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

In the midst of my popping Benadryl capsules, smearing Vicks VapoRub on my nose (Yes, despite the directions on the jar, I have always smeared VapoRub on my nose when I am sick to help me breathe!), sneezing and constant nose-blowing -- I have managed to incorporate another "green" change. It's a small one, but every bit helps, right?

That's right, instead of using one tissue after another during the course of my cold, I have opted to start using handkerchiefs! A hankie can be used many more times than the 2-3 nose-blows possible with a tissue. And, when they have gotten sufficiently "soiled", I can throw them in the wash and use them again and again...and again! It occurred to me that it was a great option that was sitting right under my nose [pun very much intended, LOL] because we had a large quantity of brand new handkerchiefs already in our closet. I had brought them home a couple of years ago and forgot about them -- one of the many things salvaged from the man's daddy's house after he died. Ever the old-fashioned-gentleman, Pop had packs and packs of brand new handkerchiefs -- as well as boxes upon boxes of brand new towels, never-worn shirts, every suit ever bought, every pair of shoes, every scrap of anything, etc. Yeah, he had a hording problem...Anyway, it seemed a shame to just toss them and pointless to donate handkerchiefs, so I thought, "These could be useful..." and took them home.

Now, not only is that usefulness proving to be very true, but the man and I have the added benefit of being able to make jokes about my using "another one of Pop's hankies" every time I blow my nose! I like the idea that he stays in our minds and in our lives, in this simple every-day-way, even though he is gone. I like to think this comforts the man.

Aside from my current cold, I periodically suffer from allergies and frequent sneezing -- I sometimes feel like I am forever blowing my nose. Handkerchiefs are much softer than tissues and better for the environment. I am enjoying them in spite of my nasal misery. So, thanks Pop...You are helping us "be greener" from the grave!


Related posts: Baby Steps Part 1, Baby Steps Part 2.

Labels: blogs, Earth, EcoFriendly, experiments, photos, plans, recycling, web

Today, the cats went green! Yes, it is official, we have switched over to 100% biodegradable, Eco-friendly cat litter. As I mentioned in Part 1 of "Baby Steps Toward A Greener Life", we will be trying out two kinds of litter side by side -- one made with wheat and one made with corn -- both pictured at left.


In terms of color, texture and smell -- they are virtually indistinguishable -- as you can see here -- sorry, we are not a Scratch-N-Sniff blog at this point, so you can't smell. World's Best Cat Litter is in the green box, Swheat Scoop is in the red box. They both smell very natural, like feeds for livestock on a farm. There was certainly a lot less dust when I poured them into the boxes, which was nice! As my Twitter friend, margalit mentioned in the comments of the previous Part 1 post, we have already made note of the fact that World's Best (corn) costs twice as much as Swheat Scoop (wheat). The Swheat Scoop came in a 40lb. bag and the World's Best came in a 17lb. bag which cost almost the same price. Obviously, we will most likely stick with the Swheat Scoop in the future, but for the purpose of evaluation, etc. we are trying both right now. Thus far, the cats have liked (and used!) both boxes without any adjustment problems. Of course, we do have unusually cooperative, well-behaved cats so this does not surprise me too much. And, NO, that is not our bathtub -- we have a second bathroom that is designated as the Cat Bathroom -- where we keep the cat litters in the tub with a shower curtain drawn. This gives them a pleasing amount of privacy, keeps the boxes out of human sight, and more importantly, keeps cat litter from being all over our apartment (because it drops off of their paws as they jump out of the tub). We still use the toilet and sink in there -- which works out fine for everyone -- we just need to vacuum out the tub once or twice a week during our normal apartment cleaning activities...that sounds pretty funny now that I put it in writing...vacuuming out the tub!

Anyway, we are happy about this new transition. The urine appears to clump very well in both types of litter. And, as per Margalit's additional advice, we are not flushing our clumps (even though we do not have a low flush toilet) -- we have old newspapers saved under the bathroom sink -- I use 2-3 sheets of newspaper to scoop litter onto, and then, wrap up the waste into a 100% biodegradable packet that can go out with the trash. So, no more need for the plastic supermarket bags. Great!

Speaking of which, we used our new canvas bags at the supermarket last weekend. People did look at us funny at the registers which amused me, but also made me feel proud (?) in a weird way. In addition, we saved .03 cents per bag used on our grocery bill which is not much, but it still feels like a reward. Maybe this next thing is just a serendipitous coincidence, but I stopped into the supermarket again today -- and they are now selling reusable bags at the registers which were never there before! Were the supermarket managers (or workers) influenced to make this change by seeing us with our bags? Or was it already in the works?? I do not know and I do not need to know -- I am purely excited by the fact that it has happened -- whatever the cause! ;-D


Some other small changes we have implemented...in an effort to reduce the amount of plastic wrap and the number of Ziploc bags we use, we are washing out Ziploc bags and reusing them many times before disposal. Basically, we will be using them until they develop a hole or tear. It is amazing how long these suckers last -- which is why they are a problem in the first place, huh?

