitalized for a severe UTI, struvite crystals, and recurring blockages. I brought him home yesterday and he blocked again. He was in good spirits, soliciting attention and chin rubs, but he wasn’t eating, drinking, or eliminating. Clearly, he was blocked again. The last resort is surgery to have his penis amputated and to widen his urethra. Hopefully, it will successfully solve his problems, and he’ll be able to have a good quality of life. He’s a damnfine cat, and I think he deserves to have a shot at having a good, comfortable life, if possible.

Uncategorized

All your colours turn to pale

October 25, 2005October 4, 2015 Shelly

After nearly a month of dry weather, it finally rained. It’s been unholy dry this summer, so any bit of rain is a relief. But, at this point, it’s too little, too late for some of the trees. Because of the drought, the leaves aren’t turning normally. There is some yellow and orange and red, but many trees–black walnuts seem to be the most affected–dropped their leaves months ago. They just didn’t do well with this season’s lack of water. Many other trees are still green, but the leaves look sickly and are, I think, unlikely to turn color.

The rain started Thursday night and lasted into the weekend overnights, leaving the days overcast, mostly dry, and very nice temperature-wise. It was that lovely, in between weather that is not too cold for short sleeves or too warm for a hoodie.

I was especially appreciative of the coolish weather on Saturday, as Ralph finally showed up to do some outdoor repairs. My deck has seriously deteriorated, and he had promised months ago to put a new deck up. I figured he’d show up one day, out of the blue, and that’s what he did. I suppose I could have just let him do all the work by himself, but that didn’t seem right, so I helped out. His new girlfriend was helping, too, so it gave me a chance to talk to them both and to get to know her. She seems very laid-back, which should be a nice change for Ralph. He certainly seems happy enough.

I also managed to fix my antenna, so as soon as I can get it properly rotated, I’ll have teevee. Wheee!

Crankypantsing, Pets, Photography

Happy Monday

September 26, 2005November 15, 2015 Shelly

I’ve been trying to remember to take photos of the sun shining on the dewy fence. It’s all grown up and, ahem, “rustic” looking right now, which is kind of picturesque. I’m not a big fan of yardwork, at the best of times, and with the uncertainty of my living situation, I’m feeling even less motivated than I normally do. My other excuse is that we’ve been getting an unholy amount of rain recently. It finally cleared up today, after 24 solid hours of rain, but it’s hot and humid and there’s no way the grass is going to dry any time this century.

The previous day had started with pea soup fog–dangerous, but beautiful in a spooky sort of way.

And now for the gratuitous dogblogging. That’s the lovely and talented Miss Brown, doing a canine headstand. She props herself against me, then inverts herself until she’s standing on her head. She started to slide out of position when I got up to get the camera, because her support was gone. I had to act quickly, in order to get this picture, so it’s a little blurry. But I think you can get the general idea–top of head on couch, butt in air, much funny to be had by all.

Oh, and note the glowy, non-photo blue eyes. They’re proof positive that she is eeevil.

In other news, I stayed home from work today to do some more car shopping. It looks like I may end up with a Ford Taurus wagon. It’s bigger than I want, but at this point, I’ll take anything with wheels and an engine that doesn’t hemorrhage oil. Oh, and a hatchback. I found plenty of smaller cars, but none were a closer fit than the Taurus. I went ahead and got my financing sorted out, so that I can pretty much just go in and pick it up on Wednesday after co-op delivery.

I’ve also been checking out rentals in Bloomington, and am pleasantly surprised at how many ads there are for pet-friendly housing, most all well within my price range. Whew! And it’s a good thing, too, because my landfolks are really starting to make me uncomfortable.

Ralph came over on Saturday (he showed up while the SBC guy was fixing my phone line), and told me that when Katrina left, she’d broken all the windows and toilets in their old place, and had burned all his clothes. Sweet fancy Jeebus! I can’t even imagine doing something like that, no matter how pissed off I was. That’s just seriously uncool. And, according to him, the property is his. He’s supposedly coming over this weekend to fix things. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Then, this afternoon, Katrina called. She says the property is hers, and that she still wants me to sign a lease. Ostensibly, it’s to protect me. Hell, NO. I have no intention of getting in the middle of their little shitfit! I told her I didn’t think it would protect me, as leases aren’t transferable. She disagreed. I told her I didn’t want to sign anything right now, but thanks anyway. She seems to think Ralph will kick me out. So what? I don’t think he will. I like Ralph, we’ve always gotten along just fine, and I don’t think it would be in his best interests to kick me out–if he does, no biggie, I’ll just move. Then Katrina told me that she’d called Ralph and told him I didn’t want him bothering me. As in, he’s not supposed to talk to me about anything related to the property or my living here. Not only did I say nothing of the sort, but what the hell business is it of hers?! The only thing I told Ralph is that I don’t want to be in the middle of their drama. I told him I was perfectly happy to deal with him instead of her, in fact, I’d prefer it. At no time did I tell him or Katrina that I didn’t want Ralph to “bother me.”

