the 2nd Carnival of the Pajamas is this weekend, so Bikermommy took some shots of me blogging during the debate tonight. and since i’m in my pajamas, i’ve already taken off my makeup and gone through my night-time Mary Kay ritual. so now y’all can see what i look like au natural… fear my pajamas/pyjamas, MSM! RARR!

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at least one community is benefiting from the NHL lockout (BOO LOCKOUT!). brew writes that Dominik Hasek and Jason Spezza have shown up at training camp for the Binghamton Senators. i’m hoping this good fortune will catch on with other communities and that i’ll be able to watch Mike Modano and Brendan Morrow for cheap at the Amarillo Gorillas games.

actually, come to think of it, Aaron Downey would kick pinkytoe in the minors, what with all his fisticuffs. come to the Panhandle, Aaron!

they seem to come so fast these days, musees!

sitemeter rolled past 40,000 today, and i just want y’all to know i’m thankful that y’all keep coming back. i heart y’all! please keep blessing me with your presence, even those of you who only lurk. ’cause believe me, i can feel y’all here, kinda like that creepy unknown stalker that floats around me and makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

i’m hoping to hit one million hits by my blogiversary on January 19, so tell your friends, your cousins, your neighborhood crime watch group, your Bible study group, your CPA, your accounting professor, your hair lady, your massage therapist, and most imperatively, your homeowner’s association about mountaineer musings. even if you’re embarrassed that you read my blog.

:) really, thanks for the sarahk love.

UPDATE: on another note… LokiDoki says i need a tshirt for Frank to model, and believe me, i’ve been considering tshirts for a while. i was thinking maybe an “i heart sarahk” tshirt, but i don’t know what kinda response that would get from the female musees. personally, i wouldn’t wear an “i heart sarahk” tshirt.

whadda y’all think?

(and yes, it would come in periwinkle, jonag.) :-)

John Kerry just saluted the flag of CBS and placed his hand over his heart and recited the following:

i pledge allegiance to myself
and all the French people in America
and to the People’s Republic for which i stand
one commune under Allah
innuanceable with liberalty and self-tanning lotion for all!

ok, maybe i’m a little overexcited. but anyway, any time i come home and see an amazon.com box on the porch, i jump out of my car (after carefully placing it in park and killing the engine), turn cartwheels through the yard, and lovingly embrace my bright shiny package.

sunday or monday, i had special edition Monty Python & the Holy Grail in my amazon gold box for $20, so i had to buy it, because i never see it for under $25. so i threw that in the shopping cart, but i also needed something else cheap so i could get free shipping. i’d been wanting to read this Neal Stephenson book that Frank had told me about that sounded fascinating, so i added that to the cart and checked out with one of my gift certificates. (i also heart my amazon.com visa card, which periodically sends me $25 gift certificates.) btw, Mr. Wonderful failed to mention that this book is over 1100 pages. i haven’t read a book that thick since Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse.

point. right here. keep reading. i got an email yesterday saying my stuff had shipped. coolio. it was already on my porch when i got home today.

ok, that’s stinkin’ fast service, and when the shipping is free, you just don’t expect it to arrive 3 or 4 days after you order it!

yay amazon.com!

you may have noticed that i have sold out.
that’s all i have to say about that…

day 1 - Thursday - Frank stood me up
day 2 - Friday - Frank snores
day 3 - Saturday - Frank and Sarah in the Canyon
day 4 - Sunday - Frank forced me to leave the Canyon

August 23, 2004

we awoke Monday morning and sprung out of the tent. haha, just kidding. after a fitful night of little sleep caused by Mr. Thoughtful stealing the covers and snoring in close range, i begrudgingly awoke.

