AnecdoteFish
Where I am (ahem) has already turned up a number of amusing yarns, some of which I have relayed to Amba, and now give to you all…
The Food:
The Menu sign said “Meaty meaty hamburger” which turned out to be an ice cream scoop worth of fried hamburger and onions.
When I noticed the sign said “Fresh Veggies” and when I got to the front of the line and noticed the pale and misshapen things (note to cooks: “Pastel” is normally not a good palette choice for vegetables) and said “Fresh Veggies?”, I was told that he “freshly opened a can and freshly dumped them in the steam table.”
The cookies may be used as grinding wheels on gemstones.
Potatoes aren’t normally grey, right? I’m forgetting already…
You wouldn’t think they could screw up salad (salad!), but yes, they do.
They have yet to come up with a ‘fruit punch’ they didn’t evoke both brake fluid and DDT. A clever way to get you to like water… if that didn’t taste like aluminum.
When they had something that I actually liked (raspberry pie) I went to praise the cooks and got an apology(!) that it wasn’t from their usual supplier! Please fail more often!
There is a person whom I shall call ‘Save The Earth Sue’ who castigates us all for eating so high on the food chain. She is convinced that the Friendly Hippies who make the meals are a kind of gastronomic Wannsee Conference and the side dish of mashed (grey) potatoes and gravy(!!!) we enjoyed meant that we were all, in her words, ‘demons’, which led someone to yell that ‘Even demons must like comfort food.’
Such friendly folks: Someone was rolling joints in the mens room, when someone else washed their hands and turned on the air dryer which led to weed flying around the john. This led the joint roller to scramble to pick up same and test it by sniffing(!) This led to a mishap where he complained that he got some ‘shitball stuck in my nose.’
There is someone who is a very bright person, with a Phd in English Lit who has promptly drank his $750,000 inheritance, and pick up smoking to ‘choose to die as slowly as possible.’ He was quite happy to find out last week he has thyroid cancer. His mostly commonly used nickname? ‘Whiskey Face.’ Think about that one!
More later…
Yow, KngFish adds new stuff, pt.1:
We had some actors come in to show us how learning charades could help us find work….Brilliant, or not? (“First word, type of Japanese drama” “Second word, first letter, ‘after L and before N'” “Rest of Second word, bees make it”)
We were also offered a chance to see an all gay male version of Taming of the Shrew to which the Local ACT-TORE and Lover of the THE-A-TRE said, “Oh God, the Liz of their Liz and Dick has a dick!” To which I replied “and not a Burton…just a dick.” How this helps us find work…..I have no idea!
A local church group, who helped me pack up stuff is still interested in my situation and offers help. For what at the moment? I’m unsure. I guess I need gym clothes soon! Never thought the Old Fat Man would say that!
My car is still out in the weeds somewhere….but no longer parked behind my house.
What tha?!? Still typing? Yup…
Whiskeyface is not doing well….off to the ER! Status as yet unknown.
Lunch was ‘Hamburger with bun’, Dinner was ‘Italian Hamburger’ with red and green chunks of peppers? Play-Doh? in it.
Just to amuse you I promise pics of the mighty KngFish in the gym when I can…I know! I think it’s hilarious too! Well, that’s life for ya!
Ambiance 
Melinda Bruno said,
February 18, 2013 at 2:07 pm
O Kingfish, Where Art Thou?
I’ve got a pretty good idea of the answer. Looking forward to more stories.
P.S. Wouldn’t Friendly Hippies be serving bean sprouts?
mockturtle said,
February 18, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Sprouts are often rife with salmonella. At least if the FDA bulletins are to be believed. ;-)
wj said,
February 18, 2013 at 4:02 pm
The apparent rule of thumb, amongst the radical “Save the Earth” types, seems to be “If you like it, it must be bad for the earth!” Think of it as Calvinism, and you won’t be far wrong.
The slightly less self-righteous only condemn something that someone else like when they do not happen to like it themselves. Their own pleasures (whatever they happen to be) are just fine for the planet, thank you very much.
Which isn’t to say that the ecology isn’t important. Just that the people making the most noise are generally clueless about hard stuff like biology and chemistry. Which are critical to saying anything really accurate about saving the planet and life as we know it upon it.
mockturtle said,
February 18, 2013 at 4:21 pm
Their self-righteous arrogance always reminds me of George Carlin’s bit on Saving the Planet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W33HRc1A6c
Icepick said,
February 18, 2013 at 6:46 pm
Think of it as Calvinism, and you won’t be far wrong.
