Maxwell asks "What's your totem?" and I've spent most of the month thinking about the question. Do I even have a totem? I have a drawerful of various Catholic items. I'm not Catholic anymore but I doubt I'll ever get rid of them. Are they totemic?
I think our house has a totem:
It was in back when we bought the place and even though it has no meaning to us, it's a part of the life this house lived before us and thus it stays.
I still don't know if I have a totem. But a different post I've had on my mind for a while got intertwined with this one in my mind, so here's my favorite coffee mug:
If it's clean, I will always choose it for coffee. We've got a lot of other fun mugs that I enjoy using, but I will only use them if the Han Solo mug is dirty.
For tea, on the other hand, I have a completely different favorite mug, which I never use for coffee.
Is a coffee mug a totem? Maybe not. But then again...
July 30th, 2025: I am here to report that the FANTASTIC FOUR movie is good, and not just because I'm given a thanks in the credits!! But I gotta say IT SURE DIDN'T HURT
I’m on the train, waiting for it to depart. Enjoying a coffee as I finish catching up on my RSS reader. I have a book I’ll continue reading in a moment, but as I read Flanagan’s Ireland I’m struck by the sense that I want to read it in physical form.
And thus: should I start printing out my RSS subscriptions? What would it be like if it was automated and a pile of papers greeted me on the printer every morning?
This week I’ll be at Gen Con in Indianapolis! (UPDATED demo schedule below!)
This was a bit of a last-minute addition to the schedule. I’m mainly attending to help my buddy Sam Logan at booth #1217 peddle his corgi T-shirts, of which he has very many.
I WILL have:Roll-a-Sketches available, on a “speakeasy” basis. You gotta ask for it! You gotta say, “Gimme dat sketch, willya??” Otherwise I’ll think you’re just there for corgi T-shirts like everyone else!!
I WILL have: Free high-fives and the sparkling wit you have come to expect! Also if you want to order something else from me directly, I’ll be happy to work out some kind of arrangement.
PERHAPS MOST EXCITINGLY, I WILL have: A playable copy of my new card game!
July 28th, 2025: I'm back from SDCC! It was a lot of fun, thank you to everyone who came by to say hi! I was looking for Star Trek pyjamas, but nobody had any to sell me. My one SDCC disappointment!
And this cake is a party for my eyeballs; check out those edible ink illustrations pulled straight from the book! Fantastic.
But Lewis Carroll's classic, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland has inspired all kinds of wonderlands, should you feel suddenly inspired to create your own wonder-cake. There's also Tim Burton's interpretation:
Tweedledee and Tweedledum! (Way way waaaaay cuter here in fondant - sorry, Tim.) And could that Queen of Hearts BE any more Helena Bonham Carter? So much detail. I love that the platter goes along with the theme, too; kinda would have ruined the effect to plunk this masterpiece down on a Chinet.
How dead-on is the door knob?! (And is it weird that he was always my favorite character?)
But no one ever said you can't mix them all up; it is Wonderland after all. Here are Tim Burton's Alice and Queen of Hearts sharing space with the Disney cast of characters:
... but not without taking a minute to give a hand to this baker and his/her subtly stunning cake. Teacups and mushrooms and pocket watches, oh my! Just wonder-full!
And speaking of, I don't think you could stuff any more wonder into this last cake; it's chock full of wonderment, right down to the props on the table:
Jamie and I rode our bikes to Costco this evening. They don't have bike racks, but we found an empty cart return in a quiet corner of the parking lot and used that. The ride was just over four miles one way and took us through the heart of North Riverside, our old stomping grounds. Naturally it made us think of Boogie and all the walks we took her on around there. It's pretty wild to think we've been in Brookfield more than twice as long as we were in North Riverside.
At Costco we grabbed dinner, then baguettes and a couple random things (being on bikes kept us from buying too much). Jamie had the baguettes in her panniers and it was entertaining to see them sticking out as we rode home.
The weather has been wet the past few days (our sump pump even kicked in yesterday for the first time in a while) so it was nice little ride. Maybe we'll petition Costco for bike racks.
