27 February 2011
Cabin Feaver
27/02/11 14:10
So it's getting on toward the end of winter. We've gone through the dark of the year, the holiday season, the rain and gloppy days and to be honest we're getting a little stir crazy. A touch of cabin fever maybe. We want to get out of the house, to walk on the beach in the sun without a heavy coat on, to start working in the yard, to just be able to go outside without anything dripping on us. It's time for spring. I was talking to Marsha about this yesterday and asked if it was too early to start the tomatoes. Just then it started to snow. I guess the answer is yes, it is too early.
But then there's the house behind us. I guess some people are better prepared for the snow than we are.
The cats sure think it's spring. At least it's getting close enough for them to lose their winter coats. Oh bloody hell do we have hair around the place. The rugs are grey, my keyboard is padded. Yesterday I brought Marsha her lunch and asked "Would you care for some hair with that?" We've been sweeping and swiffering regularly and the place is still covered with hair. Marsha has been brushing the cats, especially Geiger, every day. She gets a wad of hair off of him the size of a hockey puck but it's not helping. There is a cloud in our house and it's all cat. Well either that or bigfoot is living here without us knowing it.
Oscar came by this week. You can sure tell the difference between cats that are kept indoors and brushed daily to keep the coat under control and one that lives outside and has kept his heavy fur. Oscar is about the same size and weight as Geiger.
Maybe it's because we are getting a bit of cabin fever, but I'm finding the oddest things funny. Yesterday on the radio they mentioned the Garth Homer Society in Victoria. I was wondering why they named a place for Garth Brooks and Homer Simpson. Just then they mentioned it was a centre for developmentally handicapped adults and it suddenly made perfect sense.
After that it was a free for all. Silly ideas kept cropping up in my head and I found myself giggling over the strangest things. For example did you know that years before Abba came on the scene there was another group from Sweden? They did mostly MoTown music. Their big hit was "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Bjorn".
Or did you know that in the middle ages they found gold in river sand in France? That's why they call it Placer of Paris.
Every historical period has a slogan or saying. Vive la France, E. Pluribus Unum, God Save the King, whatever. I grew up in the '70s and our great national unifying patriotic saying was You Deserve a Break Today. I think it's time we updated our rallying cry. We need a saying that captures the feeling of today. I propose 'Ennui we' Pee'. It rolls off the tongue with a familiar rhythm. I translate to mean "Piss on it, I don't care".
By the way the character is Henri le' Pei. He's 24, and lives in Quebec City. He only speaks French though he was born Henry Plowman and grew up in Yorkshire. He smokes clove/liquorice cigarettes just to annoy others (including other smokers). He goes on and on about the decadence of capitalistic society, carries a copy of Marx and makes a big deal about reading it while drinking wine (french only) at outdoor cafe's whenever possible. Secretly he is an NRA member and has donated to the Tea Party.
Of course, late in the season objects in the house seem to take on a life of their own. These guys reside on my desk and I think they are plotting something.
By this point it's probably a good thing Marsha is spending so much time at her jobs. Even the cats are starting to think I'm weird.
On another topic, no matter how old you get you can still learn things. This week I discovered something I found rather disturbing. I'm sure you've heard of squab. It's the primary ingredient in dishes like "Squab and Truffles with Caviar" which are served to rich people that don't mind paying a ridiculous price for a tiny meal. I wonder how many of these people realize that the elegant squab they are dining on is a pigeon. That's right, if you get rich enough you can have rats-with-wings served to you with smelly-foot fungus and and bait.
You know I think I'll stick with Marsha's Macaroni and Cheese.
And lastly, speaking of crazy people, I'm sure you all have been following the events in Libya. We were in Tripoli in 2006. They didn't let Americans off the ship but we could see the city quite well. It seemed so quiet. A slow sunburned Arib town on the Mediterranean. It's hard to think that the castle to the right of me is the Green Square where Gadhafi appeared on Friday. He was atop the castle wall and spoke (ranted actually) to supporters below. To the left of me is the Fashloom District where vicious battles have taken place. Lets all hope for a better day for the Libyan people.
Doug & Marsha
But then there's the house behind us. I guess some people are better prepared for the snow than we are.
The cats sure think it's spring. At least it's getting close enough for them to lose their winter coats. Oh bloody hell do we have hair around the place. The rugs are grey, my keyboard is padded. Yesterday I brought Marsha her lunch and asked "Would you care for some hair with that?" We've been sweeping and swiffering regularly and the place is still covered with hair. Marsha has been brushing the cats, especially Geiger, every day. She gets a wad of hair off of him the size of a hockey puck but it's not helping. There is a cloud in our house and it's all cat. Well either that or bigfoot is living here without us knowing it.
Oscar came by this week. You can sure tell the difference between cats that are kept indoors and brushed daily to keep the coat under control and one that lives outside and has kept his heavy fur. Oscar is about the same size and weight as Geiger.
Maybe it's because we are getting a bit of cabin fever, but I'm finding the oddest things funny. Yesterday on the radio they mentioned the Garth Homer Society in Victoria. I was wondering why they named a place for Garth Brooks and Homer Simpson. Just then they mentioned it was a centre for developmentally handicapped adults and it suddenly made perfect sense.
After that it was a free for all. Silly ideas kept cropping up in my head and I found myself giggling over the strangest things. For example did you know that years before Abba came on the scene there was another group from Sweden? They did mostly MoTown music. Their big hit was "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Bjorn".
Or did you know that in the middle ages they found gold in river sand in France? That's why they call it Placer of Paris.
Every historical period has a slogan or saying. Vive la France, E. Pluribus Unum, God Save the King, whatever. I grew up in the '70s and our great national unifying patriotic saying was You Deserve a Break Today. I think it's time we updated our rallying cry. We need a saying that captures the feeling of today. I propose 'Ennui we' Pee'. It rolls off the tongue with a familiar rhythm. I translate to mean "Piss on it, I don't care".
By the way the character is Henri le' Pei. He's 24, and lives in Quebec City. He only speaks French though he was born Henry Plowman and grew up in Yorkshire. He smokes clove/liquorice cigarettes just to annoy others (including other smokers). He goes on and on about the decadence of capitalistic society, carries a copy of Marx and makes a big deal about reading it while drinking wine (french only) at outdoor cafe's whenever possible. Secretly he is an NRA member and has donated to the Tea Party.
Of course, late in the season objects in the house seem to take on a life of their own. These guys reside on my desk and I think they are plotting something.
By this point it's probably a good thing Marsha is spending so much time at her jobs. Even the cats are starting to think I'm weird.
On another topic, no matter how old you get you can still learn things. This week I discovered something I found rather disturbing. I'm sure you've heard of squab. It's the primary ingredient in dishes like "Squab and Truffles with Caviar" which are served to rich people that don't mind paying a ridiculous price for a tiny meal. I wonder how many of these people realize that the elegant squab they are dining on is a pigeon. That's right, if you get rich enough you can have rats-with-wings served to you with smelly-foot fungus and and bait.
You know I think I'll stick with Marsha's Macaroni and Cheese.
And lastly, speaking of crazy people, I'm sure you all have been following the events in Libya. We were in Tripoli in 2006. They didn't let Americans off the ship but we could see the city quite well. It seemed so quiet. A slow sunburned Arib town on the Mediterranean. It's hard to think that the castle to the right of me is the Green Square where Gadhafi appeared on Friday. He was atop the castle wall and spoke (ranted actually) to supporters below. To the left of me is the Fashloom District where vicious battles have taken place. Lets all hope for a better day for the Libyan people.
Doug & Marsha