Test, test, test... I will be starting a new WP blog for myself sometime soon, complete with a whole separate domain name, since blogger refuses to publish to my FTP anymore. I may convert this blog into Wordpress and migrate it -- or I may leave it here and start fresh. Not sure yet...

But the new one will be at www.iamvanessa.com

I will be back, despite Blogger's serious bitch slapping of my blog. Now, PUBLISH, MOTHER FUCKER!!!

Labels: anger, annoying, blogging, friends

I am having a bitch of a time trying to balance blogging and working outside of the house. It sucks because I was so regular with posting...now I just feel like a failure who can't manage her time. But the thing is, I'm doing laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc. with whatever free time that is not taken up by sleeping and watching the few highly necessary television programs we like to watch each week. Ugh! In addition, I have a freelance website job going on -- for a certain Pilates studio in New York -- which I am very excited about -- but again, less free time for me and me-blog when I get home each day. Ah, well.

The other thing that has made me actually avoid blogging is my ongoing frustration with Blogger mistreating me and my post publishing process. I know that the best solution is to migrate to dynamic blogging (i.e. Wordpress) -- and I WILL do this! But, F*CK! I just don't have the time right now...so I avoid...because Blogger can't piss me off if I don't blog!

One thing that we have been having fun with is KITTY CAM. I got a web cam for Christmas (which works independently from a computer -- just hooks up to our home network) that allows us to watch our cats when we are not home...or when we have our backs turned and we want to see what those little f*ckers are doing when we are not looking. Plus, their Grandma really likes to check in on them from Connecticut -- just to see how fat they are or to watch them playing. I don't know why I enjoy this so much, but I do. It's like I'm producing my own Feline reality tv show! Here are some still shots from the KITTY CAM as an animated GIF -- of Noodle the Cat.

Labels: annoying, blogging, cats, family, friends, fun, funny, gifs, lizzard, noodle, pets, video, web

Blogger won't completely finish publishing my blog -- which means it's uploading incompletely and not updating all of my posts. I can tell that this is happening (aside from the obvious of them telling me) because the 02/2008 archive page gets published first and on it I have 2 comments for the previous post -- but on my main index page, it says I have 1 comment. Put it this way, Blogger is very unkind to FTP-uploading bloggers who made their own templates. I am getting so fed up with this crap that I am seriously thinking about creating a Wordpress blog -- except the amount of work involved with migrating and template modifications, well, quite simply, the thought makes me ill.

FOR THOSE WHO EXPERIENCED DIFFICULTY LISTENING TO THE SONG FROM MY PREVIOUS -- YOU CAN HEAR IT HERE: http://www.vanessaleehamlen.com/blog/joan/

[It seems as though the closing embed tag keeps getting dropped when publishing -- which makes the song player not want to work in Mozilla -- probably cock-sucking-Blogger's fault...What else is new?]

So I ask ask you all...How easy is it set things up to publish with Wordpress instead of Blogger? I want to publish to my own hosted domain and I want to use my own template. And, unlike Blogger, I don't think that the entire blog needs to be republished every time I post a new post -- because the bigger the blog gets...you get the idea. How does publishing with Wordpress work/differ?

The comments are open!

Labels: anger, annoying, blogging, scary, web, wishes

I have missed my poor blog. I didn't realize how close we had become...until I couldn't spend time with it? (Do blogs have gender identities? Hmmmmm. Perhaps that could be a future post topic...) Anyway, in pondering my remorse for being such a bad blogger -- a great song popped into my head about friends -- by Joan Armatrading.

Now, before you go and think I am in my late 40's or early 50's, I'm not. Of course, I have had grey hair since I was 19 years old -- so perhaps I have an old soul? That aside, I got into Joan as a kid because my mom used to listen to her all the time...as well as Maria Muldaur, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, et al. Her "Me Myself I" album has long been one of my favorite selections to listen to when I am feeling moody and introspective. So, in honor of my good friend-blog, I'd like to share this great song, "Friends", with you all. Might I suggest a nice glass of wine -- or your favorite smooth spirit of choice -- before you listen? Joan's voice is deep, rich and strong -- I find that it kind of sinks into you like the heat of swallowing a luscious gulp of red wine...I find Amaretto di Saronno works well, too. Anyway, I've included the lyrics here for your enhanced enjoyment. I'll be back soon...thanks for hanging in there with me, everybody!

[ Sidenote: Congrats to the GIANTS!! Woohoo! You can take the Butterfly out of New York, but you can't take the New Yorker out of the Butterfly! ;-D ]

FOR THOSE WHO ARE EXPERIENCING DIFFICULTY LISTENING TO THE SONG -- YOU CAN HEAR IT HERE: http://www.vanessaleehamlen.com/blog/joan/

[It seems as though the closing embed tag keeps getting dropped when publishing -- which makes the song player not want to work in Mozilla -- probably cock-sucking-Blogger's fault...What else is new?]




