Wednesday, August 12, 2009

A/C is the BEST Idea I Have Had All Week!

It's really hot here. The kind of hot that makes you think your virtuous $$ saving No A/C rule is really stupid. What was I thinking? Who does that? A/C Rules! Up with A/C! At least for tonight, I need the sleep. Might have been a big part of the problem last night.

The Bengals are liking the A/C. Or maybe they just like tearing around the house crazily. Hard to say.

I've been trying to figure out what makes them so starving too, when I get home, or wake up. Or walk into the kitchen. This is not a "Say, I'm feeling peckish, how about a snack" kind of hunger. This is Jungle Hunger.

Jungle Hunger means Kitty is starving, and you look good. Real Good.

It's not like they are rationed. They have dry food all the time that they eat, and like. TINS. Lots of tins is what Bengals need. They tell me this every time I turn around. King Lear, aptly named "The Huge" gets TWO tins, morning and night. (Makes a total of four.) And he is not fat. None of them are. Maybe Magic a little, but hey, it might mellow him out.

Lear acts as tho I FORGOT to feed him. For days. Clearly starving. And eats like he is. I try and explain no one, least of all ME, is going to steal it.

Tins seem to cost as much as A/C. Both needed, but I may start buying chicken, and steak for them, and trying that. Be cheaper than tins and A/C. (Which after an hour in, I am NOT giving up.)

Any Bengal Lovers out there who know how to deal with The Jungle Hunger? Clearly I am not at all zen enough to deal with the heat.

Last night I dreamt I was doing e-mail ALL night long. Only gave up when I dreamt AFP wrote me asking for help launching her new Rubix Cube project. Clearly the result of sleeping in the heat with Starving Leopards.

But hey, it beats Simon Cowell..

If you will excuse me, I am going to get a blanket, just for effect.

Love A/C and Jungle Hunger,
Lorraine

170 Comments:

At 20:19 Blogger Beez said...

AC! Will the technological wonders never cease?

We have it in one room- the Spawn and his chinchilla have it.

At 20:22 Blogger Adri said...

Jungle hunger! It SO is. Oh the shrieking and the moaning and the histrionics, am I right? Definitely do chicken, turkey, steak; so much cheaper than tins. We feed ours into submission twice a day, once so we can get work done in the mornings/early afternoons and once so we can sleep at night. Big pieces of turkey or chicken work for me. If you want to talk the practicality or logistics of feeding meat, email me. My boys have been on an all meat diet for years.

Also. A/C is amazing and totally worthwhile. Look up Todd Barry's stand up bit on a/c; cracks me up every time.

At 20:37 Blogger Karen B. said...

A/C is totally worth it, because bad sleep can drive you nuts (and I oughta know, I suppose). Yay for good sleep!

Don't know what to suggest about the tins. Stay away from any BPAL scents with "meat" in the name, probably.

At 20:38 Blogger Ticia said...

A/C

*drool*

We Californians don't believe in A/C. We live in a "temperate" climate.

*drool* and sweat....

At 20:39 Blogger Dan Guy said...

Our A/C broke briefly; it was terrible. I kind of liked the white noise of fans at night, though.

At 20:48 Blogger DataGoddess said...

A/C with ceiling fans rocks. You have to be able to sleep!!

At 20:50 Blogger Siri said...

Best AC I ever slept in was at the Days Inn in Bloomington. Actually was cold. I'm never cold.

Feeling a bit jungle hungry myself now. Ummm bing cherries.

At 20:51 Blogger vampi said...

speak for yourself ticia, it's all a/c all the time here. i've never lived in a place with no a/c. in ohio we didn't use it much, but in the carolinas, florida, and now los angeles, it's on all summer. some is because it's slightly better for my allergies.

hope you sleep well tonight

At 20:57 Blogger Lioness said...

I have a big box fan pushing air out in one room which means that cooler air come in from my bedroom windows. As long as the night air is cooler, it works.
I do fall back on AC at least one a summer though. Sometimes just knowing I have it is enough.

At 21:01 Blogger Ticia said...

Vampi - I just realized it sounded like I was bragging....oops!

That's not what I meant at all.

We should have A/C.

We just make the excuse that we can suffer through a few bad days.

I'm worthless on the really hot days. And sleep is impossible.

Sorry to be misleading!

At 21:05 Blogger Ticia said...

On a totally different note, go to Mark Van Name's blog and check out Jain's Art Balls.

http://markvanname.blogspot.com/

I saw them at Balticon and they are incredible!

She is a fiend, even if she doesn't know it!

At 21:14 Blogger Jess said...

The box-fan-venting method is a good method. I sometimes do that when it gets stuffy upstairs.

I've worked out a system with A/C-- it's allowed to be on during the afternoon, but I shut it off at night. (Unless it gets really nasty and humid, like it has for the last couple of days here. Then all bets are off.)

I'm betting your dream means that within two years there will be an AFP Rubik's Cube. Even if someone just peels the stickers off a regular one and subsitutes little pictures of Amanda being dead.

At 21:20 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

I am all for this AC, at least while it is this hot. Need sleep! Bribed Spooky Cleaning Girl with leaving it on tomorrow if she came and cleaned. Worked.

Adri, would love to talk about this with you, I don't think the tins are good for them.

Real meat would be better. And cheaper.

Jungle Hunger.

Watching a horror movie tonight, in my AC. Toddlers and Tiaras. Keep reminding myself it's not real.

Yup. Kind of Jerry Springer.

At 21:21 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Make it two months, Jess. Only it was one picture on a side, you had to line them up. She had photos attached.

At 21:26 Blogger Jess said...

That's a pretty great idea, actually. Do it. Quick, get out the scissors and glue sticks and make a prototype. :D

At 21:32 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

What? ME? Oh no, that's what I have you all for. To send me AFP Rubix Cubes. I'm no good with glue. Doesn't work for me.