Come on, even Calvinists didn’t hate mashed potatoes and gravy….
mockturtle said,
February 18, 2013 at 6:47 pm
Calvinism is much maligned.
Melinda Bruno said,
February 18, 2013 at 7:48 pm
Many of us have had to practice it for the past few years.
karen said,
February 18, 2013 at 8:50 pm
“Come on, even Calvinists didn’t hate mashed potatoes and gravy….”
Uh, don’t you mean ~greyyy-vy~?
Most importantly- are you still sleeping on the floor?
Are you feeling better in terms of– nightmares and blue days?
You actually could chronicle these things-as you are- and write a book.
Imagine the titles you could come up w/… Bunkmates w/Whiskeyface…
It’s Lent for Catholics- and man- you are sure showing us Catholics up!
That you can still see the (dare i say)humor in this hopefully brief time between digs- speaks volumes of your good character, Kingfish:0).
wj said,
February 18, 2013 at 9:48 pm
MT, Calvinism isn’t really much maligned. It just has very little to do with Calvin.
mockturtle said,
February 18, 2013 at 10:01 pm
I hear it frequently maligned but, as you observe, what is considered Calvinism isn’t–at least as I can infer from my copies of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vols I & 2. IMHO, true Calvinist theology is Christianity, rightly understood.
lehg said,
February 19, 2013 at 3:04 am
It’s not hard to make good, plain, healthful food–even in quantity. Really, it isn’t. It’s just that over the years, it’s been made harder to offer it. : / Also, recipients have become more picky. Overall, it’s not a good situation.
—
Addendum:
Re: Quality of dessert
Really? Oh, hell.
lehg said,
February 19, 2013 at 3:15 am
Annie:
What did you think of the soup I offered to you back in December, a day after we got here?
It was the very, exact, same soup that I *used* to make for mass consumption… .
lehg said,
February 19, 2013 at 3:25 am
*One* of the soups, I should say–but, by far, the most common, often-made one.
mockturtle said,
February 19, 2013 at 11:11 am
I recall one winter my husband and I helped at the Salvation Army in Yuma, AZ, preparing and handing out gifts to ‘needy’ children. We had quite a few bicycles donated and volunteers spent many hours assembling them. Believe it or not, many parents complained if they only got one bicycle when they had two or more children. Some became angry. All in all, it was rather a disappointing experience. There were some happy children but many discontented ones, as well. I think they might have been happy if their parents hadn’t set the tone. Sad.
kngfish said,
February 19, 2013 at 11:57 am
Karen: I am no longer on the floor, but in a bed sharing a room with one other person, which is good. He, however, has ‘night terrors’ which means he sometimes yells in his sleep while telling awful encounters out of his past. He even gets up and ‘sleep boxes’…which is keeping me up at night.
The nightmares and blue days are masked by Zoloft….but they lurk and sometimes surprise attack me. This may get worse the longer I am here.
I was nominally raised Catholic, but never really was, even when very, very young.
Don’t forget…Germans find humor in war!
I did try to get ‘KingFish’, but someone beat me to it, so ‘KngFish’ it is. ‘i’ is absent for the moment, but never silent! :)
mockturtle said,
February 19, 2013 at 12:07 pm
KngFish, you remind me [through your posts] so much of one of my favorite literary characters: Ignatius J. Reilly. Brilliant, outrageous, decidedly quirky. You have no niche. I’m glad you share your life with us. :-)
kngfish said,
February 19, 2013 at 12:22 pm
mockturtle, it’s odd you say that, as when I let people read chapters from my unfinished novel (soon to be on Kindle, I promise!) they make the Confederacy comparison….so i won’t read that book until I’m done with mine, to prevent spoiling one with the other! Irrational, I know…
Thanks for the kind words! Needed as I struggle….
Icepick said,
February 19, 2013 at 6:47 pm
“Shitballing with Whiskeyface” sounds like the title to a P.J. O’rourke story, or perhaps even Hunter S. Thompson. (Yeah, I realize Whiskeyface didn’t get the shitball in his nose – this time.) Or perhaps a chapter out of Keith Richards auto-bio.
