It's just Thursday, MKF! 1/29/04

[gorn]

MKF wants to know WTF kohlrabi is. I told her to google it, but MKF doesn't like google.

Thanks for the well-wishes; I am mostly well now. Mostly. Mrs. Gorn caught it next and is now recovering. I feared our Gornling would catch it next, but so far all she's had is a runny nose. An exceptionally runny rose, to be quite honest, and she rubs it on my pants right at the knees. I love her.

You know what else we love, MKF? I know there are probably like three other threads for this, but it's Thursday, MKF! I'm gonna post it here. "Wonder Pets!" is the best goddamn show on TV. Hands down.


And now I am off to take care of my teeth. Happy Thursday to all, a quick recovery to the BlondCavalier.

[gorn]

Is it finally Thursday, MKF? I've had a rough week ... End of the Month is always a busy time for me at work, but with the Suck Coefficient rising week by week at my job, it makes End of the Month that much worse. As a non-female Kitten, I'm guessing End of the Month must be what That Time of the Month is like.

I once read about some African tribe that has a seperate village for women when they're on their period. Seemed kinda backwards and repressive to me, but when I told Mrs. Gorn about she said it sounded wonderful - you wouldn't have to be around any guys, wouldn't have to work, the older women in the village would come and cook for you and look after you, you just relax and take a break until it was over. She said she wished she could go each month, kind of like a mini-vacation. Can't say I ever thought of it that way, and I was genuinely surprised by her reaction (I think that's one of the things I always like about her, though - that she does and says stuff that still surprises me).

I have no idea why I'm talking about this, MKF. This is a weird Thursday.

I still want to know WTF kohlrabi is.

[Boschi]

Yes please, let us speak of kohlrabi. I find it vastly preferable to menstruation huts, though I confess I have no experience with the latter.

Kohlrabi is a funky looking vegetable that is difficult to describe. I swear I have done so in this very thread before, but the search function calls me a liar.

First off the plant looks sort of like collards. Large, thickish, blue green leaves with paler stems and stalk. Now imagine that the base of the stalk, where all the stems connect is pregnant. Seriously. It has this bulbous swelling in the stalk right above ground level.

Have you ever snacked on the core of a broccoli stalk? Peeled off the outer layer to get to the crunchy, sort of sweet core? Kohlrabi is basically the same thing. You peel the skin off the bulbous bit of stem and eat the middle. It's crunchy, sort of like a carrot, only a bit more juicy. The color is a very pale green/white and the flavor is quite sweet for a vegetable, similar to a broccoli stem heart. You can eat it raw or lightly cook it. gorn, if you want to try it I'd say you would prefer the good ole northern european method - kohlrabi gratin. Layer slices of kohlrabi in a pan, pour milk with a little salt and pepper over it all, sprinkle with cheese, and cook in the oven at 350 until the cheese is all melty and a fork slides in and out of the kohlrabi easily. Not too long - maybe half an hour tops.

Alternately, just try the damn thing raw. For what it is worth, two of the (straight) guy farmers I know refer to kohlrabi as "man fruit". It's a guy thing apparently to peel it with your pocket knife in the field and just eat it like an apple. If you try this I recommend muttering "Yah, you betcha, dat's a man fruit" in between bites.

For some images go to:

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/c-32-kohlrabi.aspx

Happy Thursday all. I am a happy girl, despite the big snows. I managed to get the roof and walls on the new greenhouse before the weather got ugly, and will start installing electric and heat next week. I may just survive till spring yet....

Hope all US kittens in the storms path are safe and warm with plenty of booze and food to last until the mess thaws.

- Boschi

[gorn]

We think kohlrabi sounds horrible, don't we, MKF? I know I shouldn't say that, I know vegetables are supposed to be my friends, they'll help me go to the bathroom and fight cancer and all that, but I can't help it - I'm just not a veggie-person. If you wrapped it in bacon, deep-fried it then smothered it in Tabasco, maybe I could give it a try. Maybe.

Man-fruit, huh? Alright, peer pressure works on me. If my hands were dirty and I was cutting it up with a pocket knife out in a field with a bunch of hard-working guys, I'd pretty much have to eat it raw and lie about how much I enjoy it.

I don't know; in small pieces it might be good on pizza. With a beer.

I had a really shitty day today at work, MKF, but then again, every day is getting pretty shitty out there. When I came home, though, I got to watch Wonder Pets with my daughter and eat Mrs. Gorn's curry, so Thursday has at least ended well.