At 21:35 Blogger ivenotime said...

ooh T, i love the art balls! very cool, wish i could've seen them! and ac, yeah, we are usually pretty temperate too, but on the few days we're not, we use a little one and all sleep in the same room :) pretty primitive! tho I don't sleep well unless i am in my bed so it doesn't work well for me, but preventing crabby kids when they were little : priceless. I would KILL however, to have the studios at school air conditioned, sigh, wish. I think massively ravenous bengals is pretty scary. watch your digits!

At 21:41 Blogger Martha W. said...

My AC is sitting useless on the guest room floor with the foster kittens, while I'm in the kitchen cooking the seventh pot of the day of applesauce.

That was funny about dreaming all night you are doing your e-mail. How true! What are we turning into?

At 21:44 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Hi Sue! Nice to see you!

You too Martha! Um, SEVEN pots of applesauce? You have to tell us your plan....

At 21:46 Blogger AletaMay said...

Oh yeah. It is always a night or two of horrid hot not-sleep that get me to put in the window ac. Nothing worse than nights like that, especially if you are already uncomfortable from monthly crap.

At 21:53 Blogger Kate T said...

We held our breath and wrote the check to have the Ac repaired for the second floor of the old farmhouse we live in. Until last week we were kicking ourselves in the cash-flow, but after that string of Louisiana days here in Chicago, it is SO worth it.

Our dogs are northern breed dogs and lately have been behaving more like wolves than anything remotely domesticated. It's like race time at the Iditarod. They prowl like sharks in the kitchen until we toss them out, they ululate, howl, and bark as we get their bowls ready, and they inhale their food (a mix of kibble and cooked meat). Don't bring a hand too close to our 17 yr old wolf/Husky/Shepard mix when he's hungry unless you are prepared to move fast. This is no Jungle Hungry but Deep Scary Woods hungry.

I hear you. It's elemental. And I know they aren't starving, but by the way they act, it's been days.

Stay cool. Sleep. Step away from the Rubix Cube dream.

At 22:03 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Do you feed grain free cat food? They eat a lot less of it, and its a lot better for them. I fed raw for years too, which if done right, can be very healthy.

At 22:08 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Deep Scary Woods Hungry! I love it!

I need to check out grain free. Cabal likes the core wellness food, and his meat, sometimes raw, sometimes not.

At 22:17 Blogger Kate T said...

The doggies like the 365 Whole Foods kibble (it HAD been keeping them satisfied) - and they are fools for grilled animal protein of any kind. The old one is like an anaconda. I swear he can unhinge his jaws and eat a whole chicken.

I had a cat once who ADORED raw beef liver. He was a beauty.

At 22:22 Blogger ariandalen said...

We're still holding out before having to put in new central a/c; ours is 21 years old. Yesterday the window unit in our bedroom upstairs quit. It's actually the fan that quit, not the compressor, but that meant we didn't cool down below 79 upstairs last night. It will be a repeat tonight as the replacement has to be returned due to a dent in the top of the casing that won't allow us to properly attach the mounting bracket. ::sigh:: At least we got a shower tonight so the temperature outside is cooler by at least 5 degrees. The thermostat for the central a/c is downstairs, so it's always warmer in the master bedroom.

Wow. Watching the news and the people who were just awarded the Presidential Freedom Medal. Very impressive group. :)

At 22:25 Blogger ariandalen said...

Wonder if the animals know something about the coming winter that we don't.

At 22:33 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

No liver here! Boss makes it for Cabal, but we have a Liver Clause in my contract, and I don't have to deal with it. Ugh.

I should have had vegetable pets.

At 22:39 Blogger ariandalen said...

So, Ms. Fabulous, your ideal pet is a tortoise? ;)

At 22:39 Blogger One Sock Short said...

AC is a beautiful thing.

Finally saw HP6 tonight. Liked it very much. But the volume! I didn't notice the headache the volume was giving me until the movie was over. Then, on the way home, the train filled up with very loud and alcohol-reeking Cubs fans, post-game. Now every sound is torture. I don't get migraines, but this is bad enough, thanks. To bed with me.

At 23:10 Blogger ariandalen said...

To bed with me.

Dreet Sweams!

At 23:15 Blogger Chantrelle said...

Liver...blech! I agree! And A/C is a lovely thing. We don't have it but the few days a year we need it is TORTURE! Double blech!

Ben rode his bike w/out training wheels tonight. Epic day.
His last day of preschool is tomorrow.

My boy is growing up!!! He is rocking the drums too.

Off to watch this week's Weeds!

At 23:24 Blogger Dragonsally said...

I long for air conditioning. The evaporation cooler just doesn't do it on those hot,humid days.

Just had the funniest thing happen when walking Shiraz. We're used to hearing kids say "Look, Dalmatian" but its really funny when a burly workman does it!

At 23:45 Blogger Na said...

you all mean to tell me it's above 70 degrees somewhere? wait... i guess i mean, everywhere?

apparently the jet stream is south of us at the mo', an abnormal pattern for this time of year. not complaining. extremely grateful for cool nights with open windows. it just makes me fearful for the winter ahead.

axial tilt. it's such a trip.

i too miss HEB. (and Central Market.) *sniff*

happy almost-anniversary, Chantrelle! sounds like a good celebration plan.

At 00:03 Blogger spacedlaw said...

So happy to have you back.

My cats try the "Haven't eaten in a week, honest" technique regularly too but they get tins twice a day and then crunchies twice a day too (all alternated - It's good to have a working from home husband who can take care of that). Plus all the poor wildlife they manage to put their claws or maws around (mostly lizards).
But they want what's in my plate. Because it MUST taste better (to be honest, it most probably does too).

They don't like AC too much, which is a shame since I had a unit installed in their room (the hottest in the house) so they can sleep at night. Hmpf.

At 00:20 Anonymous Lysandwr said...

WISH we had a/c. There is this thing here called a Swamp Cooler. It pretends to chill the air...and in fact takes a good 15 degrees off. But when it is well over a hundred outside, that just doesn't cut it.

So I sleep w/a fan...and bowls of water. More personalized swamp cooler thingie....

MEAT FOR CATS!! We have a natural meats butcher up in Albuquerque (Keller's) --they are famous for grass-fed beef and hormone free free-ranging chicken and turkey.
Angus is allergic to chicken (I guess he isn't the only one) but they make a Pet Food mix which is basically finally chopped beef parts mixed with turkey. Looks kinda like lumpy hamburger.