Ron, here’s hoping you publish the next “Fifty Shades of Gray”, sales-wise.
Icepick said,
February 19, 2013 at 6:50 pm
MT, receiving charity corrodes the spirit. I was pleasantly surprised recently by a rather kind offer of help, but ultimately I turned it down. Until I have to be a charity case I want to avoid it, even if it does mean I can’t get my damned teeth fixed. At the moment the offers make me feel good. If I start taking them I’m going to start feeling like a louse.
mockturtle said,
February 19, 2013 at 7:18 pm
I don’t think taking charity should make you feel like a louse, Ice! The point is that gratitude is a nice response. Or, if not gratitude, at least no griping.
Of course, this rule only applies to us mere mortals. Characters like Ignatius O’Reilly and, perhaps our very own kngfish, can write scathing reviews of, say, soup kitchens with impunity because their audacity is our entertainment. :-D
Icepick said,
February 19, 2013 at 8:31 pm
Oh, complaining about lousy food is fine. I’m not even addressing that topic. Crappy food is crappy food, and if it is crappy without any good reason, then complain! (If there are shortages, like in a famine, that’s one thing. If they’re just making no effort, ugh. Ron’s describing a no effort situation.)
But when you’re on charity, it can either make you feel entitled or feel unworthy. It’s hard to keep what most would consider an appropriate attitude/tone.
chickelit said,
February 20, 2013 at 2:37 am
Ron:
If mind and body be not the same then at least you can rest assured of physical sustenance. I too am suffering in my own way, but I’ve turned the corner on “oppression” and am focused on liberation. You are older than I so this may take longer. But it will happen.
kngfish said,
February 20, 2013 at 1:06 pm
I think the key is seeing a path forward. If I were stuck here in perpetua, I might indeed feel entitled or unworthy. But if I can dig my way outta this mess, I would feel grateful for the help given when needed, and, in the future, try to help someone else in an equivalent way. Ah, but can I? That remains to be seen….
Annie Gottlieb said,
February 20, 2013 at 3:03 pm
LEHG: Sorry to be a day late . . . I’ve been working and driving my parents around rather than looking at me own home blog. Also, David’s stepdaughter had that terrible (but could-have-been-much-worse) car accident, so we were all very gripped by that.
I LOVED the soup.
Annie Gottlieb said,
February 20, 2013 at 3:04 pm
So scarce am I around me own home blog that it makes me log in!! (We’re also having chronic wireless vapors here.)
mockturtle said,
February 20, 2013 at 6:24 pm
When your book comes out, I’ll buy it, Ron. :-)
karen said,
February 20, 2013 at 7:21 pm
I’m sorry to hear about a car accident.
What kind of soup was it? I love soup- and i can actually make soup:0).
wj said,
February 20, 2013 at 8:08 pm
Ice, while charity can either make you feel entitled or feel unworthy, it doesn’t have to be that way. Is it really so hard to just accept that we all have a rough patch occasionally, and remember that you will pass along the charity to someone else who needs it when you can (“keep what most would consider an appropriate attitude/tone”)?
Sure, we would all delight in life going well enough that we never need charity. Life, unfortunately, does not always have the same view of our future. It isn’t a moral failing to need, or accept, help occasionally. (Somehow never managing to cope on ones own is perhaps, absent chronic medical issues, a different story.) But never needing help is flat out good fortune; it’s no kind of virtue.
Damaging yourself because you don’t want to “take charity” is a combination of foolishly masochistic and inconsiderate to those who love you and want you well. In my not so humble opinion, of course.
karen said,
February 21, 2013 at 9:03 am
“Damaging yourself because you don’t want to “take charity” is a combination of foolishly masochistic and inconsiderate to those who love you and want you well.”
I think it might even be a pride thing. Which is one of the 7deadly sins- Catholic speak. I don’t know what other religions say- but, it’s in the Bible. Somewhere.
