The Big Lebowski - Gutterballs

Oh yeah! I wanted to see this today... hope you enjoy it too. Yeah, yeah oh yeah... what condition my condition was in.

Okay... you can all blame Tara for this post. She did one of those things on Facebook where you take a quiz and find out what movie character you are. I'm The Dude! Of course that's what three or four of us ending up being, including Tara and Laura b. and myself... but hey... dudes attract dudes it seems. How could I resist with all that dudage?

I tried getting a writing prompt from Squeaky. I said... what is the funniest thing you remember from childhood? He insisted that nothing funny ever happened. I find this disturbing. Surely he had a few laughs. I did! I thought my kids were hysterical. But then Squeaky is the most serious of the bunch. So I gave up on that.

I think Squeaky suppresses things. I asked him if he remembered getting his drawing titled "B Bunny B" in an art display at the town to the left's art museum.

He said NO. But I know he remembers it. They even had a gala opeing for it... well and other kids art work... with sparkling cider and party weenies, etc. He was very proud of it then. But Squeaky is a writer, not an artist. So maybe it wasn't as big a deal to him as it was to his parents. If I recall correctly, he was wearing his first cast on that night.

Squeaky is an emergency room child. All of them have done lovely things to their bodies over the years. But Squeaky does the best injuries. Let's see... there was the time he was playing in the pick up bed and fell out onto concrete and split his head open. I had a devil of a time convincing the insurance folk that it was not an auto accident just because he had been in the back of one. Sheesh... learn from this.... never mention a vehicle at a hospital or doctor's office or the insurance companies fight over which one has to pay... medical or auto.

Then there was the time that he was playing with the neighbor kid. Did you ever have one kid sit on the ground with his feet up... you sit on them and then they launch you? Well Squeaky broke his wrist the first time that way... the day before he began kindergarten... with his left hand and yes, he is left handed.

Then there was the time when I was on the committee that decided to remove the old wooden play structure at the school and replace it with nice, new plastic stuff like they have at restaurants now. Yep... conviced the powers that be that we needed something nice and safe and then with the help of the PTO, we raised the money to do it. The SECOND day our safe playground was open... Sqeaky falls off a platform not two feet off the ground and somehow managed to break his elbow in three places... on the fresh new bark dust. Miraculous really when you think about it.

A very irrated principal called me in to tell me my son claimed he was hurt and needed his mom. Too late, I was on my way to see him after seeing Squeaky's arm. I said, well yes, I would need to take him to a doctor. He felt that Squeaky should just shake it off and go on with the day. I said "Bob, he has two elbows on one arm... that's just wrong." That one required a specialist. Squeaky tells me on the way home that when he fell, he got up and was goofing around and said "I broke my arm" as a joke... then he panicked when he realized that he really couldn't move it... then he ran to find me. Good thing I worked at the school and was handy.

Its all pay back. Every child injury for what I put my folks through over the years. Oh well, at least none of them played football. I count myself lucky that there were no severed parts to reattach and though all have had stiches, not in the number that I amassed. Yet if nothing else, all the things I managed to do to myself did teach me to be able to ignor blood and parts at weird angles... to keep my calm. If you the parent acts scared, it scares the begeebus out of your kids. I think I may have mentioned before that I tend to laugh at them when they get hurt. Now Bear does it with Turkey. My great legacy to my daughter. Ha.

Okay... as for my day, my favorite frog made it a nice one with emails and a call later, though he was exhausted. I really enjoy this one. He's funny and smart and has done a lot of things that are interesting. Ended my social evening on a great note. As for the other frogs... have a date at noon for luch to meet one, another frog who lives close returned from family holiday stuff... and a new frog peeped in.

Life in the pond goes on.

Well I hope you had a good day. I love to laugh and laugh I did. I hope something gave you a great giggle or two today. Do any of you have plans yet for the New Years Eve thing? If so... whatcha doing?

Now here is another bit of Mr. L to amuse you... please... laugh, it's good for you.

The Big Lebowski The Dudes Song

A tribue to The Dude in my favourite movie of all time, The Big Lebowski set to the classic looking out my backdoor by Creedence Clearwater



And remember... The Dude abides! And so do I. Now I promised my favorite frog that I would do something for him... I best get on it.

Good Rats... 1,2,3,4!

Almost New Years... so how about a good old drinking song? The first voice you hear on this is none other than Shane McGowan of The Pogues. Cool beans! What could be better than The Dropkick Murpys AND Shane Mc Gowan? The answer? Not a whole lot!

Hey I had a nice day... hope you all did too. Not that I did much that was exciting. Okay there was one happy one! Otherwise... A nice normal slow Sunday. I opened my day talking to my current favorite frog. This time I am not telling which. Go ahead and guess if you like. Not really important is it? Naw. A different frog asked me out on a date this week. Hummmm.... this one lives fairly close. I will meet him and give him a fair chance, but I have to say... I don't think I have much in common with this one. He is older than me. No Sean Connery. But you never know unless you try right? Fair is fair.

Otherwise, I worked in the house for a time. Did a bit of grocery shopping. These boys here all think they need to be fed. Imagine that! Let's see... Boo popped in for a bit and drove me around, spent a bit of time with his old mom. Then he took Max up river to visit Max's friends and to get him out of Dumb Potter's Hell. I ran into Max's current gal friend while shopping. I've actually known her for a very long time. So it goes in Dumb Potter's Hell.

Squeaky is home again and he and Lorn are fighting the good battle on any number of games. I have not seen X much of late... we are settling into a good pattern of letting each other live their lives apart. But we still touch bases daily. His crap of a boss left town without paying him is wages for the week. Girrrrr... people like that bug me. So I have worried that he had what he needs. Its the holidays for heaven's sake and no one should go without. But he is holding his own.