FRANK: t-shirt babe! achtung! get up off yer lazy pinkytoe and go get me some coffee!
SARAHK: lower your voice. i’m trying to ignore you.
FRANK: but what about my coffee?
SARAHK: answer me this, and i’ll answer you that! what about my covers?
FRANK: my bad.

we slowly got up and started milling around. when i say slowly, i want you to picture a snail scooching through molasses carrying Michael Moore on its back; we were a mite slower than that. Frank went away to brush his teeth and i tried to dress myself.

ouch.

after about 20 minutes, i was dressed in jeans, Nuke the Moon t-shirt, big floppy sandals that sure are heavy when you’re struggling through post-hike trauma and my Grand Canyon fleece jacket. i was ready to hit the bathrooms for my morning Mary Kay routine and a little teethbrushing of my own. a few minutes later, i had successfully climbed out of the tent and began the long 100-foot walk to the bathroom. i passed another lady on my way there (not “passed” as in “walked faster than”, quite impossible, “passed” as in “walked by her as she walked in the opposite direction”) and asked her a question to which i already knew the answer. “oh, did you hike yesterday too?” she tried to respond, but her cries of pain muffled the affirmation. at least i wasn’t alone.

after i returned to the car, Frank had put away most of camp, so we finished up and -hopped- gingerly lifted ourselves into the Explorer and drove to the Lodge for breakfast. there was an unfortunate 25-foot walk from the car to the Lodge, but we were inside within 10 minutes. i might have yelped loudly when we walked down the stairs, but i can’t really remember, as the memory is too painful.

Frank ordered French toast, only he told the waitress he wanted some “Freedom toast” (she didn’t get it), and i ordered pancakes. i thought it laughable that a regular order of pancakes was 3 pancakes, but you could order the “short stack”. ha! what is that, like one pancake? no way! i’m having 3!!

my 3 gargantuan pancakes arrived, and altogether the volume was that of about 20 normal-sized pancakes, while Frank had 4 little bitty bread halves to eat. i know i could have finished my breakfast, but Frank looked so pitiful there, with his sissy bread, that i only ate 1 pancake and let him finish them for me. i’m such a sweet t-shirt babe.

after breakfast, we stepped outside to take one last look around at the amazing view of my favorite place on God’s green earth. then we were off to Albuquerque for the Dave Matthews Band concert.

the drive back through the meadows was beautiful, and Frank hadn’t yet seen this part of the drive, because we had arrived late at night. we made our way down the Vermillion cliffs, which seemed to impress Mr. Wonderful (i couldn’t stop smiling, of course), and into the vast beautiful black hole that is northern Arizona. this time, we saw the Navajo Bridge by daylight, and i even walked out onto it!! if you don’t know my inordinate fear of heights, let me just stress that this was a HUGE undertaking for me; i was so proud. of course, my stomach was somewhere in my esophagus, but i walked out over the expansive Marble Canyon like a big girl.

during the rest of the drive to Flagstaff, Frank and i worked on a most important secret project and laughed evilly as we plotted to take over the world. MUH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

in Flagstaff, i finally had cell service, so i called jonag and told her that Frank didn’t turn out to be a crazy serial killer after all, and she was pleased to hear it; i also learned what had been going on at IMAO and mountaineer musings. “Frank, we’d better get back soon, the children are trashing the place!!” we decided to pick up a fast lunch in Flagstaff, and Frank suggested Jack in the Box.

SARAHK: no. i don’t eat there. bad experience.
FRANK: ok, how about Subway?
SARAHK: i definitely don’t eat there. worse experience.
FRANK: did you have bad service?
SARAHK: you don’t want me to tell you, or you’ll never eat at either place again.

we started to run low on options, and as we neared the Jack in the Crack, i had a change of heart.

SARAHK: you know what? i will go to Jack in the Box. for you. i haven’t been there in 9 years, but for you, i will go.
FRANK: good! i knew you’d see it my way!

i was hoping more for an “awwwww, how sweet,” as i was making a major sacrifice. see, in 1995 i ordered a breakfast croissant at J in the B, and though i didn’t order Green Ham and Eggs, that’s what i was served. i took one bite and vomited, vowing never to eat there again. but truthfully, i’d been hankerin’ for a sourdough jack burger for a number of years, so my big sacrifice didn’t really hurt my feelings too much.

we continued on to Albuquerque, still plotting our world domination and talking about important stuff like marriage, children, wedding dates, –

ha, fooled you silly billies. we were only plotting our world domination and preparing for the concert by listening to all my DMB CDs. oh, and Eminem. we listened to my “clean” Eminem CDs, and i rapped along. Frank was most impressed with my mad skillz as a rapper; he started calling me BustaK.