Icepick said,
February 21, 2013 at 9:42 am
wj, I’m not really speaking about the occassional hand-up. I’m talking about becoming a charity case. I’ve been out of work almost five years now. Last October this stretch of unemployment became the longest period of anything on my resume. If I start taking charity I’m not likely to be able to stop. The first few times I might be okay. After a while I’m going to become conditioned to it – that’s just the natural animal response. And then what happens to my expectations when I don’t get what I’ve come to expect?
kngfish said,
February 21, 2013 at 10:51 am
Ice, that’s the subtle problem of where I am now as well… these systems may mean well, but they give you few pathways outta the soup ( soup is our thread mascot here!) and many, many ways to ‘play the system.’ In the end it’s a mooks game, and I want no part of it, despite being surrounded by educated blowhards who think it would be good for me! F them, and the sheepskins they rode in on! (Pardon my copyediter, er, programmer, er, French!)
mockturtle said,
February 21, 2013 at 11:24 am
You guys are far too creative to be unemployed! Ice, I see you writing film noir movie scripts or detective novels; Ron, I see your book becoming serialized on PBS.
mockturtle said,
February 21, 2013 at 11:25 am
Well, maybe not PBS–they are too PC.
Icepick said,
February 21, 2013 at 12:00 pm
MT, funny you should mention detective novels, I’ve been thinking of writing a series of stories about down and out professionals, and the desperate turns they might make. Admittedly this would be inspired in part about my daydreams of bank robbery. (NOTE: I’ve determined that the only effective way to rob a bank is to run one, and that takes a lot of time and energy, on the order of dedicating one’s life to it for decades.)
For example I’ve determined part of what would be a perfect get-away route here in town. By the time the cops got everything together ( the police helicopters and such) the robbers would be free and clear. The escape route dictates which banks are in the target zone, et cetera.
kngfish said,
February 21, 2013 at 12:39 pm
mockturtle who really believes that they want to hire the creative? Highly doubtful! They build too many systems to choke off any creativity, so any creativity that survives is kind of a spiritual kudzu.
mockturtle said,
February 21, 2013 at 12:52 pm
Ron, it is because creativity is in such short supply that you need to pursue your literary outlet. Toole’s delightfully offbeat novel became popular [after his suicide] because his mother relentlessly hounded publishers. Is your mother available for marketing? Don’t commit seppuku, though, just to get published! :-D
kngfish said,
February 21, 2013 at 12:59 pm
Until I hit the gym, I’d need a katana for seppuku with this gut! Think of it as Old Skool Liposuction. Me mum is a’mouldering in the grave, but Zombie Marketing is a growing field!
mockturtle said,
February 21, 2013 at 1:18 pm
I’d need a katana for seppuku with this gut!
LOL!
Icepick said,
February 21, 2013 at 2:36 pm
Toole’s delightfully offbeat novel became popular [after his suicide] because his mother relentlessly hounded publishers.
I have to say that this sounds like the worst marketing plan ever. Even worse than Jerry Dellafemina’s proposed ad campaign for a Japanese auto-maker: “From those wonderful folks who brought you Pearl Harbor!”
Icepick said,
February 21, 2013 at 2:58 pm
I just noticed the updates.
As for the charades and the all-male Shakespeare: That has to be better than what the local employment agency (government, of course) tried:
That’s from two years ago. The good thing to come out of that is that the state came in and fired a lot of the people responsible for that stupidity. Here’s a link to a Mother Jones article that I quoted.
Melinda said,
February 21, 2013 at 3:06 pm
LOL!!! That’s what somebody comes up with when you choke off all that creativity and then tell them to “think outside the box.”
Icepick said,
February 21, 2013 at 4:47 pm
Yeah, I think the idea of wearing cheesy capes to help the unemployed get work tops anything Ron has described … so far!
wj said,
February 21, 2013 at 7:27 pm
Well, that’s the problem with half-way measures to address problems. Obviously Florida did not focus on getting their caped multitudes work as superheros. Which, after all, is where the market is for people in red capes.
Not to mention that it would make more sense in improving public safety than the “stand your ground” law that they actually went with instead.
mockturtle said,
February 21, 2013 at 8:18 pm
Kngfish, I can’t wait to see pictures of you in the gym!
Icepick said,
February 21, 2013 at 9:17 pm
Not to mention that it would make more sense in improving public safety than the “stand your ground” law that they actually went with instead.
