Random Thursday: Roses and Gnomenclature

Random Thursday (ˈrandəm ˈTHərzdā): the day on which Sarah plunks down all the odd bits and pieces she’s been sent by friends or has otherwise stumbled upon this week in an effort to avoid writing a real post, the assembly of which usually ends up taking twice as much time as sitting down and creating actual content.

This post was made possible through timely and weirdly synchronous e-mails from caitlin and liligrif, who have been keeping me in random for a while now.

______________________

I’m a Doctor, Gnome, not a . . . never mind

Trek Gnomes are the brainchildren of the lovely weirdos over at ThinkGeek.

oooooOOOOOooooo

A Bouquet of Roses for Who(m)?

Yes!

(and also for Lyra, because I miss her)

oooooOOOOOooooo

March of the Gnome-Eaters

My friend Caitlin, who is an amazing writer (see?),
sent these to me last month because she saw them and thought of me,
or, rather, my caffeine gnomes:

I hope she was thinking of the gnomes . . .

Seriously, these Gnome Eaters—
or Gnome Be Gones, as they’re professionally called—
are the awesome, though they remind me more of my caffeine gnomes themselves
than of something that will ward them off.

Either way, I love them.

If you love them, too—
or will admit a weird fascination with them—
check out metal-artist Fred Conlon’s website at Sugarpost.com.

Thanks, Caitlin!

oooooOOOOOooooo

Random Dance of Victory

Technically, Keith Apicary, who is one of the alter egos (or alter ids) of actor and dancer Nathan Barnatt, is not a gnome.  Or a rose.

But he’s certainly random:

oooooOOOOOooooo

The Year of Gnomage

A few years ago, artist Jessica Peill-Meininghaus pledged, amid the chaos of her life,
to make one felt gnome a day for an entire year.

She did this to teach herself about follow-through, the satisfaction of completing small things,
and, I assume, grim determination.
And also felt gnomes.

And then she wrote a book about it.

I haven’t read it yet—I put a hold on the library’s copy—but I already like it.

Not just because I could use a little follow-through in my own life,
but because her gnomes are exactly like the ones in my old, tattered, much beloved,  field guide:

When I was a kid, I pored over this guide and searched the woods for signs of them.
Since I knew would probably never meet one for real, I begged my parents night and day would have happily settled for a Gnome doll.

My mother, who had started my obsession by buying me Wil Huygen’s guide, drove me a long way to a special toy store that supposedly carried them, but when we got there, the content of the box looked more like a befreckled Dopey in a fake beard than the dignified denizen of the forest I was expecting.

I declined and she agreed—and bought me several little china renditions, instead.  I still have ’em.

But it looks like Ms. Peill-Meininghaus has provided the solution to my childhood wish.

Maybe I’ll give myself a year to figure out how to make one . . .

oooooOOOOOooooo

Stick Figure FTW!

Jane showed me the first one of these, and I ended up following them through to the inevitable end, which is my favorite.

Again, not a gnome nor a rose, but totally random BAMFery:

Advertisement

Random Thursday: twerking stormtroopers, Fowl Language, and 1:42 minutes of inexplicable

Random Thursday (ˈrandəm ˈTHərzdā): the day on which Sarah plunks down all the odd bits and pieces she’s been sent by friends or has otherwise stumbled upon this week in an effort to avoid writing a real post, the assembly of which usually ends up taking twice as much time as sitting down and creating actual content.

Watson sent me the first one, Kev sent me the Stormtroopers.  

I’ve no idea where the last one came from . . . afraid to ask, really.

____________________________

Brian Gordon, creator of the Fowl Language webcomic, is brilliant.

His Archives are a Time Suck of Pure Win.

Go Read them.

ooooooooooooooooOOOOOoooooooooooooooo

Just Go With It

And then listen again with your eyes closed, ’cause the music is that good.

Both song and video are from the brain of the insanely talented ScottDW and many of his equally insane friends.

The behind the scenes video is excellent.

ooooooooooooooooOOOOOoooooooooooooooo

“Want to see some more?”

Oh, God, yes.

The boys have finally reached the U.S. and I’m very, very happy about it.

Love the cameos, love the characterizations, love the nods to fanfic, love the headbutt, love the goldfish jab.

Hate Molly’s new boyfriend, but that’s just a Lestrade-admiration byproduct.

Love, love, love.

You?

ooooooooooooooooOOOOOoooooooooooooooo

Whose Who’s Whos’ Catchphrases?

Is there a wibbly, wobbly, timey, wimey grammarian in the blogosphere?

(Hey, Lyra—this one’s for you)

ooooooooooooooooOOOOOoooooooooooooooo

This . . . It’s . . . I Can’t Even . . . Um

Help?

____________

Random Thursday: A Random Assortment of Happy-Making Stuff*

Random Thursday (ˈrandəm ˈTHərzdā): the day on which Sarah plunks down all the odd bits and pieces she’s been sent by friends or has otherwise stumbled upon this week in an effort to avoid writing a real post, the assembly of which usually ends up taking twice as much time as sitting down and creating actual content.

Here’s a bunch of stuff that made me happy that there’s stuff like this.

____________________________________________________

Let’s Try for S’more Efficiency!

Watson thinks the rake is brilliant, and it really is,
But there’s something else that captured my total attention:

Me:  “Honey?  Have you ever thought about Peanut Butter Cup S’mores?”