We have always had a Brita water filter container in our refrigerator, but we are making an effort to eliminate buying any bottled water when we are out and about. We have saved a few plastic bottles that we fill up at home and take with us rather than buying new ones. The idea of buying water has always been ridiculous -- so this is an easy thing to feel good about from a "saving money" standpoint as well as the plastic and waste issues.


Another recent change...for my intermittent struggle with Starbuck's Mocha Frappuccino addiction...I bought this reusable travel cup which will hold any grande-sized beverage purchased from my local pusher. It is easy enough to take it with me, eliminates the need for all of those wasted disposable plastic cups...AND, I save .10 cents off of my purchase when I bring my own cup! Cool beans, indeed.

We are also making a real effort to recycle properly by making it a more efficient, do-able task. We use the same canvas bags for the supermarket to keep purely recyclable-only items separate from the ones with refund deposits. When it is time to go to the supermarket again, we just grab the canvas bags as usual already filled with our presorts. This makes it very easy to dump the recyclables in the bins outside on the way to the car, and then, we take the deposit refund recyclables with us to the supermarket to get our money back. If we sort as we use and bind the new habit with a well-established habit (going to the store) -- it is much more likely that we will follow through consistently. Plus, it keeps the recycling under control -- nothing is worse than lugging 2-3 months worth of cans and bottles to the supermarket -- at least, until one has children to do that for exercise and spending money! ;-) LOL



Semi-related side note: Twitter friend, cwdaniels made mention of our "Baby Steps" project post on his blog here. Thanks, Wess! You can also read his great post about his own efforts at more sustainable living. Or, check out the rest of his blog at http://gatheringinlight.com for more good reads! :-D

Unrelated side note: Twitter friend, margalit recently went to the hospital for another congestive heart failure incident -- if you would like to send her some kind-thought-vibes via Twitter or her blog at http://outtamymindwithworry.blogspot.com, I am sure she would love to hear from you. She's very kind to strangers... ;-) Feel better, margalit!

Labels: blogs, cat litter, cats, Earth, EcoFriendly, experiments, friends, IdealBite, LivingGreen, pets, photos, plans, recycling, twitter, web

I picked up this fun little game from one of my favorite sites -- Casual Gameplay at http://jayisgames.com!





It is called JIG. The object? Put the pieces in order to complete the scene. Play it, enjoy it, let Jay know that you like it (at his site)...and, you can even support it by adding it to your own site!

[ The code can be found at jayisgames.com on the sidebar. ]

Labels: blogs, code, cute, design, favorites, Flash, games, jayisgames, recreation, web

I'm tellin' ya...those folks over at Twitter Mosaic sure do like my butterfly icon! I was a little bummed that I was not in the Transformers mosaic, but that is A-OK because I think the Silence of the Lambs one turned out much better. You can see my "occurrences" in the picture on the left -- or the original versions with the members list at www.twittermosaic.com -- and of course, you can follow twitter_mosaic to become a "part of the art."

In cat news, Trudy-the-Cat has her ultrasound appointment tomorrow (Monday) at 3PM. She's not allowed to eat for 12 hours before the appointment -- before I go to bed, I have to take away everybody's food (Eat up, Cats!! You only have a few more hours...) We will finally find out what is going on with this cat's liver so they can get her on some medicine to help it -- or we find out something worse (hopefully not) and make her as comfortable as she can be, until it is time to say goodbye. It will be a rip-roaring drive to the specialist's office, drooling all the way...Good Luck, ChooChoo!

Labels: art, blogs, cats, ChooChoo, friends, mosaics, pets, pictures, twitter, vet, web, wishes

Remember my recent post where I mentioned that I was part of the Big Blue Marble Negative Twitter Mosaic?? For those who do not, you can refer to it here.

Well, the newest mosaic has just been completed -- Soylent Green -- I made it in again! This time my icon is more rare...I was only able find it once. Which is kind of cool, I think, that it had its perfect spot with no repeats. You can see the original picture and the list of included folks (who knows, you might be in it!) at www.twittermosaic.com -- also, you can become a part of future mosaics by adding twitter_mosaic to your Twitter friends' list.

And, of course, you can see my modified version of the picture where I circled my occurrence here.

Labels: art, blogs, friends, mosaics, pictures, twitter, web

Labels: bent objects, blogs, cute, funny, vegetables, web

Today we saw TRANSFORMERS...AND IT WAS AWESOME! I loved it. LUV'D IT, BITCHES!

Acting was great -- totally believed that the actors were terrified and/or interacting "with" the robots (which is hard to do when nothing is there) -- and Shia LaBeouf was really funny. Effects were un-fucking-believable. Story kept me on the edge of my seat...so much so, that I refused to take a bathroom break...even though I needed to pee really, really badly. And, amazingly, I was in-major-love with the robots by the end -- as if they were actual people. I thought I would cry when it seemed BumbleBee was going to die. Optimus Prime, I love you. [swoon] Anthropomorphizing rules.

