Puzzle (formerly known as)

Puzzle? What puzzle? I've removed the puzzle until I have time to link it properly as apparently it's playing havoc on some OSs.

But it was really, really, really, really neat. You'll have to trust me on this.

Oink!

Draw a Pig Personality Test

Shamelessly ripped off from Pointless Drivel, home of the one, the only... [drum roll] Mr. Fabulous!

Hai...KU!!! ('scuse me!)

And now, the announcements you've all been waiting for! It's time for the first annual Wrath of Dawn Haiku Awards.

That world famous, prestigious, highly sought-after... um...

...nationally known, pretty impressive, lots of entries... um...

...WTF are you talking about?, totally arse, more prizes than entries...

And without further ado (because enough is freakin' enough), we give you this year's prize winners:

The e.e. cummings cup for Most Poetic
merlinprincesse
Still there, the snow
Not yet, the Spring.
Only hope!

Toujours la neige!
Le printemps n'est encore
Qu'un Espoir....

The Berlitz Bouquet for Most Linguistically Cunning
TC
Cotton wool snow
Thick and DeepShit!
Where's me caaaar?

Neige de coton
Epaisse et ProfondeMerde!
Ou est ma voituuuure?

Nieve de algodón
Denso y profundo¡Mierda!
Dónde está mi cooooche?

The Monet Memorial for Most Realistic
nanuk
Snow cloak receding
Nature paints a new landscape:
Six months of dog shit.

The Bob Vila Golden Hammer for Most Constructive
Ricardipus (the blogless) non-poetic
Spring has come, time to
fix the garden. Ah, screw it:
call the landscapers.

Mack & Myer Memorial for Most Moving
Misty
Spring brings sunshine
that illuminates house in state of chaos.
F*ck it, move house.

The Mank and Woe Scholarship for Most Artistically Rendered Mank and Woe
Scaryduck
Buggering bollocks
I can’t write sodding haiku
Total bunch of arse.

The Speedo Cup for Best Swimsuit Season Reminder
Aunty Marianne
Shivering arse off;
But not a gram leaves its mass.
Bikini days loom.

and we have a tie for

The Little F'ing Ray of Sunshine, Aren't We? Certificate of Honourable Mention for Most Gloating
Mr. Fabulous
No real spring down here
Always warm, no coats needed
F*ck that winter crap

and

Anna
Ha ha ha ha ha
You've got loads of snow?
Suckers! I'm in Florida.

And in a category all his own...

The Haikuitis Interruptus Award goes to:

jkirlin
There once was a man from Nantucket...

Oh..wait..that's not a haiku.

Five thousand

I just passed my 5,000th hit. w00t!

Mirth and woe and wrath, oh my!

I 've just experienced yet another vehicular Tale of Mirth and Woe (TM Scaryduck).

Our tale takes us back to Sunday a week ago, when the engine light came on while driving home from weekly brunch with friends. I had choir practice in the afternoon and play rehearsal in the evening. Not a time to have the car break down. I managed to get around and got the car into a garage, where I was told the engine coolant was low (read: almost non-existent). Went to Canadian Tire (any Canucks reading this are now groaning in despair), was told what kind of engine coolant I needed, purchased it, poured it in, went on my way... and the engine light stayed on.

So, get appointment with dealer, as car is still under extended warranty (Mazda 626 - not a bad car, usually) this past Friday. $275 later - $75 of which covered flushing the WRONG kind of engine coolant from the car and replacing it with the right kind - grrrr and grrrr again! - get car back. Park in driveway.

Then comes the real woe... yesterday (Sunday morning), attempt to leave driveway. Car shudders and almost stalls. Make it to second stop sign from house, car stalls out completely in the middle of an intersection at the top of a blind hill. Manage to s-l-o-w-l-y coast to side of road before some loon comes racing over the hill. Try to re-star-ar-ar-ar-art it. No dice. Try again to re-star-ar-ar-ar-art it. Still no dice. (Some curse words.) Try again to re-star-ar-ar-ar-art it. It makes "chuggly-uggly" sounds like, "I'd start if you just gave me more gas," which I did and it started.

Continued merrily on my way, did what I'd set out to do, then on my way home, noticed SMOKE wafting out from under the hood. Looked at engine temp gauge. ON HIGH. Engine light comes on. Manage to get to service station by driving half a block and stopping the car and turning off the engine when the gauge hits high again then going another half block until I reach the nearest service station. Fluid levels all good, belts intact. Total mystery. Manage to creep home half block by half block without engine exploding.

Get car towed (this requires calling Ontario! Ontario? for a tow truck? Sigh. Insurance roadside assistance) this morning IN BLIZZARD. It was just a hose that had come loose. Will not cost more $$. Phew! And the mirth? I can pick it up once the blizzard dies down sufficiently and everything opens up again tomorrow.

Ha.

Ha ha.

Oh, the mirth.

Did I mention wrath?

