Jeff Bridges’ official website. It’s probably not suitable for dialup but I like all the freaky little drawings and things - which I think are his but someone else does the web design. He seems to be a pretty cool guy.

Here’s a story I found on his site sometime last year and liked it so much I sent to a few friends. I still like it.

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. they all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then,to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well, and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off! Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

MORAL: WHEN YOU TRY TO COVER YOUR ASS, IT ALWAYS COMES BACK TO GET YOU.

So it’s finally time we had the dead trees in our yard taken away. We’ve been putting it off for over a year but now it must get done - our insurance company says so. It’s four 40-foot-ish dead cottonwoods so it’s probably going to cost a bagillion dollars. Honestly, I have no concept of what the proper cost of having a tree removed is. So we’re auditioning tree removal services tomorrow to see what their suggestions are and get a chance to brace ourselves for the cost. Tons of fun.

I’ve run across two things that look like so much fun but they’re both out of reach for me -

Theme Book / Food Group in Boston
and
The Salon Cruise That’s actually the first time I’ve ever had an interest in going on a cruise since seing the Poseidon Adventure. Well there was also that floating apartment building thing that looked pretty cool too.

Ok I’m having a seriously crappy day. The cats are all being little whiny hyperactive brats and have been since the second I woke up, the dog looks like she needs antidepressants and is limping around because she strained herself at the dog park on Saturday, the hedgehog..well the hedgehog’s always grumpy, and all kinds of stupid household stuff flared up today. Then my mother-in-law called for tech support because something funky was going on with internet explorer 5x - perish the thought! I think we may have finally gotten the toilet tank to stop leaking though.

I am now going to the gym then getting some sushi dammit and no one can stop me! And I might stop and get the new janet evanovich too. That’ll show em.

Hey, when are you people going to sell kid’s cuppa again??

Whoopass Enterprises custom bobbleheads! And get this: you can have one made of your dog! I’m totally going to get a bobblehead made of Winter!

Other barbie artists

other action figure art

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oh. oh my. I can’t get over the little drawing of red and white blood cells with crosses inside floating around. Or are the white things sperms for christ? eeeeeoooow

Look what I found in my mailbox today. Not only was the basic design just awful but..oh just go look.

Doesn’t it scare you when you know someone who genuinely believes in the rapture has access to the big red button?

Had kind of a hectic week but I have a few links of interest. The good news is there’s only one more wedding to go this summer and it’s in town. Hopefully I can refrain from snide comments this time. It’ll be a challenge though - the next one has a disney aladdin theme or something. I totally didn’t mean that “Karaoke wedding” comment to be mean I swear but when the groom is handed a microphone and breaks into song during the ceremony he’s kinda asking for it. Anyway…

Art-

Ak47 - bimonthly online art photography magazine

The Magic of Images - Word and Picture in a Media Age by Camille Paglia

Insects in Album Art - Cody will love this

The Candy Wrapper Museum

Suicide Girls - punk rock pinups - so now I feel both fat AND uncool.

Mr Picassohead

Books / Language-

American Rhetoric - that powerful instrument of error and deceit.

Books on MP3

Interesting English Language Trivia

The Occult - Rare books exhibition

A page of Ulysses a day

The Web’s #1 Axe in my head page

Movies-

Counter-Culture programming - seeing political messages where they may or may not be. Twain wouldn’t approve. I have a vague theory myself about those lovey happy christmasy movies where the cynical businessperson becomes domesticated (like the new Stepford Wives, Family Man, or any Scroogish movie) are pushing the resigned-family-consumer agenda but I rarely take my own theories seriously.

Defamer - bitchy Hollywood

Music-

Bach Radio

Indie Jazz

Score, Baby - your guide to cult soundtracks of the 60s, 70s, and beyond

Losing my Ramones - is it me or have they gotten more media attention since the deaths and illnesses than they ever did before?

Trunkload of Trouble - incomplete indie pop encyclopedia

Pets-

Animal Attraction and Date My Pet - no creepy bestiality jokes please. This is a new trend in online dating sites for people with pets. Lemme say this much - if I were single I could get TONS of dates hanging out at stores and coffee shops with my dog.

Politics-

some of these are old, sorry

The Living Room Candidate - compendium of presidential ads on television from 1952 - 2000

Making Hay Out of Straw Men - and my favorite philosophical fallacies reference

Nader on the cover of American Conservative magazine?

American torture, American porn - the success of “The Passion” and the fascination with Abu Ghraib are linked somewhere in a dark corner of the basement of American psyche? - Also, the Stanford Prison Experiment and Stanley Milgram’s studies.

In Other News-

I can have ketchup and fries and that’s considered two servings of vegetables?

I’ve had Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer song stuck in my head for DAYS now. What does this mean?

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