did Prince Phillip do what i think he did?

i'd bet on it. just look at the Queen's face in the last picture. even Phillip can't keep a completely straight face.

poor Harry was in the direct line of fire...

a gathering of eagles...

Dave sent me these photos from friends of his that live in Eagle River, Wisconsin. they snapped them this past December. the temperature that day was -5° F with a deep blue sky and, as you can see, it had just snowed. the eagles were right near their house. actually, it looks like they were sitting on someone's house...

they are incredible...

sometimes the signs are clearer than at others...

When you walk out the door in the morning
and see this in the sky...







Just go back in the house, pour another cup of coffee, and
stay there.

It probably isn't going to be a good day.

baby in a tree...

don't try to find the baby, just look at the picture. the baby will appear and you will never not be able to see it again...










this is one of the better optical illusions i've seen.


cool..., huh?

whoa...

the site passed 10,000 visitors and i didn't even notice.

thanks everyone...


mike/

instead of a celebration, i decided to repost my favorite picture of all that i have used -


The Weather Project
16 October 2003 - 21 March 2004
Special exhibit at the Tate Modern
Turbine Hall
London, England

it was one of the most interesting and beautiful art exhibits to which i've ever been. overwhelming is the best way to describe it...

i got stopped for speeding the other day...

I thought I could talk my way out of it until the cop looked at my dog in the back seat...






oops...

now that was a snowy winter...

We've been hearing news story after news story and weather report after weather report about the amount of snow the country is having this winter. Milwaukee seems to be leading the totals this year when it is usually Buffalo, New York.

With all the talk of weather change, we have forgotten exactly what winter is about. Chicago for the last several years has had very mild winters. However, we've had a lot of snow this past week and the temperature outside right now is -2° with windchills of up to [or should I say down to?] -26°.

This is more like the winters I grew up with. As a reminder, here is a picture from 1967 and the snowstorm/blizzard on January 26th. We had 23 inches of snow in 12 hours with 6-12 foot drifts!


Lake Shore Drive, the major lakefront roadway
No one was going anywhere.

Over the next couple of weeks there was more snow and, in typical Chicago fashion, the temperatures plummeted. It seems, for as long as I can remember, that everytime there is a major snowfall in Chicago the thermometer drops and we have a period of extremely cold weather.

I remember the storm in 1967. I was at university and hardly ever came home. I did that weekend for a friend's wedding. She had the wedding [it ended in divorce; I wonder if there's a connection?] I also made it back, driving, to school on Sunday. I don't remember how. The buses were stranded in the middle of the major streets. It took weeks for people to dig out in some cases.

Weather is always a topic of conversation with people. Usually one of the first things we talk about when we meet. We're the same here in Chicago. We have one other saying about weather that is really pretty accurate:

If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes. It'll change.

it's usually true...

gratuitous blonde joke...

Wayne posted this today for his Funny Friday and as you know if you've been reading along for awhile, i love blonde jokes.

Thanks, Wayne! [i told him i was stealing it.]




one thing i really never admit [no! i'm not a blonde, though they tell me i was born blonde but it darkened by the time i was one. i have no pictures to prove it, and yes they had color pictures when i was born!] but anyway, what i never admit is that i do understand the logic behind blonde thinking... maybe i am blonde at heart?

hmmmmm? i gotta think about this one...

table for sale on eBay...

is it being sold by a man or a woman?

look closely now...

it's really very, very easy...

give up?

it's being sold by a

man...

now, figure out how you can tell...

there is unique beauty in the world...

...a scene we will probably never get to see in person.

This is the sunset at the North Pole with the moon at its closest point. You also see the sun below the moon.



awesome...

new look...

couldn't decide on formal


or business



or casual



or dive right in



Guess I chose casual.

Been planning this for a while now, but it's always a little scary to try new things, though I'm known to take risks. My biggest fear was loosing all of the links, archives, etc., so I took it slow and made sure everything would stay the same. Actually, they didn't stay the same. They are better! It's difficult to do what you tell others, and one thing that I learned a very long time ago is that the things we worry about the most, never happen.

hope y'all like the changes and find it easier on the eyes ; ) ...

m/

no obfuscation here...

He's following the law too. He's on a leash and walking himself. This dog's a lot smarter in more ways than one...

monday morning mayhem...

1. BEAN SOUP…

Mrs. O'Malley arrived in Boston from Ireland ... and in no time at all her bean soup made her the talk of New England society.

At a party celebrating the sale of her recipe to a fancy Charles Street restaurant, an old matron approached Mrs. O'Malley and said, "My dear girl, what is the secret of your soup?"

Mrs. O'Malley said, "The secret o' me soup is that I use but two-hundred thirty-nine beans to make it."

The woman said, "Why only two-hundred thirty-nine?"

Mrs. O'Malley said, "Because one more would make it too farty."

2. be careful where you s(h)it...




3. neologisms...

(that sounds dirty)

-- Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.

-- flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

-- abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

-- esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

-- willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.

-- negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

-- lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

-- gargoyle (n.), olive-flavored mouthwash.

-- flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

-- balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.

-- testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.

-- rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

-- pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.

-- oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

-- frisbeetarianism (n.), the belief that, when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

-- circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

4. children will listen

A teacher was doing a study testing the senses of first graders using a bowl of Lifesavers.

As they tasted each the children began to say:

"Red............cherry,"
"Yellow.........lemon,"
"Green..........lime,"
"Orange.........orange,"

Finally the teacher gave them all honey Lifesavers.

After eating them, none of the children could identify the taste.

"Well," he said, "I'll give you all a clue; It's what your mother may
sometimes call your father."

One little girl looked up in horror, spit her Lifesaver out and yelled,
"Oh My God! They're !#*holes!"

look closely...

very, very closely...



amazing, simply amazing...

gives an entire new meaning to finger painting. don't you think?

Iraq strategy...

what happens when you follow blindly?

just asking...