They sell it frozen, and I cut it up into discs. Every day or two, one comes down into the fridge to thaw. If I feed him a goodly portion every day in addition to his venison tins and dry food (pretty high end stuff, to be honest) he maintains body weight without getting fat, has the loveliest SILKIE coat and tons more energy than when he doesn't get it regularly.

Plus it is seriously affordable--a pound and a half costs just a couple of dollars. Doesn't require much preparing; he gets it raw. They have very good quality control there.

Big fan of meat for cats, I am. Only natural. He has the tins and access to dry as a way of insuring he's getting everything he needs.

Yes, he still pretends to be starving once in a while. But stays quiet for hours after eating the Meat goods!

At 00:29 Blogger spacedlaw said...

The balls in indeed beautiful, Ticia. Thanks for the visual treat.

At 01:08 Blogger Uisge said...

Yay! New Post.

Boo! Heat.

Yay! A/C

Boo! I only wish I had it.

Yay! Meat for cats (though my boys exist on dry and whatever they can steal from me).

Seems to have tipped to the Yay side so I'm calling it a night.

At 01:23 Blogger vampi said...

ok i will admit i didn't turn into an a/c whore until we moved to the south. unacceptable heat/humidity in the carolinas, was 8 months of the year, in florida, it was 10 months.

i honestly keep the a/c on fairly low, usually around 80, because i don't like it cold. it's mostly to keep the air circulating. we tried leaving the windows open, but there is so much stuff in the air here, i was having serious breathing allergy issues. during the raining season, we will open the windows. i just can't get into taking allergy pills on any regular basis. as i get older i become more sensitive to drugs, and wither i'm wired like i took crack, or i'm so sleepy i sleep for 2-3 days off 1 dose.

we've never done raw meat with our dogs, but i can see the benefits.

good luck with the jungle hunger, i don't want you devoured in the middle of the night.

At 02:07 Blogger Marjorie said...

quick drive-by ticky-box comment. Be back later.

At 04:27 Blogger louisa said...

Morning.

Tea.

::blink blink::

At 06:30 Blogger Phiala said...

Kate, I have a wolfie, and he has far better manners than that. Grendel is very clear on where he fits in the pack, and would let anyone above him mess with his food. And since that's all cats and all people...

I slept poorly last night, despite the lovely cool weather (no AC needed), and feel lousy. So of course today is the day I'm teaching a 6-hour botany class three hours from home. Wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to drive there and back by myself.

Really rather take a sick day and go back to bed.

At 07:29 Blogger Unknown said...

Ah, A/C! I'm a wimp now and couldn't live without it.

When I was a kid, and we were A/C-free my mother used to close all the curtains and leave the lights off to reduce the heat. We'd all sleep in the basement where it was cooler -- and live in bathing suits during the day.

At 07:41 Blogger dabbler said...

Can we air condition the 80 acre folk fest site. Please???

What... oh, yes, our crew can provides power. that's what we do here.

Oh. No, we don't have the compressors in the budget. D**n.

Not so terribly hot, actually, but extremely damp. At least a half inch of rain yesterday, which means none of the on street lighting got done. (bucket trucks and rain and high tension lines and volunteers = NO WAY.)

Wish us good dry and moderate weather, fiends...we need all the help we can get.

And Quiche...I had that kind of night, too. dreamt all night about working. Unrestful, for sure. No AC here.

At 08:12 Blogger Ali Trotta said...

What about ground beef? You could buy it in bulk, at Sam's or Costco. They might like that, and it might be cheaper than the tins. Just a thought. Good luck! And hooray for A/C!

At 08:22 Anonymous Kate said...

Was AC induced sleep delicious, Miss Lorraine?

Phiala - drat for feeling poorly and having an epic drive to teach a even longer class. Boo. Feel better.

My wolfies are generally good guys. The elder is just so elderly that he feels it entitles him to special treatment. They are not supposed to come into the kitchen when we are there, and usually they sit and wait (anxiously, noisily - much howling) by where their bowls are placed. The female takes care of him, and although she knows that my opposable thumbs means that outrank her, she thinks that she could do just as good a job at pack leader as I do. Or would like to try.

Heck - they're animals. She's killed her third possum and taken on two skunks in the past year. It's the way she's wired.

At 08:47 Blogger EmilyLady said...

Oh, that's funny; I think Jungle Hunger is what I get when I'm hypoglycemic. Stupid diabetes makes me ravenous. I could eat my brothers, even being the vegetarian I am.

I don't like AC myself. Yes, my mother is under the impression that I am crazy. "IS THIS MY DAUGHTER?!"

At 09:26 Blogger louisa said...

I'm right there with you Miss Emily, AC makes my sinuses go kablooey and my stomach feel icky-sick.

More awake now, though it took a while this morning - up late last night doing my 2010 calendar order for the shop, so much fun! Can any of you knitting/craft-y folks recommend a good one? The Vogue Knitting desk one is a certainty but I'd like a wall one too and there weren't any I saw that grabbed me.

Hope you're feeling back to normal today, Q.

At 09:55 Blogger gaypet said...

It's the kind of hot that makes a shower pointless. Sweating even before you dry off. EWWWWWW!

At 10:07 Blogger gaypet said...

I NEED to see this movie!

At 10:12 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

The AC helped with sleeping and it was better last night, tho not all night. It is really hot here, walked outside and it was like oven world. At 9 this morning.

Think I could have slept longer. Wish I had after I saw Boss didn't go to bed until 4....

But now I am up and working.

Did I mention Freckles is staying with us for the week? Two dogs is more than one dog.

Did I mention they are going to Doggie Day Care again today? Sure does tire them out.

At 10:49 Blogger Jess said...

The Blueberry Festival can't still be going on, can it? Are you sure Freck's owners are really away?

(Kidding. ;) )

It feels like oven world here, too, but Accuweather says it's only 68 outside. What the heck? Did the earth's orbit mysteriously destabilize during the night, drawing us almost imperceptibly nearer the sun?