I bet kohlrabi would go well in Mrs. Gorn's curry.

There was something else I wanted to talk about - it crossed my mind during the day when I was hard at work on some bullshit report, and I thought to myself, "I'll write about that tonight in the "It's Just Thursday, MKF! thread"" - but I can't remember what it was now. Don't you hate that, MKF?

Oh, I remember now! Happy Chinese New Year, everyone! There's no Chinatown around here for at least a thousand miles, so I don't get to enjoy Chinese New Year like I used to. Too bad.

[kisstheviolets]

I thought today was Thursday. I really did. I was so stoked to post in this Thread and bask in the glow of Thursday. And then, when I saw that there had been nary a post for a couple of weeks, I looked at the calender and lo', it's Wednesday.

I will be back tomorrow - with tales of gardens and kitties and migraines, oh my!

Happy Wednesday!

[wayland]

I'm off work on Thursdays so I meet up with my writing friend. We beta each other's stories then we reward ourselves with an episode of BtVS, (Season 2 at the moment.)

Thursday is a good day.

[EasierSaid]

I am exhausted, MKF! Between the non-housebroken puppy and sick baby, it has been a doozy of a Thursday so far. Thankfully, the kid is now on antibiotics and napping, and the pooch has been sleeping this afternoon so I've gotten a wee bit of a break from the insanity. Still, I could seriously sleep away the rest of the Thursday, MKF. Hope everyone is having a great day! Hopefully next Thursday will be less of a blur...

[kisstheviolets]

I goofed this post and now can't figure out how to delete it. Hmm..

[kisstheviolets]

Thursday! Woot!!

I have to admit, I'm feeling a little fangirlish and unworthy posting after the amazing EasierSaid, given that I just spent the last two days catching up on Neverland, the fic that brought me to the KB so many years ago (could it have really been over six years ago now?!). I bow down to thee Ms. Said!

Six years on this board. I wonder how long I've been posting in Thursday? I miss you guys! I've been, to quote to sweet 70's band America, one poor correspondent and too, too hard to find, but it doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind. Gorn, Bosch, Leaf, Foo-y, PtS, and so many others (Candleshoe! Sally McFine!) - where are you guys? I guess I know now that Gorn spends his free time avoiding vegetables and making little Gornlings and Bosch lives in partially assembled hoophouses. As for the rest of you out there in the big wide world, I hope you and yours are well.

As for me, lovers o' Thursday, I don't know that much has changed in my world... still with my lovely Special Lady Friend (thinking about proposing), still rocking the civil rights law, still enjoying Portland. I've been going through some weird health stuff for the past three months though. As far as doctors can tell, I am suffering from a three-month-long migraine (seriously!) and have been so debilitated by it recently that I've missed the past two weeks of work. I'm taking advantage of one of the few moments where my vision is clear to type this now. I'm so over it, but it's not the end of the world and I'm hopeful it will get better with a more aggressive drug treatment (plus I'm having an MRI this weekend to rule out anything particularly nasty).

On other depressing news, last weekend one of my cats, Clinton, had to have 500 ml of fluid drained from his lungs. He's been treated for hypothyroidism for the past several months (discovered after he had been drywalled into a house nearby for six days) and apparently it's damaged his heart and he's building up fluid in his lungs. He's having the remainder of the fluid drained this weekend so that we can get a baseline on how long it will take for them to fill back up. If it's very quickly, it looks like he will need to be put to sleep. I've had this guy for almost 11 years, so it's really sad. But mostly I just don't want him to suffer.

Okay, Debbie Downer out. Happy things? I've got a bunch of cute little vegetable seedlings growing in a windowsill (a large windowsill, mind you - 18 3" pots altogether). The SLF got me one of those heated grow pads that are supposed to help jumpstart your germination and whoa did it make mutants of my seeds. Everything got huge so freakin' fast, now I'm hoping they don't outgrow the pots before the garden beds get warm enough to transplant them. I mean, it's the beginning of March for godssake. Have any of you used these Wallo Waterthings before? The gf got me some for the holidays and I'm hoping I can put my plants out in April with them instead of May. I'm going to try warming the soil before I transplant by covering the main bed with a tarp but I have no idea if that will work. This is my third year of gardening and I've turned into an obsessed nerd. Don't ask to see the to-scale color penciled map I did. It's embarrassing. Fortunately, the garden is the one area my girlfriend could care less about and so it's the one area in my home life over which I have total control and dominion. Bwahaha.

