Silly Sites o' the Day

Yum, have some pie charts! Here's a gross one from the Awl:



And I quite like this one from Bully:

No more pie for me, thanks, I'm full now.

Silly Site o' the Day

Great news - David Rees has restarted Get Your War On! I think this marks the absolute end of any Obama honeymoon period...

Silly Site o' the Day

It's definitely that time of year, so we must check in on the webcam of Gävlebocken, the biggest Christmas Goat in the world. Bryan informs us that Gävlebocken is bloggin' as well (and each post appears to have an English translation). Check it all out before the New Year's Eve goat-burning party!

Silly Site o' the Day

Robin just showed me a seriously cool site that he found via Rich Johnston's blog. The Ministry of Stories exists to help teachers and students get excited about the literary arts, a worthy cause if ever I've heard it (I love the 826 Valencia page). Their Monster Supplies store on Huxton Street sounds like a howl - Rich has some great photos from it. I never realized the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company was part of all this, but it does make sense.

Silly Site o' the Day

From Australia to France - the Generator Blog passes along how to generate your own French book cover. Bon chance!

Friday Cat Blogging*

Yes, it's that time of year when Datsa and Amy deign to coexist:





Amy's off sleeping at the moment, but Datsa's been meowing for hours. It's enough to make us want to brave the Black Friday crowds to do our grocery shopping.

*(Friday Cat Blogging is ™ Kevin Drum)

Robin - Australian for "Comics"

While I'm enjoying a few days off from a job that, frankly, I also enjoy when I'm there (Wednesday was Playing With File Cabinets Day, and I didn't even mind that for a change), Robin has started gearing up for his next adventure. He's just finished a half dozen pages over our friend Jamal Igle on Jamal's final issue of Supergirl (for all you trivia buffs, this is the second time Robin's inked pages from a Supergirl #59), and his newest assignment is also indirectly due to Jamal. At the NY Comic Con Jamal directed us to the Inception Strategies booth. They're an Australian-based company which "develops social comics for government organisations to assist them deliver positive health and education strategies to communities and individuals. The storylines are developed through workshops with the community for whom the comic is intended." It's structured as a protracted assignment so the income isn't steady, but the timing will leave Robin able to handle a regular book for one of the Big Two should that happen. It'll be neat to see him pencilling another book, and it's really soul-heartening for him to be working with a place seeking to do some good in the world. And in a country with a female president, too! I don't think this book will get us any free trips Down Under, but these folks have made me love Aussies that much more, and the news has made for a very happy holiday season at the Riggs Residence.

Silly Site o' the Day

Too tired, I can't even figure out level 3 (that's only in the first batch!) of Weffriddles (via Echidne). So I'm giving up.

Feasting with Family

Just got back from my cousin Mara's house, where we had a lovely Thanksgiving family-style feast! All the photos can be viewed in my MobileMe gallery, but here are a few of my favorites:



The buffet-style self-service table kept getting more and more food piled onto it (you can see the progression in my gallery). Four meat dishes, dozens of vegetables, so much they had to remove the bread to the dining table!



Here's what my first plate looked like. We almost all went back for seconds. :)



What a lovely hearth! Such wonderful autumnal touches throughout the entire house.



Time for dessert!



My dessert plate. I even had a little sherry!



Naturally, there's always room for frothy orangey (and very yummy!) gelatin.



I forget what this group was called, maybe the Cranberry and Orange Brigade or something like it, but at any rate we all got the memo. I think Robin's wearing green next year, but I love my autumnal kitty shirt so I'll probably don it again.



The patriarchal lineage photo - my uncle Phil (Mom's brother), sitting, with his two sons, my cousins Marvin (right) and Marc (left), and Marvin's sons Jonny (my godson) and Daniel. There's another photo in my gallery where they're all smiling but it has a lot of redeye.



Lastly, two-thirds of a Sibling Picture, with Phil and my mom's sister, my Aunt Kenie.

