In lieu of a real post

...something pretty to look at.

Isn't It Ironic?

I found this article at Neatorama, a website I visit almost every day. It was reprinted there but originally came from the writers of "Uncle John's Bathroom Reader".


IRONIC DEATHS

FELIX POWELL, music composer

Story: Powell, then a British staff sargeant, wrote the music for "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile" in 1915 and entered it in a World War I competition for best morale-building song. The ditty won first prize and has been called "perhaps the most optimistic song ever written."

Final Irony: Powell committed suicide in 1942.



NIC MARCURA, a Yugoslavian farmer

Story: Sensing that his own end was near, Marcura set to work digging his own grave.

Final Irony: According to news reports, "in a sudden cloudburst, water began to fill up the hole. Marcura tried to bail it out with a bucket, slipped in and drowned."



ALBEN BARKLEY, former U.S. vice president

Story: On April 30, 1956, Barkley delivered a speech at a mock political convention at Washington and Lee University.

Final Irony: Moments after declaring to his audience, "I would rather sit at the feet of the Lord than dwell in the house of the mighty," Barkley keeled over and died.



FRIEDRICH RIESFELDT, a zookeeper in Paderborn, Germany

Story: When his elephant Stefan became constipated, Riesfeldt fed it 22 doses of animal laxative … and when that didn’t work, fed it more than a bushel of high-fiber berries, figs, and prunes. Still no luck.

Final Irony: The frustrated zookeeper then gave Stefan an olive-oil enema. That did it. According to one account, the elephant suddently released approximately 200 pounds of manure, killing Riesfeldt. "The sheer force of the elephant’s unexpected defecation knocked Mr. Riesfeldt to the ground, where he struck his head on a rock and lay unconscious as the elephant continued to evacuate his bowels on top of him," police detective Erik Dern explained. "With no one there to help him, he lay under all that dung for at least an hour and suffocated." (Although this story was widely reported in the press, it may just be an urban legend. What makes it so questionable? Sounds like a lot of dung.)



GEORGE STORY, Life magazine’s "Life Baby"

Story: In 1936, the premiere issue of Life magazine featured a picture of newborn baby George Story. The headline: "Life Begins." Over the years, the magazine periodically updated readers on the progress of Story’s life as he married twice, had children, and retired.

Final Irony: Less than a week after Life announced it was folding, Story died from heart failure. The final issue of Life featured one last article on Story. The headline: "A Life Ends."



MYRA DAVIS, Janet Leigh’s body double in the film Psycho

Story: Davis was Leigh’s stand-in, she was one of several people who provided the voice of Norman Bates’s mother, and it was her hand that was seen in the famous shower scene in which Leigh’s character is stabbed to death.

Final Irony: On July 3, 1988, Davis was found strangled in her Los Angeles home, murdered by a 31-year-old "caretaker and handyman" … just like the character portrayed by Anthony Perkins in Psycho.



BOBBY LEACH, a professional daredevil

Story: In 1911, Leach, who made his living risking his life, went over Niagara Falls in a barrel. He survived the attempt.

Final Irony: Fifteen years later, in 1926, Leach slipped on an orange peel … and died from injuries sustained in the fall.



JOHANN UNDERWALD, a Swiss mathematician

Story: Underwald, one of the brightest stars in his field, was described by his peers as "the next Albert Einstein."

Final Irony: Underwald died in October 1999. Cause of death: mathematical error - Underwald "made a 250-foot bungee jump with a 300-foot bungee cord, and died immediately on impact."



Go here if you want to examine each of the "ironic" situations in Alanis Morrsette's song "Ironic." Or not.

puppy cuteness

The pups are getting cuter every day!


We brought them inside a couple of nights ago during a really bad storm.


They didn't cause any trouble (except the one who had gone exploring and got lost during the night).


Dixie, however, was a different story. Have I ever mentioned that she was never house trained?


Yeah. Not fun.


But the best part about them being inside was the fact that Dexter was able to spend some Daddy time with the pups.


For whatever reason, Dixie allowed him to be around them as much as he wanted while they were inside.


He tried to play with them, but they're not quite able to hang yet.


They are extremely snuggly.

I also like smart-alec slogans paired with old-school illustrations

The proud parents

I like coffee.

Especially when there's lots of Splenda, cream, and chocolate in it. Next time you're over here, ask my husband to make you a Kirkaccino. Mmmm.

I dunno...

According to an article in the New York Times, one of the hottest snack foods among Southern black kids is Kool-Aid pickles. They're made by soaking dill pickles in double-strong Kool-Aid for a week in the refrigerator. I am not making this up. Read it for yourself.

I can't say I'm too surprised, really. I know how popular pickles are, and when I was in school some (black) kids used to bring dry Kool-Aid mix and sugar and eat it as a snack. I have noticed, too, that "African-American" people tend to drink fruit-flavored drinks instead of Cokes. Notice for yourself the next time you're at Burger King or a convenience store.