Friends by Joan Armatrading

It's been so long
Since I've seen you
My old friend
I remember your eyes
How they would shine
Those crazy times
When you and I
Fooled around
I remember the time
You fell in love
Didn't know how
To say goodbye
To your baby
And you made me take
The goodbye note
Around
And that little girl
She cried and cried
And she asked me if
I knew exactly why
You'd gone
I told a lie
I said you felt
She'd be much happier
With someone else
But then you'd do
The same for me
Remember when
We stayed out late
We'd cause a fight
But we would never stay
To the end
I loved you then
I love you still
You know I think
I always will
You're a good friend
A good friend
To me
Who was it
Who came for me when I was
Stranded in the bad man's land
Who was it
Who put up bail for me when I was
So desperate to get out
Who believed with me
That I was not guilty
Who gave me beer when I was thirsty
And who gave me twenty-five dollars to hold

Labels: beauty, blogging, butterfly, childhood, favorites, friends, hobbies, lizzard, memories, mom, music, newyork

Dear Friends,

I have been neglecting all of you. It is true. Things have been a little hectic since I started my new job -- and when one is no longer freelancing from home, it is hard to keep up with a blog as easily as before. Once things have settled into more of a routine, I plan on getting back to posting regularly. But for now, I am experiencing Bloggus Interruptus.

Please, bear with me... Thanks!

-- The Butterfly

Labels: blogging, butterfly, current events, friends, readers, twitter

The concert has been a smashing success over at Citizen of the Month! However, Sophia, Neil and I needed to do some fast creative brainstorming earlier today...it was brought to my attention that the original yellow (gold) Star of David was not a good idea for historical reasons. I will not dwell on those reasons here (look it up on Wikipedia if you don't know the specific history) because I don't want to take away from the positive issue at hand -- which is that we actively pursued and came to an excellent solution! The *NEW* and *IMPROVED* Blue and White Glowing Star has been incorporated into the now revised logo design.

And, if you are here for the "Concert Buttons" -- you can now download the whole pack which includes the original 5 from my previous post as well as *7 Bonus Fashion Buttons* not pictured...Slightly different versions with shadows for depth and two with a "magical glow"!

Click the button below to get .ZIP file package!




ENJOY!!!

<---------- IMPORTANT NOTE! ------------>

FOR THE HTML CODE HELP ON THESE BUTTONS -- SEE THE BOTTOM OF MY PREVIOUS POST -- OR REFER TO THE READ_ME.TXT FILE INCLUDED IN THE DOWNLOAD PACKAGE. THX!

Labels: blogging, blogs, butterfly, buttons, chk2007, citizenofthemonth, concert, friends, fun, graphics, holidays, music, neilochka, sophia, twitter

Well, if you don't know, you should! Neil Kramer aka "Neilochka" of Citizen of the Month (and twitter) is hosting his Second Annual 2007 Blogger Christmahanukwanzaakah Online Holiday Concert Extravaganza! What is this exactly? Neil explains it best:

"...It is now time to raise our voices in song again in this new holiday tradition. Hanukkah songs about miracles. Christmas songs about faith. Winter songs about the beauty of the season. Kwanzaa songs about new traditions. It is the 2007 Blogger Christmahanukwanzaakah Online Holiday Concert, right here on Citizen of the Month on Monday, December 10th (with a re-broadcast on Christmas Day). The concert is for YOU and by YOU — and this year will be bigger and better than last year..."

Basically, anyone from the blogging-community-at-large is welcome to share a recording of him/herself singing a favorite holiday song! It is meant to be fun...and possibly quite funny...as we all celebrate the great big inclusive Holiday of Christmahanukwanzaakah! Plus, if you are too embarassed to sing, Neil also welcomes photographs from bloggers to help "dress the set". It should be a great time. And, if you have never checked out Citizen of the Month before, you really should because Neil's blog is hilariously funny and incredibly well-written. [ I should hope so on that last part because Neil is a professional writer in "real life"! ]

That said, you'll be pleased to know that I have a submission in this year's concert. I sang "The Man With The Bag", a song that was originally recorded by Kay Starr in 1950. This song has always made me laugh because of its unapologetic theme of Christmas greed LOL! (Hence, my allusion to it in the sidebar where I have my Amazon.com Xmas Wish List!) Plus, I love the peppy big-band sound of it. As I explained to Neil, I don't have a particularly great singing voice...so I decided to really ham-up my submission in the hope that "really funny" would excuse "lack of talent". I recorded it with a clothespin on my nose so that it would be really nasal and then I tried to do a little bit of Ethel-Merman-like styling, although sans the great power of Ethel's voice. Anyway, I think it is pretty funny. I mixed it myself on the computer with an instrumental karaoke track -- not bad production value for being recorded in my home office. Join us at the concert and feel free to laugh at me and my song! I also submitted the "Winter Berries in Snow" picture from the previous post below as decoration for the concert so you'll probably see that too.