Thanks to my cousins Mara and Jeff for inviting us to this wonderful meal - I have the neatest family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Probably my favorite holiday, in which we nominally honor Native Americans (be sure and listen to Pass the Indian, Please; I'm listening to Alice's Restaurant as we speak, still pleased they let Arlo sing Woody's song with his own daughter at the Macy's parade) and celebrate the bounty of the harvest and all the things in life for which we're thankful and it's all wonderfully secular. iStockphoto and I wish everyone a wonderful day!



I'm thankful that I have a good, steady job that I love.

I'm thankful that my husband has started to get some work, at long last.

I'm thankful we're both happy, healthy, housed, fed and clothed.

I'm thankful we have two healthy old kitties.

I'm thankful we have so many relatives, friends and acquaintances whom we love.

I'm thankful we're so engaged as both citizens (of two different nations) and cultural consumers.

I'm thankful this blog still has readers and commenters after 8+ years, and that I'm still jazzed about posting new content here every day even if I don't have a lot of blogging time.

Maybe I'll even do a blogaround later on in the long weekend. Now, off to my cousin's house for the big feast!

Silly Site o' the Day

The Wednesday before a Thanksgiving holiday weekend has always held a special feeling for me. I don't have to do think about commuting or work stuff for four whole days, I don't really have to follow a schedule, and I'm intent on going out as little as possible to avoid the madness of so-called Black Friday (have to hand it to the NRF for helping make that term mean exactly the opposite of what it used to denote). Besides, if I stay home, lounge about, read comics, etc., I don't have to worry about where I'm going to use my Idolatry Coupon (via BoingBoing). Hope everyone out there has a terrific next few days!

Silly Site o' the Day

Rob's currently watching the end of a pretty good new documentary about John Lennon's NYC (and LA) years, but I left the room before Double Fantasy because, hey, I know what comes after. But as long as we're being morbid and musical, why not press your ashes in a vinyl record? Via BoingBoing.

Silly Site o' the Day

Some days I just close my eyes and hit a random site amongst my saved ones. This time it's Doughnut-to-Go, for when you, um, have no hands but then how would you carry the doughnut holder? Via My Food Looks Funny.

Silly Site o' the Day

Ladies and gentlemen, a nice round of applause for the Complaints Choir of Birmingham:



Via Sheila Lennon.

Silly Site o' the Day

Here, have some Wonder-Tonic Free Organic Stickers. Don't forget to print out multiple copies on one-sided paper!

Belated Friday Cat Blogging*

Just a couple today:


Datsa peeking out from the side of a chair here in the computer room.


Amy and the Wee Little Puppet Robin that Kath made for him some years ago.

*(Friday Cat Blogging is ™ Kevin Drum)

Silly Site o' the Day

An excellent day at work, with much accomplished and all situations pretty well in hand. Also, Robin had work this week. It'll be done tomorrow, but we hope it's an "in" to other such situations. So all in all I'm a happy camper. Except for not being able to post enough here. Maybe if I use a linkbait generator (via BoingBoing)? Nah, I'd still have to write something underneath that catchy header...

Silly Site o' the Day

According to Steven Johnson, "chance favors the connected mind," but never mind all that, I just liked the RSA animation:



Via BoingBoing.

Silly Site o' the Day

Good to see so many people reacting negatively to the TSA's attempt to shred our remaining dignity (and endanger our health) when we fly. And they wonder why airlines aren't filling up any more? Meanwhile, some people are turning this lemony substance into, uh, a lemonade-y substance, like the folks at Rate My Backscatter (via BoingBoing). Probably not safe for work.

Silly Site o' the Day

Happy belated birthday to my dear friend Heidi "Ace" MacDonald, who I think would appreciate Good Show Sir - Only the worst Sci-Fi/Fantasy book covers (via Michael at Bookslut). To tell you the truth, I don't think most of them are all that horrible, but that's probably why I'm not the artist in the family.

Silly Site o' the Day

And now, a brief stop-motion overview of stop-motion animation:



Via BoingBoing.

