Category: lists

think pink

It was recently pointed out to me that October is Breast Awareness month. Our society is far too oblivious to the existence of breasts. Every day, millions of women around the world have breasts. In spite of this, breasts go largely unnoticed by men, women, and advertisers alike.

Wait, maybe it’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. That probably makes more sense.

Pink has become the color associated with breast cancer awareness, originating in the use of the pink ribbon symbol in the early 90s. So this month seems a good time to bring out the pink things. In the spirit of my Themed Things lists of green, red and blue folks and critters, I give you a list of pink animals, characters and other creatures.
The Breast Cancer Site
Before the pink fur starts flying, let me direct your attention to the button to the right. If you click on that, you’ll be directed to a site that funds free mammograms to women in need. All you need to do is click a button. So…you know…click on it.

Ok, once more into the pink.

    Some Pink Creatures

  • The Pink Panther. A cartoon character originally appearing in the credit sequences of the (live action) Peter Sellers movie The Pink Panther (1963), but who later got his own TV show.
  • Barbapapa. A shape-shifting pink blob character who appeared in kids’ books and short animated shows. I have vague but fond memories of the cartoons from when I was little. I also had at least one of the books.
  • Serendipity. A bright pink, aquatic, dragonlike creature from the book (of the same name) by Stephen Cosgrove. (One of the first books that I ever read.)

  • several Care Bears are pink, such as the one called Cheer.
  • There are likewise various My Little Pony characters who are pink. (One called Pinkie Pie, for example.)

  • pink elephants Said to be seen by those who have had too much to drink. The expression seeing pink elephants is believed to have originated in a book by Jack London. Pink Elephants were featured in a scene in Dumbo (1941), along withe song “Pink Elephants on Parade.”
  • some Muppets are pink, such as one of the Martians, or “Yip-Yips.” (You can see the Yip-Yips discover a radio on this YouTube clip.)
  • Pearl: A pink octopus from Finding Nemo (2003)
  • the Energizer bunny. A mechanical drumming bunny toy with pink fur used in Energizer battery commercials.

  • flamingo. A bird with pink feathers, at least as an adult:

    Young flamingos hatch with grey plumage, but adults range from light pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria and beta carotene obtained from their food supply.

  • Plastic pink flamingos are a popular lawn ornament in the US starting in the 1950s. They are often considered the epitome of kitsch.
  • Amazon River Dolphins. There is a species of freshwater dolphin living in the Amazon. For real. I actually saw some when I was travelling in the Amazon in 1991. (Or I may have possibly seen tucuxi, which are apparently saltwater dolphins, but live in the Amazon and can be pink.)
  • pigs. While the actual pigs I’ve seen haven’t been, pigs are often shown as pink in cartoons, toys, etc. The Disney version of Piglet, for example is bright pink. Cincinnati’s flying pig mascot is pink, as is the Kids in the Hall Flying Pig.

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image sources: Barbapapa, Serendipity, Care Bear, flamingo and elephant, Pink Panther.

Blog Action Day

Today is the second annual Blog Action Day, and the topic for the day is…poverty.

I admit that when I saw the topic, I was a bit overwhelmed.

I wanted to contribute, to add my voice to the thousands of others who are speaking out to make a difference in the world. But poverty? That’s huge. What can I say in a single post? Especially in the short amount of time that I have each day for typing.

But I realized that is the sort of attitude that makes it so easy to avoid doing anything at all. It’s too much to do? Better do nothing, then.

Well, I’ll fight that urge and do something. Not enough, certainly, but something. My 2 cents worth, as it were.

