I love getting comments on my blog posts. It’s like a little pat on the back just to say, “you’ve said something worthwhile enough that I have chosen to respond.” I don’t even mind when the comments disagree with or challenge my particular point of view. I love to see that little message in my inbox telling me that comments are awaiting my moderation. (That whole moderation thing makes me feel kind of powerful too.) Unfortunately, I sometimes open said message to find…SPAM. It’s like excitedly opening a Christmas present only to find pink socks. It is the ultimate let-down.
There are two primary things that I fail to understand about the whole SPAM phenomenon. First of all, why do these folks in Russia or the Philippines or wherever they are think that the readers of my blog fit the following demographic: men with sub-standard “equipment” who desperately want to refinance their home loan AND see pictures of nymphomaniac conjoined twins from a third-world country? (Okay, that one may actually be a valid description of a couple of people who read my blog, but I like to think that that’s not the focus for most.) Which brings to me to the second point—who is buying this crap? I don’t click on these links. You don’t click on these links. Everyone I know seems to find them annoying; however, they wouldn’t exist unless someone was clicking on them and some money was being generated. Right? Isn’t profit the goal here? I suppose some of them may contain links that will give your computer a virus or capture your contact list so that everyone you know can get spammed even more. Still, what is the freakin’ point? I really don’t get it.
Whewww! That little rant felt good…at least until I get comments on this post that will undoubtedly include SPAM. *sigh*
Austin Homebrew is Terry’s other great love…his home away from home. He compares it to Floyd’s barber shop on Andy Griffith. It’s a place where men are men and women are really freakin’ bored.
Tricks:
- The Longhorns losing to The Red Raiders.
- Spammers attempting to take over the blog
- The ridiculously high price of Halloween candy.
Treats:
- Tons of trick-or-treaters in the new neighborhood.
- Fun Halloween Friday at the Dig Pub. (Bumblewolf Lives!)
- Great Saints and Sinners Party at Jake and Jen’s.
- Chicken Sh*t Bingo at Ginny’s Little Longhorn with the Scottish Invasion aka the McNelis Clan.
I hope your treats outweighed your tricks this weekend too!
Last night Terry said that the only thing he enjoys more than seeing USC lose a game is seeing LSU win one. Thanks to the mighty Oregon State Beavers, he stands to do both this weekend. I am generally against the idea of Thursday night college football. (It just seems like overkill.) I actually didn’t even see the 4th quarter last night since a girl does need her beauty sleep and all. Not to worry though, because The Grier gave me a full-on, play-by-play recap before I even had a chance to brush my teeth or imbibe any caffeine. I’m sure Pete Carroll felt even more out-of-sorts when he woke up this morning.
Congratulations to the Beavers for busting the Trojans—I think there may be a really inappropriate joke in there somewhere—and here’s to making it a perfect college football weekend. I’m hoping for the following trifecta: USC loses, Texas and LSU win. We are 1/3 of the way there.
While driving home from work on Anderson Mill I have seen an unusual looking bird a number of times. Usually it is just hanging out by the side of the road and I’m not sure that I’ve really seen it. However, on Tuesday it was actually walking ON the road. Traffic stopped, so I know I wasn’t imagining it. I also got a better look at it this time—bigger than a chicken, smaller than a turkey, baldish head, and black feathers with little white speckles. (Kind of like this one…)
The bird looked similar to a guineahen that I had seen in the zoo at some point, but I didn’t expect to see one just hanging out on the streets of Austin. I looked online—God bless Wikipedia—and it looks like that’s exactly what it is. According to my research, “guineafowl (sometimes called guineahen) are a family of birds in the same order as the pheasants, turkeys and other game birds and is native to Africa…the Helmeted Guineafowl has been domesticated and introduced outside its natural range, for example in southern France, the West Indies, and especially the United States.”
