Only 3 more weeks!

Time is getting away from me. I will be heading down to New York in 3 short weeks to attend GBVNYC.

This pain in the ass will be coming and from what I can gather will be sharing a hotel room with this character. Talk about adding a new meaning to room service.

They are probably going to try to lead this poor innocent lad astray!

Once I get there it will be nice to reconnect with this guy, this guy, this guy and these 2 handsome fellows, who I’ve been lucky enough to meet in person. I am also hoping to see this mathematician and this other guy who you’ve probably never heard of.

I plan to be clocking some time with this guy and these 2 fellows from the great northwest, who I only know through emails and chat.

Rumor also has it that we may be graced with the presence of this lovely lady, if she can get away. (Tate and I are going to be so disappointed if you don’t come) I also am under the impression that some redhead from DC will be putting in an appearance.

Someone else from the northwest had hoped to come, but is unable to, which was a big disappointment.

It sounds like people are coming from all over the country and I’m sure everyone will have a good time. Or at least die in the effort.

Now if we can just get SubtleKnife, Willym and Sageweb there...

Gardening

I spent some quality time with the garden this morning. I had just received some new plants from White Flower on Thursday and wanted to get my new acquisitions into the ground.

However, my long term residents are starting to do there stuff, so I figured they needed some love too.



My Vibernum is starting to bloom and it smells just heavenly.

A big surprise were the Daphne's that I bought on a whim last year at the plant sale at the Arboretum. They are a notoriously temperamental plant and I honestly didn't expect them to survive the winter. Not bad for 5 bucks a pop.




While I was working, these guys stopped by for a snack at the thistle sock that I put out. I love goldfinches.





Since I had the camera out, and it has all these bells and whistles I decided to do some artsy shots of my spring bulbs with the macro setting.






I was a little disappointed that I did not see a bare chested Mikey while I was gardening, but the season is young.

I'll be posting more pictures over the weekend, but as you can see I am back in my garden so be prepared to be bored to tears. It's going to be like some old dame in the airport insisting you look at ALL the pictures she has of her grandkids.

Read your bible

I saw this on Will's blog and I figured what the hell.

You know the Bible 90%!

 

Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic!

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Not bad for a heathen. I guess even after all these years, that Catholic education just won't go away. Though, as I commented to Will, I do resent that I am wasting valuable storage space in my brain that could help me remember where I left my keys when I am trying to get out of the house.

Seven things

I got tagged by this clown to participate in a meme. I am suppose to tell you 7 things about myself. Like blogging isn’t constantly talking about yourself, but here goes.

1. I am left handed. Over the years I have had to learn to do a lot of tasks right handed, ‘cause we live in a world designed by and for right handed people. I now actually find some tasks more difficult to do in a left handed manner. However, the person who designed can openers is a servant of Satan.

2. I like being short. Which is probably a good thing, since, I’m really short. If I have any problems at all with my height, it is tall people who act like I have some terrible deformity. Oh, and for you politically correct types, if you have a problem with the term short, go tell someone who is interested. I am short, I am not small.

3. I like eating offal. This seems to be considered some sort of bizarre behavior in this country. I get the impression that because in my omnivorous pursuits that by eating things like brains, kidneys, etc. that makes me disgusting or demented. Or possibly both. Hey, more for me!

4. I am painfully shy. I really have a very hard time around new people and it just gets exponentially worse around large groups of new people, so as you can imagine, I have rather mixed feelings about the upcoming gay blogger meet up in NYC next month.

5. I have not dyed my hair since it started turning gray. When I was younger, I was not averse to trying out different colors or bleaching. Once it started turning gray, it just seemed like dying it would put me in some sort of pathetic, creepy old guy category. So, I am now pathetic, old and creepy with gray hair.

6. I never finished college. When I was younger, this was something of an obstacle when it came to employment. Now, being over 50, people couldn’t care less what my level of education is, since I am old and worn out and no good to anyone as an employee. This is why I work in academia.

7. I don’t watch TV. I don’t think this makes me smarter, or better then everyone else. It just bores and annoys me. I’m not sure what happened, unless the programming really did get to be that god awful, since I used to love to reduce my brains to oatmeal watching TV. I blame “Will and Grace” and “Friends” which I found unwatchable.

There you go. Seven not particularly fascinating things about me. Heaven's to Betsy I'm dull.

Pollen

There's an old saying about drinking. "Every moments pleasure must be paid for with an hour of pain".

The same can be said for me with spring. The trees are going at it, and the pollen is laying the Ganome low. But I gotta' say, it's worth it.

The past few days have been just incredible. This is my neighbors flowering plum a couple of days ago.




Here it is today!



If I've been snuffling and slightly brain dead, it's all worth it.

The trees are starting to get that green haze about them that is promising to turn into leaves before too many days go by. The magnolia's are already starting to get a little blowsy from the heat. Cherries are blooming away.



And it's just a matter of time before the lilacs and the crabapples start showing off.

I might be feeling kinda crappy, but it's worth every second.

Yet more birds

Just a few pictures from the other morning. More and more birds are showing up in the park.



This character I suspect is a year round resident. I've never heard of a coconut owl before, but you learn something new every day.



This juvenile hawk was out looking for rodentine treats.



A Tree Swallow setting up housekeeping.



A Flicker, who was pretty high up in a poplar.



And of course the ubiquitous robin.

More signs of spring

Nothing says spring like people getting out their 2 wheeled motor vehicles. One of the gardeners over in my garden society was out on this rather snazzy, vintage Vespa.



I mean, what says spring like construction sites with motorcycles parked around them.






While I will probably continue to favor shoe leather as transport, it's good to see the weather is nice enough that people are getting their motorcycles and scooters out.