Who knows, they might be good. I know I like sweet pickles, and I've had pickles flavored with cinnamon red-hots, and they're awesome. But fruit punch pickles? I'm just not sure. What do you think? Imagine a lemonade dill pickle. Hmm...

My summer home

Growing puppies

Their eyes still aren't open, but they are already trying to walk (the bigger ones, at least). Dixie has moved them twice, and now they're in a box on our patio. That won't last long, though, because they're getting so big. They have that "new puppy smell," too. I just love that! Come and see them (and us) when you can.

Feeling Better

I had a decent amount of sleep last night, made extra comfy because my baby was home. I feel almost completely human today!

He had spent FOUR NIGHTS at Memaw and Pepaw's house and he was pretty hyped up to be back home with his brothers and dogs to play with, and the "shrampoween," and the pool, and everything else...It was hard to get him settled down to sleep.

CS had a sleepover with his friend from down the street, and CA has been hanging out with the youngest. All is quiet, thank goodness. I'm still not over this crud, but I'm feeling better.

Happy?

The cartoon is titled, "The history of technology." but I think it covers more than just technological advancements. I've noticed in my own experience how, after changing things around again and again, I frequently end up putting them back in just about the same place they were to begin with.

An obvious example is my furniture. If you know me, you know that I love to rearrange furniture. Sometimes the boys and Kirk will come home to find that the living room is now the dining room, and I will have changed the arrangement of the appliances on the kitchen counters. I've done this kind of thing many times, in every room of the house, and guess how things are set up now? Pretty much the way they were when we first moved in seven years ago.

Change is good. Change is necessary for growth. But the old expression, "The more things change, the more they say the same" is true, I think. When you look at the big picture, you can see patterns and history that has repeated itself.

So what about the caveman in the cartoon? What should he do? Move out of the city, away from the noise and pollution and clutter, but still keep his internet connection and satellite TV...sounds good to me.

My mother is a saint (and my daddy's not too bad either)

I've been sick since last Friday. Ugh.
Mama and Daddy came over Monday and took Colt home with them, thereby allowing me to actually SLEEP some. I don't know who is having more fun: Colt, or his Memaw and Pepaw. If I didn't feel so lousy I'd probably be having fun too.

But isn't the rain beautiful? Our garden is looking more "real" now. It will probably have a really nice growth spurt with all this water. The canteloupes (at least that's what I think they are), pumpkins, English peas, carrots, squash, zucchini, cabbage, onions, peppers, and garlic all look promising. We also have lots of flowers and vines coming up. I hope they make it! The fig tree is growing more and more fragrant, and the cherries and plums (the ones Colt hasn't already "found") are beginning to blush with the hotter days.

The puppies are growing so quickly! There are 12 little sweeties who sleep for longer stretches now. Their movements are getting stronger and it seems they are getting ready to open their eyes. It is so amazing how you can almost see them develop before your eyes! It's kind of like having babies of your own, in fast motion (with a few significant differences, of course). But that's another story in and of itself. Anyway, Dixie is spending a little more time out of the nursery, and hanging out with Dexter more each day. Her nursing seems to be adequate, at least for now.

Ok, time to go pick up the boys from school. It's rainy day dismissal, so here goes another 30 minutes or so in carline.

But back to the point: Colt comes home tomorrow. I miss that little cutie. Thank you, Mama and Daddy!!!

Lest you think I've forgotten my own offspring...

Ain't they cute?

A new nursery

Current puppy count: 12.

Kirk built a cool new puppy pen out at our shed the day after they were born. This picture just shows the back corner of the area; it's actually in two sections that will be opened up as the puppies grow. Dixie and her litter now have lots of room to move around. Of course, the pups don't yet venture more than a couple of feet from Mommy, and even then that's usually because I've moved the ones who were "sleeping at the table" so to speak. They might whimper a little (if they wake up at all) but almost always go right back to sleep all cuddled up with the others who've been relocated so their littler sisters and brothers can have Dix all to themselves for a bit.

Dixie has been just great so far. I must admit, I wondered what kind of mother she'd be, given her "iffy" upbringing before she came to us. She was pretty stand-offish and still has a rebellious streak, but she'd mellowed out considerably and become a generally sweet doggie. She was a real trooper during the whelping and allowed me to be there whenever I felt she needed help (and as the litter got bigger and bigger, help was needed in several ways). She is still keeping Dexter, the stud-muffin Baby Daddy, at bay to some degree. She now lets him come into the nursery and has allowed him to sniff and even lick some of the puppies. Dexter is being really sweet and gentle with them, but he's ready to have Dixie back as his playmate. He makes her chase him around and bark her totally girly bark at him. It's so much fun to watch.

Ok, I'll stop now. It's just that the whole puppy drama is so fascinating to me! There are other things going on in my world, but this is the most newsworthy at the moment.

Alright, just one more picture. I just had to snap a picture of them in the basket I used to transport them to their new digs. Too adorable!