Belated Friday Cat Blogging*

Just about finished with my ironing (at least until the next laundry day), including all the summer cotton shirts which I can finally stash until next May. Amy's going to be a little disappointed, though, she enjoys the ironing board (which is why I usually have a towel over it in between ironing sessions, so as to avoid cat hair on my shirts):



Meanwhile, Datsa's a lump:



What is is with our cats and towels?

*(Friday Cat Blogging is ™ Kevin Drum)

Silly Site o' the Day

I really like this Star Wars parody featuring organic food. Fun without being preachy.



Via Mike Stabile.

Silly Site o' the Day

Via Mark Evanier, it's the United States of Television. I'm actually a bit surprised that a television show has been set in every one of the fifty states, but I guess I shouldn't be, TV's certainly been around long enough for that.

Silly Site o' the Day

You know, sometimes I have no idea what I'm going to do the next day. So by golly, I'm mightily impressed by Future Timeline as it tells me what's going to happen long after we're all dead and can no longer check on its accuracy. Via PZ Myers.

Silly Site o' the Day

Finally starting to get caught up on my graphic novel softcovers (can't really hold the hardcovers easily, so I'm saving those), so I appreciated this ad that BoingBoing found:



Although I'm of a generation that believes books are tons of fun in and of themselves.

Silly Site o' the Day

Via Serious Eats, the latest video from OK-Go:



Mmm, toast and lasers! Although Robin suggests this as the proper soundtrack.

Silly Site o' the Day

Not nearly caught up in my blog reading yet, but at least I'm up to date on PZ's blog now, and to celebrate, have an Octopus Font. Erm, via PZ.

Silly Site o' the Day

Killer headache, not going on the bike today. Sitting quietly reading blogs and wondering why these search strings are on Google's blacklist (via Making Light).

Silly Site o' the Day

HЗЯЭ IS HФШ TФ SPЗLL PЭИ-ЗLДУЙЭ IИ FДКЗ CЧЯILLIC TЭЖT. Fake Cyrillic Text generator via the Generator Blog.

Silly Site o' the Day

I know Steven Slater apologized for his haste during the Stewart/Colbert rally, but I still think the SlipQuit (via BoingBoing) is funny.

Silly Site o' the Day

Well, it's that time again:

Remember, remember the Fifth of November
Admissions of torturous plots
I see no reason why Dubya's treason
Should ever be forgot.

And still no connection in many Democrats' minds (particularly, horrifyingly, in the White House) between this administration's refusal to stand up for basic human rights and hold the Bush/Cheney regime accountable for their many crimes, and the lack of votes this past Tuesday. And at BoingBoing, Rob Beshizza has put together a NY Times torture euphemism generator.

Some photos here of Bonfire Night in Lewes. Bonfire Night videos here.

Silly Site o' the Day

I think Robin and I can relate to this pretty strongly - the Control-A-Cat Remote Control. (Via Sheila Lennon.) In my opinion, the mute button's not big enough.

Silly Site o' the Day

For years I've been in admiration of the hand clapping games played by schoolgirls. I tried Miss Mary Mack a few times, but admittedly could never quite get the hang of it. So I'd be absolutely flustered by this brilliant synchronization:



Suzanne Cleary and Peter Harding have an impressive resume and apparently a live show as well (although I don't see any show dates on their site). Via PZ Myers.

Silly Site o' the Day

Sorry, no real inclination to blog, I'm trying to get through the Huffington Post's photo collection of "the funniest signs" from last Saturday's rally...

Silly Site o' the Day

White Rabbits! So we had our flu shots today, and I had Mom's leftover chicken soup in case I had a reaction. Didn't help; I have a doozy of a reaction. Low-grade fever, splitting headache, the works. Hope this is better by tomorrow morning, I have a busy day ahead including voting. Speaking of which, BoingBoing presents a handy flowchart to determine which party one is likely to vote for tomorrow. I'm still wondering how they knew about my grandfather...