I also created the unsolicited artwork pictured above -- I was inspired by the idea of trying to create a logo design to incorporate the 3 holidays into a graphical image that was clean, attractive and symbolically cohesive. It was a great graphic design challenge! I used the three colors of Kwanzaa (black, red, green) -- the Christmas Tree symbols (which double as general holiday season/winter symbols too) -- and a gold blue and white glowing star of David -- as well as a blue background as another Jewish/Hanukah nod. I sent the graphics to Neil last night, but I still don't know what he thinks of them. He may or may not use them, but my real purpose was to create them for my own use to promote the concert because I think it is such a fun idea and concept that Neil has started. People are certainly welcome to borrow my button for use on their own blogs...I think it is kind of neat to have a "I participated in CHK 2007" badge for the sidebar so that blog readers can revisit the fun we had anytime and maybe become new participants for next year's!

[ I would love it if folks credited me for the button if they use it, but it's not necessary. Just leave me a nice word in my comments if you are going to borrow it! Share the love, baby. ]


Click the button below to visit Citizen of the Month:




<--------------------------- UPDATE 12/10/07! --------------------------->

Hey folks! I created this modified version button badge below (4 colors) that folks can also use in their sidebar -- year round if you like (!) -- to provide a link to the concert festivities any time. It's a nice way to thank Citizen of the Month for hosting this wonderful event...





You will need to host the button image on your own site and modify the code below accordingly. Here's the code you will need to use the buttons:
<a href="http://www.citizenofthemonth.com/2007/12/10/the-2007-blogger-christmahanukwanzaakah-online-holiday- concert/" title="Check out the 2007 Christmahanukwanzaakah Concert!"><img src="http://www.YOURWEBADDRESS.com/BUTTON NAME OF CHOICE.png" title="Check out the 2007 Christmahanukwanzaakah Concert!" border="0" /></a>

Labels: blogging, blogs, butterfly, chk2007, citizenofthemonth, concert, friends, fun, graphics, holidays, music, neilochka, photos, pictures, twitter

Behold! Our glorious new Temple of Coldness...If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that we recently had a refrigerator breakdown at the Butterfly Cocoon. Our kind neighbor, Teresa, took in our wayward food for temporary storage across the hall so that we wouldn't lose everything. Initially, the apartment maintenance guy, who showed up at our door to check the old monster, said he would need to replace the fan motor (I think?) in the morning to get things running again. Of course, behind closed doors, we said out loud, "Why can't they just get rid of this energy-sucking-fucker and give us a new refrigerator like Teresa has?!?"

Well, I am pleased as punch to announce that they did just that! Three nice men came in, cleared out the old, rolled in the new, and even helped put away what little non-perishable food we had left in the old dying beast. Magnets and pictures have now been replaced on the new magical fantastical Whirlpool.

I especially love the clear drawers that let me see exactly what is in there at all times. Nothing is worse than forgetting about some random vegetable purchase, only to discover some weeks later that you have a drawer full of rotten celery or cucumbers...Ick! [OK, yes, there are worse things -- like heinous rape or murder -- but, in terms of refrigerator things, you get the idea... ]

Now, I am sure there are you nosy little bitches out in Cyberland who are going to zoom in and examine the contents of our refrigerator. And, you are probably going to say, "Hey Butterfly, what's with the container of LIVE WAX WORMS?" Ewwwww.

My longtime readers will know that the worms are a special treat for our amphibian friends -- specifically, our two Australian White's tree frogs. Usually we feed all of our frogs crickets, but occasionally, I will hand feed these guys a few wax worms. I don't feed wax worms to the three Cuban tree frogs (not pictured) because those frogs are too fast and nervous to be held and fed. If you drop the worms into the tank, they will just dig themselves into the soil, never to be seen again. So, it requires holding the worm in front of a lucky frog's face to be snatched in the moment. These two frogs at left, known collectively as "the Bung Monkeys", are very happy to be held and fed. Because they are fat and slow. *heeheehee*

Labels: blogging, butterfly, food, frogs, funny, green, household, pets, photos, pictures, readers, twitter

I was tired of my old banner -- it was boring me -- hence, the new one! Hope you all likes...if not, too bad. I also added a subtitle for the fun of it, changed my email envelope, and am considering changing the "About Me" text, but I haven't decided what to say yet. Another day.

Labels: blogging, bored, butterfly, graphics, web, weekend

Chicken with portabella mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and farfalle pasta -- served with a glass of Smoking Loon Pinot Noir...

By the fire as a "virtual meal" for my friend, C.Wess Daniels and at his other place on the net, here.

