Shane is on another trip, but he didn't tell me where he was going. He just sent me this picture taken out his hotel window. Does anyone have any idea where Shane has gone? I know this was taken in mid-afternoon, but it looks rather dark. The only other clue I have is that he said he was disappointed that he was going to miss Former Ambassador Jon Huntsman's scheduled visit on Friday (Shane is only staying one night). Isn't Huntsman running for President?
Don't make any plans for next Sunday, because according to the Robert Fitzpatrick (above), it isn't going to come. Fitzpatrick spent his life savings, more than $140,000, on bus and subway ads in the New York City area claiming the world will end just before 6 pm Eastern time, on Saturday, May 21.
The ads say, "Global Earthquake: The Greatest Ever! Judgement Day May 21, 2011." Fitzpatrick also wrote and self-published a book, The Doomsday Code, saying the Bible offers sure-fire proof. He also has a website with lots more religious mumbo jumbo.
Basically, Fitzpatrick is claiming that there will be a giant earthquake that will leave the Earth uninhabitable. Apparently, he is a follower of Harold Camping, a radio host who has been wrong before about his end-of-the-world predictions. Fitzpatrick, a retired engineer, is betting big time Camping isn't wrong this time.
I, for one, will be relaxing on Saturday and, perhaps, enjoying a cocktail.
We open the shade next to our bed each morning so Maude can watch the birds land on our neighbor's roof. The birds are literally a few feet from her. They have to notice the giant cat nearby, but must know they are safe since they seem to taunt her.
Maudie gets very excited and shivers, whips her tail, clicks, barks, and grunts. This video is a mild example of this. Of course when I get the camera out, she tones it down.
Shane worries that bird watching upsets her too much, but I think it gives her something exciting to do during the day. And before anyone comments, yes, we finally removed the flannel sheets. They were getting rather furry.
Earlier this week (Wednesday), I posted this photo and a short essay with some links that was somewhat critical of Newt Gringrich. Today, I logged on to see the post had been deleted. Someone must not have liked me being critical of the Newt and his trampy wife. I also noticed this exact photo was gone from the Internet. I saw a similar photo, cropped differently, but not this shot. Very strange. Newt has great power. I realize there was some problem with Blogger, but I still think it strange that only the Newt post is gone. I shall strive to recreate it.
Newt Loves America (Unless It Gets Cancer)
It is almost too easy to pick on poor Newt Gingrich. There are so many reasons to hate him. He is probably a very intelligent person, but he has made some really horrible choices. Today, he had the audacity to announce he was running for the Office of the President of the United States.
This is the man who believes that marriage should only be between one man and one woman, unless that woman happens to be racked with cancer. In that case, it seems to be OK for marriage to be among a man and two or more women. Then he has the balls to criticize President Clinton for his immorality of having an affair. Kettle, pot. Pot, kettle.
Newt's current wife... his third, was the result of an affair he was having on his second wife. He blamed his affairs on his love for America. I swear. I'm not sure what is going on with his wife in the photo (above), but hypnosis may have something to do with all this.
Click here to read all about his scandals and assholery.
This is a home-made cocktail. The description from the recipe says it is similar to a Bay Breeze, only it is a short, not long, drink. I don't know what that means.
It is fairly simple: 1 and 1/3 ounces vodka, 1 ounce of pineapple juice, and 1 ounce of cranberry juice. Just combine them in a shaker with ice, shake, and strain into a cocktail glass. It also says you should garnish it with a wedge of pineapple, but I didn't bother with it.
It's not bad, but not great. Maybe it needed the pineapple wedge.
National Public Radio (NPR) is streaming the audio to the hit Broadway show, The Book of Mormon, for free for a limited time. How long of a limited time is anyone's guess. Shane is taking me to New York for my birthday in August and already got tickets to see this show.
Previous to releasing the soundtrack on NPR, the show was very limited to what they would release. There were no video clips as far as I saw, which was unusual--just photos. The word of mouth, however, was very positive. It also got 14 Tony nominations recently, the most of any other show for the year.