we arrived in Albuquerque around 7, and i thought we might actually make it into the concert by about 7:30, maybe catch the last of the opening act (The Red West). things were looking good until we exited to the concert venue. as it turns out, the Journal Pavilion has the absolute worst parking strategy known to man. it took about 45 minutes to drive two miles, and we finally got to the parking lot and parked on the farthest row from the entrance. though it was painful, we walked quickly through the parking lot toward the entrance. as we speed-walked (for real, we rushed through the pain), i heard some riffing on an electric guitar, a little fun warmup. “hmm,” said i, “that sounds like Tim Reynolds. but surely we would have heard if he was going to be here.” said Frank, “who’s Tim Reynolds?” * sigh*

we reached the entrance and waded through the security line, and i was happy because we would be inside in time to catch the opener. i walked through with no problem and turned to see Frank being frisked.

FRANK: don’t touch me! i am Frank J! bow before me!
SECURITY GUARD: sir, what is that you’re wearing?
FRANK: Old Spice, you like? SarahK likes it too.
SECURITY GUARD: no, what’s that on your belt.
FRANK: oh, it’s nothing, just my machete.
SECURITY GUARD: you can’t take a machete into the concert.
FRANK: but i’m Frank J, and that’s SarahK right there. she’s my t-shirt babe, and these are my t-shirts. so as i said, bow before me! fear me, even!
SECURITY GUARD: i can’t let you in. you have to take the machete back to your car.
FRANK: if i don’t take the machete in, how am i going to fend off hippies who may want to dance with my SarahK?
SECURITY GUARD: i don’t know. do you know Aikido or something like that? maybe some kind of SmashFu?
FRANK: why yes, i do. come along, SarahK, we have to go back to the car.
SARAHK: but what about the concert? you have a ticket, right? why don’t i just meet you at our seats?
FRANK: NO!! YOU COME WITH ME RIGHT NOW!!
SARAHK: Frank, you’re making a scene.
FRANK: I’LL STOP MAKING A SCENE WHEN YOU COME OVER HERE AND WALK TO THE CAR WITH ME!
SARAHK: but my legs hurt.
FRANK: quit whining.
SARAHK: and what if i miss the opening jam?
FRANK: silence. i am Frank J. i have lowered my voice. you come with me right now.
SARAHK: yes sir.

though Frank wanted to stroll slowly, i grabbed his hand and pulled him along as i ran.

SARAHK: why’d you bring the stupid machete? i could’ve told you they wouldn’t let you in!
FRANK: shh! can’t… talk… right… now… no… breath…

we dropped the weapon at the car and booked it back to the pavilion. we actually got really close before we heard the crowd go wild and the band start playing. at first, i didn’t mind because i thought it was a song off Everyday. eh, my least favorite album, no biggie.

then i realized that they were playing The Stone, which is off my very favorite album, Before These Crowded Streets.

SARAHK: oh! they’re playing The Stone! i’ve not seen this one! hurry!
FRANK: hang on, i need to tie my shoes. both of them.
SARAHK: but they’re already tied!
FRANK: yes, but i’d like to tie them tighter. wait while i do that.

i was thankful that the music was loud enough that i heard everything as we, once again, went through security. i got through and heard Frank say behind me, “see there, Mr. Whineyman? no machete. i would like to protest once more, though, as you let my t-shirt babe through, and look at her! she’s wearing a Nuke the Moon t-shirt! if that’s not a dangerous weapon, i don’t know what is.” i finally just walked off, tired of waiting on Frank, who was in no apparent hurry.

since we’d been driving for 8 hours, we thought a stop off at the bathrooms would be beneficial, and i didn’t mind, because Fool to Think came on as i waited for a stall, and it actually is off of Everyday, and not even close to my favorite Everyday song. we finally made it to our excellent seats during I Did It. i, of course, started to sing along with every song and dance around like a wild hippie.

speaking of wild hippies, there were lots of them around us, and i could tell that Frank was starting to feel effects of the second-hand pot smoke, because he started dancing crazy. so crazy, in fact, that i moved as close to the guy on my right side as i could and pretended i was with him. the band played Hello Again, and i was so excited to have heard a new song. i turned to Frank.