Anyway, my Thursday friends, I am going to make more of an effort to check back in and worship communally at the altar of Thursday more regularly (and with less depressing news). I hope you all have celebrated whatever golden nuggets of Thursday life that have come your way today, whether it's nookie, sleeping and mending babies, hours of leisure or a reprieve from hoophouse building.

Peace out, kittens!

[Boschi]

..and the pooch has been sleeping this afternoon so I've gotten a wee bit of a break from the insanity.

Heh. A wee break from the non-housebroken puppy. Giggle. Snort.

I am so juvenile.

I hope, EasierSaid, that the kiddo beams peacefully in slumber and the puppy has a eureka moment and learns to cross it's legs while indoors. May Thursday shine beneficently upon you.

ktv! Thou hast returned to the fold! I confess I haven't been visiting a great deal either of late. Major bummer about the migraines. I hope Thursday also shines on you... in a dim, comforting, non-migraine inducing sort of way. Also best wishes to Clinton.

The sun is shining here today, after two days of heavy, cold greyness. I am thrilled about this, as it means the greenhouse will heat up on it's own and not burn through propane. I have quickly learned that hearing the greenhouse heater kick on is akin to watching dollar bills burst into flame. On the bright side - I have a greenhouse! I know you all get sick of hearing about it, but I'm still pleased as punch. I'm busy filling the benches up with a several thousand seedlings.

ktv, congrats on your seedlings. As for WalloWaters, I have not used them myself, but have heard rave reviews from the gardeners I know who have. Let me know how they work for you.

I wish I had some fantastic thing to share... but my latest discovery was, I believe, here. Somewhere there was a link to MuppetStudios on YouTube.... where I don't remember. If you didn't see it earlier, get on your google and enjoy. Muppet happiness on a Thursday... what could be better....

[gorn]

Been a rough couple of Thursdays, MKF ... sorry for not being around. Lost my job, then there's been the tsunami in Japan. Mrs. Gorn's family is OK, but they live in Fukushima, just outside the evacuation circle of the nuclear plant. Her brother works at the Koriyama hospital, the one you always see on the news where people are getting checked for radiation by people in gas masks and white plastic suits. It's scary.

I was living in Japan during 9/11, and I remember how hard it was at that time being so far away. So helpless, so homesick. I spent hours and hours, day after day just watching the news, wishing there was something I could do ... and now I see that same haunted look in my wife's face as she watches the news here. I try to tell her to take a break, to put her mind on something else for a while, but she can't.

I saw JustSkipIt posting in the "How do you give back" thread, and I would encourage anyone who can to send something. If you have nothing, then send your prayers. If you know any Japanese people at your work or school, tell them you're praying for their families. The nuclear reactors are dominating the news, but there are thousands upon thousands of people who have lost everything. Food, gas, electricity are hard to come by, and it is very, very cold up there.

I hope better Thursdays are coming.

[EasierSaid]

Short post tonight - just wanted to thank you, gorn, for the note about your wife's family. I have been wondering since I first heard the earthquake news, and am relieved that they are as well as they can be given the uncertainty over there. Our thoughts are definitely with everyone in Japan.

[Boschi]

Life isn't all that great, it seems, of late. But it is Thursday, and here I am.

I have had breakfast, i got a ton of work done the last couple days, and I have clean socks. Things could be much, much worse.

I wish everyone clean socks. Fluffy, fresh, pamper your feet socks. I think that one is doable.

Huh. Perhaps this is foot-fetish Thursday, but I will now describe my socks. Feel free to do the same.

Wool blend hiking socks, one blue, one brown (why match sock colors really???). They have nice cushy padding along the bottom and that squeezy section around my arch. They will be great in my boots.

[Willowtree252]

I too am thinking of you and your family gorn my heart goes out to all the family's in Japan. Please keep us updated.

I think I will be naughty and go with naked feet today.

[gorn]

All things considered, I had a pretty good Thursday, MKF. And it's not just my clean socks.

(I know I'm risking the ire of damn near every Kitten out there, but I've got to be up-front and honest about this - I can't remember the last time I didn't have clean socks ... thanks to Mrs. Gorn. I know, I know, I feel kinda bad about it, but the horrible truth is before I was domesticated I would occassionally ... actually often ... turn my socks inside out and wear them again the next day, particularly if I was just sitting around the house. This horrifies Mrs. Gorn to no end, and she washes my socks religiously to prevent me from doing this.)