Crankypantsing, News & Politics, Pets, Photography

The Mind Wobbles

September 16, 2005January 8, 2016 Shelly

People, Part the First: If you make an appointment for a job interview, then fail to show up for it, and do not call or e-mail me, or in some way let me know that you need to reschedule, then please, do not call me three weeks later to find out if you are still in the running. Because, the answer is not only no, but hell, no. And please, if you do call me, for the love of all that is good in this world, do not spend ten minutes telling me how upset you are because this would have been the perfect job for you. And, yes, for those who keep track of these sorts of things, this is the very same person who could not follow directions.

People, Part the Second: Why do people feel the need to bring junk food buffets to work? One of my co-workers has a bottomless candy jar, which annoys the crap out of me. Not only is the candy sometimes difficult to resist (and resist it, I do!), but there is constant and annoying to-ing and fro-ing, as people hike back to her desk for treats. And then there are the umpty million parties each unit has throughout the year. Yesterday, it was just a random “Because it’s Thursday” carry-in. Someone decided to bring chips and pretzels, eclair-lets, cookies, and some other crap. The problem–for me–is that whenever anyone in this unit brings in food to share, it gets put on the table right behind my desk. I hate having people milling around behind me, talking and eating. I also hate having food I do not want to eat sitting right behind my desk, all the damned day long.

Weather: It finally cooled off last night, after several humid days in the 90sF. Clouds started to move in Wednesday night, at sunset.

In the meantime, for those who are needing a mental break from the heat, I recommend listening to some of these audio clips from the 2005 Beargrease sleddog race. Great Yiping Sleddogs, Batman!

Pens: I picked up some neat-o Sarasa retractable gel pens last weekend. Office Depot had sets of 10 for US$9.99, plus a $5.00 rebate. I haven’t tried writing over acrylic paint or any weird surfaces, yet, but I’ve been using them in my Dada Journal and they do very nicely on magazine paper. They write smoothly without skipping, and they dry very quickly, so they don’t smear as much as some other gel inks. They’re also archival and acid-free. Oh, and the colors are yummy (including denim-y blue and deep wine red).

The Asswagon Report: Remember the quote from Rick Santorum, that serious action should be taken against the folks who did not evacuate from Katrina? According to an LA Times article, evacuees were not allowed to cross over into neighboring towns.

Three days after Hurricane Katrina hit, Gretna officers blocked the Mississippi River bridge that connects their city to New Orleans, exacerbating the sometimes troubled relationship with their neighbor. The blockade remained in place into the Labor Day weekend.

[…]

Gretna is not the only community that views New Orleans with distrust. Authorities in St. Bernard Parish, to the east, stacked cars to seal roads from the Crescent City. But Gretna’s decision has become the symbol of the ultimate act of a bad neighbor, gaining notoriety partly from an account in the Socialist Worker newspaper by two San Francisco emergency workers and labor leaders who were in a crowd turned back by Gretna police.

Fil-ums: I watched The Magdalene Sisters yesterday. The film was inspired by the documentary Sex in a Cold Climate, about the Magdalene asylums in Ireland. It’s hard to believe that the last Magdalene asylum closed only 9 years ago. The horrors the inmates endured seem impossible and distant, like something from Dickens’ worst nightmare.

Ch-ch-ch-Changes: I’ve been thinking about various life changes lately. First, I think I’m going to move. I blame it on the fact that we moved frequently when I was growing up. I start to get restless when I’ve been in one place for too long. I’m not planning on moving far, though; I definitely want to stay in the general Bloomington area.

This decision to up stakes has been percolating for a while, but it was suddenly moved up in the priority queue a couple of days ago. My landlady is going through a divorce, and I don’t want to get caught in the middle of their chaos if and when the shit hits the fan. I really don’t want to be involved in someone else’s circus.

Photography

Cloudbursting

September 2, 2005October 4, 2015 Shelly

I did a little storm watching last weekend. Late Saturday afternoon, a small but impressive front moved through, complete with a cloudburst. We got about 4.5 inches of rain within 30 minutes. If you go to the link, the first few images are of the western sky, as the front moved in. Then, there are a couple of photos of water in a tub I’d left on my front porch, followed by some pictures taken toward the east, after the front had past. The last five images are of the fog descending at sunset. The entire western sky was on fire, but it had faded considerably in the time it took me to grab my camera and go outside. It was still lovely, though, and a little creepy to watch the fog devour the electrical pylon across from me.

For comparison, we had nearly 24 hours of solid rain when Katrina passed over us. In that amount of time, my trusty little tub only accumulated 5 inches of rain.