The Minecraft Movie is out on streaming and since I didn't get to see it in the theater with Jamie and JB, we watched it this evening. JB was real excited to show me all her favorite parts.
The movie is pretty absurd. It's got all the little Minecraft bits that I found entertaining. And it's got all the Jack Black over-the-topness which was a bit much at times but funny enough. There were definitely moments when Jamie and I just had to look at each other and shake our heads.
But the best part was JB singing along to the Steve's Lava Chicken song.
July 25th, 2025: I'm at San Diego Comic Con today and tomorrow! In Room 6A I'll be on the FANTASTIC FOUR panel at 2:30, and then the NEXT BIG THING panel at 3:30 (same room!). And on Saturday I've a signing from 10-12 at booth 4901 - hope to see you there!
On the remote island of St. Kawkapuey lives the mysterious Cacapillar.
Often mistaken by tourists as monkey droppings, these sweet-smelling carnivorous insects are most often found in local baseball fields:
...and outdoor cooking grills:
A highly adaptable creature, the Cacapillar has learned to subsist on the island's most readily available diet: stale Funyuns and leftover Whiskey:
[Fun Fact: The population of St. Kawkapuey has the world's highest concentration of Karoake bars per person, and once declared a national "Hangover Day" to celebrate the season finale of Dancing With the Stars.]
Though outsiders find the cacapillar off-putting, locals consider it good luck to find one in their home. They also celebrate the warmer summer months, when the island's cacapillars encase themselves in shimmering golden cocoons:
...and then emerge, transformed, as the island's national mascot:
The Majestic All-Seeing Flutterturd
Which can grow to weigh as much as a whopping 25 pounds:
After cavorting in traffic and laying siege to local liqueur stores, the Flutterturds eventually complete their life cycles by dive-bombing into area vegetable gardens en masse:
There they provide excellent fertilizer, though locals admit the smell of whiskey can take several months to dissipate.
Thanks to Laura N., Michelle V., Chris W., Anony M., Holly L., Kimberly S., Kiana R., & Caprice A. for that giant piece of... information.
*****
P.S. I see you enjoy learning things. Might I interest you in this additional educational resource?
Still, when it comes to buying a cake, sometimes you've got to grab the bull by the horns.
(Just don't grab the other end.)
See, I'll bet you dollars to donuts:
... that some of you are going to get wrecks.
You may think you have all your ducks in a row:
(or maybe to be rowed...)
... but let's face it: There's a good chance the baker's ...
... a poo ant short of a picnic.
And they might get your cake ...
... bass ackwards.
I mean, does a bear ...
... sit in the woods?
(Aw, Pooh.)
;)
Look, you're probably never going to get the baker to eat crow:
So don't make a tempest in a teapot!
(Actually, don't make anything in this teapot.)
After all, you've still got a cake, and maybe the manager will mark it down.
So rather than look a gift horse in the, uh ...
... gaping mouth nozzle of despair?
... just enjoy your cake.
I think Shakespeare put it best:
"That which they call a rose by any other name...
"... still looks like meat."
Thanks to Scott D., Deanna C., Laura M., Wolfie W., Anna M., Autumn J., Reba S., Jesea J., Lana H., and Maria V. for letting us have their cakes and read them, too.
*****
P.S. If you need a drink after those cakes, then I have JUST the game for you:
Today was the Cycle Brookfield Criterium. I took the day off work. Jamie and I spent a couple quality hours watching races by the sharp turn near our house. It's gotta be at least a 150 degree turn. The riders handled it well for the most part.
It was hot and humid, though, so we eventually returned home to cool off. After kiddo returned home we had dinner and then headed downtown to the main viewing area. We caught the tail end of the Women's pro ride, ran into some friends, then rode one lap of the family ride on the race course.
Then after a quick ice cream break we watched the Men's pro ride. The only downside of watching from the start/finish line was not being able to see the big turn. They needed a big screen with a live feed of the turn. But it was a great event.
I'm thinking I'll take a vacation day for next year's Criterium too.
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prijks_feed) wrote2025-07-31 02:36 am