SARAHK: that song’s not yet released! it’s a real honor when you go to a rock concert and they play a song that’s never been released!
FRANK: it is?
SARAHK: yes. and all those people on stage? that sound they’re making? it’s called music.
FRANK: good to know. thanks, sweet SarahK.

the concert was awesome, and Frank took every opportunity he found to torture me. during the silence between songs, there were many shouts of “play the song about the monkeys!” and “play the song about being gay!”. i, a diehard DMB fan fearful of having my Warehouse fanclub membership revoked, just buried my head in Frank’s shoulder after every occurrence. see, we were in Warehouse seats, and all the other Warehouse members kept turning around to see who that crazy guy was that kept yelling about gay monkeys.

they played Typical Situation, and whenever i hear that song, i always think, “oh man, i hate this song,” but then once we get to the chorus, i remember that Typical Situation has one of my all-time favorite song choruses ever, and i think, “i heart this song! everybody’s happy! everybody’s free!” anyway, after TS, Dave welcomed his friend TIM REYNOLDS TO THE STAGE!!!! and i mighta gone a little nuts at that point. Frank didn’t understand, so i explained to him that Timmy doesn’t play with the band often, shows up at random concerts and is on a lot of their special concert CDs. “oh. so you mean this is an imposter?” he raised his fist and shook it at Timmy. “IMPOSTER! GO AWAY! WE CAME TO SEE THE DAVE MATTHEWS BAND!” i may have cried at that point.

Timmy stayed on for four songs, including Dancing Nancies, which i had to explain to Frank was not about being gay. they closed with Too Much, and we waited for the encore.

during the intermission, Frank shouted a number of things, including “FREE HUEY!”. that actually cracked up the hippie next to us. the band came back and played Warehouse (WOO!), and the fabulous concert was over.

it only took us another 2 hours to get out of the parking lot, and my eyes were crossing as i drove to find us a hotel. i was so happy to have internet access that i forgot all about Frank’s embarrassing concert antics. plus, we had a wonderful time, so i didn’t really care when i later received the letter from the Warehouse. “We are sorry, SarahK, but you are no longer welcome in the Dave Matthews Band fanclub. This has nothing to do with your right-leaning blog and everything to do with that feller you brought to our concert in Albuquerque. Thanks for your support of DMB, and please remember to vote early and vote often on November 2. Vote for change!”

“nighty-night, t-shirt babe. i shall miss you till morning.”
“nighty-night, sweet prince, i shall never forget this day.”

so i’ve got ALIAS season 3 playing right now, and i’m watching ep. 3.10, the one where Kendall finally reveals to Sydney what happened to her. there is a flashback to the season 2 finale, the scene with Irina and Syd on the roof. Irina tells Sydney, “i’ll tell you what you need to know.”

ok, so that’s my tagline for my blog and always has been. only when i picked it to be my tagline, it was because Typepad asked for something like a short description of me. well, i’ll tell you what you need to know. about me.

so it turns out, i am Irina Derevko. fear me!

VAUGHN: i didn’t know you wore glasses.
JACK: only during surgery.
VAUGHN: well, i’m gonna go download the blueprints from the digital camera. but we’re still gonna need security codes to get into Camp Williams.
JACK: try Marshall. he should be able to log onto the NSC archive from his station at the Rotunda.
VAUGHN: that’s gonna be a little tricky with all the NSC agents crawling everywhere.
JACK: yes… if only Marshall had a well-trained CIA operative to assist him.
VAUGHN: you’re starting to like me again.

actually just one sweater. here i am in another favorite. my brown sweater even sports a front pocket to warm my wittle hands. yay, warm hands!

say, since i took this pic with my digital camera, and i’m posting it here digitally on my blog, does that make me a digital brown shirt?

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happy birthday to you,
you live in a spacezoo,
you look like a spacemonkey,
you smell like one too.

happy birthday to you,
yer blog is so coo’,
an intergalactic kind of monkey,
happy birthday to you.

and many more…
until you snore…
six feet underground…
where you don’t make a sound…
that’s all i could think of…
to rhyme with ground…
and if you’re still reading…
why?