Probably not.

You know, if someone does make that Rubik's cube prototype, it could lead to a whole series of AFP board games. Scrabble, AFP Edition. Battleship. Connect Four. Just sayin'.

Not me, though. I don't have a glue tick.

At 10:50 Blogger Jess said...

Glue tick?? Or a glue STICK, for that matter.

At 10:51 Blogger Na said...

Well, there's already an WKAP Clue game, a la Rubius. :)

At 10:53 Blogger Na said...

And Gayle, me TOO!!!! Anything Terry Gilliam puts out, ANYTHING, is a must for me.

At 10:55 Blogger Jess said...

That's right! I'm telling you, it could work: AFP Chutes and Ladders. Candy Land. UNO.

At 10:58 Blogger Na said...

aaand lookee 'ere! good news on that flick, it seems.

At 11:05 Blogger Jess said...

Yay! I want to see that, too.

At 11:46 Blogger DataGoddess said...

AFP Monopoly!

A WKAP game for Wii, where you get to kill AFP in various ways, while another player takes pictures, and off to the side there's a Man in Black writing in a notebook...

At 11:53 Blogger Arwenn said...

Okay so what does the controller look like for the wii game?

Maybe some kind of utility belt so that you have stabbing, bludgeoning and strangling options.

At 12:01 Blogger Jess said...

I don't think I could bring myself to kill her in a Wii game. It'd be too much like real murdering. Especialy if you're already essentially holding a blunt object.

At 13:06 Blogger Adri said...

A WKAP flash game (embeddable in facebook & myspace) is actually a good idea, if you could make it stylized/outrageous enough not to be too morbid/off-message from the music. You'd have to have careful art direction & game design. Sounds fun! If only AFP's record label had any intention of supporting her with marketing and outreach. Hmph.

re: meat and our carnivorous beasties-- it is SO MUCH CHEAPER than tins, especially the specialty tins, and a lot better for them. One of my bengal boys (the one who stayed in Texas) is allergic to grain, so we had to switch altogether and it's been a great move for all of our cats. That was years ago.

And finally, the a/c comedy clip I referenced yesterday & couldn't find b/c of my iphone: Todd Barry on Air Conditioning (starting at the 2 minute mark)

At 14:13 Blogger Arwenn said...

I would like to state for the record that I was not envisioning anything even remotely realistic... more along the lines of "AFP meets Super Mario Brothers"

At 14:33 Blogger AletaMay said...

I think it would be fun to make a WKAP game where you had to solve the crime rather than commit it!

I just spent far too long figuring out how to get on line at Starbucks. Now that I've got it set up I'll come back but if I had not been desperate I'd've given up for sure. Iced coffe sure is nice on a hot sticky August day!

At 15:37 Anonymous kali_licious said...

I've pretty much gotten through this summer without the A/C..I had a window unit that died last year. Less sinus infections this way, but I hate drinking my air. (That really is a perfect description of it, Ariandalen:)

OSS: Cubs fans on the El..I'm so sorry! The train is loud enough, but the addition of drunken baseball fans and it's just awful. At least you got to see HP..I haven't seen it yet.

Lys, you only have a swamp cooler?? I like dry heat and all, but A/C is just necessary in the desert.

Yay for Doggie Day care, especially since you have Freck too.

At 16:09 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

I don't think it's just bengals who get jungle hunger. Yesterday, my cats ate a tin of food, all of their dry food, and some fish I had leftover from my dinner, and five minutes after the fish I walked into the kitchen for something, and they told me in no uncertain terms that THEY WERE STARVING AND WOULD NO LONGER STAND FOR THIS SORT OF ABUSE ANY MORE!!!!!!!!!!

No they're both sleeping. Even with AC, they spend most of the summer napping, unless they're using me as a jumping board or chasing each other around my apartment when I lay down to sleep.

I'm going to eat a mango now.

At 16:53 Blogger EmilyLady said...

Got an e-mail from a certain stalker who unfortunately knows precisely where I live and does not live far away himself. I am ignoring this e-mail. Creep.

At 16:53 Blogger EmilyLady said...

He hasn't been in touch in a while ...

At 17:17 Blogger One Sock Short said...

Emily! You *have* told someone at home about this, haven't you? I don't want to go all mother hen on you, but people who can help you keep safe need to know!!!

At 19:16 Blogger AletaMay said...

Waiting for friends outside Bela Fleck film. Been looking forward to this for a couple of weeks. So glad I did not give in to the tired and skip this!!

At 19:35 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Have fun Aleta, you will love it. Bela rocks.

I stayed home, but went shopping and bought steak and shrimp for the Bengals. VERY popular. Steak, it seems, does not suck.

The house got cleaned today tho. That sucks. Very suspicious they are. THINGS are different. Might not be me coming home. You never know.

Good thing I had the steak, I think.

At 19:36 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Oh, AC still on. Nearly turned it off. Then went back outside. Hmmph. Going to be 90 the next two days. AC stays.

At 20:00 Blogger EmilyLady said...

Yes, OSS, my mom knows all about the creep and can't stand him. I just want him to back off. (By the way, I DID get your package and have a thank-you I am sending in the mail ... they are AWESOME.)

At 21:12 Blogger Fluffy said...

AIR CONDITIONING!!! The North would be a lot more crowded if it weren't for AC. I don't know how people slept here 100 years ago.

I luuurrrve air conditioning. It doesn't get cooler than 80 at night here for about half a year. And that's when the mosquitos are out...

Our kitties like dry food and just want a teaspoon of milk every now and then, and Peaches has to have her green beans. Don't know why, but it keeps her from getting fat like her sister.

At 21:31 Blogger One Sock Short said...

Emily - Okay, I'll turn off panic mode now ;-/

Phoebe just gets dry food. I once gave her a bit of wet food for a treat, but after a few licks, she wasn't interested. Can't say I was sad about that, since the wet food smell made me gag. She sure likes canned pumpkin though.

At 22:16 Blogger ariandalen said...

