I really don't understand why people let their cats outside to roam the streets. It isn't safe for the cat and it is inconsiderate to other people.
- Katy S
it has a flea collar but no signs of a tag. and no cat person would leave that much of the extra flea collar hanging loose like that - so it was probably put on by someone other than the owner.
- bear (aka Mike Taylor)
Thanks, Bear. I know nothing of these things. It seems hungry and needy. It seriously won't go away. All the other cats that treat my yard as their own, tend to ignore me. If I say, "Go away, cat.", they do. This one mews.
- Anika
Katy S: Our cat stays outside because we have Pit Bulls inside. And they would love to eat it.
- Danny Minick
Okay, I'm gonna have to go inside. This cat won't stop staring it me. Freaking me out.
- Anika
It's a beautiful cat. I'd take it off your hands if I lived close enough. Even the hungriest of strays don't get that friendly, so it looks like the cat belonged to or interacted with someone who showed it enough kindness and affection that it knows to go to people for food and love.
- tinypants - Hagitha of FF
Such a beautiful kitty! If I was closer, I'd seriously be tempted... ;-)
- vicster
Wonderful markings. If it has it's front claws I'd so take it (never dealing with another declawed cat again, too much stress)
- Matthew DeVries
It is a pretty cat. My friend has a cat with similar markings and she's nowhere near as friendly.
- Anika
Danny - why would you have a cat if you have dogs that would eat it? Or, the other side, if you have a cat, why would you get a dog that would harm it?
- Katy S
Matthew - what type of stress? I've been around a lot of declawed cats and they never seemed to behave any different than those with claws. Not saying I like declawing, but I just haven't experiences any behavioral differences between those that have and haven't been declawed.
- Katy S
Katy - Stress for me. If a normal cat escapes, you try to find them, but you don't worry about them. They can handle themselves, when the declawed inside only cats escape, you lose your freakin mind trying to find it ASAP cause you know they won't last a night alone.
- Matthew DeVries
Oh! I get that. If the cat's a door darter, that would be stressful. Some who are against de-clawing claim it is stressful for the cat. I've never seen empirical evidence for this - just anecdotal, which can be refuted by anecdotal to the contrary. Now, I have other concerns about amputating a cat's toes, but stress isn't one of them. They do lose their primary means of defense (+ hunting tools) if they are outside.
- Katy S
Katy S: I can't help the fact that it's the dog's nature to chase/murder cats. Plus my dad wanted dogs after our house was broken in to. Twice this year.
- Danny Minick
I think something about being properly clawed also develops intelligence in cats. Every "stupid" cat I've ever met has been declawed.
- Matthew DeVries
Danny - Sorry about the break-ins. I guess if it were me, I would have either tried to find a new home for the cat or looked at dog breeds that get along with cats. Pit Bulls, Chow chows, and several other breeds are notorious for not living in harmony with cats. When I was a kid, we had a great dane that got along great with the cat and also served to scare away pretty much anyone who came around. I guess we all make our choices, though.
- Katy S
Matthew - I've seen dumb and smart in both varieties. Or, maybe it's more lazy and not-lazy with cats. I sometimes think that they just don't want us to know they are actually smarter than us.
- Katy S
it is a cute kitty! too bad Im allergic.. Ill just wait for daily update pics of the cute kat ^_^ jk :P
- Rachael Depp
It was about 8 overdue books and 2 CDs. But the last two books, it took a week to find, then I kept forgetting to take them to the library. That also (should) include the $20 overdue from the books in May.
- Anika
I love the library. and I do go occasionally. but fines are why I don't. I forget all the time.
- Nathalie, Dreamer of FF
The problem with our library is location. If you miss it, you have to go half a mile past to make a U-turn, then you have to go back another mile to make another U-turn to get to it. But yes, even with the the email and text message alerts to remind me to take the books back, it's hard to remember.
- Anika
Find out if your Library system has a 'amnesty day' or some similar event when you can return overdue books with no penalty.
- Michael R. Bernstein
I doubt LAPL has that and even if they did, I'd probably forget anyway. :) Besides, I returned all the books a couple of weeks ago, this was the final bill I received in the mail.
- Anika
If you didn't return the books and cds, it would have been a whole lot more...:( But seriously, thanks for supporting the library. :)
- Anna Lynn M.
Shoot, I had books due yesterday and I forgot. My problem with the LAPL is they notify too early - they send me an email like four days before things are due. I forget again in those four days. I need one the day before and the day of. Which I used to have through libraryelf.com, until LAPL changed their system a few weeks ago and libraryelf said, sorry, can't support it anymore. Boo.