Labels: blogging, food, friends, photos, twitter, web

Who would have thought that my posts about facial symmetry studies (here and here) would bring so much weird "images.google.com" traffic to my blog? Honestly, I think people must spend hours just looking for naked pictures of Amber Valletta and Amber-Valletta-look-a-likes on the internet -- because that's all they seem to be looking at when they come here from Germany, Philippines, Slovenia, Malaysia, etc.

Sure, I know where most of the real readers come from:

Hello California! Hello New York, Vermont, Illinois, Texas, Oregon, New Jersey, Washington, Indiana and Virginia (those are my top 10 reader states!) England? Hello Newcastle upon Tyne! Hello London, Pontypridd and Wembley! Canada? Hello Vancouver, Regina and Mississauga! And many others I haven't listed here. Hiya!

But then, it starts to get weird...Tell me, person in Kuwait -- did you find what you were looking for on The Butterfly Blog?? Of course, I should have known that a link to tassyPink or a passing reference to splosh porn would bring a few unexpected visitors...LOL! But tell me, why do a search for "sarah jessica parker nostrils"? "ahhhh push it push it"? "crooked smile after chin implant"? "loestrin birth control pill peculiar smell"? Really? "Dry+aching+armpits!" Ouch. "Does a butterfly have a nose"?

I must admit, that last one really intrigues me. In my opinion, questions like that are worth asking because they show a natural curiosity about the world around us. Bravo, I say! Go on, girl, with your Entomological-bad-self! However, why someone thinks I should have any "female pug dogs menstruation information" I'll never know...

What I do know is -- yep, last time I checked, I have a nose. [But, that's probably not what you meant, my Googling friend, huh? Sorry.]

Labels: blogging, freaks, friends, funny, Google, pictures, readers, searches, web, weirdness

This is a post for my blogging buddy, spleenal. He's swapping spleenal action figures (blank ones for bloggers to decorate themselves, and then, share pictures of their creations to post on his blog!) for neato things of your own. So, Spleenal, here's what I've got in lieu of splosh porn...


For the spleenal Christmas tree -- a handmade ornament from New Hampshire -- a wooden bluebird on a perch. Or, if you happen to be Jewish, he could hang out in a bushy houseplant just for fun? OR...

A funny little bug in a box, complete with wiggly legs that move when you shake him? OR...

A little wire wind-up robot that jumps around on his rubber-booted feet?

Whaddya think? I tried to think of cool little things of mine that were inexpensive (as per your guideline) while still fun...in the spirit of my toys for your toys!

Labels: blogging, butterfly, friends, fun, pictures, spleenal, swap, toys, trade, web

Since no one has stopped by here lately to take me up on my Starbuck's Song of the Day Swap offer -- I have gained another extra Song of the Day card. So, now we have 2, count 'em, 2 FREE songs to trade for other different songs -- OR, you can trade something else interesting! Whatchagot??

You people may force me to throw in a custom designed banner or Flash animation for your blog, but I hope it doesn't come to that...You'll have to be trading something pretty good for me to whore myself out! ;-D

Labels: blogging, butterfly, friends, fun, music, Starbucks, swap, trade, web

Okay, so, you know how Starbuck's has this Song of the Day promotion going on with iTunes? Well, today, the man and I went to Starbuck's and we received 2 cards -- obviously, we don't need both. Anybody out there got an extra card you don't need from another day that you wanna swap for today's (10/20/07) song? No Kenny Chesney, please.

Drop me an email and we can exchange download codes -- 'cause hey, free music is fun!

If you don't have a Starbuck's card, but have something else cool to trade, let me know. I'm open. Besides, it might be more fun to do a "totally random items, interweb swap meet..." Whatchagot, bloggy friends?

Labels: blogging, butterfly, friends, fun, music, Starbucks, swap, trade, web

Tomorrow is the day for all blog-lurking MOFOs to come out of the shadows! Let yourselves be known -- say hello, leave a comment, tell me a little somethin' somethin' about yourselves. Be generous! Break your anonymous habits for the day and leave a comment on all of the blogs you read (stalk) tomorrow. Share the love, Lurkers, stand up and be counted! ;-D

The Great Mofo Delurk 2007 was created by the fine ladies, Schmutzie, Sweetney and JenAndTonic.


You can read more about the inspiration behind The Great Mofo Delurk 2007 on Schmutzie's blog at: http://www.schmutzie.com/2007/09/814-great-mofo-delurk-2007.html. She also created the lovely button(s) for TGMD -- you can grab the code for embedding them on your own blog at the same link.