5 Things you can do to help fight poverty

  1. Write about an issue of poverty.
  2. If you are voting in the U.S. election, read up on the candidates’ plans for addressing poverty in the United States. (Obama and Biden have a detailed plan on their official campaign website. McCain has a paragraph.)
  3. Send a letter. According to Poverty.com, 22 nations pledged in 2002 to make efforts to give 0.7% of their national income in aid to poor countries, in the interests of ending hunger and severe poverty. 5 countries have already reached that goal. Other countries have established a schedule to reach that goal. 6 countries have yet to either reach the goal, or set a schedule. (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Switzerland.) Ask governments to honor their commitment. The website provides letters that are all ready for you to print up, stuff in an envelope, and mail. (But you should probably use a stamp, too.)
  4. Make a micro-loan through Kiva. Kiva helps people rise out of poverty by connecting them with funding for their entrepreneurial goals.
  5. Pledge to make at least part of your holiday gifts work towards helping others out of poverty. Consider gift donations, such as to Heifer International.

Okay, I guess that’s sort of 2 cents worth. What’s more, I’ll put in more than 2 cents. I’ll put in my 2 dollars. I’ll follow Magpie’s lead. For every commenter that leaves a comment on this post in the next 24 hours, I’ll donate $2.00 to Unicef. (So up to 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, October 16th.)

going nuts

It’s fall now up here in the Northern Hemisphere, and the squirrels are busy squirreling away their nuts for the winter. Meanwhile, I’ve been eating a lot of nuts, and going a little nuts. And reading about nuts¹. It’s almost as if nuts have been falling out of the trees and bonking me on the head². So, grab your nutcracker³, because I’ve gathered up a few nuts to share with you for this week’s list o’ Things.

a selection of mixed nuts

  • nuts. (adj.) An expression meaning “crazy.” As in “you are totally nuts.” There are also other nut-themed variations, such as the additional adjectives nutty and nutso, and nouns like nutjob and nutcase.
  • Nuts (1987) A movie starring Richard Dreyfuss and Barbra Streisand.
  • Nuts (2007) A short movie directed by Irvine Welsh. (You can actually watch it on IMDB.)
  • nut: a piece of hardware: “a type of hardware fastener with a threaded hole.” Typically used with a bolt.

  • wingnut: a kind of nut (the hardware kind) with the appearance of wings
  • wingnut: someone with extremely right-wing political views. As in “please don’t let us have a wingnut for vice president!”
  • nuts: a slang term for testicles.

  • Mr. Peanut. The mascot for Planter’s nuts. An anthropomorphic peanut wearing a tophat.
  • in a nutshell: an expression meaning “in summary” or “in brief,” evoking the compact size of a nutshell, and what can be stuffed in it.
  • O’Reilly’s In a Nutshell series: technical reference books, such as Perl in a Nutshell and Java in a Nutshell
  • The Nutshell Library: A box set collection of miniature books by Maurice Sendak. Not about technical topics.
  • “Death in a Nut“: A folktale (in various versions) about a boy who tries to save his mother from death by stuffing Death into a nut shell.
  • “Thumbelina“: a fairytale about a tiny girl. She had a cradle made of a walnut shell.

  • Kate Crackernuts: an English fairytale about a girl who frees her stepsister from a curse that hides her beauty. The nuts are somewhat peripheral to the story. Kate collects them while going about her tasks and eats them for breakfast.
  • Nutcracker: a device used to access nuts that are encased in a hard shell. Decorative ones sometimes are made to look like people.
  • The Nutcracker: a ballet by Tchaikovsky, based on the story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by E.T.A. Hoffmann featuring a decorative nutcracker toy.
  • Harlan Pepper, played by Christopher Guest in Best in Show, likes to name nuts:

    I used to be able to name every nut that there was. And it used to drive my mother crazy, because she used to say, “Harlan Pepper, if you don’t stop naming nuts,” and the joke was that we lived in Pine Nut, and I think that’s what put it in my mind at that point. So she would hear me in the other room, and she’d just start yelling. I’d say, “Peanut. Hazelnut. Cashew nut. Macadamia nut.” That was the one that would send her into going crazy. She’d say, “Would you stop naming nuts!” And Hubert used to be able to make the sound, he couldn’t talk, but he’d go “rrrawr rrawr” and that sounded like Macadamia nut. Pine nut, which is a nut, but it’s also the name of a town. Pistachio nut. Red pistachio nut. Natural, all natural white pistachio nut.