NPR warns the audio is filthy, but streams the total content uncensored. The GOP is threatening to take away NPR's funding, but they aren't bowing to any pressure by restricting anything that may be controversial. Case in point, listen to the fourth track on the album, "Casa Diga Eebowai," a funny parody of The Lion King's "Hakuna Matada."
Also, if you are looking for the audio of the actual Book of Mormon, click here.
Coincidentally, while I was up at my mom's on Mother's Day this past Sunday, two actual Mormons came to the door to promote the Book of Mormon--not the Broadway show.
There are at least two Starbucks within 100 yards of where I work. I don't usually frequent Starbucks, since I don't like coffee. However, my co-worker, Sara, coersed me into going over to get a Frappuccino®. They have a special running through Sunday where Frappuccinos are half priced during Happy Hour (3 p.m to 5 p.m.). I ran home last night and ran at the gym today at lunch. I thought I could afford a little treat, so I gave in.
When we arrived, the line was very long. But, we didn't let that stop us (though we considered walking across the street to the other Starbucks to see if the line was shorter. I ordered the smallest size (a tall) Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino.
They only had three people behind the counter--one taking orders and the other two frantically making a variety of Frappuccinos. After a long wait and some prodding from Sara, we finally got our drinks.
My 12 oz cup of chocolate milk with ice and chocolate bits covered in whipped cream and syrup was good, but I can't imagine paying full price for it ($3.75). Half price was pushing it. The size I had contained 290 calories, 13 grams of fat (including 7 grams of saturated), and 38 grams of sugar. Totally not worth it. If I'm going to consume some empty calories, I'd much rather go for the McDonalds' hot fudge sundae, which only cost $1.
You have got to Google Santorum. I had no idea. As Jon Stewart says, Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum probably would prefer you didn't Google his last name.
We went up to see mom for Mother's Day today. She didn't want to go out to eat, so we ordered in some subs and spent the afternoon relaxing. I got her a fern (her request) and a box of instant oatmeal with flaxseed. This is her with her cat, Rudy, taken a few years ago. She'll get mad at me for saying this, but that cat is evil. She loves him though. If I try to touch him, he'll draw blood. I keep my distance. Happy Mom's day!!
I did a little work cleaning up and planting some flowers in outside our DC house today. Here's the result. I'm not finished. I want to get more flowers and put down some mulch. It is always risky putting in flowers before Mother's Day, since they have been know to vanish from the garden.
Shane and I are eating at Fusion on 8th Street in South East DC. It is a modern Asian restaurant. For a starter cocktail, I got the Fusion Martini. It is made with Smirnoff Vodka, Peach Brandy, Peach Schnapps, and Cranberry Juice. I'm not crazy about the short martini glass, but the drink is very good and definitely worth the $10.
Friday Night Cocktail is going to be a new feature each week on Running With Blue Sponge.
Sorry Bob, but I can't do lunch today. I'm drowning in paperwork.
This is my idea for the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #286. I know this caption seems obvious, but it is all I got. Let me know if you have any ideas for a caption too.
This is what our house in Florida looked like when we bought it about a year ago.
After
This is what it looked like this past weekend. Below are some more photos to show the work we've done... OK... the work we've had done. Double click on the photos to see the high-resolution, bigger photo.
Today is our anniversary. It was 13 years ago today that Shane and I first got together. We are going out to dinner to celebrate. We are eating Italian and there will be plenty of wine flowing. It is kind of a sad occasion, because I figure now we only have about 60 more years together. Love you Shane!
We just got back from Florida where there is currently an infestation of "lovebugs." There are swarms and swarms of these little bugs paired off and copulating. I took a video of them out the backdoor of our house in Florida. I ran outside today and ate a few of them during the run. They are everywhere right now. Everywhere.
They seem to be using the vacant lot next to our house as a dirt dumping ground. We got down here late last night and found this barge parked next door ruining our beautiful view. We are hoping this is very temporary.