For those of you who have a colored background to your blog (like me!) and don't want to use the white-backgrounded .JPG version of the button that Schmutzie provides -- I have re-purposed Schmutzie's buttons as transparent .PNG files that you can download in a zip file here. They will show up like mine above -- no white background! You will need to host the image on your own site and the code that Schmutzie originally provided will need to be changed like so:


<a href="http://www.schmutzie.com/2007/09/814-great-mofo-delurk-2007.html" title="The Great Mofo Delurk 2007"><img src="http://www.YOURWEBADDRESS.com/COLOR.png" title="The Great Mofo Delurk 2007" border="0" /></a>


REMEMBER: You need to set the "color" in front of .PNG to the name of the color you are using (black, green, red, pink, purple, grey, blue and orange). ENJOY!

Labels: blogging, comments, delurking, friends, mofos, tgmd2007, twitter, visitors, web

Nutmeg sleeps in weird positions.

Jackson makes weird faces when he yawns.

I get mad when I get postcards in the mail from someone whom I have explicitly told to leave me alone...doesn't matter who, dear readers...suffice it to say that I am irritated when my wishes are not respected, over and over again. Maybe this will get read and incorporated...maybe it won't. My blog, my feelings, my outlet. So, if you are reading -- Fuck Off, Person.

That's all I have to say today, good and bad.

Labels: adult, anger, annoying, blogging, cats, cute, jackie, Nutmeg, pet peeves, pets, wishes

For a few months, I had the Last.fm "Music Like..." widget in my sidebar. You all may have actually played some music from it in the past. (??) It was nifty.

Lately, I was noticing that when I clicked play (usually while I am writing a blog post, I will play it to listen to something while I write, etc.) the first song played completely, but then, the songs that followed would play about 4-5 seconds before skipping to another song snippet of 4-5 seconds...over and over...and over. It was like channel surfing against my will. Little "preview" snippets of songs, one after the other.

I don't know if this is a problem with Last.fm -- perhaps it is a glitch? -- I don't remember this happening in the past. Maybe, there was a trial period on Last.fm for the widget, and then, it was meant to stop working? Who knows? [Maybe one of my readers who uses Last.fm knows something about this? Let me know if I missed something.]

Anyway, it was annoying me. I decided to scrap it and substitute in my own player -- because I already have plenty of musical content available from my WBFR radio project that I could use. Now, you will see in the sidebar my own radio player that will play music at random from my personal library. Currently, it is playing from the WBFR_dance and WBFR_winter_2007 mixes. I will keep adding more songs to the XML playlist that pulls the music from my WBFR project, but I also need to add some newer content. Eventually. The point is, my own radio station player will not annoy me and will be more reliable. Hopefully, some of you will enjoy the music. There is some really good stuff in there, if I do say so myself. ;-)

For more information on any of the artists or albums, send me an email (check the sidebar for the address) or leave me a comment. I am always happy to talk music.


[NOTE TO SELF: You'll have to sub-out the Last.fm widget on The Daily Lizzard also...a future task...with uploaded music to suit the Jazz-theme we have going on over there...Fun! Yeah, very future task.]


UPDATE: Put together some fast and dirty content for The Daily Lizzard's radio player yesterday (!Last.fm was really bugging me!) because I had some free time while I was waiting for somebody...And, I am excited to say that not only does she have some really great jazzy music to play over there, but a lot of it is from indie artists who deserve exposure -- so this is really nice all around. Plus, I used a beautiful color-coordinated player for her blog that I love. Take a listen if you have the chance...play it in the background while you surf the web...You'll feel like you are in the Lizzard's personal Jazz Lounge with martinis for everyone! But, I'd like an Amaretto Sour, please! [The more sour, the better...with an orange slice and cherry...K-thx, bai.]

Labels: annoying, bands, blogging, butterfly, code, Last.fm, lizzard, music, templates, WBFR, web, widgets

Playing around with my Picasa Web Albums -- thought I would share a slideshow of today's pictures of Nutmeg (a.k.a. Schmegs, Meggie, Schmeggie and Nutschmegs.)

Labels: blogging, cats, cute, love, Nutmeg, pets, photos, Picasa, pictures, web

As you all know, we put Trudy to sleep on August 13, 2007. She was cremated on August 14, 2007...and, we got her ashes back the following weekend in this pretty little box -- which is now on a shelf in our living room. It came with an engraved name plate which we affixed on the inside of the lid. We have been missing her terribly, but we are glad every day that she is no longer suffering.


As a household, we will always have a hole in our hearts for Miss Trudy. The boys were missing their sister...Peanut, especially, was walking around meowing and howling, looking for Trudy for days. We still miss her non-stop purring, her instant appearance whenever you called for her, her love of tuna water, her insatiable need to rub her cat lips on us when she wanted to be pet... We have ALL needed some cheering up...and, we had an available spot in our place to offer someone special a new home! So...


...Meet Nutmeg! It was a difficult choice, but this little bundle stood out from the crowd at PetSmart's Adoption Day as the best candidate to join our little, not-so-little family. She's very outgoing and she has a cool orange spot on her head. The boys accepted her relatively easily -- we only had them segregated for one day!