Grrrrr....

The Simpsons

Live action Simpsons opening sequence. Fnarr!



Update I found this at Blogging a Dead Horse and did not give credit. My bad.

Have a Java

You are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Me snapping her, snapping scenery

Dale taking pictures... using a film camera. Yes! Film, boys and girls. Let this be a lesson for you all...

Spring, Part the Second

Ah, spring. Signaled the world over by the arrival of the crocuses and daffodils.

But us? We prefer the de-icing...

Spring

From Woulda Coulda Shoulda, a spring cleaning haiku that touches me deep in my soul (okay, maybe on the surface of my furniture) submitted by reader Zuska:



Ah! Like winter snow,
the dust has made a landscape
so serene. Why clean?

I know! Let's have a haiku contest here, too! Instead of spring cleaning (what?) let's just let it be about spring. You go first.

Wanna see my vacation photos?

Now that Blogger is playing nice again, I can post some of the pics I took over the last week.

This painting is one I have always admired and wanted to photograph but haven't because it is on the wall of a building in the downtown area that I don't usually visit on foot during my regular travels. It's quite large. I would guess at least 20 feet across but I am measurement challenged, so maybe not. So you'll have to accept that it's really, really big.




If you look closely, you can just make out the words "Sheila's Brush" in the upper left-hand corner. Sheila's Brush is the local name for the last snow storm of winter (we hope) usually around St. Patricks day. The snow is a result of Sheila's sweeping. Legend has it that Sheila was St. Patrick's wife, sister or mother.

I'm baaaack...

But seemingly restricted to text. There are photos to be posted. I'm not sure if it's a problem with Blogger or my computer, which has recently been acting goofy. One minute, it's ticking along like a BMW on the Autobahn and the next, it's on the verge of freezing.

So you'll have to content yourself with the information that I had a lovely week-long break with a visit from an old (as in known for most of my life) and dear friend and wait with bated breath for the photos.

Not tea bag

The visit is going well. I made Dale laugh so hard she snorted her tea yesterday. Pictures and tales will be posted.

Spinning

Apologies for the dearth of posts. I'm spinning like the Tasmanian devil at the moment. Trying to get things straightened away at work so I can take next week off while one of my bestest friends in the world comes for a visit. That's means I'll probably not post a whole lot next week either, although I hope to be busy creating post-worthy adventures.

We've been friends since high school, she knows me about as well as any one on the planet and she likes me anyway. She is obviously barking mad. So that's nice.

In the meantime, hows about you all suggest-me-up (TM Scaryduck) on some books to read? What are you currently reading? What have you got tucked away to read? Favourite books? C'mon. You know you wanna tell us.

Only her photoshop artist knows for sure

Clicky here or on the photo above.

WTFES

I hereby institute What The Flippin' 'eck Sunday.

I defy the masses to identify this.

Seal flipper pie for the winner.

Everyone?

Surely, not everyone...*

*Warning: Contains (possibly loud) sound and the 's' word, so judge yourself accordingly before clicky-clicking on the cute ickle bunnyrabbit. Be prepared to laugh. The lyrics are here.

Update: Um... this wasn't a personal statement, I just thought it was a cute song and the ickle bunny is adorable. And haven't we all felt this way at some time? Sheesh! Have you no faith in me?

Johari Window

Stolen shamelessly from the one, the only, let's give it up for.... Mr. Fabulous.

The Johari Window was invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in the 1950s as a model for mapping personality awareness. By describing yourself from a fixed list of adjectives, then asking your friends and colleagues to describe you from the same list, a grid of overlap and difference can be built up.

I've started by picking the five or six words that I feel best describe me, now you get to clicky on the link below and then clicky on the words you think best describe The Wrathful One.

Johari Window

Tagged!

I have been tagged by Anna. I am to list seven songs I am into right now. I have to confess this is a tough one for me. I listen to music most of the hours that I am awake, so to name just seven songs is tricky. To complicate matters, I'm preparing to perform Mozart's Requiem at the end of this month, so am spending a disproportionately large amount of time listening to that and if I'm honest it's the only music I'm really "into" at the moment. Hmmm... so other than that, here are seven songs I am into:

1. Tatooed - Damhnait Doyle
2. En Filant Ma Quenouille - Madrigaia
3. Ain't Too Proud to Beg - Temptations
4. You Don't Know Me - Michael Bublé
5. Good Enough - Sara McLachlan
6. Simple - K. D. Lang
7. Five Days in May - Blue Rodeo

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if the are any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they are listening to.

I tag seven of you! You know who you are...

The Wrath of Warg

My Monster Name is Warg Wargs are big and nasty wolf things that goblins have fun charging around on. Wargs have terrorised Middle Earth since the first age, they’ve been around for so long that might actually have been the Dark Lord’s Dark Lord that initially created them. The Levenshtein distance between Dawn and Warg is 3.
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Pilfered shamelessly from GW's site.