I found this website this morning.
Click on the link and then at the end of the link address type an "=" sign and then your name or something else fun and watch the penguin write it in the snow. How fun is that!
http://www.star28.net/penguin_tebe.swf?msg
Example: http://www.star28.net/penguin_tebe.swf?msg=Mitchowl
Friday, December 12, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Kitty Tail, um, I mean Tale
On Monday I got a frantic call from my mother. She said there was a kitten under her house. She didn't know what to do. She, along with everyone else, knows that I am the "Animal Lady". I told her I would send my daughter Joni over to see what she could do. I was stuck at work.
While waiting for Joni to come my sister climbed down under the house to try and get the kitten. You have to remember that it is COLD here! It was below zero a couple of days ago. And it was dirty and cramped under the house. I'm quite impressed that my sister made the trek, not once but TWICE. On the first trip she discovered that it was stuck down a long pipe. The pipe was too long for her to reach down, so she climbed out and got a towel. After climbing back under the house she dangled the towel down the pipe and the kitten grabbed on. It was then pretty simple to haul it up.
The kitten was very little. It was probably 4-5 weeks old. It was not very happy, and it stunk pretty badly. My mom kept it until Joni showed up and then Joni brought it home with her. The poor little thing was dirty, hungry and it's eyes kept gunking up so badly that it's eyes were glued shut. Joni used her awesome nursing skills and cared for it lovingly. She bathed it (with a little help from me), fed it every few hours, cleaned it's eyes, played with it and cuddled it.
Oscar was extremely interested and wanted a closer look, but we just didn't trust him too much. One chomp and the cat would be gone. Mike made a call to the local cat shelter and we made arrangements to take the kitten there.
This place is called Four Paws and it is awesome. They have a house, very nice inside, that is set up for the cats. The cats have the run of the place. There are cat beds, pillows, caves, posts, toys, and of course food water and litter boxes all over the house. And Joni said it was very clean! It didn't smell at all, and there were cats all over. They were calm, well adjusted and very socialized. Four Paws adopts out a lot of cats. They had a sectioned off place for the younger cats and a cage for the tiny kittens. Our little rescued kitty went into the cage where he was very happy to have some playmates.
The wonderful lady at Four Paws thought there would not be a problem with our little kitty being adopted. It was cute, tiny, and it is right before Christmas. All the ingredients for a quick adoption.
The thing that was kind of sad for Joni to see was all of the unwanted cats. 95% of them were full-grown black cats. It was a sea of black. Why aren't the black ones chosen? I wish I knew. Joni and I were trying to figure that out. Maybe they need really cool names, like "Panthro", "Destroyer", or "Steve McQueen". Can you think of any cool black cat names?
While waiting for Joni to come my sister climbed down under the house to try and get the kitten. You have to remember that it is COLD here! It was below zero a couple of days ago. And it was dirty and cramped under the house. I'm quite impressed that my sister made the trek, not once but TWICE. On the first trip she discovered that it was stuck down a long pipe. The pipe was too long for her to reach down, so she climbed out and got a towel. After climbing back under the house she dangled the towel down the pipe and the kitten grabbed on. It was then pretty simple to haul it up.
The kitten was very little. It was probably 4-5 weeks old. It was not very happy, and it stunk pretty badly. My mom kept it until Joni showed up and then Joni brought it home with her. The poor little thing was dirty, hungry and it's eyes kept gunking up so badly that it's eyes were glued shut. Joni used her awesome nursing skills and cared for it lovingly. She bathed it (with a little help from me), fed it every few hours, cleaned it's eyes, played with it and cuddled it.
Oscar was extremely interested and wanted a closer look, but we just didn't trust him too much. One chomp and the cat would be gone. Mike made a call to the local cat shelter and we made arrangements to take the kitten there.
This place is called Four Paws and it is awesome. They have a house, very nice inside, that is set up for the cats. The cats have the run of the place. There are cat beds, pillows, caves, posts, toys, and of course food water and litter boxes all over the house. And Joni said it was very clean! It didn't smell at all, and there were cats all over. They were calm, well adjusted and very socialized. Four Paws adopts out a lot of cats. They had a sectioned off place for the younger cats and a cage for the tiny kittens. Our little rescued kitty went into the cage where he was very happy to have some playmates.