Jackson offered to give her a bath...to wash off the shelter smells...in a rather untraditional manner!


You can see that Peanut is pretty oblivious to her presence when he is sleeping with his dad...


...And, after a rough start of throwing up whenever he looked at her...from fear(!)...Noodle is now able to take a nap with her on the sacred chair...


Her first major act of mischief??? Eating through the wire on these headphones for her Daddy's XBOX 360! Surprisingly, Daddy was not that upset...probably because it gave him the perfect excuse to buy the better X2 wireless headphones from Turtle Beach...


Vive l' XBOX 360!
Merci beaucoup, ma petite Nutmeg!

Love,
Daddy XOXOXO


We also just got back from Connecticut and visiting Mommie Dearest for a Belated 4th-of-July-Birthday Celebration -- she's a Firecracker Baby! Here we are in the dark making motion trails with our super-long sparklers. You can see some of our other fun with explosives on her blog.

Labels: birthdays, blogging, cats, ChooChoo, current events, cute, daddy, family, fireworks, funny, lizzard, love, memories, mom, noodle, Nutmeg, Nutty, pets, photos, XBOX 360

My good friends, Michael and Lori, recently sent me this updated ultrasound picture of the foetus, also known as Nicholas. Yes, it is a boy-foetus!

Enjoy rolling around in that amniotic soup, my friend, covered with a cottage-cheese-like substance...Soon enough, you will be here in the real world with the rest of us, wishing you could go back!



It is hot today! I am thirsty:

Labels: blogging, childhood, current events, cute, family, friends, love, Nicholas, pictures, towhead, ultrasound

Part of me was concerned that I was posting too much about the Cancer-Cat...but then, I realized...no one reads my blog! "Butterfly," I said, "you post that Cancer-Cat. Don't you worry about those nonexistent readers for even a minute!"

And so, with that, I give you another video of the lioness, Trudy-the-Cancer-Cat!

The fabulous "meat graphics" come from the I Love Meat Sticker Collection that can be purchased at one of my favorite hilarious shopping spots on the net, Archie McPhee Toys.






[Click on the picture to go to the video page.]

Labels: ArchieMcPhee, blogging, cancer, cats, ChooChoo, favorites, food, graphics, health, memories, pets, video

When I first became interested in this whole blogging thing, I was strictly a reader. I tried to start a blog, but did not feel I had the stamina to keep up with it. Growing up, I never kept a journal -- beyond a few isolated entries in notebooks here and there, sometimes years apart. I did write letters to friends pretty often. I guess something of a "journal" was given away in the letters I wrote.

The other problem was a feeling of shyness. Not sure I wanted to blog, to share. It felt weird. So, I gave it up right away.

But today, I was feeling struck by the fact that my entries on this blog, while plentiful, were more often than not, fluffy? Not always. I do try to keep things funny for my own sake. I try to say something, even something silly, or just a notation of something interesting I saw elsewhere, as a time-capsule of "self"...as an exercise in regularity...in sticktoitiveness. To say, "I DO have the stamina!"

I thought back for a moment, back to my few feeble attempts at an anonymous blog. I re-read my few entries (posted and not posted) and felt almost perplexed -- "Who is this person? I wrote that?" And so, I decided to dust one of them off...because I thought it was funny, but also very telling. To those who know me really well, it speaks so innocently and simply, but peculiarly accurately, of the person I am today. What do I mean by this? I see the seeds of my current self in this childhood memory...my creativeness...my joy of feeling chills from spider-like tickling...and my selfish, demanding nature with regard to things being done "properly!"

Early childhood inventions: The Tickling Machine

As a child, I built the following engineering masterpiece:

Using several Tinker Toy sticks, I attached a rubberband to each one, knotted and fitted at the end of each stick - tight enough so that they did not slide off. This formed a loop on the end of each stick by which the individual stick could be hung. A much larger, "master" rubberband was threaded through these loops and looped through itself to tie the grouping off - into a sort of "key chain" of sticks.

I then presented my father with this bouncing windchime of sticks and rubberbands. In addition, I offered my bare 5-year-old back to him and demanded to be tickled with the instrument. My father required extensive training before he mastered the desired effect I had envisioned for the apparatus...namely, chills.

Brrrrrrrrrrr!

Labels: blogging, childhood, experiments, family, funny, memories, reading, recycling

One of my Twitter buddies had this on her blog (margalit) and I just could not resist sharing it here with my small audience...Hungry, hungry Hippo!

Labels: blogging, friends, funny, twitter, video, web, YouTube

You may have noticed (or not!) that there are now dotted lines underneath the title of each post and above the footer of each post...I was experimenting with this because it seemed to me that it was hard to tell where one post ended and the next began? I had a good amount of space between each post before, but it seemed like it still needed more delineation. So, I have made the change here on TBB for you all to get a feel for it first -- you can compare it with mom's blog at tDL, which is still in the "space only" format. If you like this better, I will make the change on her's too.

