Post random thoughts, observations, and events of the day...

I don’t know why, but I seem to have been under attack by the bug world this week. It’s odd. Vegas, compared to more humid places, doesn’t really have that many bugs. I’ve seen flies and bees and spiders, but even those aren’t nearly as plentiful as they are in Texas.

Yesterday I was sitting on the living room floor when the munchkin screamed “Bee!” and proceeded to try to climb me. After disentangling myself from her death grip, I was able to make out that it wasn’t a bee—just a moth flapping around in the window.

As I’ve probably mentioned before, I. hate. flying. insects.

I don’t deal well with their unpredictability. Normally I would’ve just done my best to ignore it and let dh take care of it when he got home. But dh was in Georgia at the time and not due back for several days.

So the munchkin sequestered herself in my bathroom while I mounted an attack. My foe was achingly close to the patio door, so I opened it and attempted to shoe him out the door. He didn’t get the hint. There were several episodes where I, being bereft of a fly swatter, jiggled the blinds with a broom and squealed like a little girl every time the moth emerged. (I’m sure that did much to allay the munchkin’s already profound fear of bugs.) I never did get him to use the exit I’d so kindly provided for him so I had to do him in with my broom. (Or else I would have gotten no sleep at night, afraid that he was going to crawl up my nose or something.) I removed all the little moth parts and let the munchkin know that she was free again to roam about the apartment.

All seemed back to normal.

Then tonight while I was puttering around in the bedroom, I noticed a dead moth on my nightstand. At least I think it was dead. It was belly-up so I took no chances and sucked it up with my trusty vacuum cleaner. Now I’m all creeped out. I really hope that’s my last “visitor” for the evening.

_Shudders.

Maybe this is just practice for Texas. And then Tennessee.

I can’t stop coughing! It’s driving me bananas. I didn’t get to sleep until after 4am. Then I got woken up by the munchkin at 5:30am. I’ve been awake ever since then with no zzzzzzzzz’s in my discernible future.

This sucks.

The munchkin and I got a jump on Valentine’s Day by making some salt dough hearts today. It was kind of a long project, but it helped to keep her somewhat entertained. I’m going to glue magnets to the back of these and we’ll eventually mail them off to far-flung relatives along with a homemade card. If I can just get them to the post office in a reasonable amount of time, we’ll be doing good.

but I saw this on imagedump today and had to share. : )

Alright kind people who listen to my ramblings…one more question about dresses and I’ll leave you in peace. :P As I mentioned in a random question yesterday, I’m going to an event this weekend that requires a “cocktail dress”. I went shopping yesterday afternoon and found this one. Do you think it’s too formal for a cocktail dress? (I haven’t taken the tags off of it yet so I can take it back if I need to.)

_{Apologies for the blinding light in that picture. Blank spaces in our little apartment are hard to come by. :P}

I saw this on Metafilter today and thought it was too cool not to share. It’s some rediscovered film footage taken in London one-hundred-and-four years ago. The clip is short, but still an interesting glimpse of a time I’ll never get to see. Enjoy!.

I don’t know why, but this really appeals to me on some level. It sounds like a lot of fun (and a lot of stress.) :P

A Shadowy, Wet World of Squirt-Gun Assassins

An excerpt from the NY Times article:

“When StreetWars started on Sept. 7, each of the 250-plus contestants was handed a black envelope marked “Shadow Government,” with the name, home address, workplace, e-mail address, cellphone number and photograph of a player to kill by squirting. After each kill, the shooter acquires the dead rival’s target and begins stalking this new person, all the while looking over a shoulder for whoever is hunting him. It is permissible to shoot in self-defense.

“I told my doorman that if he sees anyone suspicious with a water pistol, then he’s not to let them in the building,” Mr. Deane said.

He shaved the beard he wore for the picture his pursuer is carrying. He is considering borrowing a wheelchair to use as part of a disguise. By Friday evening, he had logged four kills; he was one of 16 players left. “I’ve been walking around like a crazy person,” he said, “wondering when they’re going to get me.” His wife, who works promoting nightclubs, is very patient about the whole thing.

If you want to read the whole article, but the NY Times site asks you for a username and password, use these (compliments of Bug Me Not):

Username: nononono50
Password: nononono

I just saw these pictures on CNN and thought they would be interesting to share.

This lone house is located in Gilcritch, TX and is the only structure standing for miles in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. According to the story, the original house was destroyed by Hurricane Rita in 2006 so the owners had this one built to withstand a category 5 storm. It looks like it worked.

This is what the house looked like in May 2008:

And this is a close-up of it now:

The pictures of the devastation were taken by “Ray Asgar, a private helicopter pilot based in Austin, Texas”. The link to the full story is here.

While out running around today, I happened upon these nifty Dr Pepper shorts and promptly bought them since I am a Dr Pepper-aholic. I can’t exactly wear them in public (because they’re really boxer shorts) but that won’t stop me from lounging around the house in them.

_{I also learned today that it’s really hard to take a picture of your own legs! I finally had to resort to using a full-length mirror and taking a picture of the reflection (which is why “Dr Pepper” looks like it’s written backwards). :P}

Sometimes it really stinks to be an introvert.

Dh and I recently signed up for a membership at a local gym. Said gym has an indoor pool which I’ve really been excited about trying out. So this afternoon I eagerly dusted off all my swimming stuff—suit, swim cap, goggles, etc, mustered up my courage, and headed off to the gym for a good long swim. Upon opening the door to the pool, however, there appeared to be approximately 50 million people in there. (Okay, maybe a little less than that, but there were still about 5 individuals to every swimming lane.) I was disconcerted by this for many reasons. For one, I haven’t been swimming in about a year and it’s going to take me a little time to get back in the swing of things. If I end up drowning myself, I’d rather do it a little less publicly. I had hoped for a nice deserted pool and a snoozing lifeguard but the scene that met my eyes was totally the opposite. So being the coward that I am, I turned around and left.

Sad. : (

_{I’m thinking that the next time I go, I’ll ask one of the lifegaurds when the pool is the most empty and try to come then. In the meantime I’ll be hoping and praying that their answer won’t be “5am”. :P}