Tangwyn won't eat raw meat, of any species. Well, maybe fish. He will eat cooked meat. Since December, he gets 1/2 small can of IAMS tuna, ocean fish, or chicken morsels in the morning. He won't eat the pates. He doesn't eat much of the morsels usually, but he does lap up all the liquid, usually. Then I give him 1/2-3/4 cup dry IAMS at night. Before last December, he only ate the dry IAMS. Other brands of dry food, except Eukanuba, gave him diarrhea. He is 12.

YES! for "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus."

Looks like we'll be seeing "Ponyo" at the Alamo Drafthouse this weekend. :)

At 23:05 Blogger Ms T said...

Ariandalen, Ponyo is fabulous! I was lucky enough to see it at the film festival we've just had here.

As for the dietary habits of my feline - he's mainly on a special dental dry food that he unfortunately supplements with anything that doesn't move fast enough. Which he likes to share with me (as in, "something under the bed is crunchy"). Nice.

At 23:16 Blogger AletaMay said...

Too tired to turn on computer. In bed with iPhone. Bela Fleck film, Throw Down Your Heart, lovely. See it if you have the chance. He answered questions after the film and played one long wonderful piece. So glad I went!!

Night Fiends!

At 01:36 Blogger Marjorie said...

Glad you had fun. Aleta.
Hope it cools down a little for all of you sweltering in the heat.

I'm leaving this evening to spend the weekend with my sister and her partner, sailing near the Isle of Wight. I'm hoping the weather remains good.
I don't think I'll have any internet or twitter access, so I'll see you all on Sunday evening.

Enjoy your weekends :-)

At 07:00 Blogger Phiala said...

Marjorie, that sounds excellent. I haven't been sailing in years. Wishing you fun and good weather.

At 07:39 Blogger Jess said...

Ariandalen - I'm going to see Ponyo this weekend, too. Can't wait! Miyazaki ftw.

Goooood morning.

At 08:21 Blogger EmilyLady said...

Good morning - a clear beautiful day in Rhode Island. More rehearsals today and then the play is tomorrow (we just cram it all into five days - this company tours cross-country, working with different groups of kids ...).

At 08:56 Blogger Jane said...

Feeding the cats - I see ours is not the only house where it is a big deal.

Calvin is officially in "renal insufficiency" instead of "renal failure" - just words I know but sounds better to hear insufficient than fail, somehow. Thanks to the subq fluids and the renal food, he is looking and feeling better and his bloodwork numbers are in the normal range again.

We have multiple renal foods (low protein, low phosphorus) for him, and he seems to like some of them well enough, but we also give him an appetite stimulant on the days he doesn't seem all that interested in food.

It IS strange to be trying to make a cat eat more, though. Usually it is the "I'm starving you haven't fed me for a week" story. But not now.

At 09:25 Blogger gaypet said...

For your listening enjoyment here is a link to Bela Fleck on MPR today.

At 10:28 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Morning!

Well, steak continues to be popular. Shrimp, not so much, except with Magic, who think it is the best. Along with anything else I have ever tried feeding him.

Lovely storms last night, tho I stayed up way too late. Sure did sleep and only woke to the phone.

And a LOT of e-mail, it's all about Europe now. Must shift schedule.

At 12:12 Blogger Chantrelle said...

Q, i think i want to come eat w/ your cats.

At 13:33 Blogger vampi said...

I'm up for surf and turf at quiche's, lol.

i think your furry overlords are eating better than i am.

good luck with the time shift, i have a good friend in the netherlands, and he wakes up for work as i go to sleep. it sucks.

At 18:28 Blogger Beez said...

We have one window AC unit in the son's room- mostly I think because his chinchilla is not heat tolerant, so he gets the benefit. The other futbutts (doggie rug and flat cat) get tossed in there when I decide they look too uncomfortable....it's the mom thing- "I'm cold, put on a sweater".

My solution for the past few days? Cut my hair. Very short. It's bliss, pure and simple.

I just found out today that I will be working at Hazeltine Golf Course all weekend for the PGA championships, but I will be in a very air-conditioned tent because it's what the food needs! Whatever it takes I guess!

At 18:33 Blogger Chantrelle said...

The smoke from the fire here is horrendous. We just drove down to this forest area where the smoke hasn't gotten in yet to go on a bike ride with ben. We have to stay in our house now though, it is unbreathable outside. The fires burned 4200 acres and is only 5% contained :(

Nevertheless, it's our anniversary and we're heading to dinner tonight...the opposite direction of the smoke!

I don't have dinner plans tomorrow, Quiche, can you come make me surf and turf?

At 18:35 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Waving from work, my Fiends...Will be fairly late tonight, with the Boss leaving and all. But I am such an amazingly prepared stellar even, if I may dare say it, Assistant, that it is 45 minutes before we are leaving for the plane, and me?

Just sitting around.

At 18:55 Blogger Beez said...

Stellar? Pish,you do so underrate yourself.

At 20:20 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Morning Fiends, I'm having a quiet time on a very windy Saturday morning. Tysie insisted I get up, and now I'm the only being in the house who is awake.

Jane, that is good news about Calvin. Hope he improves more.

Chantrelle, yuk. Scary, even if you're not near the fires.

Quiche, you're sitting around? Wow, enjoy some downtime.

At 21:13 Blogger EmilyLady said...

Will is lying in bed watching Coraline, something he has taen to doing almost every night. He asksall sorts of creative and moral questions about the story, not all of which I find I am able to answer.

At 22:10 Blogger ariandalen said...

Slow night in Fiendom. May see "Ponyo" tomorrow instead of Sunday. I've never been to an Alamo Drafthouse, so I'm looking forward to it. Meal and movie all in one place. :)

Hope the drive to and from the airport was smooth, Ms. Fabulous.

Robyn, here's to the wind dying down so that the fires can be contained, and everybody can breathe. c\_/

Ariane finally watched "Coraline." She didn't freak out, even when the Other Mother ate the chocolate cockroach. Unfortunately, the Blueray disc is not playing on our player. ::sigh:: That's what we get for buying a cheap player.