Thanks in advance for your comments!

Labels: blogging, code, design, lizzard, templates, testing, web

Been having some problems with publishing to my blog...I write posts and try to publish them...and get the dreaded "Publishing taking longer than expected...blah blah blah." Eventually, hours later, the posts will arrive on the blog. There is no such thing as a "spontaneous post" to my blog when this garbage is going on. And if I decide to edit or add something, that will take hours to appear on the blog. Very, very annoying. Been going on for a few weeks. I called my host service -- nothing useful. But, I think I found some actual help on resolving the issue from one of the kind folks in the Google/Blogger Help Group. Doesn't happen very often, but once in a while, someone answers...and actually knows what s/he is talking about when it comes to the question being asked. Which is refreshing -- as compared to the responses where the person just generically refers you to Blogger Help -- as if you haven't read all of those articles already. So thanks, nitecruzr. It seems as though your writings on FTP/Blogger problems may have fixed my issue. This post is a test of that...

In the meantime, I felt I needed some virtual flowers to pick up my spirits. Because the Trudy-ChooChoo-Cat has been trying our patience something awful. We had a horrible time with trying to medicate her today -- getting clawed, bleeding, foaming at the mouth, wasting pills, getting pissed with her, getting pissed with each other while getting pissed at her...you get the idea. She is impossible! But, by 11PM?+/- I found a method of wrapping her in the towel that works much better for keeping her "blades of death" out of our skin. Doesn't help us with the drooling and foaming, the biting and the Exorcist-head-turning theatrics that she puts on to keep us from easily putting anything in her mouth -- BUT, it does give us a better chance with those challenges when we are not screaming in pain from being slashed by her. So that's good. It is a good thing she is a wonderful cat in every other way because this shit is for the birds. Seriously.

Ok then, enjoy my virtual flowers! Aren't they pretty? They make me feel better (even if they are just imaginary!)



UPDATE: Yes, the test seems to show that the fixes worked! YAY! Thanks, nitecruzr, again!

Labels: annoying, blogging, cats, ChooChoo, computers, friends, pets, reading, testing, web

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

* hell (3x)
* bitches (1x)

How is that possible??? I could swear (pun intended) that I have said more bad words than that...surely? Maybe I have kept it clean for the youths? I don't know why. No one reads my blog anyway. [INSERT SAD VIOLIN MUSIC HERE.]

I should just curse like a sailor from now on...LET IT FLY, V! I'm going for Rated R, c**ksuckers!!! [Drat it. It is precisely that kind of self-censorship which stands in the way of seeing my rating dreams fulfilled...pffft!]

**In all honesty, I don't think Mingle²'s service has thoroughly scanned my blog...there's just no way I could be that clean. ;-)

Labels: blogging, funny, PGrating, web, wishes

What the hell is that thing on my head? This is my clever method for strapping two icepacks to the back of my head because I had a terrible headache at the base of my skull. After two Excedrins and the addition of my "apparatus", the pain is finally subsiding...and the amusement over how stupid I look is setting in!


[A flood of catty comments from the Peanut Gallery ensues...?]

Labels: blogging, experiments, funny, headaches, photos, Picasa

YUP, she's UP!

WWW.LIZZIESUE.COM --- check it, Bitches!

In other news, a dissatisfyingly low number of my invites signed up for Twitter...it's so easy to use and fun --- works with IM, web, Mobile texting, and MacUsers can use a nifty application called Twitterrific so that they can Tweet (and get tweets) right from their desktop! Not to mention the neato Twittervision where you can watch what people are doing in real-time, all over the world on a GoogleMap/Twitter interface. I mean come on, people...it was on NPR, so you know it has to be cool!!!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10300600

Labels: blogging, current events, cute, lizzard, twitter, web

Ah, push it
Ah, push it

Oooh, baby, baby
Baby, baby
Oooh, baby, baby
Baby, baby

Get up on this!

Ow! Baby!
Salt and Pepa's here!

(Now wait a minute, y'all
This dance ain't for everybody
Only the sexy people
So all you fly mothers, get on out there and dance
Dance, I said!)

Salt and Pepa's here, and we're in effect
Want you to push it, babe
Coolin' by day then at night working up a sweat
C'mon girls, let's go show the guys that we know
How to become number one in a hot party show
Now push it

Ah, push it - push it good
Ah, push it - push it real good
Ah, push it - push it good
Ah, push it - p-push it real good

Hey! Ow!
Push it good!

Oooh, baby, baby
Baby, baby
Oooh, baby, baby
Baby, baby

Push it good
Push it real good
Ah, push it
Ah, push it

Yo, yo, yo, yo, baby-pop
Yeah, you come here, gimme a kiss
Better make it fast or else I'm gonna get pissed
Can't you hear the music's pumpin' hard like I wish you would?
Now push it

Push it good
Push it real good
Push it good
P-push it real good

Ah, push it
Get up on this!