UPDATE: oops, i do know the difference between still and steal. leave it to Bikermommy to point out the one mistake i’ve made in my 8 months of blogging.

UPDATE 2: happy birthday also to reader Blogbat. no song, though, i can only write one a day or my head hurts too much. :)

or Spidade, for those of poor spelling abilities.

when i was about 12 years old, i liked to stay up late. which is in no way different from now, when i am 28 years old and like to stay up late. one Sunday morning, i was sitting in church worship next to my friend Tricia, and the preacher was droning on about the most boring of subjects. i don’t remember what it was, he was probably just reading the entire book of Deuteronomy; whatever it was, it was not entertaining. and let’s face it, when you are 12 years old, you hope and pray some variation of the same thing every Sunday morning on your way to worship.

“Dear Lord, please let the preacher not be stinking boring today. and thank You for Kevin Von Erich’s victory last night, the way he totally bodyslammed that Freebird Michael Hayes, that was totally jammin’ (this was the eighties)! and remember how i dropped the communion tray as i passed it to my dad last week? could You please steady my hand, guide guard and direct it, so i don’t do that again? that was embarrassing. oh, and i pray that we’ll eat at Captain D’s for lunch, or that Spidade will make chicken fried pork chops, mashed potatoes, green beans with almonds and corn. in Jesus’s name, amen. oh, and please keep me awake in church. thanks. in Jesus’s name, amen.”

so on this particular Sunday, the Lord had answered my prayer with a big fat “No”, at least the first and last parts, and i was having a really hard time staying awake.

now, when i say i was having a really hard time staying awake, i mean there was no one in the entire church building who didn’t know that i was having a really hard time staying awake. my head was bobbing. REALLY BOBBING. you know how your head bobs when you’re half asleep, but you’re “listening with my eyes closed, but yeah, i’m totally awake”? my head was bobbing like that to the 47th power. i would sit up completely straight, turn the pages of my Bible at random moments so Spidade behind me would know that i was totally awake and following along with the sermon. then my cranium would take a dive. it dove into Tricia’s lap, then spiked back up, because, hey, i was awake, like, totally, my eyes were just closed so i could hear better! it slammed into Tricia’s shoulder with great force, then proudly lifted itself as my lying fingers rattled the pages of my Bible. then my little head even assaulted the nice lady on the other side of me.

that’s when i felt it.

the pull.

something or someone was holding on to my long ponytail and pulling up. “God, is that You?” was my first thought, but then i realized. it was my dad. Spidade was lifting me out of my church pew by my ponytail.

oh.
the.
horror.

having been asleep, i opened my eyes to get my bearings. oh, yes, here i am! right here, on the fourth row, front and center in the auditorium. i glanced around and learned that, yes, every pair of eyeballs in the building was fixed on my ponytail. i looked at Spidade. he just kept pulling.

horrific had not yet come, because Spidade wasn’t through humiliating me. he started walking. from the 4th row of the auditorium, Spidade walked me all the way up the long aisle of the filled auditorium through the back entrance doors. no one averted their eyes to save my pride; they all watched, gawked, really. to the bitter end.

Spidade gave me a shot of licorice to wake me up; it worked, so i was bright-eyed and bushy-ponytailed when i had to make the long trek back down to row #4. “Dear Lord, thanks a bunch. nice to know You’re here for me.” at least i didn’t drop the communion tray.

i really just wanted to have that for a post title. it has nothing to do with my post.

anyway, here are some random ‘NSYNC lyrics for you. just popped into my head. nothing to do with anything, really.

just worry ’bout yours ’cause i’ma get mine, now people can’t you see…

i hope you enjoyed this random ‘NSYNC lyrics post.

wow, i actually had a request to post something funny, and Drew, you have no idea how large my ego is right now, thanks. anyway, here’s what’s in the hopper…

* do y’all want another BlogLib? i was thinking about throwing another out there. they’re a lot of work for me, so if you don’t want them, i don’t want to do them.
* i’m gonna finish ALIAS review #3.20! i am! easier w/ DVDs.
* the story about the time i shot my eye out
* the story about the day i ate the pepper
* the story about sandy and me in the grand canyon
* the conclusion of the IMAO teambuilding trip story
* the story about sizzle and me at jacob lake
* a new john kerry funny

meanwhile, get over there and vote for Frank! do it now! he deserves to win and you all know it!

anybody want? i have 5. email me.