Alright, MKF, I'm going to keep talking about my socks, but this is NOT the reason I came here today. Goddammit, Boschi ...


This is my real Stinky Socks story; that bit about turning them inside out is true, but to be perfectly honest they don't stink all that bad when I do/did it. It was my first year in Japan, and I was coming up on the end of a ten day sight-seeing trip. To save money, I was crashing the last night at this girl's house I used to know from university; she was in Japan teaching on the same program I was, and she happened to live close to the airport. Anyway, I hadn't packed enough socks, and I'd been wearing my current pair for a few days. Most of the time I'd just been traveling on my own, so it wasn't a big deal. It was winter, too, so they were the big grey wolly kind, pretty comfy, the only ones like that I'd packed.

The two of us had been out together most of that day, she was showing me around her town, all the touristy kind of things to see, and then we'd done a hefty bit of drinking after dinner. Real hefty, because foreigners fresh off the boat in Japan who lived out in little communities like we did tend to get cabin fever pretty bad - when you go out and have a beer with someone who actually speaks your language, you enjoy it SO much you don't stop at one or two or three or four.

So we stagger back to her place well after midnight, and I crash on the floor next to her bed. She didn't have a sofa - a lot of folks don't have much furniture over there - just her bed and a spare futon. We're still laughing and talking about whatever it was we were talking about, and I remember suddenly that I'm wearing these nasty stank woolen socks. I'm afraid to take them off in front of her, so I quickly hide my feet under the blanket and discreetly kick them off, hoping she won't notice as long as they stay under the blanket (I'd been drinking, so this seemed like the best thing to do).

Lights are out, she's in her bed, I'm on the floor next to it on the futon, and neither one of us can sleep. We just keep talking and talking, like neither one of us really want the day to come to an end. You know that feeling? I'm actually having a really good time ... but in the back of my mind I'm scheming for a way to smuggle these foul socks out from under the blanket and into my suitcase without her noticing. She drank as much as I did, surely she'd have to get up and go to the bathroom sooner or later ... ?

Well, no such luck. Finally she says that's it's weird talking like this in the dark with me on the floor, so she climbs out of bed and lays down on the futon next to me. It was a big futon, it wasn't like she was snuggling up to me, but I'm still thinking, "whoa, hot damn!" I mean, we were both drunk & single, why the hell not? I haven't mentioned she was beautiful, but she was. Blond hair, kind of a kinky perm, bright green eyes, real curvy ... you know where this is going? Well, not there. Nothing happened that night. I was petrified that she'd find those goddamn socks under my blanket, and I never made a move. At one point she was sitting up with her back against the bed, and when we finally ... finally ... fell asleep, she went and laid down the other way, with her head at my feet.

You ever want to stand up, pull out your hair and just yell, "FUUUUCK!!!!" ? That was kinda how my night ended. As soon as I heard her snoring (yeah, she snored, and it was the cutest fucking thing you ever heard in your life), I delicately, gently, silently, like a reject from ninja school snuck those socks out from under the blanket and buried them way, way down in the depths of my suitcase. When I finally got home, I burned those fucking socks in a furnace.

There's a happy ending to all of this, though. For a while at least, there was. She came up to stay with me a couple months later, and what should've happened that night happened almost right way without those damn socks to get in the way. We took a few more trips around Japan together before she finally went back to the States, and to this day those trips are some of the best memories of my life. Not to say that I'm not happy now, but that was a special time in my life you can't ever go back to. We were young, no worries, living an adventure overseas most people only dream about ... but we were also lonely, different from everyone else, far away from home in a strange land. We bonded in that short time in a way that probably isn't really possible under different cirumstances.

She asked me once why I didn't do anything that first night, and I told her the truth about those socks. She laughed and said she never even noticed. Much ado about nothing, I guess.

Kinda like this entire post. I'm sorry, MKF. I don't know what put me in this mood tonight, other than perhaps the normal mystery of Thursday. I had no intention of talking about socks or any of the rest of this, it just sort of happened.

Happy Thursday, all.

[EasierSaid]

Hell yes, MKF! Baseball is back, and on a Thursday no less. It's like the baseball gods realized any other day wouldn't do. I have my son dressed in Giants orange and I'm contemplating opening a bag of peanuts I have stashed someplace. Life is very good. Hope everyone is having as blissful a day!

(gorn, hilarious sock story. If I had checked in last week I would have passed along that the majority of my socks have holes in them, courtesy of a very mouthy puppy. Sigh.)