Boy, you really got me going
You got me so I don't know what I'm doing

Ah, push it


Special thanks to Salt -N- Pepa and Spindarella for helping us to successfully push another post (with video) off of the page... lol

Labels: blogging, funny, music

Push them posts off the page :)

Labels: blogging, videos

I have a lot of YouTube content on this main blog page this month. I'm putting in this post to push more longer-to-load items off the current post page and into the archives...This way, there won't be as much competition with the Twitter items for loading the page. Get all that?? No worries. I just have to resist putting soooo many videos on the blog. But it is hard to resist :)

I am tired, but excited that all my "features" are working nicely. Later days!

Labels: blogging, templates, testing, tired, twitter, videos, web, YouTube

I am now a Twitter bug. Cool beans. And it was pretty easy to set up. It lets people know what you are up to in real time -- by web, by IM and by text message from a cellphone. But no more than 140 characters in which to express yourself. It's meant to be quick and on the fly...perfect for the butterfly :) I love it!

Sooooo, in addition to my Twitter Bug at the top of the blog, I also have an RSS feed for Twitter (under the FEEDS section of my sidebar)! Neato.

Labels: blogging, cute, twitter, web

As some of you may know, I like to read blogs. I don't read any and all blogs...I have my favorites that I check out on a regular basis. Every once in a while, I find a new blog of interest and add it to my favorites list for future reading.

For a number of years now, I have been an avid reader of The Sneeze. Steve writes about a variety of topics --- his kids, wife, food, pet peeves, friends, music, etc. --- if there is a funny story involved, he'll tell you about it! Some of my favorite stories are his recurring topics, such as "Steve, Don't Eat It!", in which he finds all sorts of strange or gross food products to try out and then details his findings for his readers. Another must-read is his annual "Brain Watch" in which he photographs and reports on the status of a sulfur shelf fungus that grows on a tree in his yard. This particular story has intrigue attached --- one year, someone actually stole the fungus! He is obsessed with robots and loves cereal...all in all...Steve is a very funny read.

He recently wrote a post [The Art of Getting Bent, 02/05/07] regarding another blog that I plan on adding to my favorites ASAP, Bent Objects. Steve featured pictures of some of the hilarious bent-wire sculptures that Terry Border recently made, but there are many more on the Bent Objects blog. Most of the pieces are silly-funny, but there also some, shall we say, more provocative pieces shown --- amusing satisfaction for all types :) I particularly enjoyed the lesbian humor piece, titled Useless [posted on 01/22/07]. A very witty and quirky sense of humor has he...the best kind, in my opinion. Check him out if you have some time to kill!

[Additional info: his main website is www.terryborder.com]

Labels: bent objects, blogging, funny, reading, the sneeze

Well, another successful lesson was completed by the Lizzard today! She posted some orchid pictures and typed some text. You can take a look at what she did here:

the Daily Lizzard - a blog by lizzie sue

I was teaching her over the phone --- so I posted pictures here on my blog at the same time while walking her through the process --- see them below! oooooooo, pretty.

Labels: blogging, learning, lizzard, mom, orchids

This is my mom's freaky orchid. Isn't it weird??


This is my mom's pink orchid. Isn't it beautiful??


This is my mom's white orchid. Isn't it amazing??

Labels: blogging, learning, mom, orchids, testing

I'm teaching my mom how to blog today...fun!

Labels: blogging, lizzard, mom

Well, I have been working diligently through the night(s) on my Dell laptop to rewrite the html coding for mine and lizzard's blog...And after mucho, mucho experimentation and mucho, mucho, mucho testing...Eureka! I have created a template that displays well in both IE and Mozilla! This is great news, especially for jackie :)

My next step, since the Macs in the house are all older and we can't afford new ones at this time, is to go to CompUSA and test the blogs on the new Macs there...to see if the template works well in Safari...and, of course, while there, I will lust over the latest and greatest Macs, and cool accessories for my iPod and brand-spanking-new PCs of all kinds --- BECAUSE ALL COMPUTERS ARE CANDY TO ME!! I have a greedy greedy heart when it comes to tech-toys :)

Today is the Super Bowl aka Stupid Bowl --- and I will be rooting for the Bears while teaching the Lizzard to blog over the phone...a long overdue lesson! Soon, I won't have to post things as her anymore, but I'm sure I will probably always be playing a supporting role in the cleaning up of her posts...after she accidentally posts 3 copies of the same photo to her blog or whatever...I guess that is my job as the daughter.

In other news, we got a new frog! Not a new Green, but a new Cuban. His name is Paco. We will post some pictures soon...

Labels: aunt jackie, blogging, code, experiments, frogs, lizzard, mom, Mozilla, pets, templates