Don’t believe it. There have been a couple of cases where the SYG laws have been abused, but there have been a few more cases where it has led to lives being saved. A couple of Christmases back we had a rash of thieves attacking people in mall parking lots. After the second set of thieving clowns in as many days got shot in the ass by interested by-standers things got a lot safer all of a sudden. These things do get noticed.
lehg said,
February 22, 2013 at 12:03 am
Color me the bitch (on wheels or otherwise), but I’m not getting the point of encouraging literary dreams, much less amusing yarns, when more prosaic [second definition] issues are at the forefront, not to mention at hand. Color me crazy, as well, if you will, or even cold: but there it is.
[I also see the situations of the two people as fundamentally different, which, no doubt will make me seem not even more cold, but also unimaginative.
Regardless.
So be it.]
lehg said,
February 22, 2013 at 12:17 am
We live in this day and age, and not another. A grasp of language [and/or/among other things] cannot be counted upon to either feed one nor to insulate oneself from having to do whatever it takes to get by: and first and foremost, that might mean giving up whatever pretensions one possesses that one is above such a thing, or things. Survival might not be pretty, but it is rough as hell. In this way, it resembles [t]ruth, if not Beauty.
mockturtle said,
February 22, 2013 at 12:45 am
Without Beauty, Truth is of little consequence. Artists have been starving for centuries. Perhaps millennia! And their works have stood in proud and lasting contrast to the merely functional.
lehg said,
February 22, 2013 at 1:01 am
Nonsense!
That is nonsense. Full stop.
lehg said,
February 22, 2013 at 1:06 am
Without Beauty, Truth is of little consequence.
This, specifically, is what I was responding to in my previous comment. (As for the rest of your comment, mt: different issue.)
TT Burnett said,
February 22, 2013 at 1:25 am
Sine pecunia ars nihil est.
mockturtle said,
February 22, 2013 at 1:33 am
What if God had created a world in which all birds were of one color and all made a dreadful rasping sound–no songs? Songs are, of course, very functional for birds but God didn’t have to make everything so beautiful, did He? He chose to. For our sakes! :-) And He instilled in us an appreciation of beauty.
[This from one who is sorely lacking in creative talent, who is distinctly left-brain but who truly appreciates beauty and creativity while I go about my nuts-and-bolts existence. :-)]
lehg said,
February 22, 2013 at 1:38 am
This one’s for not just mockturtle:
`We called him Tortoise because he taught us,’ said the Mock Turtle angrily: `really you are very dull!’
; )
\ : /
(
lehg said,
February 22, 2013 at 1:52 am
I am speechless. And therefore I give up–In the face of God making all songs beautiful, because otherwise the contrast could not be appreciated.
*shrug*
Whatever.
Patricia Abson said,
February 22, 2013 at 3:02 am
Of course, it goes without saying that I adore Lewis Carroll! :-)
mockturtle said,
February 22, 2013 at 3:17 am
New computer. Please fix my screen name back to mockturtle, please, Ice? Thank you!
mockturtle said,
February 22, 2013 at 3:19 am
What I meant to say was: It goes without saying [but apparently not] that I simply adore Lewis Carroll! :-)
Icepick said,
February 22, 2013 at 9:32 am
Which one needs to be changed? I don’t see anything wrong.
mockturtle said,
February 22, 2013 at 11:11 am
It disappeared, Ice, because it had my [real] name on it rather than my screen name. Funny, though, it showed up briefly. Thanks.
mockturtle said,
February 22, 2013 at 12:20 pm
lehg, I will concede that even starving artists have to sling hash [or its cultural equivalent] once in a while! :-)
TT Burnett said,
February 22, 2013 at 3:28 pm
And here’s the landlady at the door of a ‘Distrest Poet’ in 1737.
mockturtle said,
February 22, 2013 at 6:10 pm
And don’t forget the opening scene of La Boheme, where the landlord comes to collect the overdue rent from his painter and poet renters. Of course, they manage to get him sidetracked….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HvsIG9l5-0
mockturtle said,
February 22, 2013 at 6:12 pm
Truly, I think we are living in an era where we are obsessed with our bodies but our souls are impoverished.
karen said,
February 22, 2013 at 10:08 pm
After reading that part of ~Alice… Wonderland~ i’m damned glad i never have read it before. Never saw it(although i think the kids did rent the one done w/Johnny Depp- so i sorta heard, saw parts– the Queen has a huge head, eh?), but other than that… never even really cared to.
Must be my incurious mind:0).