[Boschi]

Found a peanut? (Found a peanut, found a peanut just now, just now I found a peanut, found a peanut just now....)

Ahem. And that is as close to singing as you will ever see me get. Consider it a gift.

gorn, thank you for my favorite sock story ever. I was drinking milk when I read your story and yes, milk really did come out my nose. Gross, I know, but true.

I am sort of taking the day off. No field work for me today, just some paperworky stuff (dear god, I have to do taxes soon... sigh). I have finished most of my organic certification paperwork, now I need to work on a grant final report, then I really should tackle the dishes and cleaning up the bedroom.

So I guess I'm not really taking the day off, but I get to stay in my pjs and watch silly PBS shows involving fairly irrelevant topics like blacksmithing. Random note: Did you know that no true wrought iron has been manufactured in the US for more than 60 years? Also, apparently wrought iron has grain, much like wood.

Now ya know.

ktv, I want to come visit your hipster farm when it is up and running. It sounds kinda relaxing. So get this migraine thing taken care of and hop to. For a slightly grittier, kinda annoyingly hipster but still fun book, try Farm City by Novella Carpenter.

[Leaf]

Goodness it's been a long time, MKF.

I've been working like a nut and pioneering new personal horizons of exhaustion and burnout. But to hell with that, I say! I just put my wife through grad school (She graduates in 6 weeks! And, yes, I've been counting!) working as a freaking massage therapist. Recession, I cordially invite you to suck it.

The past year has been something of a culinary adventure too. Mrs. Leaf and I have been following an anti-inflammatory diet in attempt to prevent flareups of this chronic eye condition that she has been dealing with for the past 4 years. It's been remarkably successful, but has required the sacrifice of many dearly beloved foodstuffs. I never imagined it possible, but I am now that girl who has no sugar or flour or butter in her kitchen, but does stock nutritional yeast and flax seeds, and is thiiiis close to perfecting her kale chip recipe. Yikes. Peanuts, fortunately, are still allowed.

Unrelated to edibles, forbidden or otherwise, I would like to present to you the Decorah eagle cam: http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles
My brother the harpsichording wunderkind did a teaching stint in Decorah, IA last year and spoke frequently about the abundance of eagles. I've never seen an eagle in my life, so I find this just deliriously cool. Eagles! 6 foot nest! Imminent hatching! Go, watch, waste hours!

I hope everyone is well. Gorn, my thoughts are with you and the Mrs. and her family. Thursday love to all.

Leaf

[kisstheviolets]

Thursday!!

Gorn, that story was amazing! While no fluid were expelled from my nose, I laughed heartily.

i'm presently under the influence of a very nice drug of some kind prescribed by my dentst for anxiety related to dental work. one of the side effects is that i may do any of the following and have no recollection of it:

* talk on the phone
* cook
* eat
* drive
* have sex

The special lady friend better watch out tonight! The last time I took these pills we had a whole lengthy relationship talk, I woke up without pants on, and remembered none of it. She had no idea I was impaired in any way and did not believe that I could not remember. She could get me to agree to anything! Eek!

Heather - so cute about your son in his Giants orange. My girlfriend is a Giants fan (with the A's as her AL backup... Mom is a Giant's fan, Dad's an A's). I'm a Red Sox fan by way of the Angels (my family's team growing up as I'm a So Cal'er) but got into the Sox in law school in New England. My girlfriend's mom once made a comment about how she couldn't wait to buy little Giants gear for our someday kids. And I said, "They'll be Sox fans." She said, "Like hell any grandchild of mine will!" And I replied calmly, "You want your grandkids raised Jewish, right? Then they're going to be Sox fans. The Giants can be their backup NL team. Maybe." She paused for a moment and said, "That's actually fair." Score!!

I just got this thing to make some compost and compost tea in my sweet garden. I'm stoked. I've got stuff going on the next couple of weekends (labor rally with the SLF's work at the canadian border, and a trip for our anniversary) but then i ned to get busy prepping my beds and getting in the my colder weather starts. I can't wait! And Bosch, you can come check out my silly little garden anytime. But I'm telling you, if I get chickens I'm calling it a farm! haha.

And Leafy!! Soooo excited to hear from you!!! No sugar? Does that mean no waffles? Do you eat these things when you're away from the wifey? It's like during Passover at our house, I'll eat matzoh and forsake all prohibited matter while at home or out with E, but if I'm out with out her? Give me a bacon cheeseburger on a super wheaty bun. I'm glad it's working for her eye though!! And congrats on getting her through school! You rock!