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¹ Two of my favorite bloggers coincidentally (or perhaps both sparked by the start of school) wrote about how they are dealing with nut restrictions in their schools. Emily wrote Nutty, and Denguy wrote Aw, Nuts, two thoughtful posts that raise awareness about nut allergies. (I’d like to add that neither of them has a child with a nut allergy, and in fact have kids who love peanut butter. But they are both concerned and considerate.)

² That happened to me once with a chestnut. It hurt.

³ …or your epipen…

Thumbelina image from Hans Christian Andersen, Fairy Tales (Chicago: W. B. Conkey Company, ND).

the sound of two hands typing

Ah. I have a bit of time to type with two hands. Theo is snoozing away in a swing, after a long day of fussing. (I’m starting to think that perhaps Theo is not “ultra mellow,” as babies go, but perhaps merely “not colicky.” Which, compared to Phoebe, seems mellow. But we’ve had a few rough days. Especially since Theo’s cold, which lasted a good week or more.)

Anyhow, I’m feeling less cranky the last few days. I’ve still been busy, but have been enjoying myself more. Part of the crankiness has been coming from the feeling that I should be getting stuff done, and as a result, (in addition to not getting stuff done) I have not been giving myself much of a break. I had a great weekend, though. A cousin was in the state on business, and stayed with us a few nights. We played scrabble (on a real board with real wooden tiles) and chatted, and had dinner out at a Japanese buffet. (I had sushi for the first time since before my pregnancy.)

John and I have also watched a couple of silly movies. (Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, and The Forbidden Kingdom. An interesting pair of quest movies, now that I think about it. I’d actually commented last night that the Forbidden Kingdom was a bit like cinematic junk food. Enjoyable, but not a masterpiece. And in Harold and Kumar, there is a quest for junk food.)

Now I’m looking forward to having a Halloween party. I’ve been missing seeing friends, most of whom live closer to Boston. (We live out in the boonies.) And some of whom don’t have cars. And pretty much all of whom are quite busy. (Only one friend has been able to come visit us since Theo was born–Thanks Erica!) Anyhow, I hope to get a bunch of people over here for the party. (If you are reading this, and live in or near New England, and are not a crazy psycho-stalker, consider yourself invited. Leave a comment, and I can email you the details.)

I still have plenty of stuff I need to get to. It’s so hard to accomplish things when time is so limited. I find myself wasting the little availble time that I have. (Damn those word games on Facebook. I found one that I can play with one hand, though.) I keep meaning to make to do list. (You know how I love me some lists.) Here, I’ll make a bit of one here. That way I can feel like posting is productive, and not merely procrastination…

    To Do List

  • Write a to do list
  • put laundry in dryer
  • Update my about page to include Theo
  • Update Phoebe’s blog
  • Post pictures of Theo
  • Print/send birth announcements
  • organize/pay bills
  • clean/organize house
  • finish PhD

There. 9 items. That doesn’t look so bad, does it? (Well, I may have left a few items off. And perhaps condensed one or two.)

Oh, on the productivity front. I have good news. Phoebe has graduated to wearing “big girl underwear” to daycare. I feel like that deserves a ceremony.

I can’t believe how big she is getting.

My big little baby, today.
My big little baby, today.
My little baby, a couple weeks ago.
My little little baby, a couple weeks ago.

Here are sister and brother, together, from Friday:

Phoebe and Theo
Phoebe and Theo

And here is Theo, as of a minute ago or so. See, eyes are still closed:

Theo swings left.
Theo swings left.
Theo swings right.
Theo swings right.

Arrrrr!

Friday, September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Last year, I celebrated the event by writing a series of pirate-themed posts, including a pirate’s resume (and subsequent job rejection letter) as well as a tutorial on how to talk like a pirate. Oh, and also by saying “arrr” a whole lot. Arrrr.