At 23:38 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Well, I sat around for nearly 10 minutes, after that it got exciting, as it does. Now I am HOME!!!!!!!

No one is liking the shrimps tho, and I didn't stop for steak. UNpopular.

Home is good. Couch is good.

I can sleep tomorrow tho, until I wake. Sometimes that is the best thing EVER.

Venus and Mim are prowling. Magic is shrieking (over the shrimp I left in his room no doubt. Lear and Mab are, well, no idea really, they are upstairs but greeted me nicely. Until they figured I had no steak.

Cabal is back at Boss's on the last night of his week long sleepover with Freck.

Boss is on a plane for 8 hours.

Ah...Done. For today.

At 23:45 Blogger ariandalen said...

Sleep well, Ms. Fabulous. :)

At 23:47 Blogger Ticia said...

Sleeping until you wake sounds delightful.

At 23:50 Blogger spacedlaw said...

And I am awake so; good mornevening!

It's nice and cool still at this time of the day. When the sun reaches the garden the temperature with rise and rise and rise.

Today is a major holiday in Italy (ferragosto) and for the first time since at least ten years we are not meetign with Cesare's family. That feels a little weird...
Tonight, we are sheduled to go and visit Trajan's Market with some friends, though. I have already visited it in the day time but this should be special...

At 00:04 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

I should be sleeping but I am not. HA!

WHat is this market that is open at night and this Holiday, Nathilie? We have no Holiday tomorrow.

I am making a surprise party for Maddy when she comes home. DOn't twitter this, she won't be reading these comments I am sure, but just to be safe.

ALL her friends are coming, I bought her a pool, and we will grill out. Ought to be fun.

Except storms are meant to come. I suspect I have managed to insure storms of epic proportions by arranging this all and getting the pool.

Ought to be a weekend. Party on Sunday. Me and the teens.

Hey, it worked at Jonas Bros...

At 00:14 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Ferragosto (15th August) is one of the feasts for the Virgin Mary (the biggest one, or so I am told).

The market place was that of the Roman Emperor Trajan and it is now a museum.

Laying in the pool watching at storms could be fun. The grilling might suffer from excess wind and rain, though...

At 00:17 Blogger Ticia said...

No twittering. Got it.

At 00:34 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

If you lay in a pool during one of our storms, you would regret it quite quickly.

Well, this Market sounds quite fun, as does Holiday.

I am going to begin work on my Secret Project, which we also aren't going to talk about on Twitter. Yet anyway.

Why am I posting like we are a secret place here?

At 00:36 Blogger Ticia said...

I don't know. But who am I to stop you? Go on.

At 01:05 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Yes, keep at it, then we will feel part of the big conspiracy mwahahahaha.

At 02:04 Blogger Dragonsally said...

ahhh, exams!

and have a look at their other stuff - brilliant

At 02:36 Anonymous kali_licious said...

Lorraine I like shrimp. Just sayin';) Silly cats, don't know what they're missing. *fingers crossed* for no storms. You could always send 'em this way, I love thunderstorms.

The good thing about not being on Twitter, is that I can't spill the beans on either the party, or the Super Secret Project, or anything really.:)

Chantrelle I hope the winds ease up soon (and that dinner was lovely.:)

Nathalie that market does sound like fun.:)

At 10:14 Blogger Phiala said...

Hi all! Took a lazy morning and read "Sunshine" - thank you all for the recommendation.

Unfortunately now it's too hot to do anything. Should have saved the reading for the afternoon.

At 10:36 Blogger EmilyLady said...

Play this afternoon. And another performance in the evening. SHould be fun. NOOOOOOOOO wishing my good luck. Far too many people have aleady done this. So sshh.

At 10:36 Blogger EmilyLady said...

I meant, er, wishing ME good luck.

At 11:48 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Good Luck Emily! Break a leg!

Mistress, glad you liked Sunshine, REALLY a fine book. It's Oven Hot here. AC still on.

Not sure how it happened, but I have something very like a day off here going on.

I realized I have dog care. Nothing needs to be handled. Slept until TEN.

Days like this I feel like I can REALLY get some things done.

Lots of Planning the Party, and shopping for it, I'd do a new blog but don't want to until tomorrow, when Maddy will be on a plane. This is going to be my best surprise on her EVER.

As far as secret project goes, would love to talk about it, but Boss is very savvy, don't THINK he will be delving into things, but...

At 11:54 Blogger AletaMay said...

I like the suspense of unknown Super Secret Projects! Party sounds like a blast! She'll be very pleased I am sure.

Break a leg Em! And have fun while doing so.

I've really enjoyed easing into this day. All last week I had to be at training sessions early in the morning. This is not something I am used to doing. There was good to it as it helped me get into a more regular sleep pattern but it was not to not have to be out the door at any particular time today!

At 12:59 Blogger Fluffy said...

Secret projects - fiendishly good!

Good almost-afternoon folks. Need to get going on some stuff - maybe caffeine will help.

Tried on some clothes last night with the new corset - Dennis now likes fashion shows. Go figure. Adri and I were thinking alike on that, but I didn't post it on FB because of all my 14-year-old friends. I'm pretty sure that there are some mental images of your BFF's mom you just do not need.

At 13:08 Blogger Fluffy said...

Definitely need to wake up. It's 1 pm - not noon...

At 15:08 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Have opted for Pizza instead of grill, due to the weather forecast. That way it can be indoor or out, this party of mine.. Ordered 4 doz balloons.

Got head count. SO far 25-30 teens. Woot!

At 15:17 Blogger Phiala said...

You're a brave woman, Lorraine!

I have accomplished effectively nothing of use so far today. This is not good. Now going grocery shopping, which, though loathesome, is air-conditioned, and useful.

At 15:31 Blogger Fluffy said...

"Got head count. SO far 25-30 teens. Woot!"

Oh, Emmm, Geee! That should be lively, to say the least.

At 17:39 Blogger Dragonsally said...

*tap* *tap* *tap*

hello? where did everyone go?

At 18:08 Blogger Fluffy said...

Been getting ready for a graduation party at my BF's house. Her youngest is out of college and working!