OKay, well happy Thursday all. I'm off to forget about ever making this post and hopefully removing my pants! I just hope I don't strangle myself in them in my sleep. That would be bad.

Peace out kittens!

[wayland]

Sweet Thursday.

Yesterday I had a visit to the dentist which I had been dreading for the past two weeks. Alas, she gave me no nice drugs, but she was kind and reassuring and I survived.

I woke up this morning much poorer but the sun was shining and my personal black cloud was gone.

Happy Thursday everyone.

[gorn]

Don't even start with the socks today, MKF. I got serious things I want to talk about and I'm not gonna get sidetracked.

This perhaps could go in the "What I Meant To Say" thread, but it's Thursday today and I'm gonna say what I meant to say last Thursday. Or rather, the Thursday before that. We had our sonogram two weeks ago, and IT'S A GIRL! Another girl! I was ever-so-slightly hoping for a boy only so I could go to the football games, but Mrs. Gorn was quick to remind me that we wouldn't have to buy new clothes and we wouldn't have to paint another room. Works for me.

And we've chosen a name - Sarah. I like to tell my more liberal friends we're naming her after Sarah Palin just so I can see the look on their face, but the truth is we both just like the name. And it's easy to pronounce in Japanese, which is important for my wife's side of the family. There's also the story of Sarah, Abraham's wife in the Bible, who was barren until God finally gave her a son, Isaac - neither one of us is quite as religious as we'd like to be, but we had a lot of trouble concieving our first daughter and this story kind of speaks to us. We've just now found out in looking up the name on-line that it means "princess" in Hebrew, and that pretty much sealed the deal.

There, that's what I wanted to say last Thursday.

Fast-forward to this Thursday. I was up in Indianapolis for an interview yesterday, they called today and offered me the position. About ten minutes later, a local company called me to come in for an interview tomorrow morning. They orginally wanted me to come in on Monday, but I told them up front I had another offer and they agreed to see me right away. I take that as a pretty good sign. No guarantee they're going to make me an offer, but at least they are interested. I'd kind of prefer to stay where I am and not have to move in the middle of Mrs. Gorn's pregnancy, but if this local company doesn't come through at least I know I've got another option.

Mrs. Gorn is fine either way because she's a Colts fan, and you've got to admit - it's much better to be a Colts fan than a Titans fan. We'd also be about two hours away from Chicago (the job is actually about an hour or so north of Indianapolis), and Mrs. Gorn is quite excited about that because there's a large Japanese shopping center in Chicago. Also got a direct flight to Japan.

So Thursday works its magic again on me. As wayland said above, "the sun was shining and my personal black cloud was gone." This has been an extremely scary time in the Gorn household, and I'm grateful for all the prayers & well-wishes I recieved from the Kittenboard. People who know nothing about Thursday or the Kittenboard will simply assume I'm getting offers because I'm smart, talented and incredibly charming in interviews, but the reality is prayers & well-wishes work. Don't be too shy or too proud to come here and ask your fellow Kittens for help. Kittens make good Karma.

Happy Thursday, MKF!

[EasierSaid]

First of all, wayland and gorn, I'm so happy to hear you're having great Thursdays. That's just brilliant, and gorn, Sarah is a beautiful name. Congrats on girl number two and the job offers.

I'm sick again, MKF. WTF, MKF! I suspect it happened when I spent some time with some germ factory toddlers earlier in the week; those snot monsters are infectious! So, on the negative side I've been all fevery and gross feeling all day. On the positive side, my wife and son had a lot of one-on-one time today and had a great day being silly together. It always makes me smile to see them laughing and having fun, so at least I was smiling through my sneezes.

Hope the rest of you out there are having a fantabulous day and that none of you are sick!

[Boschi]

This thread just makes me happy.

Leaf - really damn good to see a post from you - glad to hear that you are triumphing over kale chips, inflammation, graduate school tuition and the damn recession. Top o' the world, ma, top o' the world. And the eagles? I am currently watching them and can report that eaglets have an amazing ability to shoot poop long distances at high speeds. They clear the edge of the nest no problem. Truly impressive.

wayland - I hope this Thursday is marvelous and good for you without any dental work involved.

gorn - take heart, perhaps little Sarah will be a football player after all. Or a cheerleader. How do you feel about basketball? Chess tournaments?

ktv - do you remember posting last Thursday?

all other thursday-kateers.... happy thoughts

At any rate.... today is my Thursday to have a little, good-natured rant about convenience foods.