This year, I prepare for the occasion with a list. Barely making it under the wire for this Thursday (at least in my time zone) is this pirate-themed ThThTh list. (This list be just a smattering of things piratical o’ me own choosin’. If ye be craving more, ye scurvy dogs, ye may want to drink o’ the grog offered by the scalliwags o’er at the official Talk Like a Pirate Day website. )

Yo, ho, ho.

  1. Get yerself a pirate name with this quiz. (Oddly, me own name has changed since last year, when I were Black Anne Cash.)
    My pirate name is:
    Black Anne Bonney

    Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate’s life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

    Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
    part of the fidius.org network

  2. Treasure Island. Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel of pirates. Adapted into various movies. Including one with muppets.

  3. The Pirates of Penzance. A comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan. A young man be apprenticed to pirates until his 21st birthday. (Which seeing as he was born on February 29th, won’t happen till he’s in his 80s.)
  4. “Pirate Jenny“. A song from the Threepenny Opera. I know the version by Nina Simone, which I didn’t find on YouTube. I did find (among others) a Dresden Dolls version of what may be the original German version of the song. (I can’t get the sound on YouTube right now, so I can’t tell…)
  5. Cutthroat Island (1995). Geena Davis plays a pirate. She kicks ass, in spite of the general suckiness of the movie.
  6. Pirates of the Caribbean. A Disneyland ride. Also some movies.
  7. The Dread Pirate Roberts. A character from The Princess Bride (book and movie). A pirate whose identity is used serially by various individuals.
  8. If ye want to get your swashes well buckled, loads more pirate movies can be found on a pretty comprehensive list by a pirate fan.
  9. MythBusters Episode 71: “Pirate Special”. Various pirate-related myths are tested, including the efficacy of rum as a laundry detergent and the use of an eye patch to preserve night vision. (Find the results here, if ye dare.)
  10. The Pirates! A series of short novels by Gideon Defoe. (The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists, The Pirates! in an Adventure with Whaling/Ahab, The Pirates! in an Adventure with Communists, and The Pirates! in an Adventure with Napoleon.) They are supposed to be quite funny, but I haven’t had a chance to read them for meself.
  11. Pirate’s Booty. A tasty cheesy-puffy snack food by Robert’s Gourmet.
  12. For more cheesy piratical goodness, check out The Skwib’s tale of curdaneer’s and exploding cheese on the high seas.
  13. My favorite pirate joke. (Adapted from this version.)

    A sailor meets a pirate in a bar, and they take turns telling about their adventures on the seas. The sailor notes that the pirate has a peg-leg, a hook and an eye patch.

    The sailor asks “So, how did you end up with the peg-leg?”

    The pirate replies: “We were in a storm at sea, and I were swept overboard into a school of sharrks. Just as me men were pullin; me out, a shark bit me leg off.”

    “Wow!” said the sailor. “What about the hook?”

    “We were boarding an enemy ship and were battling the other sailors with swords. One of the enemy cut me hand off.”

    “Incredible!” said the sailor. “And how did you get the eye patch?”

    “Arr. That were from a seagull-dropping fell into my eye,” replied the pirate.

    “You lost your eye to a seagull-dropping?” the sailor asked incredulously.

    “Aye,” said the pirate,”it was me first day with the hook…”

the omnivore’s 100

This is a meme that’s been making the rounds that I couldn’t resist. I mean come on. It’s a list about food. I saw it first chez az, then at magpie’s, and kc’s. It started a few weeks ago at Very Good Taste. (By the way, the original list has lots of wiki links for those who need/want to look things up. There were quite a few items I didn’t know, or know by name.)

