See more Sarah Silverman videos at Funny or Die

Happy Birthday Bilbo and Frodo!!

Big Z Throws No Hitter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Foxtrot and LOTR

The comic strip Foxtrot has some funny Tolkien references. Here is a collection of them at Tolkien Gateway.

This is me! Click on it for a better look.

Ki-Ki

poem

I have a poem up at Arsenic Lobster.

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

Skokie River Nature Preserve

Spent the morning at Shaw Prairie. Here are a few pics of Purple Prairie Clover.

North Pond

I work for The Lincoln Park Conservancy. I help take care of The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool and North Pond. I took some pictures of some of the flowers around the pond. There is a wonderful prairie we call the "West Prairie" that is full of good natives. It almost takes care of itself. It is probably my favorite part of North Pond.

The flower buds of one of my favorite plants, Prairie Dock
A wider view of Prairie Dock
Cardinal Flower, the only other red I can compare this plant to is a Scarlet Tanager
Joe Pye Weed and a view of North Pond and the Chicago skyline from the north end
Jerusalem Artichoke
The West Prairie
Wild Quinine
Purple Coneflower
Rattlesnake Master
Big Bluestem (Turkey-foot) reminds me of Kansas

The Garden

The garden looks good this year. Tomatoes are very late. I have only seen a couple ripe tomatoes in the community garden. We've had two cherry tomatoes ripen, but that is it. All of our Big Boys are still green. I've tried a new method this year of staking and pruning the tomatoes. I read that pruning might make fewer tomatoes, but better tomatoes. I liked the idea of keeping them in check and off the ground while at the same time getting better taste. We'll see. Gardening is always a work in progress. Our squash and zucchini look good, but I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop with these squash borer beetles! I see the little bastards, but I can't find their eggs. I also see and murder squash bugs and their offspring on a daily basis, but it may be a losing battle. Crossing my fingers right now. Here are some pics from today.

Okra Blossom!!
Cherokee Purple Heirloom
Drying onions
Squash and Zucchini Plot compared to then

"Apples/in winter are a bitter gift."

Just found a couple poems by the poet Daniel Hall. I really like this poem. Not sure what I think about this poem from Amherst Magazine, but I like the line I used as the title.

A Winter Apple

Grateful, I took an apple
from its paper, took it in both
hands, raised it to my lips,
inhaling its myth of open air
and closure—. Then a desire
to swallow space and time,
or to follow them, backward
and forward, endlessly up
and down the macadam, end
over end, back to seed or
on to cider— Not so fast
I pleaded. The heft of it;
the chill sweetness. Apples
in winter are a bitter gift.
I set it down again, entire.

Futurama Quotes

To see the entire cast of characters click here.

Futurama is easily in my top 5 favorite TV Shows of all time. Here are some of the reasons.

Soldier: This is the worst part. The calm before the battle.
Fry: And then the battle is not so bad?
Soldier: Oh, right. I forgot about the battle.

[in the library, absorbing all of Earth's knowledge]
Chief Giant Brain: Pathetic human race. Arranging their knowledge by category just made it easier to absorb. Dewey, you fool! Your decimal system has played right into my hands! Ha ha ha ha!

[the group's at a horse race]
Fry: C'mon. C'mon. Hey, Leela, how about a kiss for good luck?
[Leela gives him a quick peck on the cheek]
Fry: [disappointed] I meant tongue luck.

[Leela and Hermes are at a concession stand at the track]
Concession Man: Get your piping hot horse burgers, horse fries, horse cakes and shakes. We got tongue, straight from the horse's mouth.
Leela: Hmmmmm.
Hermes Conrad: It all sounds good.
Concession Man: All our horses are 100% horse-fed for that double-horse "juiced-in" goodness.
Leela: I'll have the cholesterol-free omelet with horse-beaters.
Concession Man: And you, sir? How can I horse you?
Hermes Conrad: I'll have a horse Coke.
Concession Man: Horse Pepsi okay?
Hermes Conrad: Neeeiiiggghh.

Walter Koenig: When we woke up, we had these bodies.
Fry: Say it in Russian.
Walter Koenig: [groans] Ven we voke up, we had these wodies.
Fry: [delighted] Wheeee. Now say "nuclear wessels".
Walter Koenig: NO.

Nibblonian: You are the last hope of the universe.
Fry: So I really am important? How I feel when I'm drunk is correct?
Nibblonian: Yes - except the Dave Matthews Band doesn't rock.

Bender: Game's over, losers! I have all the money. Compare your lives to mine and then kill yourselves.

Narrator: No one really knows when, where, or how man landed on the moon...
Fry: I do!
Narrator: ...but our Fungineers imagine it went something like this...
[Animatronic whalers emerge from a lunar lander]
Animatronic whalers: [singing] We're whalers of the moon.
Animatronic gophers: We carry a harpoon.
Animatronic whalers, Animatronic gophers: But there ain't no whales, so we tell tall tales and sing a whaling tune.
Fry: That's not how it happened.
Leela: I don't see you with a Fungineering degree.


Here are some random Futurama quotes.

My hint paid off!

Maggie, John and Debbie teamed up to get me two bottles! I'm no expert, but this stuff is so good. Sweet, but not too sweet--a buttery-caramel taste. And each sip lingers on my tongue, slowly dematerializing, or something. Very good.

Strawberry Shortcake!

Strawberries from the garden, Maggie's shortbread and a little cool whip!

All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.
- Aristotle

Birthday Present!

Last night Maggie and I went to Ravinia and saw Willie Nelson! It was my birthday present. Willie has the most amazing voice and is such an amazing person. The night was perfect!

And the garden keeps rolling along

Squash plot: Crookneck, Butternut, Pattypan, and Zucchini,
A baby crookneck
Eggplant, herbs, sweet peppers, swiss chard, kale, brussels sprouts, okra, and herbs are packed in this plot.
Chard, kale and brussels sprouts
Swiss Chard

More Garden Stuff

Here are some beets. Wouldn't eat one if you paid me, but they're cool. And I'll eat the greens.

Strawberry flower

Mmmmmmmmmm, Strawberry! My favorite berry!
Cabbage, broccoli, onions, lettuce

Harvesting lettuce