Search all Picasa photos

I noticed last night that they finally added a community search thing to Picasa. (This means that you can search everyone's photos on Picasa.) So I was searching for some stuff today at lunch. I searched for Spike, thinking that there would be a lot of pictures of pets or people called Spike and maybe some pictures of actual spikes (you never know!). I thought that my Spike would probably show up in the search results.

(Click on photo to see it bigger)

As you can see, he did. Or rather, we did. The super dorky Halloween picture from last year is the first photo that shows up. 534 photos show up and we're first. I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed or proud.

I'm really tempted to search for "bathroom pics" but I'm too scared to do it. I'm not worried that my bathroom pics will some out at the top of the list, I'm afraid of the pictures other people have labeled "bathroom pics"! I'll have to try it this weekend, when I'm in a safer place (I don't think everyone here at work would like to see scary bathroom pics! lol Or at least I wouldn't want them seeing me looking at strangers' bathroom pics. lol)

Steve & Shala @ Ikea

I had a nice dinner with my cousin Steve, his girlfriend, Shala, and my parents tonight. Steve and Shala were on their way back from a short business/pleasure trip in New York City. It sounds like they had fun! I'm jealous - I've never been to NYC. Anyone want to go with me? :)

If you hadn't guessed, we ate at Ikea. (It's near the airport!) I finally ordered a half-healthy meal at Ikea - the kid's plate of meatballs and fries plus a (large!) side of mixed veggies. I'm not exactly sure what they are, but I love those yellow carrot things! And french fries.

Game Night

Dan's birthday

Ok, these are a little late. but just a little. ;)

Snow report

This is for Todd inside at work, Doug down there in GA and my parents on vacation in FL!

I left work early today because this is what it's like outside!

I know - this isn't the best picture. But I had to shovel my driveway just to get my car in the garage so I'm not willing to go back out there and get a decent photo. so there. That white lump in the bottom right corner of the picture is a bench - the snow in the ground is almost high enough to cover the seat of the bench!

Spike and I are cold.

stupid queues

People who cannot spell "queue" should not be allowed to use the word like they know what it means! grrr.

Bowl-A-Rama

I went bowling with my buddies Renee & Tim - who I haven't seen in forever - on Valentine's Day. We had a ton of fun. And they let me take goofy pictures of them too - goofy pics of bowling (we look like professionals! ;) ), pics of dancing when we got strikes, and pics of that strange pirate-type face we kept making (I don't know why we were doing that either... lol). There are a few of the very popular bathroom pics too! Pirate faces in the bathroom even! Argh!

I really had a lot of fun with these guys... we need to do it more often!

Check out all the pics!

Valentine's Day Bowling!

Sam likes to bounce!









And chat with Grandma!

Growlie

I fed a friend's cat this weekend. He's a very sweet old guy. He also has that whole "my people left me here all alone - I'm sooo lonely!" pitiful meowing thing down pat.

She also has the biggest, ickiest tank sucking fish I've ever seen. I know these things can live practically forever - my brother had one when we were young and it must have been 8 or 9 inches long when it died. But this fish is so big she's got to add extra tank slime tablets to the tank so he doesn't starve. For scale those little fish are about an inch and a half long.

Ikea - Meatballs and CAT TENT!

I need to stop buying goofy things at Ikea.

I see a lot of strange medical things at work. I'm part of a department that processes medical claims and lately I've been doing some research online about how claims are processed, paid and appealed (all kinds of fun stuff). As you can probably guess, I've been reading a lot of really boring manuals. Today I stumbled across a newsletter article titled "If you liked the Pressure Ulcer Seminars...". Unfortunately they didn't say what was implied: "If you liked the Pressure Ulcer Seminars... you're going to love Urinary Incontinence!"

I'm sure it was a very exciting seminar.

Gothic Novels

I've been reading again. This is a big deal. For a few years there I didn't read much - I was always knitting instead (There are people who knit and read AT THE SAME TIME but I'm not even talented enough to bother trying.). But lately I've been reading almost like I used to - and by that mean lots of books and lots of time.

I finished the latest Jane Austen mystery, which takes place while Jane is in London waiting for her first published book - Sense and Sensibility - to be printed. So the next logical book, or course, was Sense and Sensibility. What can I say - I've always liked this story. The 1995 movie is one of my favorites too.

When I was searching for Sense and Sensibility I came across Wuthering Heights. I haven't read this since high school. The blurb on the back cover describes it as "the most original tale of thwarted desire and heartbreak in the English language." How could I not read that?

Friday night I watched Jane Eyre on Masterpiece Theater (I like to stay home on Friday nights and watch Masterpiece Theater.). I really enjoyed the TV version of it.* You know how sometimes they're bad and sometimes they're good? This one was very good. I figured I had better read Jane Eyre too.