UPDATE: i’ve sent out invites to all who asked for them. if you sent me an email and i didn’t send you an invite, email me again. also, a nice reader (Mrs. V) sent me her invites to distribute, and another reader (Chris) has a few too. so keep requesting, and i’ll keep sending till they’re gone.

“Antonio Bryant makes a spectacular catch!”… this i heard from the bathtub and came dangerously close to taking a big gulp of bathwater.

i wasn’t nearly as surprised when i heard Whitten score a touchdown. i heart him, it’s like having Jay Novacek back. a tight end who does everything! hooray!!

UPDATE: Richie Anderson?? aaaaaahhhhhh yeeeeeeeaaaahhhhhh. that was a nice series for #20.

UPDATE #2: ::does the cabbage patch::

blogdaughter Angela spent some time in the kitchen making a yummy-sounding brisket, using a recipe from BeeBee (yay Carnival of the Recipes!).

following a recipe is pretty straightforward, no?

no.

legal-size paper should be outlawed.

if y’all are bored, you can help me with a hard decision:

how should i spend my evening?
choices include, but are not limited to:

• uh, duh, the Cowboys are playin’ the Redskins. BOOOOO REDSKINS, GO COWBOYS!
• sleep.
• be nice and call Frank to make him less bored.
• CSI Miami, sans Petey or Pooter or whatever that guy’s name is. Speedo? Spackle?
• write a nasty letter to the NHL owners and the NHLPA. tough love is the only way to end this lockout.
• suppose i could write y’all some more stories for this week.
• catch up on my DVR watching. then write a review of Lost (per laura’s request).
• take a long hot bath and then take pics for my blog in my blogging pajamas. don’t get excited, they’re not sexy or anything.

agree with me or add your own in the comments.

today is Monday. by definition, today sucks.

say, i want to get my moblogging going, and i read somewhere that i need to set up a cron job on my server so it automatically checks my moblog email account every so often or something like that, ’cause i guess if the account doesn’t get checked, nothing gets posted?

my head will hurt too badly if i try to figure this out myself. so if any of you other geeks out there have any clue what i’m talking about, please provide detailed instructions, either in the comments or an email.

thanks, musees! y’all are swell.

hatless in hattiesburg had a bad day recently. see why.

i told y’all the other day about hitting 101010 on my car odometer, which in binary is 42, the meaning of life, the universe, blah blah blah.

saturday i hit 101101, which in binary is 45 (i’m learning! hooray!).

this morning on the way to work, i’ll hit 101111, which in binary is…. OH! MY! GOODNESS! 47!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i cannot wait. i’m so incredibly excited about hitting my favorite number (thanks to that crazy J.J. Abrams) that i’m sure i’ll miss it!

i heart Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends. he’s such a smartpinkytoe, with somewhat sharp wit.

i paraphrase:

SOME GUY: they said liberal talk radio would never work [Ed.: *ahem* Spare America]. my show is the fastest growing radio program in the nation.
KILMEADE: i’ve never heard of you!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Doocy is the only Friend to not receive an I Heart — i’m sure it will happen for him soon. :) though i did have to email the show the other day because he kept calling the Fort Worth Star-Telegram the Dallas/Fort Worth Star-Telegram. NO NO!

i just saw my sitemeter report for this week, and it was really cool. Wednesday i had 1,330 hits (day 1 of Frankalanche). Thursday i had 1,331 (day 2). how neato skeeto is that?!? to have #s that high, and only 1 apart!!

i. am such. a dork. y’all have no idea how giddy this makes me and how much i wish i’d had 1 more hit on Wednesday, how much i wish i could go back and change it so i had exact matching days.