- Jandy, ConcertMaven of FF
Or I remember when I'm not near a computer. LAPL needs an iPhone app that I can use to renew stuff.
- Jandy, ConcertMaven of FF
See, when I get the first email, I send it to my calendar to remind me the day before and the due date. i get both email and SMS reminders, but I snooze those. Then LAPL doesn't send you another reminder for like a week! It would help if LAPL's site was available on a mobile phone (not just an iPhone).
- Anika
I should remember to do that, but I don't. They should make it so you can connect Google Calendar to your account and it automatically adds due dates to GCal when you check out. And great, just went to check on the status of my probably-overdue books, and it's giving me a 500 error. Seems like about half the time I try to log in something goes wrong.
- Jandy, ConcertMaven of FF
Basically, this is all my own doing. I'm not bitching at the costs and it does help the system. I just want to kick myself.
- Anika
I add it GCal, on the page from the email. Under the "More actions" tab is "Create new event". Put in there and everything is done.
- Anika
i'm all for supporting the library with overdue fines. a few bucks here a few bucks there. that's gotta hurt though.
- sean808080
Good idea, Anika - I forget it's easy to do that from the email. I'll try to start doing that.
- Jandy, ConcertMaven of FF
I no longer feel so bad about my recent $39 fines. So you've done that good deed. ;)
- Heather Solos
Anika, see if you can talk to the circulation supervisor and plead your case. I know you've been going through a lot lately, and sometimes all it takes is talking to the right person to get your fines waived.
- cecily
I doubt it Jason. One of the CD packages I borrowed costs $129.
- Anika
<puts on her librarian glasses>Hey now, seriously, 8 books and 2 CDs (and thank you Anika), one of them at $129 & you are going to get them for cheaper than from a library, for less than $70? Why would you go to Blockbuster and rent a DVD & pay the money up front AND pay fines when you're late when you can at least go to the library & get it for free at the start? Is it that hard to return stuff on time, all you people who hate library fines? Also, yes Anika, what cecily said - go find a nice circ person :)
- Miriella
I don't mind fines. It's my fault I kept the books so long, like I said above, I'll bit the bullet. It's just that right now, that's $70, I really don't have.
- Anika
Hold out 'til Amnesty day! Hey did you see hte latest parks & rec, it's hilarious, portraying the librarians as this kind of cleopatra-like man-eating feminist cult.
- anna sauce
"Sales of CDs and DVDs have declined precipitously this year; along with video games, they plunged 23% from a year ago at Best Buy stores in the company's most recent quarter. The retail giant is responding not by cutting back on entertainment but by aggressively positioning itself for a future when movies, music and games are watched, heard and played from bits instead of on discs. It's an unusual approach for a company that has built its business over the last 43 years on physical products sold in brick-and-mortar stores. Historically, however, Best Buy has used CDs and DVDs, which combined with video games accounted for 17% of the company's revenue in its last fiscal year, to drive sales of far more profitable televisions, DVD players and stereos. Now it is betting that digital media will do the same for a new generation of hardware that connects directly to the Internet."
- Anika
from Bookmarklet
"Some homes are especially attractive to boxelder bugs, while neighboring buildings may have few. This usually depends upon the amount of sunny exposure a building receives. Boxelder bugs like warm areas and are attracted to buildings with a large southern or western exposure. Buildings standing taller than surrounding structures or standing isolated on flat ground can also attract large numbers of boxelder bugs. Color does not appear to influence boxelder bugs as they are found on buildings of all hues."
- Anika
from Bookmarklet
I think these are what we'd commonly refer to as "stink bugs" around here. We've got tons of them, although they're mainly in the trees around the house. We don't have them in the house itself.
- Jason Huebel
Jason, I thought the same thing, but stink bugs are a little different looking (http://images.google.com/images...). We have those too. But my front yard is swarming with these Boxelder bugs. We definitely don't have pine straw around, though.
- Anika
"Rock band No Doubt has filed a real-world lawsuit over its virtual role in the just-released Band Hero edition of the Guitar Hero video game series, contending that the game has "transformed No Doubt band members into a virtual karaoke circus act," singing dozens of songs the group neither wrote, popularized nor approved for use in the game."
- Anika
from Bookmarklet
Did they? I don't know. It's been my understanding that in these Hero games, they use the avatars for different songs. I'd be surprised if that's not in the contract.
