Found Object Meow!

This piece of broken resin appeared magically in the parking lot at work, and I horrified my germaphobic coworker, Robofriend, by picking it up and pocketing it. But garbage can also be a wing, Robo. Fat, shabbily drawn kitties need some way to get around.

Found?

There are few things that I do with any kind of regularity. Remember my vitamin? Mostly. Go to the grocery store every weekend? Hahaha, you're kidding, right? Shave my legs? Uhhh, we won't talk about that. But, one thing that I have done consistantly for the last five years is watch Lost, which is coming to an end this Sunday. (Alright, I'll confess that I strayed briefly while Top Chef was on last season, but it was only because I loved me some Carla Hall (Hootie Hoo!) and I used to watch TC on Wednesday and then catch the rerun of Lost the next week, and ABC stopped and it screwed my perfectly thought out plan. Jerkfaces. Ahem. Anyways.)

It's not a perfect show, but it wasn't boring, either. Psychic kids! A mysteriously moored ship in the middle of a jungle! Time travel, sorta! It was smart, with literary references abound. And it could and can be so ruthless and daring that it makes me wonder how a television show can toy with my emotions with the severity it does! I mean, I'm still sad that they killed Hobbit.

So, in memory of Lost and the many hours I've devoted to it, here are a few links:

Dude. I so want this shirt. And maybe about a dozen more from these lists compiled by Coty Gonzalez.

(Side note, can we please take a moment and recognize the fact that this guy reviews t-shirts for a living? I do believe that when someone first used the word "Sweet!" to describe something that was incredibly awesome, they were talking about this guy's job, whether they knew it or not.)

This guy goes and does all the dirty work, digging up the all the literary, biblical, philosophical, and pop culture based references and compiles it all into a massive recap of the most recently aired episode. Sometimes what he comes up with sounds so amazing that it would be super dissapointing if he were wrong.

But for a bit of levity, please check out the The Ack Attack's Lost Recaps. Seriously. Anyone who name checks Kimmy Gibbler and quotes Wayne's World in one go is full of win.

And as a knitter, I have to say that I really want some of this yarn, with colorways inspired by the show. There's some Polar Bear in the Jungle that needs to be made into a pair of socks. If you know how to wield two sticks, or a hook, or a loom (<-- like Jacob and the Man In Black's crazy adoptive mom!) check out Sheepy Time Knits.

So Lost, adios. I'll miss you, and the updates from these sites. But not the time suck.

Deep in the Heart

Sometimes being from the fine city of Houston is uncomfortable.

One of my good friends, Marie, and I have an ongoing conversation that we started ten years ago when we were roommates. We realized that we shared the same anxious experience. Everytime we heard something horrible on the national news, we would wait (sometimes with eyes closed as though making a wish) in the hope that we would not hear that it had happened in Texas. It was amazing how often we were disappointed.

Perhaps it's self-centered of us (and no one accuses Texas of being a humble state), but it just seemed that we got more than our fair share (of the pecan pie?) of horrifying news: the Luby's Cafeteria shooting in Kileen, the Waco Siege, The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom, and so on. My mind goes back to the nightmarish story of the UT Tower shootings in 1966 and the lush Texan lawn evident in the background of the Zupruder film as JFK is murdered. And don't forget that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is based on a true story. These are the stories we grew up with and there are some I can't even bear to type. Sure, everything's bigger in Texas. But every time we heard more absurdly bad news about Texas -- the man who flew his plane into the IRS building in Austin most recently -- one of us would mention it to the other as though adding to the long list of evidence against ourselves.

Sometimes we tried to defend ourselves. We tried to tell ourselves, at least initially, was that all this mortality and absurdity happened somewhere else. Dallas (our arch rival) or Austin (our cooler, wilder sibling). But distancing ourselves from these stories never seemed to work.

Guess where infamous astronaut Lisa Nowak lived?
Houston.

Where did Michael Jackson's shady-sounding doctor practice?
Well, that would be Houston, Texas, Ma'am.

What home to Haliburton was also the headquarters of Enron before its embarrassing, disasterous decline.
Yes, ok. Houston.

And I can't diminish the misery of these incidents. All I can reiterate is that Texas is a big place, and Houston is the biggest place in it. So, a lot of good and bad is going to happen here.