At 18:28 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Have a fun party!
In 5 minutes my Sunday morning has gone from sunny with high winds to dark,rain and high winds. Storm.

At 19:16 Blogger Jess said...

Well hurrah for all things secret and partylike! And baloons.

(That one was mine. FEAR my apocalypse pig, yo. CX)

I have been to see Ponyo today, that's where I've been. I liked it. Spirited Away is still my favourite by far, but Ponyo made me happy. (Apart from the appalling song tacked on the credits at the end-- very Disney Channel. Ugh.) Sweet and funny. Cate Blanchett as Sea Galadriel. Tina Fey. Cloris Leachman as a grumpy old lady (again). Dreamlike fish sequences. Etc.

Now I've had some good vino and am trying not to fall asleep. Too hot to go for a walk yet.

Hope everyone's having a good night!

At 19:17 Blogger Jess said...

THat is to say, balloons. Two Ls.

At 19:46 Blogger ariandalen said...

I saw Ponyo today, too, Jess! Betty White was another of the senior ladies, and Liam Neeson was the former human now alchemist Father of Ponyo. Good, fun movie. :)

Now I'm getting antsy to see District 9.

At 19:55 Blogger Dan Guy said...

I took all the kids to see Ponyo today. Xander, Molly, and Nathan really liked it; Max liked parts of it and acted bored in between.

Now I'm making my parents, who are visiting for the day, watch "Lars and the Real Girl".

At 19:55 Blogger Jess said...

We're seeing District 9 next week, probably!

Ponyo was fun. This movie had no teary moments for me, though. Usually there's one bit in every Miyazaki film that makes me weep like a weepy thing.

Are the girls running around and yelling "I want ham" yet? That's the question. :D

At 20:18 Blogger ariandalen said...

Actually, no, they're not. Interesting that, but it may be a delayed reaction. Seren keeps puppy whining when I tell her, "no," which she learned from Coraline. Doesn't do her any good, especially since all it does is annoy me, but she is still doing it on occasion. :P

At 20:50 Anonymous Lysandwr said...

Chantrelle and family: you do have my sympathies. Fires of that nature affect far beyond their burn areas on the ground. Scary cats!!

Fabulous One: There are incredibly cool "night markets" in Tokyo (no doubt in other cities there as well) and Seoul. Somehow shopping (especially in virtually open air conditions)at night adds a certain entertainment value! I probably should know the tradition and history behind them....but I don't :)

Danth: I LOVE LOVE LOVE Lars and the Real Girl! It's one of those "hope for humanity" movies for me. Make of that what y'all will...

Two days of this, and it looks like I *am* a David Brin character (an archetype, even :))

Yes, I am a mailman. Mailperson? Postwoman? Somehow, "Hey Ms Postwoman" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

And yes, it is completely different from any expectations. Feeling initiated into some secret society. Guess I'd better shut up now :) GREAT exercise, though!

At 20:54 Blogger EmilyLady said...

Oh sure, Lorraine wishes me luck and of course the first performance was AWFUL. THANKS, Lorraine. The second performance, on the other hand, was nearly perfect. The first was painful. Truly painful. And not everybody thought so, but the cast knew better. Not to mention our ringmaster - the circus ringmaster - managed the first performance, fighting off this weird sea virus that she's caught from the town bay, and then threw up before the second. And so the director had to be the ringmaster. All in all, a great night. I had a lot of fun. Saying good-bye to the two directors is always awfully hard.

At 20:54 Blogger EmilyLady said...

And this is my last year with this theatre program! I'm getting old! :(

At 20:55 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Just read all your comments and promptly forgot everything I had to say. Been that kind of a long day.

5 hours with Hans on Secret Project. I am a dead women. Need to bathe. Or hottub.

Tomorrow is the Surprise Party tho. Woot! Very exciting.

And I now have clean sheets on my bed. Again. Woot!

See? No brain. I can always tell, because Cops gets exciting.

At 20:56 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Sorry Emily. Theater GOES that way sometimes. And you are never too old for theater.

At 21:06 Blogger EmilyLady said...

Of course not, but there is an age cutoff for this program. Sadly. It is really fantastic.

At 22:23 Blogger ariandalen said...

There is always community/civic theatre, Emily. They always need help with something, not just actors.

At 22:23 Blogger ariandalen said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

At 23:24 Blogger Beez said...

Home from PGA championship thingy. The air-conditioned tent?

Nope.
Besides, prepping with your back to a bank of ovens pretty much nullifies any cooling effect of any kind.

I am so full of Gatorade...blech.

At 23:28 Blogger AletaMay said...

Beez, that does not sound like fun.

Night Fiends!

At 23:31 Blogger Ticia said...

Nighty-night Aleta!

Beez - Blech indeed!

At 07:44 Blogger EmilyLady said...

Good morning from warm sunny Rhode Island ... very very tired after last night, but glad it's over. Even though it's sad that it's over. It's hard work. Benjamin's fifteenth birthday is today. I shall sing the Paul and Lorraine birthday song, plus Happy Birthday in Chinese; Jack shall sing the Beatles' birthday song. It will be a fun day.

At 09:19 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Oh gods, I have spread that SONG!!!!!

Morning all!

Well, Big Huge Outdoor Surprise party today.

Also big huge storm all day and be cloudy while raining day.

And 25-30 teens. Right.

Still going to be a blast!

At 10:32 Blogger dabbler said...

Best of luck, Lorraine! We're at last day of Folk Fest here... 90 and sunny. Turns all the deep mud with hay spread over it into very smelly stuff. But does mean fewer cars needing to be towed out of mud, and more day trippers...

So far my favorite new to me band is called Caravan of Thieves. Great Celtic/swing/gypsy stuff.


Tired. Would love to stay home. Not happening though

At 10:48 Blogger EmilyLady said...

Happy biiiiiirrrrrrththhdaaaaayyyy ... I'm a leper, can't you see? Get your birthday hugs from me!

At 11:39 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Great song!
I hope the party girl will not be too jet lagged...

At 13:26 Blogger Marjorie said...