- Anika
Yeah Rah, Courtney Love was saying the exact same thing a month ago. I can't imagine the contracts didn't specify the "your avatar will sing other peoples' songs" aspect of the games. This makes Love+Stefani+Grohl all look silly IMO.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
"The 25th edition of the race, on March 21, will wind through downtown, pass through West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica and end at the beach. Along the 26.2 miles, runners will pass landmarks including City Hall, the Capitol Records Building, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Sunset Strip, Rodeo Drive and the Santa Monica Pier. "Listen: 26.2 miles is a long way to go on foot," said Russ Pillar, president of the L.A. Marathon. "The easiest way for us to do that is for us to pick a route that inspires." "Everybody's really stoked," said Steve Mackel, 47, a marathon coach from Pasadena who plans to run in the event. "I've never heard people be that excited about a new course as they have about this new L.A. course.""
- Anika
from Bookmarklet
"A Union Pacific freight train derailed near Union Station this morning, disrupting several Riverside commuter trains. Officials do not yet know what caused three of the 104 cars to derail about 1:30 a.m., said Metrolink spokesman Francisco Oaxaca. No injuries were reported, he said. The derailment blocked two tracks on the east side of the Los Angeles River near 9th Street, Oaxaca said. Metrolink train 401 leaving Riverside at 4:42 a.m. and the 403 train leaving at 5:42 a.m. were scheduled to go only as far as the Montebello-Commerce station, he said."
- Anika
from Bookmarklet
I'm going to try to exercise today. First time since Sept. 19. Fires & illness messed w/my lungs. Wish me luck. I feel like Jabba the Hutt.
To be sure, I'm still sick; but for the first time since Labor Day, I don't have a hacking cough and my lungs don't feel full of fluid. At any rate, 10 minutes of exercise will be better than the zero I've been doing.
- Anika
I am still not sure about the Zune HD on Xbox 360. I am not seeing content othat I can't get through Netflix or watch on YouTube.
Is anyone else actually purchasing content via Zune? It seems like just another way for Microsoft to nickel & dime users. I wonder if I had a Zune player would I still have to pay for content via Xbox. Not to mention the time constraints reeks of iTunes silliness.
- Anika
i wish we had any streaming service in australia :(
- Terry O'Fee
Her: What is this long crazy word? Me: Typewriter? Her: What the heck is a 'typewriter'? Me: It's what we typed with before computers. Both kids: *BEFORE* computers? OMG.
They're still laughing thinking that I lived before home computers. I realize it's because they're used to 50 and 60s movies with room size computers.
- Anika
And pre-cellphone? Telephones used to be connected with wires and if you were out you had to use a payphone!
- Nick B.
Oh man, when I explained payphones to them a couple of years ago, they oldest acted like I was making stuff up.
- Anika
I had to explain what a rotary phone was yesterday to mine after we saw one in a movie. The look on their faces was priceless.
- Sels
My optician showed me the eye test for young children.One picture was of a black rotary phone. Every kid identifies it as a T shirt.
- m9m, Crone of FriendFeed
A friend in Texas took her kid to the optician and their eye chart for kids were corporate logos. She was pissed and walked out to find another doctor.
- Anika
Corporate logos seems particularly bad from the perspective of being able to test the ability to see. They are, by design, very distinctive and recognizable, even if blurry.
- Andy Bakun
Me and my friend were playing the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game on his XBox 360, his son came in and commented "the graphics are so bad that doesn't even look like a video game." ...I suggested we wash his mouth out with soap.
- Joe Pierce
A few weeks ago, I put in some classic Atari disc in the PS2. My daughter said, "No wonder you and daddy wear glasses. These games make my head hurt!"
- Anika
I have an Atari Flashback 2. Who wants to play Combat?
- Eric @ CS Techcast
This is why I've always maintained when I have kids they get the video game progression I had. Start with Atari and Coleco-vision games, move on to some old school computer games (Oregon Trail and Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego-like) then NES, then SNES/Genesis, then Playstation etc.... ....It may be for the best that I don't have kids, I've put too much thought in here.
- Joe Pierce
OMG Eric, when I told her we used to play Combat for hours, she looked at me like I lost my mind. The boy declared it "boring". And they went to play with lint to prove their point.
- Anika
I think I'd better start ours on Yars' Revenge right away. He's been playing Little Big Planet for a while- don't want him to get spolied! :)
- Matt Mastracci
My kids are weird with what versions they like to play/watch. They prefer the older versions of Sonic or Pac-Man, but the newer versions of Super Mario.
- Anika
haha..............they wouldn't know a phone with a cord
- VAL D.
Have you ever tried to explain the rotary phone to them?