Which, to clarify, I have a bit of a love affair with. Super processed foods, particularly ones that come in odd, dayglo colors in bizarre packaging. There really is something oddly compelling about eating something so far removed from "natural" state. Cheese puffs for instance; cheese in a spray can, etc. Gotta love'em somehow. I like Spam. Seriously.

And I know that frozen or pre-packed meals that folks can just whip out of the freezer or can or straight from the grocery shelves can be really awesome and even reasonable healthy. (But don't get me started on frozen diet lunch entrees... that is some gross shit).

But. (You knew it had to be coming, didn't you). What the bleep is up with folks who can't psychologically handle eating anything unless it comes in a box with pictures of food on it? I swear, folks will snatch up a box with pictures of, say, green beans, on it but will have a panic attack if confronted with fresh green beans. And these real green beans aren't wilty, gross, bug-eaten, over grown beans. They are clean, fresh, un-blemished, properly harvested and refrigerated "filet" beans (really tender, slender and stringless).

Everyone seems programmed to buy packages. It even holds true at the farmers market. If I have a big basket of tasty green beans, few people are comfortable filling a bag on their own. But if I pre-pack zip-loc bags? People go nuts over them. I'm fairly sure if I put a sticker of some happy-dappy-dippy farm scene on the bag people would buy them with even more enthusiasm.

Am thinking I should go into the packaging industry.

So that is my Thursday WTF. Thanks for listening.

[Leaf]

Today was a beautiful day, MKF. 65 degrees, and the sun even came out in the afternoon. New York is so very pretty in the spring. The winter kind of makes you want to shoot yourself in the head, not so much because the cold is extreme - it's not really, but you are stuck out in it an awful lot. And the gray and the dreary and the wet and the cold just linger for freaking ever. But today all sorts of things were blooming and parks were packed with people and I took of the scarf and unbuttoned the coat and did not hurry on my way home from the train. In fact, I moseyed.

I am looking forward to this weekend big time. Mrs. Leaf and I give ourselves a cheat day from our diet once a month, and April's cheat day is happening on Saturday. I am giddy with anticipation. This month's indulgence plans include a visit to an awesome neighborhood pie joint, my first encounter with poutine, and most importantly, coffee. Sigh. Coffee is the one forbidden thing on this diet that always tastes absolutely as good as I remember it. By the end of the day I will likely feel vaguely ill and ready to go back to the kale chips, but I will enjoy the heck out of it in the meantime.

Boschi - regarding eagle poop - amazing, right?!? How do they do that?
Also, I am envisioning some Magritte style surrealist packaging on your little ziploc bags "Ceci n'est pas une bean..."

Happy Thursday all!
Leaf

[gorn]

Went to work today, MKF. My first working Thursday in a while, and it feels good. Nice to be back in the saddle. Only bad thing about this job ... so far ... is that they start at 6:45 IN THE MORNING!! Can you believe it, MKF? What kind of company starts work at 6:45 in the morning? Well, whatever. I'm gonna cut 'em some slack because I'm just that happy to be employed again.

The local company made me an offer I couldn't refuse. We'll be staying in the Bluegrass State a little longer afterall.

I gotta get up early tomorrow, MKF, so that's it for now. G'night!

[kisstheviolets]

I am in a piss poor mood that I am not sure if even Thursday can save me from. My damned cat Clinton, who I was told was dying in February and who is miraculously NOT dying apparently, ate several of my vegetable starts today. Persian cucumber, green beans, several cute little broccoli and a leaf off of my red ruffled bell pepper plant. I want to make a hat out of him.

Then I had a guy out today to look at our "lawn" because it's overrun with weeds and moss and I wanted to get it de-thatched and aerated and the guy ends up suggesting we round-up the whole thing, add three-yards of soil and start over. Kind of doesn't go with the whole do-no evil, organic vibe I've had going on out in the yard (which may be why the weeds are winning, but still) and would cost like $400. Way more than we were planning to spend. Now what to do? Yard experts anyone?

But jobs, pies, green beans, and little babies named Sarah? Okay, I guess Thursday can save me after all! I could have bigger problems than a stupid yard and a silly cats who eats my plants.

Argh... the little lady needs me to help her pickle some salmon for passover so I am going to skeedaddle. Happy Thursday peeps!

