Creamy Wooden Volvos

**Purchased Affection Affliction
It's the weekend of Valentine's day. Yet another regularly scheduled event to remind people who aren't in relationships that there's something wrong with them. Something drastically, horribly wrong with them. And whatever this nameless, yet disabling, condition is prevents them from being truly happy. Hmmmmm.....Seems I detect the pervasive odor of mass manufactured bullshit. One of my greatest fears is that somehow Disney will manage to buy the rights to everything even remotely related to Valentine's Day, and it will become punishable by law to not celebrate it in a manner deemed proper by them. And I think that would no doubt include purchasing a large amount of licensed Disney merchandise. Mmmmm...."Monsters, Inc." edible massage oils.....gotta love that idea.

**1 Year Later
This Saturday went by much more quietly than the same day last year. There were no helicopters in the air over the NIU campus, no news vans roaming the town. Things were quiet at work. A much better set of events than last year.

**It Pays The Same...
I have no idea why, but after spending the whole of last week getting my ass worked off, it has been strangely quiet around the ol' hospital this weekend. No real complaints there. If you're slow, it's just as hard to get into a rhythm with what little you have to do as it is when you're totally overwhelmed. Makes for a really uneven feel to the day. And I really do think the notion of nap time should be reintroduced to the American workplace.

**Lookie Lookie!!
I guess that Picasa is going to be my online home for my photo galleries. Mostly because the notion of moving all the photos I've already uploaded to Flickr makes me fairly nauseous. You may have already found the link towards the bottom of the page that takes you to the pictures of my Hawaiian shirt collection. I will also be adding links for albums showcasing the tiki art I have created, as well as the tiki items I have managed to collect over the years. Should I be able to increase my skills in photography, these may actually become a pleasant place to go and spend some time looking around. It also gives me a way to decrease page load time for my blog. I will also be cutting back the number of posts visible on the front page to 2 or 3 as another means of decreasing page load times. So, if you haven't been a consistent reader, you may want to peek in the Crypt to see if you missed anything. Or, just keep surfing for porn. Your choice.

**Taking Shape
Jo's Dragon is just about in the final stages of roughing in. There will be some issues with getting the belly right, and the crook of the right arm ended up being located right where there's a knot in the wood, but progress its still being made. I think my original timetable may have been a tad optimistic, but with some effort, I think I can come close to that mark. As long as this freakin blister doesn't open up.

**#37 of 241
What the hell is going on with all the ridiculous lists that are going around the 'net?? 40 random things about me, 37 things about French cheeses, 219 things about dental disease in horses, 3 good things about elevator music-Enough already!! I have to admit, it was kinda neat at first. It was a very impersonal way to data mine people you may have not known at all. On the other hand, it's a fantastic opportunity for creative writers and compulsive liars to spread all sorts of disinformation (Of course I'm a professional flower polisher-that's what it says on the list, right?). And so, I have now grown tired of participating in these inbox clogging affairs. Besides the fact that I have never been good at describing myself in list form, these things are getting larger, more frequent, and very repetitive. So, I'm done. I think that's #42 on the list.

**Take Off, Eh?
Hoping to hear on Monday whether or not I'll be getting some time off at the end of March or beginning of April. Anybody know of something fun to do around then?

**Saturday Night Fever
Tropical TAILS is this coming Saturday and Sheri is already driving herself nuts over what she's going to wear. Me, I have no idea and doubt I will decide before the middle of Saturday afternoon. When I open the closet, whichever shirt strikes me will be the one I'm going to wear. Can't be more simple than that. At least in my mind. I think there may end up being issues regarding my choice of apparel for said event, but I'm trying to not think about that now.
My plan for delivering the tiki involves taking it over to the ballroom in the student center sometime between midmorning and lunch. That should give me a chance to scope out the layout of the place before getting there in the evening. May also give me a change to see if there's anything else I can contribute/loan in the way of decorations for the event. I halfheartedly addressed Sheri's concerns regarding tiki stability. All I need to do is make a brace for the handcart, and things should be golden. Otherwise, I'll hand it off to the folks doing the setup for the event, and it then becomes their issue. Nah. Most likely I'll offer to be helpful, as usual.
Need to remember to take my camera, too.

**Thanks for the flowers, Bluegirl! Sketch ideas are now all awhirl in me little brain.