- Joe Pierce
...then we stood up and walked to the TV and turned a dial to change channels but it dodn't matter there were only 3 CBS, ABC, NBC but Bonanza was in COLOR... yes I am old thanx for asking
- WarLord
I don't have to. They've seen rotary phones in the wild. We almost bought one at the beginning of the year, but figured it wasn't safe. They've seen phones with cords...we do have a fax machine.
- Anika
The other day someone asked me if we still had a TELEX machine at work.
- Nick B.
And all this is pretty funny considering my daughter thinks we need to go back to using quills to write. She already told me that for her birthday, she wants a quill and ink set.
- Anika
When I was young I wanted to write with a quill, until I tried writing with one. Not so easy.
- John (a.k.a. dendroica)
Same here. I think she'll outgrow it. I hope she will, at least.
- Anika
Maybe she does think I'm *that* old. We're watching Storyteller. I said, "I used to watch this as a kid." And she asked, "In black and white?"
- Anika
I usually tell my niece and nephews: "Before Youtube..." lol. It helps contextualize.
- anna sauce
You walked to the TV to turn the dial? The dial had fallen off our TV and we had a pair of vice grips on the stub where the knob used to be in order to change channels.
- Andy Bakun
You know, when I read this earlier, I immediately though of the scene in Ferris Bueler's Day Off where the principle is on the phone with Cameron claiming to be Ferris's girlfriend's father but thinks it's Ferris, and Ferris calls on another line and they show the blinking "on-hold" light dramatically. There's a lot of passing the receiver around and avoiding getting twisted up in cords. Then, later in the day, this movie was on.
- Andy Bakun
Do you ask for TPS reports? RT @langley:I like to wander around aimlessly at work, with a coffee cup in my hand. It makes me feel important.
"* Take off and put bananas in plenty of salted iced water. * Slice bananas with a chip slicer into water, mix in in turmeric. * Keep for 10 minutes, remove out water fully. * Spread out on a kitchen cloth to take off moisture. * Heat up oil in a wok till smoky. * Fry banana slices in one-layer batches for a minute or two or until crisp. * Lift chips out with slotted spoon and remove on paper towels. * Sprinkle with salt before serving."
- Anika
from Bookmarklet
First harvest ever from my banana plant. They should have been cut down 2 weeks ago, but whatever. Lots of very ripe bananas. Now looking for recipes. =)
- Anika
from Bookmarklet
I have a feeling my night has turned into me make a lot of banana bread. :(
- Anika
Oh, duh! Banana chips! Totally gonna make a buttload of those.
- Anika
Oh man. Homegrown bananas! How good those must taste.
- Spidra Webster
I didn't think this one through. I hate bananas and now the kids are acting like bananas are homegrown sin. So we have a ton of them (there's a lot more not shown in this photo) and no one wants it.
- Anika
The Foothill Chapter of CA Rare Fruit Growers probably has members interested in trading fruit with you, esp for bananas.
- Spidra Webster
I can't give them away since most of them have snapped off exposing the fruit. So, I'm making banana chips and banana bread right now.
- Anika
Holy hell, if I knew bananas could taste this good, I'd not be so anti-banana. The reviews were right, it's is a very creamy and sherbet tasting banana (oh, I don't like sherbet either!). It has a slight "orange" taste. I can definitely see having these in smoothies. Super curious about how the banana bread will turn out now.
- Anika
Adapt this recipe for your banana bread. It will get rid of a lot of them, fast. Leave out the spices and use about 12 bananas if they are normal sized, more if they are smaller. http://momscookbook.blogspot.com/2006... You can also mash them and make frozen fruit pops if you are worried about them going bad.
- April Russo (app103)
Thanks, April. I like banana bread less than I like bananas, so I don't know if I want that much around the house. It will go bad after the novelty wears off.I'm making a loaf tonight to see where that goes. I know Adrian will make smoothies tomorrow. That should (hopefully) use up the ones that have split at the tips. The rest of the bunch is ripening, so I have time.
- Anika
And you mentioned 'normal' size. The 'normal' sized bananas usually sold in stores are Cavendish. These' bananas are probably about 6 inches long and 10000x sweeter.
- Anika
Tony, I think a monkey would LOVE our backyard, fetch me beer and tuck the kids in. Win-win for the whole family, I say!
- Anika
Anika, funny that I see this today. My boss just got his banana tree to "bud" this year. (his "baby") :) He just sent me the pic and It's going into the eZine I'm doing for our org. I'm looking forward to those fresh bananas after the "heart" forms. He's got 3 of these trees outside our offices.
- Melanie Reed