(please note that i would also be thrilled with one fewer hit on Thursday, so i’m not griping that i want more hits. though i do. i always want more traffic. so please, tell your friends about mountaineer musings.)

via the puppy blender and the bebe (Angela, not Minerva), i saw this story. ‘twould appear that Mt. St. Helens is gonna throw a fit and a lot of ash soon.

as a sciency-minded person and once-upon-a-time rockhound, i say coo’. but it’s probably a bad thing for those who live near it. but that’s their fault for living near a volcano. ;)

i’m a math whiz. i took thru calculus 2 in college (though i don’t think my grades were so good, but that’s ’cause i was lazy), scored 660 on math SAT (not that high, but i didn’t study! ever!), passed the AP calculus exam, can do FOIL and solve algebraic equations in my head, was multiplying 4 numbers by 4 numbers when the rest of the 2nd (or 4th, i don’t remember, same teacher for both) grade class was working on 2 numbers by 2 numbers.

i say all that to say this. C temp and F temp are the same when:

C=(5/9)(F-32)
C=F (replace C w/ above equation for C, and solve for F)
(5/9)(F-32)=F
F-32=(9/5)F
-32=(9/5)F - (5/5)F
-32=(4/5)F
-32(5/4)=F
-40=F

so -40C = -40F

thank you.

UPDATE: in case y’all missed it, beo needs a girlfriend. he has far too much time on his hands. ;)

(sorry, beo, you made yerself an easy target. heart ya!)

well, since Frank can’t entertain the IMAO readers with his comic genius, i have drawn my own depiction of what he’s doing today. sorry for the large file, i tried to make it smaller, but then you couldn’t read it.

enjoy, musees (and IMAO people just over here looking for updates about Frank)!

UPDATE: after you click the link, click on the pic, it should zoom to readable.

Frank says:

“i want everyone to know that my magnolia tree is just fine, and hurricane winds are very noisy and make it hard to sleep. i am okay but tired. made coffee last night, so i am okay. and i didn’t go shout at the storm because it was dark out when the worst winds hit, and i couldn’t see it. during the night, i couldn’t get to sleep because it was very noisy and i thought monkeys were trying to get into the house, but it was just the wind. does anybody know the best way to de-chamber a shotgun? and i hope everybody else in Florida is safe and want to thank Boudicca for giving me some last minute advice. i have peanuts, doritos, oreos and jerky but no beer.”

it’s been in the 60s and raining off and on for a couple of days now, the perfect weather, in my opinion. yesterday i went to the movies, and by movies, i mean that place where you go sit in an auditorium and leave feeling like a popsicle.

so.

i pulled out my favorite sweater to keep me warm and cozy at the theater…

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i couldn’t find a good shrimp linguine recipe tonight, so i just made something up, and it works out great, because this can serve as my submission to Beth’s Carnival of the Recipes 7, hosted this coming week by Trudy at Food Basics. here’s what you’ll need:

Tbsp. or 2 of olive oil
3 or 4 cloves garlic, pressed
eh, about half a stick of butter, maybe 3/4 stick
parsley (fresh is best, but i used dry. if you use dry parsley, put it in early so it has time to somewhat constitute itself)
if your butter is salted, no salt. if not, salt to taste.
black pepper to taste
frozen shrimp (already cooked, peeled, ready to eat)
shredded parmesan cheese, not that nasty stinky-feet-smellin’ grated Kraft garbage. real cheese, please. unless you like stinky feet.
cherry tomatoes
white wine, i probably used about 1.5 cups. i keep Gossamer Bay chardonnay on hand, because it’s cheap and is great for cooking (i heart any dish that includes white wine). some people cook with “cooking wine”, and if that works for you, go for it. i personally find it to be too vinegar-y.
linguine

here’s what you do:

heat the olive oil on medium-low.
add the pressed garlic and simmer. if your garlic starts to brown, your temp is too high, and you must start over.
add the butter and swirl it all around till it’s good and melted.
add the parsley, salt (if needed) and pepper.
add the cherry tomatoes, and let them simmer until they start to soften.
add the parmesan. it won’t melt so much unless you turn up the heat, but if you do that, watch it closely and stir often.
add the wine.
simmer it all a little.

cook the linguine in a separate pot.

when the linguine’s got about 2 minutes left, throw the shrimp in with the sauce. you’re just thawing and heating the shrimp, so once it starts to curl up and get small, your sauce is done.

serve it up and savor that yummy garlicky winey goodness.