The Bear has been difficult to find. What's up with that Bear?

I have been thinking a lot about rain. Yes... I know, what a weird thing to think much about. But you see, I was born on a very rainy day and for years on end, it rains on my birthday no matter where I seem to be living. Granted, it is the rainy time of year that I was born.

I loved the rain in California. There, where I grew up in Fresno, it would rain hard for an hour or so, then the sun would break through and the day would turn to glory! As a child I would rush outside and push a stick through a leaf and set it free in the wild gutters, then run along beside it until it spun around the corner and down the rain grate into the sewer below. I never tired of that game. The stick acted the way a bow does in a kite to make the boat worthy of the rushing water. Very cool beans.

Here when it rains, it drizzles, mists or pours for hours on end. There is no glorious end to the day filled with blue sky and golden light. No Maxfield Parish finish to glory in. No leaf boats to chase. Heck... no gutters to float a boat in either. Just dull, grey, misery followed by more. So today I thought of rain. How it makes my hills as green as Ireland and crazy rainbows that come and go but have no pot of gold. Only drab grey. (For those of you who are sticklers for spelling... yes, that is too a correct spelling of grey. Go look in any store that sells art supplies.... grey is the color on the acrylic or oil tubes. So there! No corrections please!)

I miss California rain. I miss sunshine on Christmas vacation. Yeah... it was the norm when I was a child. I feel like I can grow moss if I stand still here. But it makes us green... and gives us enough water to loan to California. Everything has a purpose in life. I must try to have a better attitude. And here, earthquakes are rare, but they do happen. We rarely have floods, though there have been those as well. I am glad not to have snow... so let it be, I tell myself. Be thankful. I am. But it took some thought to get there today.

Speaking of grey. You have heard C4C urge me to get back to being creative. I relent, dear... I have decided to take back up my pen and ink. I've even chosen a subject matter for the fun of it. But I must put it on hold for a time yet... wait for Tax-mas. My supplies are gone. The years have been long since I last tried my hand and I am rusty. Its like handwriting... it goes to hell if you don't keep it up. Have you written anything in long hand of late? I've gotten so used to typing that my handwriting skills are crap! So I must spent some time exercising that flabby muscle that once drew like I breathe. That's my plan for 2010... to get that back and to begin to do things that once made me very happy.

I forgot to mention something important. Sebastien sent me a wonderful Lighting Bear T-shirt. Sebastien... I have been remiss... look for something very soon in your mail box! Thank you sir for your prompt response! I LOVE IT!!!!! Oh, and DH is designing and making a frame for my print too. Soon I will post photos of both my T-shirt and MY LION! Goodness I love that wonderful piece of art work. Thanks and thanks again sir! I can't wait to get my room redone so that I can properly hang it.

Well, there you have it. My Sunday in a nut shell. And my big plan for the new year. I have others of course. I still intend to keep looking for the right frog who will turn into a prince. I still plan on following my Murphy's rules for life. I will continue to do my walking thing and getting my life back on track. I am hopeful for this new year.

What is your plan for the new year... or do you have one?

WELCOME TO THE POND

Frog Song
Frog Song from Liam Lynch's podcast

I thought that was cute since we have been using the frog metaphor. As for the frog pond... it has grown by one more. I know I am supposed to be eliminating and making this easier. But this one is really a great frog so far. Maybe one worth gigging as a keeper. (I know... how can you tell in just one day?) The fact is I don't know much of anything other than these people can type. Well... there are some funny typos. But you know what I mean. It is difficult to tell much when you are looking at words. I have to tell you when I heard one of the frog's croaks... it reduced my interest. He has an odd voice and a worse laugh. I've talked to three. I like rich silky voices... like Suldog's if you've ever listened to his recordings. Think captain Pickard or Sean Connery if you haven't.

But here's the new frog's qualifications... he's into Sci Fi reading as well as movies and tv, into his kids and his grand kids, funny, works with his hands for fun ( has a wood shop) so he's creative, he likes to donate his time to helping others, we've read the same books and authors, he is not particular about traditional gender roles (not Mr. Most-Macho-You-Do-What- I- Tell-You) and he picked the right name out of the hat. You don't understand that last one, but I do. Conversation has been fun and I am looking forward to more. He even offered to teach me how to do something I have always wanted to learn to do... and to do it well. Very cool beans!

Some of you have come up with some fun terms for the frog pond. Here is the glossary.

"Frogpault" for ejecting reject toads. (Thanks to Cube)

"Bull Frogs" who are just giving you a line. (Thanks to dmarks)

"Poison Arrow Frogs" who have toxic personalities! (Thanks to dmarks)

"Bud Wisers" Frogs who just hang in the pond and drink beers all day long. (Thanks to Peggy)

who also gave the line "They should shut their ribbits!" hahahaha

"Croakers" Frogs close to being in line for the Frogpault.

"Toads" Frogs getting/ or already Frogpaulted.

So far we have a couple of Croakers.... seen here in red

Our frogs are: M, D, C, R, D-2 and R-2... the greenest frog right now.

On an unrelated note. Dmarks had a post yesterday that was fantastically fun for me in a very personal way yesterday. If you didn't see it... it's about my friend Patrick Sean O'Neil. The friend that I was googling the day I found my way to dmarks's blog and to the blog world... which has, as I've said, greatly expanded and improved my life. Check it out. Sailor Tom in the Sewer posted by dmarks at Throwawayblog .

Very, very cool beans dmarks!

Have a wonderful day. I promise my posts won't all be about frogs. I don't want to bore you all to death. Yikes! But I'll mention them for sure.