While it’s totally plausible that one of these things is living on Central Texas, I would expect to see it in a more rural setting, NOT hanging out next to a convenience store pecking on asphalt. Has anyone else seen this mysterious creature? Is it some hippie’s free-range dinner? Is it a family pet? Did it voluntarily decide to leave life on the farm to go to the big city? It remains a mystery, and, yes, apparently I do have a lot of free time.
Apparently peyote made him buy this rug. You have to be very careful when tripping through New Mexico.
I bought this rug while Road Tripping through New Mexico. I paid $250 for it but it no longer goes with my decor.
These are not necessarily my favorite songs of all time…just the ones that are so fun to sing that it warrants making an ass out of myself while driving. Don’t judge me too harshly. I’m sure everyone has some equally random choices they could add to this list (and yes, I do want to know what they are, so send me a comment).
1. Werewolves of London…Warren Zevon (Ow-Wooooo!)
2. R-E-S-P-E-C-T…Aretha Franklin (Sock it to me! Sock it to me!)
3. I Will Survive…Gloria Gaynor (You know you love it too.)
4. Mr. Bartender (It’s So Easy)…Sugar Ray (Give me a shot I got fired today.)
5. California Love…2-Pac and Dr. Dre (I picture the crazy Mad Max looking video every time.)
6. Just a Girl…No Doubt (Gwen Rocks!)
7. Around the Way Girl…LL Cool J (Ladies LOVE Cool James! It’s true.)
8. Shake Ya Tailfeather…Nelly, P. Diddy, Murphy Lee (Got so many keys you think I’m valet parkin’.)
9. Elevation…U2 (Woo-ooo-ooo-oo-oo! Woo-ooo-ooo-oo-oo!)
10. Just Like Heaven…The Cure (Show me how you do that trick.)
Sophie had her first check-up since “the incident” last Friday and the vet is very pleased with her progress. There is still a little knot on her tummy under the massive bite mark, so she is on antibiotics to make sure there’s no infection. She goes outside every day, but only under adult supervision lest she decide to take on another unfriendly critter. She is very playful and her appetite is certainly back.
The Fur on the other hand is apparently starving—starving for attention, starving for cat food, starving for praise. We are trying to give them equal attention, but she is having a tough time since she is so used to being an only pet. She does seem to find The Mew pretty entertaining though, and I think they will become friends very soon.
Sophie has also acquired some new nicknames. We debated changing her name to Ocho since she used up one of her nine alloted lives on 08/08/08 at 8am. (Terrence suggested that we make it The Ocho, ala Dodgeball.) Mostly we have been calling her The Mew though.
Stay tuned for the further adventures of The Mew and The Fur.
If you haven’t heard our sad news, please keep little Sophie in your thoughts as she is having a rough time right now. She snuck over to the neighbor’s yard on Friday morning and was attacked by their dog. She suffered two major puncture wounds and multiple contusions and bruising, but so far she is still hanging in there.
She spent the day at the vet Friday being treated for shock and trying to get stable. Friday night we took her to the Animal Emergency Clinic so that they could monitor her overnight and manage her pain. The X-rays show that her organs and spinal cord seem to be in tact and where they should be, so now the biggest risk is an infection.
Terry and I are giving her constant care in shifts and she is improving steadily. She has started eating a bit of solid food in addition to the syringe feedings and her swelling and pain levels are subsiding. She has been trying to walk, but doesn’t quite have the strength and coordination for it in her back legs yet. She is a tough little thing though—only 4 lbs and 10 weeks old—and she started purring and trying to play less than 72 hours after the attack.
Terry and I have had a rough weekend and we have felt a lot of guilt, regret, and worry, but right now we are just glad she is still with us and are focusing on keeping her comfortable and getting her well. Please say a little prayer for her and keep her in you thoughts.
Since Terry has developed the habit of calling her Soapy, we have adopted a theme song to help lift our spirits. “Hang on Sloopy” from the McCoys recorded back in 1965. Just change the Sloopy to Soapy. Here is a link to the song. For our family, I ask that you click it and at least sing the opening chorus “hang on soapy…soapy hang on.”
Thank you for you kindness and your thoughts for our little furry family member.
V
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