Here’s the deal:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (Though I did try raw hamburger meat as a kid)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp (in gefilte fish, as Magpie points out)
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or Head Cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam Chowder in Sourdough Bowl (I know I’ve had both, but can’t remember what soup was in my bread bowl…)
33. Salted Lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted Cream Tea
38. Vodka Jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu (aka pufferfish)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (I’ve had them, just not together)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snails
79. Lapsang Souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose Harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole Poblano
96. Bagel and Lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

So it looks like I’ve tried 50, plus a few partials. Which is pretty high considering I haven’t been quite so omnivorous in my adult life. (I stopped eating most meat-type things when I was 18.) (Actually, many/most of the items I crossed out I did so based on my diet restrictions. It’s a bit strong to say I would “never consider eating them.” I mean, at some point in my life I would have.)

I would also like to propose the following additions to the list, which cover some more geographical territory:
101. poi
102. kimchi
103. vegemite
104. guaraná

Advanced Topics in Procrastination

The Department of Procrastinatory Arts and Sciences at Big Urban University announces its Fall, 2008 course offerings:

PR 101: Introduction to Procrastination
Topics covered include puttering, stalling, and dawdling for beginners. Required of all students working towards degrees in Procrastination. (Requirement may be waived if the student has avoided registering for the course for 3 or more semesters.)
Instructor: TBD

PR 125: Procrastinators Throughout History
Leaders, visionaries, revolutionaries. This survey course highlights the great procrastinators of the world and the accomplishments they would have been famous for, had they ever managed to complete them.
Instructor: Putterington

PR 126: Procrastinators Throughout History II: The Arts
This course examines the works of the Grand Masters of Procrastination. Students will learn to appreciate the unfinished symphonies, uncompleted novels and half-painted canvases that might have rivalled the finished works of the artists’ better known contemporaries.
Instructor: TBA

Procrastinating 225: Special Topics in Procrastination
Details on the course topic are expected to be available by the fourth week of the semester, by which time the professor hopes to have finished writing the syllabus. Or at least started it.
Instructor: McDawdle

PR 234: Getting Things Partially Done
This hands-on productivity course will help speed you along in the steps from thinking about doing something, getting started in deciding to get something started, and starting to get something done that will look like progress towards the accomplishment of things.
Instructor: TB

PR 235: Putting Things Off
Postponed until Spring semester

Other courses, which are planned for some time later:
PR 175: The Science of Stalling and the Fine Art of Puttering About
PR 187: The Procrastinator in Contemporary Society
PR 285: Creative Time Mismanagement
PR 335: Advanced Seminar in Dawdling

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This course bulletin is offered up for this week’s Monday Mission, which asked for posts in the form of course descriptions.

oh, due-dah-date

My due date came and went yesterday. And here I am, still in one piece.

We all went to the playground for a bit yesterday afternoon. Here are a couple of photos John took. (You can see one more photo, and read a funny story over at the Phoebe Blog.)

My mother came out from California on Tuesday, and we’ve been having a nice moderately relaxing visit. However, I do hope that we have some sort of baby in hand soon, as she can only stay for 2 weeks.

ThThTh update

It’s been a while since I’ve updated the list of Themed Things Thursday lists on my “about ThThTh” page. So, seeing as I’ve got a bit too much going on right now to put together anything terribly new, I’ll just take the opportunity to give you a list of the lists I’ve done since I last listed the lists.

Since starting my Themed Things Thursday tradition, I have offered up 47 themed lists.

Since December, I have served up cookies and cake, as well as bananas and eggs.

I’ve added a few more animals to the ThThTh menagerie, including lions and tigers and bears (Oh, my.). Plus frogs and rats, and a multi-animal list about the zoo. And lest you fear that the lists are biased towards the vertebrates, I offered 2 lepidopteran lists: one for butterflies, and one for moths.

I’ve romanced you with candles and flowers (not to mention hearts), and warmed things up with fire and fever.

Things cooled off a bit with clouds and umbrellas, and I threw in some buckets and flags for variety. There was one ThThTh list (which appeared on a Friday) where the number 8 was featured. And lastly, the lists have been punctuated with a list of punctuation.

I’ll be back with new lists…sometime in the future.