If I've decided that you're annoying and I don't want to hang out with you anymore, calling me at 12:45 AM the night before I have an early-morning job interview is not going to help. No, the fact that your man and mine have been friends for over a decade does not change this. Neither does the fact that you are still relatively new in town and have no other friends. You may, in fact, wish to examine why you have no other friends, as four months is certainly enough time to have made some. You may also want to try getting a life.

Coast Guard rescues black swan trapped by river ice. More info with update and closeup photo of the swan, safe after rescue, here.

It's nothing compared to what came down recently in western New York, where I grew up. (For those playing along at home, I grew up in Chautauqua County, just a couple of miles from the Lakewood mentioned in the article.)

Apparently, some creative soul has rendered the Star Wars theme music in Japanese pop style, complete with lyrics.



Something tells me that seonaidie  and vieve_kethrun will both squee.

buckeyehoppy did this one, so I'm doing it too. Anybody reading this, feel free to join in. :-)



1. Do you like bleu cheese? Yes, even though I know it isn't really good for me or my diet.



2. Have you ever smoked? Off and on (more off than on) for about a year and a half. Officially quit 8 years ago, bummed a couple cigs a year for some time afterward. Stopped even doing that a couple years ago.



3. Do you own a gun? No, but I've done target shooting with them in the past, and was actually pretty good at it. Been years, though.



4. What flavor Kool-Aid was your favorite? Grape was my most favorite. Second place was strawberry.



5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Not usually, though it can depend on what I'm there for.



6. What do you think of hot dogs? Love the taste, don't care to think about what's in them. I try to buy the low-fat ones.



7. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story.



8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee, with flavored creamer and a bit of Splenda.



9. Can you do push ups? Not well. I need to work on that!



10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? I have a couple: the filigreed ring that's been in my family since it was given to my grandmother in 1927, and my House of Blues "God wall" necklace.



11. Favorite hobbies? Internet. Reading. Writing. Singing. Socializing.



12. Do you have ADD? According to what my mother told me when I was a teenager, I was diagnosed with some sort of alleged "learning disability" at the age of 5 or 6, but my parents rejected the diagnosis and Mom either didn't remember what it was, or just didn't tell me the name. I know that today I fit the profile of an adult ADD sufferer rather well, and not so much the profile of anything else I can think of such that an evaluation by the school psychologist would have termed that way, so my guess is that, yes, I have a mild case of ADD. I always just coped, you know? My treatment of choice is caffeine, though I have to balance this with my tendency toward insomnia. Sigh.



13. Do you wear glasses/contacts? I got glasses at the age of nine, and contact lenses at the age of thirteen. These days I sometimes wear reading glasses over my contacts!



14. Middle name? Elaine



15. Name 3 thoughts at this moment.  I should make dinner. I should work out. I should get off my butt and do something constructive.



16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Coffee. Tea. Beer.



17. Current worry? The economy.



18. Current hate right now: "Hate" is such a strong word. But can I randomly pick something from my list of things that disgust me? If so, then the "dumbing down" of our culture would probably be pretty high on that list, and I'm picking it.



19. Favorite place to be? Depends on my mood. Out for drinks and dinner with friends, or at home relaxing with my honey.



20. How did you bring in the New Year? I really can't describe it any better than buckeyehoppy  already did: Before the ball dropped: at Nighttown in Cleveland Heights with front row seats for the Dominic Farinacci Quartet.  Then over to our friend's apartment for a glass of bubbly. After the ball dropped: at an utterly forgettable and loud bar with an obnoxious DJ and one too many drunken bar fights I didn't see the bar fights, but there were far too many obnoxious people in general.



21. Where would you like to go? Ireland. The UK, especially Scotland. Europe in general, Australia. Asia, Oceania, both the east and west coasts of Canada.



22. Name three people who will complete this: Good question. Probably coffee_kitten  and I'm not sure who else.



23. Do you own slippers? Yes, at least six pairs. Three pair fuzzy boot-style, two pair ballet-style, one pair of fleece-lined slides.



24. What color shirt are you wearing? Navy-blue henley sweatshirt from Hard Rock Cafe in Niagara Falls.



25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I don't think I've ever tried that, but I think I'd find them too slippery and either too warm or too cold. I like nice cotton sheets that breathe.



26. Can you whistle? Yes, though not as well as I'd like to.



28. Would you be a pirate? Are we talking rum and gold doubloons here, or what? I've been known to put on a pirate hat at Jimmy Buffett concerts.



29. What songs do you sing in the shower? Surprisingly, I don't sing in the shower, though that's one of the few places I don't.



30. Favorite Girl's Name(s)? Marie, Jennifer, Fiona



31. Favorite boy's name? Michael, Mark, Alain



32. What's in your pocket right now? Nothing I'm wearing right now has pockets.



33. Last thing that made you laugh? Frank Caliendo on Fox NFL just now.



34. What vehicle do you drive? A 1994 Olds Achieva.



35. What's the worst injury you've had? A broken ankle from slipping on an icy sidewalk last year.



36. Do you love the town where you live? Yes, Lakewood is pretty nice.



37. How many TVs do you have in your house? Four. One each in the living room, bedroom, workout room, and a little one in the kitchen so I can watch while I cook. Surprisingly, though, I don't watch a lot of shows; mostly sports or reruns of M*A*S*H or Stargate SG-1.

I love Canadian comedy.

Is it just me, or does it seem that favoring a former head of state from a foreign country over the President-elect of the United States when it comes to the use of the Presidential guesthouse just might be a major breach of protocol?



Especially when the President-elect was denied use of the guesthouse before said former head of said foreign state was booked into said guesthouse? (Or so said Margaret Carlson to Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. I have yet to find other sources backing this up, but let's just say I wouldn't put it past Bush & Co. to do this and then juggle people and things in an attempt to make the denial look legit.)



Blair House is HUGE - 119 rooms, 35 bathrooms. Howard and the Obamas couldn't have shared? Howard couldn't have stayed in a hotel? The Australian Embassy? The freakin' White House? But no, Bush and his cronies had to snub the incoming President and his family, including two little girls about to start out in a new school.



Fourteen more days to go, people. Only fourteen more days.



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Today's physical effort: 20 minutes on stationary bike, some ab work

Weigh-in: N/A (apparently my fancy digital scale needs new batteries)

Knees: Meh. Not bad for a day with effed-up weather.

Because I hang out on Tribe.net, and because it's always more fun to have company when one is making a journey, I've started a new group on Tribe.net called Fitness and Health for SCAdians and Others. Feel free to join me there if you are so inclined.



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Today's physical effort: Lower-body workout on weight machine, 20 minutes on stationary bike

Weigh-in: 197.0 lbs

Knees: L so-so, R fine as usual