My Husband:  “No . . .  But I am now . . .  A lot.”

oooooooooooooooOOOOOooooooooooooooo

#coulsonlives

I have the biggest braincrush on Clark Gregg.
Even if I wasn’t already staking out my spot in front of the TV in preparation for ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD,
which is premiering later this month,**
his sheer enthusiasm for the show and his gratitude to the fans of Agent Coulson would have me tuning in.

The whole cast—already showing fabulous chemistry—is obviously stoked.

And so am I.

Nineteen days to go from . . . mark.

oooooooooooooooOOOOOooooooooooooooo

I’m My Own . . . Um . . . 

This is for Lyra.

She knows why.

(Thanks, Watson)

oooooooooooooooOOOOOooooooooooooooo

A Time Suck for your EYES

Instructions:

1.  Wait until you finish reading this post, because you aren’t coming back anytime soon and there’s a video of Tom Hiddleston eating cookies down there.

2. Click on the image.

3. Select a cat from the convenient menu.

4.  Move the Mouse around.

5. Repeat from 2 for longer than you thought possible before your first run through.

You’re welcome.

oooooooooooooooOOOOOooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooOOOOOooooooooooooooo

As Promised:

Tom Hiddleston and cookies.

Gratification indeed.

____________________________________

*Your Happy-Making Stuff may vary—but if you’re bothering with the footnotes, the odds are good that it doesn’t, much.

**Don’t worry—i will be reminding you often.

Random Thursday: Anything You Can Randomize . . .

Random Thursday (ˈrandəm ˈTHərzdā): the day on which Sarah plunks down all the odd bits and pieces she’s acquired here and there in an effort to avoid writing a real post, the assembly of which usually ends up taking twice as much time as sitting down and creating actual content.

__________________________

First, Some Fanvid Love:

I love BBC Sherlock*  and I love Dr. Who** and I like fanvid mashups.  And I’m not apologizing for any of it.

The song is one of my kids’ favorites, too.

There’s another version between Doctors Ten*** and Eleven—the last three seconds are priceless.

oooooOOOOOOoooooo

This is the parking garage of—or possibly just near—the downtown library in Kansas City.

I’ve never been there, but if this is where patrons park, can’t you imagine the possibilities for the actual library?

oooooOOOOOOoooooo

I Hate Flying

I sent a friend of mine a rant about how much I didn’t want to fly to Bouchercon this October.^  I said I’d rather bike.

Five minutes later, he sent me a link to this, with a note: Why not do both?

oooooOOOOOOoooooo

Rough Translation:  Bless You and Lay off the Broccoli

My SIL suggested that I write up this truly bizarre  conversation we had with, I think, Sunny, but right now I can’t remember a word of it, or even the subject.

I blame Janie, who, when someone^^ passed audible gas last night, grinned and said, “Gesund-toot.”

I love that kid.

oooooOOOOOOoooooo

Anything you can do—Wait, Gift Bags?

I knew one of these men could sing.  I knew one of these men could dance.   But both?   I am replete.

________________________

*Really, Sarah?  Never noticed.

**Still haven’t noticed.

***I’m sure than not really a crown in Ten’s mouth.  It’s probably alien technology that allows him to . . . sing really long notes?

^And it looks like I’m going to have to, unless I can get two days off on either side for travel and recovery.  Or talk someone into driving up with  me.

^^Let’s just say it was Sunny, as she’s young enough to get away with it and can’t read the blog, yet.

Random Thursday: Turtle Cozies and Current Rhapsodies

This is going to be a quickie—we have houseguests and instead of going through my files for today’s post, I made my SIL watch the first episode of BBC Sherlock.  Since this meant I could watch the first ep again, I refuse to think of this as a waste of time, ’cause it wasn’t.

And it does say Random Thursday on the label, so . . . 

_____________________

 I’m starting a new knitting project—cover me!

No, nothing so elaborate, just a scarf . . .  But if it goes well, a turtle-cozy would clearly be the next logical step.

And that pom-pom on the tank’s gun barrel is simply adorable.*

oooooOOOOOooooo

Why I don’t use my own drawings to illustrate these posts:

oooooOOOOOooooo

Nikola Tesla:  half the reason science is as cool as it is

In 1891, Nikola Tesla, who can’t possibly be awarded enough credit for all the amazing stuff he did, invented a resonant circuit-thingie** that can produce high voltage, high frequency, low, alternating current electricity.

If you hook up two or three of these guys—and why wouldn’t you?—you get a Tesla coil.

Tesla coils used to be used in wireless radio telegraph transmissions, electrotherapy, and other various uses until  technology marched on and they ended up as special effects props, historical footnotes, and the tools of MIT pranksters.

They can also make music.

The Hungarian Rhapsody one of my favorite pieces, but for those of you who might prefer something a bit more tech-appropriate:

oooooOOOOOooooo

________________________________
*Don’t worry, Mom, your instead-of-socks birthday present hasn’t been forgotten, but I had to return the book to the library and someone snagged it. I’ve put it on hold again, and once it comes back, I’ll start on your lime green armadillo . . . (ugh)

**Yes, thingie is a proper scientific term when used by someone who might understand circuits in a Mr-Wizard-Explained-It-Best kind of way, but prefers to think of electricity as barely tamed magic that makes things go if you ask it nicely.