Then I did some research (I love research!) and found that Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are both considered gothic novels. So now I need to read more gothic novels. I've started with The Mysteries of Udolpho. (The link isn't to the copy I actually got from the library, but I totally love the picture on the front! lol) This book was supposedly the first best seller. It has all the classical gothic novel traits - a beautiful young woman, a creepy castle, some spooky goings on, mysteries all over the place, and a love story with a handsome but possibly evil man. (That's how I like my men - handsome but possibly evil.)

I was looking for Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen's parody of gothic novels, but they didn't have it at my library. Northanger Abbey is logically the next book to read since The Mysteries of Udolpho is referenced by the main character in Northanger Abbey.

And for light reading - The Masque of the Black Tulip. (All that doom and gloom of The Mysteries of Udolpho is too much for me to read before I go to bed! I'm having wacky enough dreams as it is because of the meds I'm taking, I don't need scary dreams too!)

So... what's next? Jane Eyre, Northanger Abbey and then maybe The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas. Unless I get caught up in something else. :)

* I got a friend invite on myspace recently from a guy who said "I'll read just about anything, even if it's already been on tv." I just find that really funny.

We love Cheetos

Spike also loves my new camera. Every time I turn it on he comes running to investigate. I'm going to be constantly cleaning cat snot off the lens. And I have 200 pictures that look just like this one.

Spike's glaring at me right now. "Why are you always putting unflattering photos of me on the internet?"

I finished the Inspector Lynley mystery the other day and decided to go in a differant direction with my next book becasue I'M TIRED OF READING DEPRESSING BOOKS WHERE PEOPLE DIE AND NO ONE IS HAPPY AND PEOPLE GET BEHEADED AND EVERYTHING GOES WRONG AND THE BAD GUY GETS CAUGHT ONLY WHEN SOMEONE RAMS A CAR INTO HIM. As you can imagine, after a while that's not fun anymore.

Twelve Sharp - Janet Evanovitch

This must be a particularly short Stephanie Plum book - I started and finished the whole thing within 24 hours (although that may also be because I've been waking up at 4:45 every other morning). I was kind of disapointed with this book. The mystery wasn't that mysterious, the characters said and did the same exact things they always do, and it wasn't as funny as I remember these books being. Twelve Sharp reminded me of the one and only Evanovitch book I've read outside of the Stephanie Plum - and that book was pretty bad. I hope Stephanie Plum isn't headed in that direction.

Last night I started the next Jane Austen mystery - Jane and the Barque of Frailty - Stephanie Barron. So far, so good.

crud - spellcheck isn't working. sorry.

A whole bunch of photos

I added a ton of pictures to my photo albums today. (OK, not technically a ton. but more than 200!)

Miscellaneous Family Pictures 2001 - 2003

Stephanie's Baby Shower 6-2-01

BBY DC072 Pictures

Sci-Fi Convention 2002

Sci-Fi Convention 2003

The Good Luck Leg

Renee, this is for you!

This picture was taken at 2:53 AM on March 24th, 2001 in my car at a gas station near Mystic Lake Casino. This was on our way home. I can't remember if the leg really was good luck or not. I also have no idea what happened to the rest of Ken (or his pants!) but, shoe lover that she is, Renee made sure he was wearing a very dapper looking shoe.

Spike and I think you're awesome Renee! :)

Book Log

I've been meaning to do this for a long time - so here it is! Maybe keeping up this log will be my new year's resolution for 2007. (hey, I like to pick resolutions I actually have a chance of keeping!)

With No One as Witness / Elizabeth George

This must be the 7th or 8th book in her Inspector Lynley series. I started reading these after seeing the television adaptions of these books on Masterpiece Theater. I like to read series of books and I have to read them all in order. and one right after another. I really like how George has let her characters grow; I think characters can get kind of stale after a few years if they don't change like real people do. I have been enjoying this book in particular because it features Barbara Havers as one of the main characters. Not all of the Inspector Lynley books include Havers and she's my favorite character. I think she's the one I can relate to the most.

Has anyone else read the Inspector Lynley series?

Sven in the Sewer Pt. 2

Putting on the safety harness.

Going down the hole.

Exploring the sewer.

And also the lamp in my living room for some reason. lol

Wrapping up the story.

Spike is very serious about blogging.

"Quit fooling around with the camera!

I'm trying to work here!"

Sven Explores the Sewer!

My favorite meteorologist, Sven, is descending into the sewers tonight on the channel 11 news! Not only is he doing something interesting, he gets to wear a goofy yellow jumpsuit while he does it. (and he'll still probably look cute while wearing something goofy and standing in something smelly.)

I'm so there.

http://www.kare11.com/life/community/simplyscience/default.aspx