[EasierSaid]

Boschi, I would totally buy your veggies without a bag. But it would make my day if you had a sticker for me to put on my shirt as well. Smiling cartoon veggies are AWESOME. Just, no cannibal veggies. It always wigs me out when I see a drawing of a carrot eating a carrot. Seriously, WTF is that about.

Leaf, coffee is awesome. In fact, now I may just have to have some tomorrow even thought I have given it up for tea recently. But coffee... sweet, sweet coffee (though not sweet coffee, sugar in coffee is gross)... /drool.

gorn, yay for job, especially one that doesn't mean uprooting your family. But 6:45?! That is a some bullcrap. 6:45 is when you wake up, look at the clock and are relieved because you have like another 40 min or so to snooze. I don't think I would be able to truly function at that time, coffee or no. I worked a 6-3 shift occasionally in high school and I honest-to-god don't remember anything that happened during that period of time because I was on severe autopilot. I can't imagine having to be creative or proactive in that state! On the plus side though, if you end up with one of those weird kids that won't sleep past 6, or that gets easily flustered by time changes, you're golden!

KTV, your kitty just has good taste! If it makes you feel any better, my dog has explosive diarrhea and thinks I, as in me, my person, flesh and bone, is her new favorite chew toy. Grrr... As for the lawn, my organic lawn-hating friends (those that would like water wise plants or hardscaping in place of grass) all agree that Round-up is the only way to go. According to these experts, no true organic method will kill the grass, which is a super duper invasive plant. If you want to really get rid of the grass, you gotta Round up. Totally sucks, but true. Best of luck!

And as for me, just happy to be happy. The last two or three weeks have been really, really hard emotionally and today felt like a little ray of sunshine, dog pooping liquid feces notwithstanding. We're putting together our son's Easter basket tomorrow and I'm really excited; he's getting a lot of cool, non-candy stuff that I think he'll really like, including baby carrot seeds. I doubt he'll remember this year, he's still too young, but it's still fun to be starting this tradition. Hope everyone else has had a fantastic Thursday!

[Boschi]

Wowza... I hope this Thursday finds any and all Kittens and friends safe from tornado damage. Craziness down south in the U.S.

Here it is cold and damp, perfect weather to cause all those seeds I put out in the field to rot instead of germinating. I am hoping the 80 degree forecast for Friday (followed shortly by 40s) will be enough warmth to kindle something radical in the seeds. Just a little plant bio humor there... forgive me. It's so early gorn isn't even at work yet and I'm not quite awake.

I have been a good little responsible person this week and finally gotten a replacement cell phone. I lost the old one a couple weeks ago and procrastinated horribly replacing it. I have to say it was pretty marvelous untying myself all sorts of obligations by simply not replying to calls or messages. Dreadfully irresponsible, but marvelous.

But now I am once again connected to the world, and should start catching up on all those things I neglected. Le sigh, as ktv would say.

Hello, hello to all, and now goodbye. The grindstone awaits....

[Paint the Sky]

Hey all, long time no type:)

I've been off work all week and it's been heaven. Although, given the amount of work I've had to do in my own garden I may as well have been at work, but, as I sit here with a smug smile, I can look out my windows and see grass nicely mown, and hedges well and truly clipped within an inch of their leafy lives. I treated myself to a pair of cordless Bosch hedge shears for my birthday, and I'm totally in love with them - 18v lithium ion battery and 48cm's of tireless blade - beautiful!!! If you have hedges, get yourself a pair, you won't regret it.

The only thing left to do is some power washing on the patio, but I'm saving that for tomorrow so I can escape everything Royal Wedding-y.

Kate and William, William and Kate ... blah, blah, blah! The only thing it's good for is giving me another public holiday so I can save an annual leave day!

My best to everyone - Gorn and Mrs.Gorn with their fabulous new Gornling on the way, to KTV, hope the headaches get easier and the organic gardening goes well (I sent you a PM on lawn care). Boschi, loved the radical horticultural humour and I hope your lil seeds germinate.

[gorn]

Did she say "gorn isn't even at work yet," MKF? That was posted at 6:42am - I was already in the office pouring my first cup of coffee. Did I mention coffee is FREE at my new job? Previous employer made us laborers pool our resources and buy our own. I guess if my new company wants us coming in at 6:45am, they damn well better make sure we've got coffee. It's a necessary productivity expense.

I'm loving the new job, but starting at 6:45am really, really sucks. And lunch is still at noon! What's up with that??

Trivia question - how many cell phones has Boschi plowed into the earth?

Have a happy Thursday, MKF!