When Lousiana evacuees fled to Houston after Katrina, Houston showed a generosity of which I was genuinely proud - extending time and money and compassion. Nevermind the news stories. I was there. I saw it. One of the stories I've chosen to embrace is of Louisianans who heard that the travellers who had landed in their Louisiana bar were from Houston instructed them, "Your money is no good here" and bought them more drinks than they wanted all night long.

After growing up in the shadow of these stories, it's nice to know folks are sometimes happy to see us coming. We may be the state famous for its longstanding criminalization of sodomy, but Houston was also the first city with over a million people to elect a gay mayor. We're a cowboy city of shocking ethnic and cultural diversity. Our fabulous Art Car Parade is the biggest in the world. (So take that, Austin!) Our rodeo is also the biggest in the world. (And take that, Dallas!) And don't get me started about the food here or I really will start crying.

Many of my fellow Houstonians seem to share my deep but troubled love for our hometown. Houston. It's Worth it. is a beautiful illustration of what I'm talking about. Despite the enormous flying cockroaches (you'll notice everytime you see one you think it's the biggest you've ever seen), the hundred year long summers,the regular threat of hurricanes apocolypse and a bad reputation all around... we discover that we love it here.

To change the tone in our ten year long dialog, Marie, let me suggest this: Let's just quit flinching during the news. Come on. Where else would you going to get your Chicken Fried Steak? Only here, where the stars at night are big and bright.

Double Jeopardy Two-Boy Weekend Showdown!!

I really think that you're going to be tell which posts are mine by the exclamation points in the titles, if my first two are any indication.

Anywho.

Back in the day, I was awkward. And when I say awkward, please know that I mean AWK-WHERD. It was painful. I was nerdy, with these horrible green plastic glasses, and terribly, horrifically shy. but I loved to read. So after one fateful book fair, I came home with some of the Sweet Valley High books. I was certain that at any moment my parents would cotton to the fact that I was reading about *gasp!* high schoolers and what couldn't possibly be age-appropriate adventures! I mean, they drove around town in their shiny red Fiat by themselves! They had hunky boyfriends! They went to co-ed parties! And in every other book they managed to dodge death and/or a coma! What dorky girl with a bad perm her grandmother forced on her wouldn't want to escape to sunny California where everyone's hair is sun-kissed and wears a size six?

(Do I sound sheltered? I blame Catholic school.)

Eventually, I grew up, got some self-esteem, and some glasses that are a little more Tina Fey and a little less Sally Jesse Raphael. The books I read now have plausible plot lines and multisyllabic words that aren't "dreamy" or "crumpled" (which is the only way the twin's perfect faces know how to express emotion, BTW). And I didn't think about the world of Sweet Valley for a very long time. (I am still nerdy, though. Nerdy and proud!)

Until I found this website, and could not stop cracking up. The switch was flipped. Now that you mention it, it was weird that Elizabeth and Todd never went all the way. Those Twilight prudes eventually did the nasty, so why not E&T? Why did no one ever insist that Jessica go see a shrink to try to curb the pathological lying? And good lord but those girls ate, and yet they always fit into those little bikinis. So please, enjoy the snark. If you have even a faint recollection of these books, you won't be sorry.

In Which I Narrowly Escape With My Bank Account

I heart everything about Wondermark and want to recommend it with an enthusiasm that borders on cult-y. So, keep that in mind as you keep reading. When we came upon David Malki in the Houston "Comicpalooza" last month, it was all I could do not to shovel everything at his table into my bag, including him. He's a grown man deserving of respect, but I can't help it if I wanted to put him in my pocket. Luckily, my partner understood and nodded indulgently as I chatted with him, but also luckily for us both, she didn't let me buy the whole table of merchandise. Visit now, but at your own risk: #111; In which Henry pedals for his life

I, I Love You..... Octopus!

This is the true story of a man, a man who had his video camera stolen by a rogue octopus. I seriously thought that this would be three minutes and 21 seconds of random sea life, kind of like when you give a video camera to a toddler and get up-close and personal with her nostrils, or the undersides of her toys. And there is some of that, but the addition of Steve Zissou-esque subtitles make it seem So! Much! More! Exciting!

You're Alive, So Go On and Show It.

This is a very inspirational video. Prepare for your life to be changed. This song is also excellent for meowing along to. Try it!