One question though...Why no female-voiced Transformers? Maybe the sequel will have some? Just a thought.


On the Fourth of July, we saw this little number (because Transformers was sold out for the whole afternoon) -- which was just fine. Why? Because this movie was Hi-lar-i-ous...HILARIOUS! Possibly...funnier than The 40-Year-Old Virgin...?? Maybe. I am not entirely sure. But, I think so. It is hard to quantify the hysteria-factor when the movies do not occur back-to-back for comparison, but I am willing to go out on a limb and say it was.

This has been a great week for movies, indeed. I think I want the DVDs of both of these babies when they come out. Yeah, they're that good.

What else? Oh yeah, we had a day of hell in the feline arena. This mother f*cking cat can NOT be made to take a pill or swallow a liquid medication OR HOLD STILL FOR ANYTHING OR ANYONE!!!! Maine Coons are known for not liking to be held and being rather wriggly...And Trudy is the worst. The worst! And the quantity of drool that accompanies ANY amount of stress is incomprehensible. We wasted 3 pills today just trying to get them down. They all became mush. We tried to hide them in Tuna...NO GO. We tried to dissolve them and syringe blast them down her throat...NO GO. We suffered several personal injuries and have lots of holes in our T-shirts that were not there before. We lost more than a milliliter of the precious liquid medication that needed to be swallowed, but instead was splashed all over the bathroom in a shower of drool and antibiotics. So glad we have several more weeks of this to look forward to...Finally, after the many failed attempts, lost patience, and the addition of sweatshirts and leather gloves, we finally got the crap liquid antibiotics and the pill down. I can hardly wait for the morning when we start again.... ;-(

Here is something exciting. the_butterfly aka my Twitter identity, is part of the Big Blue Marble Twitter Mosaic. Don't know what I am talking about? Well, this Twitter person(s) http://twitter.com/twitter_mosaic collects the little avatar pictures that everyone uses on Twitter to ID themselves -- and uses them to create intricate mosaic pictures of works of art, photographs, etc. [Add twitter_mosaic to your friends' list and you could be in the future mosaics!] You can see these mosaics at the Twitter Mosaic Blog which is at http://www.twittermosaic.com/ Anyway, I was included in the "Big Blue Marble: Negative Mosaic". It is easiest to look at it first on the mosaic blog, but then, you can also see my saved copy of the image where I have circled the occurrences of my butterfly picture -- where I could spot it so far in the mosaic (not easy!) ;-D WooHoo! See it here.

Okay, this has been one of my longest posts in a very long time. As juvenile as it was...in gushing over my Transformer-Love...and the Knocked Up versus 40-Year-Old Virgin debate...and other stories of fame...and misery...

I am now tired and must fold some fresh laundry that is about to finish in the dryer before I go to bed. So g'nite


[Photos source: Yahoo! Movies]
http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/Transformers/1808716430/photos/17/3871
http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/Knocked-Up/1809701428/photos/58/1606

Labels: blogs, cats, ChooChoo, favorites, funny, love, movies, pets, pictures, robots, Transformers, twitter, web

Labels: adult, bent objects, blogs, Clipmarks, favorites, funny, pictures, really bent

Labels: annoying, blogs, Clipmarks, family, funny, web

Labels: blogs, Clipmarks, funny, GoFugYourself, music, photos, scary

For those of you who enjoy XML FEEDS:
I only recently discovered that my "Comments" feeds for Atom and RSS were not working correctly --- they were directed to the regular Post feed, instead of the Comments. This has been rectified! Now you can see what I say in my posts as well as the nasty comments that people leave for me...LOL just kidding :) You are all very nice people!

Wanna Search TBB??
I have added a dandy little Google-powered "Search" field so that you all can search the blog with keywords. As Google continues to crawl the blog pages, this search will get better at finding stuff in the blog (takes time.)

For those of you who enjoy searching by using an INDEX:
I have added a TBB SITE MAP that will provide all my posts in Monthly Archives, Daily Archives with Post Titles and Archives Sorted by Labels....I will try to update this monthly???

Wowsa. And of course, all of these changes have been implemented over at the Daily Lizzard as well. Enjoy! :)

Labels: blogs, code, computers, experiments, learning, lizzard, templates, web

Foot fetishists, behold! A truly frightening specimen on the red carpet...


This little number comes from a recent post by the dynamic duo at www.gofugyourself.com --- on my list of favorite blogs. You can see the actual post from this particular photo entry here. The ladies write scathing reviews of the fashion disasters seen out and about at award shows, red carpet premiers, on the street...wherever! If you need a very silly and amusing break from the day to day, hobble your way over to Go Fug Yourself.

Labels: blogs, funny, pictures