The Bear of Friday

I had to pick something extra cute to banish the image of Heath Ledger's ultra-scary Joker from my head, so I chose Paddington having a little san.

Holy cats. X-Files: good; Dark Knight: great. Popcorn: not so much. Made my stomach hurt. Or it might have been the Joker. Waaaaay freakier than any other. But I still miss Michael Keaton as Batman.

Double-header

Tomorrow is my day off and I have a movie double-header planned. The Dark Knight and The X-Files. Part of me wants to say "hell yeah!" around a mouthful of popcorn, while another part of me is thinking about how I'm going to get my laundry done and clothes ironed and house cleaned up and still get my rest in this weekend.

God damn, getting older is boring.

But it has been a long, long time since I've done a double-header -- since back when Ms. Schnakenberg and I lived in Little Rock and both worked second jobs so we could pay for our day-off nonfat-frozen-yogurt-lunch-then-movie-dinner-cocktails indulgences. Well, we also used that second income to pay for shoes, too, my favorite pair of which might still be under a hotel bed in Rochester, Minn., where I left them when I was driving from Chicago to Seattle.

See? You start getting old and your mind wanders, too.

Hurricanes and sleep

It turned out to be more of a storm, really, when Bertha passed by over the weekend. We got some good rain, nice dark clouds, but it wasn't really more than breezy.

But hurricane season has started. I'm not trying to sound gleeful about it, either. Maybe I'm just a little snarky from listening to a manager explain what a news story is to someone who thinks they are a seasoned news veteran. That does make me a little gleeful.

Ahhh, cubby reporters. A little like hurricanes themselves. Sometimes they turn out to be whoppers and sometimes, well, they just blow a little rain and fizzle out.

I have to be at a meeting at 8:30 a.m., and am already planning my early morning Starbucks assault. Lately, sleep is not my friend. I either can't go to sleep or can't stay asleep, and by the time I realize it's going to be a problem, it's too late to take a sleeping pill that will knock my ass out for eight or more hours.

Or I get a really good night's sleep, but it's not enough. I wake up at 7 and think I can sleep for another half hour, then end up waking up at 8:15 and having to take a record-breaking fast shower and rush out the door. Plus, that last hour and 15 is like the best sleep I get all night -- I find the sweet spot in my bed, everything is at the right temperature, my pillows are comfy and I actually dream.

I'd really like to sleep a normal eight, get up with time for coffee and breakfast and not have to multitask in the shower or forgo shaving my legs to make it to work on time. On weekends, when I tell myself I'm going to sleep in, I don't. I'm up at 7 and feeling very productive. It's only a problem on work days.

Anyone have any good ideas/advice that don't involve an Ambien addiction?

Bears of Friday

Here's a picture Joel sent me of his children, Finn (on the right) and Harper, checking out zoo bears. I'm assuming this was taken somewhere in Wis. Maybe near the Wis. Dells?

Anyway, it's cute! Thanks, Mole!

It's shaping up to be a stormy weekend, with a storm called Bertha hanging around the Georgia Coast. Kind of wish I was going to be in Savannah this weekend...

Getting Lucky

Thanks to Kev for the news story about Lucky the koala, who miraculously survived being hit by a car going about 60 mph and dragged seven miles.

Lucky hung on with one arm and because his head was stuck in the car's grille, and had to be freed, jaws-of-life-style, with a pair of household scissors.

He's doing fine, the story says, now that he's had a little rest and some food, but is staying at a vet hospital founded by Steve Irwin. He'll be there for 45 days to recuperate from his car trauma and -- yes -- chlamydia.

A) Who knew koalas could get chlamydia?
B) The story made me wonder what would happen if I could adopt Lucky. My roommate's temporary dog, Frank The Temp, who's still "hanging" (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) and is noticeably lacking in conjugal visits would see that bear as fair game and force Lucky to be his date. Then we'd have a flea-ridden chlamydia factory in the house.

Probably it's a good thing I can't get Lucky.

This is amazing

I don't know what you believe about innate talent, but this video clip of a little girl who can play any song on the piano after only one hearing is pretty amazing.

It would be interesting enough considering she's blind, but consider that she's never had a lesson and she's only 5 years old. Then it becomes outrageous. Five. Imagine how great she will be when she's had lessons and her hands are big enough to reach further.

I guess it's a good thing not everyone can do something like this, or there would be no reason to be awed.

The Many Bears of Friday

It's pandamonium. Get it? It's my sixth day of work this week and the 720,000th story I've written about the May motorcycle rallies. I got nothin' else. Happy Friday!