The wonderful lady at Four Paws thought there would not be a problem with our little kitty being adopted. It was cute, tiny, and it is right before Christmas. All the ingredients for a quick adoption.
The thing that was kind of sad for Joni to see was all of the unwanted cats. 95% of them were full-grown black cats. It was a sea of black. Why aren't the black ones chosen? I wish I knew. Joni and I were trying to figure that out. Maybe they need really cool names, like "Panthro", "Destroyer", or "Steve McQueen". Can you think of any cool black cat names?
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
93 and counting.....
My digital illustration class is winding down this week. I am working on my final project. It is posted on my other blog ready for the critique on Tuesday. Then on Thursday, the last day of class I have to hand in my digital sketchbook. There needs to be 100 sketches in there by then. ONE HUNDRED!!! I'm very glad I started doing these back in September when we heard about the assignment. I'm up to 93. Only a few more to go. And it's been a good thing. I can definitely see the improvement. My sketches last September are pretty awful. Here's one. UGLY!
And here's one I did recently. The one above took me an hour, the snail took me about 20 minutes. And I like it so much better.
And this one I did tonight. It took me about 10 minutes. I should be able to get my 100 done with plenty of time to spare.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
Science Nerd Alert
This is fascinating.
There is a cellular slime mold called Dictyostelium, which has one of the more remarkable life cycles in nature. Individual cells of Dictyostelium roam the forest floor as free-living amoebas, but if food supplies turn scarce, they congregate in huge masses and assemble themselves by the thousands into a much larger multicelled organism that looks and acts like a slug. The slug creeps about for a while, then settles down and metamorphoses into something that looks more like a fungus. The blob of cells sprouts a thin stalk that projects upward perhaps a quarter of an inch. Then other cells of the slug climb up the stalk and organize themselves into a ball balanced on top. The outer cells harden into a shell; the inner cells shrivel into dustlike spores. Eventually the shell cracks open and the spores are scattered to the wind. Spores that land in wet places change into amoebas and slither off to begin the cycle anew.
From Life Itself by Boyce Rensberger, Nigel Orme
There is a cellular slime mold called Dictyostelium, which has one of the more remarkable life cycles in nature. Individual cells of Dictyostelium roam the forest floor as free-living amoebas, but if food supplies turn scarce, they congregate in huge masses and assemble themselves by the thousands into a much larger multicelled organism that looks and acts like a slug. The slug creeps about for a while, then settles down and metamorphoses into something that looks more like a fungus. The blob of cells sprouts a thin stalk that projects upward perhaps a quarter of an inch. Then other cells of the slug climb up the stalk and organize themselves into a ball balanced on top. The outer cells harden into a shell; the inner cells shrivel into dustlike spores. Eventually the shell cracks open and the spores are scattered to the wind. Spores that land in wet places change into amoebas and slither off to begin the cycle anew.
From Life Itself by Boyce Rensberger, Nigel Orme
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Pulled 3 Ways
I love my job.
Great people to work with.
Great hours.
Great benefits.
Then
The Dean's secretary had to have surgery.
They asked me to cover her job and my job.
Sure, anything to help out. Besides, it's only for a month.
Then
Our department secretary's Dad died on Thanksgiving night.
Very sad, and I've covered for her job before, so
I'll cover for her, too.
So far so good.
I run upstairs to deliver messages and take care of issues.
I run downstairs to sort mail, deliver messages and take care of issues.
I forward everyone's phones to where ever I happen to be.
Thank heavens for Diet Pepsi and caffeine.
Great people to work with.
Great hours.
Great benefits.
Then
The Dean's secretary had to have surgery.
They asked me to cover her job and my job.
Sure, anything to help out. Besides, it's only for a month.
Then
Our department secretary's Dad died on Thanksgiving night.
Very sad, and I've covered for her job before, so
I'll cover for her, too.
So far so good.
I run upstairs to deliver messages and take care of issues.
I run downstairs to sort mail, deliver messages and take care of issues.
I forward everyone's phones to where ever I happen to be.
Thank heavens for Diet Pepsi and caffeine.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