Hello Everyone! Just got back - we had lots of fun & excellent weather - what more could nayone ask?

Hope the party is a roaring success, Q.

At 18:04 Blogger EmilyLady said...

Awfully quiet Fiends this evening. Well. Evening here, anyway. Some of you are asleep and others are in the midst of a busy day, I am sure ...

At 18:26 Blogger Phiala said...

Hi Emily!

Evening here too, as we're in the same time zone. I'm engaged in the part of my life where I run a small business, as that mostly happens evenings and weekends.

And trying to decide if it's too hot yet to mow the other half of the yard, or if it can go another day.

So, nothing that interesting.

At 22:21 Blogger ariandalen said...

Wow. nothing for almost 4 hours.

I first ran into that particular Birthday Song, oh, twenty years ago at an SCA event.

VICTORY! DH actually got the girls to go through all their toys and sort them into keep, donate, and throw away. You can walk into their room! W00t! Killed around three brown recluse spiders, too.

At 22:57 Blogger Na said...

ack! ariandalen, you found brown recluses in their room!??!?!?

i've been working, caring for monsters, doing household stuff (on account of injury to my guy, more falls to me) and errands, working, helping injured guy, working some more...

my brain feels like it could go oozy any moment i let it, that i'm keeping it in my head and functioning through sheer will power!

took a long walk yesterday, went to a yoga class this morning. feel pretty good. and lucked out and found Wii Fit at Costco today, for about $40 less than in other stores. happy, happy! joy, joy!

back to working.

At 23:27 Blogger ariandalen said...

Yep. In their bedroom, though not around their beds. They have had a problem with throwing any drawing away, so lots of paper scattered in spots that have been sitting for months. Brown recluses love that. Fortunately, there weren't any black widows to keep the brown recluses company.

At 00:36 Anonymous Lysandwr said...

ariandalen et al....

would this have been known as the Mongolian Birthday Song?

Happy Birthday UUUGGHH!!

At 00:50 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Party was great. Wonderful fun. Will tell you all tomorrow, tonight, I am asleep. I think. Sleep commenting.

At 07:42 Blogger EmilyLady said...

High ninety-two here today. I like the heat. But I am the only one in this house who does.

At 07:48 Blogger dabbler said...

Morning all... I am not working tear down in the 90+ degrees, for the second time in 35 years. (One day of putting back in the box all the festival wires it took 10+days to put up.) I am feeling guilty. What on earth is wrong with me?

Not guilty enough to go and do it, though! :-)

At 09:03 Blogger Ani said...

Hey fiends, i don't want to blow one of y'all off. Is there an (at) soyunbistec fiend trying to follow me on twitter, or is this random?

Weekend went much better than it could have done, tho being in proximity to my ex for so much time was unsettling again. (bleah)

At 09:04 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Christopher Moore was apparently trying to learn some French. His experience could be useful...

At 09:27 Blogger Marjorie said...

Glad you survived the weekend, Ani. Did Kid enjoy himself?

At 09:52 Blogger One Sock Short said...

Hi Fiends. I was all Eeyore-ish this weekend, so figured I'd better lay low. Before the weekend hit, I did manage to do a crazy thing. I signed up for a dance class called "Ballroom for Barrooms". It's supposed to be social dance as it was meant to be, rather than the highly stylized form you get in competition-style ballroom. It's also supposed to not require having a partner already. We'll see how that goes. Last time I tried this (lo these many years ago), the class was mostly young couples who wanted to practice for their weddings, and were highly uninterested in dancing with anyone else. I just want to get some exercise that doesn't feel like exercise. But partner dances are somewhat easier with a partner. The first class in in two weeks. If it's another case of all couples all the time, I can always get a partial refund. I can feel excluded without spending time and money on it, thankyouverymuch.

Still Eeyore-ish, I see. Back to work.

At 09:57 Blogger Phiala said...

OSS, I've taken ballroom classes as a single woman and had it go well, but I agree it isn't always so smooth.

Sorry you are surly - hopefully the end of Monday will cure it.

At 10:17 Blogger EmilyLady said...

Little little friends are back from Washington, DC. They were very happy to see me and I to see them. We rejoiced in Chinese.

At 10:54 Blogger One Sock Short said...

Surly is right. Sorry about that. Will now seek out an early lunch, or at least more coffee, and hope that improves things.

At 10:57 Blogger Phiala said...

Surly is allowed. Honest.

At 11:33 Blogger spacedlaw said...

If anybody is interested in my night outing to the Markets Of Trajan, the post is up over at LJ.

At 11:54 Blogger One Sock Short said...

Simply gorgeous. Even on tiny phone screen.

At 13:34 Blogger DataGoddess said...

Thought all of us biblioholics would like this one - today's Strange Brew comic.

At 13:45 Blogger Na said...

Sock, I feel Eeyore-ish too. And part of my brain is particularly surly at the part that thinks I don't have so much to be so surly about.

I think I need more sleep.

At 13:46 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Perfect strip!

At 15:41 Blogger EmilyLady said...

Was shelving library books when my blood sugar went FWOOMP and hit the basement. I wonder how it is that I can stay conscious and not actually be throwing up when I'm under twenty? And then the next time I checked I was twenty-four and STILL conscious. The Amazing Emily! Watch her fight!

At 17:11 Blogger Fluffy said...

Go, Emily, Go!!! Fight, fight, fight!

Le chien est sur la table.

At 17:23 Blogger Ani said...

OSS, I'm impressed! A close friend of mine warns me that I am in danger of becoming a hermit. I've never even dared to sign up for a ballroom dance class as a social & fitness thing. I think it's courageous and cool that you are doing it.

At 17:27 Blogger Ani said...

Beautiful pictures, Nathalie!

Emily--we like you best, conscious. Really. ;-)

At 18:03 Blogger vampi said...

Le chien est sur la table.

your chin is in a kitchen store?


*smirk*

At 18:08 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Le Chien says there is a new post up!

All the news, just for you, including an exclusive going to IRELAND!!!!!!!!!

At 06:38 Blogger louisa said...

Wait, what, Ireland???? I know that place..... runs to new post

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