Did make the mistake of renting ~Frankenweenie~ the other night and letting my 9yr old watch it alone– how can animation about cute doggies go wrong? Uh, when it’s directed/created by a morbid dude, that’s when. She has survived the experience well. I-OTOH- am a more sensitive sort…
Charlie Martin(OUR Charlie Martin)is on a diet &exercise regimine and lookin’ good!! I think that moving and grooving in gym shorts is going to be a good thing for you, Kngfish. Motivate, rotate… appreciate:0).
karen said,
February 22, 2013 at 10:14 pm
For ice(i found this on Althouse):
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2013/02/florida-man.html
Did not read and not too sure whatall it is, but it sounds funny- and kinda crazy. It’s Florida.
Icepick said,
February 22, 2013 at 10:42 pm
Karen, I saw it. Someone has created a Twitter feed where they capture all the stories with headlines like “Naked Florida Man Caught Attempting to Steal Two Boxes of Cheese from a Papa John’s” or “Florida Man Drives Truck Through Mall” and attribute them all to the superhero (?!) Florida Man. I commented on the thread at Althouse about his needing a side-kick called Florida Boy. Sure enough, I found headlines:
10-year-old Florida Boy found wandering street naked and drunk [Icepick: Florida Man not such a good guardian.]
Florida Boy’s 911 Call Helps Police Nab Burglars [Icepick: Hey, a success!]
Florida Boy, age 11, arrested on arson charges [Icepick: Aaaaaaaand a failure.]
Beloved pet pig Twinkie can be kept by Florida Boy with Down syndrome [Icepick: And a possible reason for some of Florida Boy’s inconsistencies – he’s upset about his pig situation!]
Subheader on the last one: ” ‘What’s wrong with you people? Let this boy have his pig,’ was one comment about Kason Ray‘s struggle on the Coral Springs Facebook page.”
I also commented that I believe that both the Powerpuff Girls and The Tick have caused more damage through the years than Florida Man.
Another good Florida Man headline:
Florida Man Hits Boyfriend With Plate For Listening To Too Much Alanis Morissette
As commenter Dust Bunny Queen states at Althouse, “I agree with Florida Man on this one.”
Icepick said,
February 22, 2013 at 10:43 pm
For the record I largely agree with what lehg wrote above, but not entirely. The disagreement I have is this: If one has the writing bug, then there is no cure. Doesn’t matter if one sells or not.
I plan on coming back to this subject with a post, hopefully soon.
Icepick said,
February 22, 2013 at 10:49 pm
The Florida Man Twitter feed and some recent samples:
[Insert chicken joke here] and my personal favorite of RIGHT NOW:
Do NOT Bogart Florida Man’s corn dogs!
lehg said,
February 22, 2013 at 10:58 pm
Karen: Lewis Carroll also wrote other books and did many other things. The books are easily discovered. Some of various areas of things he did are more murky.
In any case, among the various areas of other things he did involved a whole series of national radio broadcasts on the BBC in England[/Britain] in the early 1940s.
So far as I can tell, this is the one that happened to survive, at least for general consumption. I must confess, I was a little hesitant to share it, should it be considered in vacuum, not only without the other broadcasts, but also if such works as, for example, “Mere Christianity” and “Chronicles of Narnia” might be either considered obscure or off-putting, and therefore not worthy of reading anyhow, for whatever reason.
lehg said,
February 22, 2013 at 11:00 pm
How does everyone like that conflation? Sometimes such a thing is fun… .
lehg said,
February 22, 2013 at 11:01 pm
Couldn’t resist… .
Icepick said,
February 22, 2013 at 11:13 pm
I must say it has me confused.
Icepick said,
February 22, 2013 at 11:23 pm
Another one: Florida Man Blames 7-Eleven Robbery On Lack Of Sex
Which for some reason reminds me of a former co-worker of a friend of mine. Let’s call the friend Plasma Ball, and his co-worker Leroy. This happened way back in the 1980s.
Leroy shows up for work late one day. This was in a national chain restaurant. The assistant manager, an attractive young woman, asks him, “Leroy, why are you late?” Leroy answered, “My THANG hurts….” Stopped the conversation cold!
Just a few weeks later, Leroy shows up late again. The same assistant manager is working (What had she done to deserve this?) and she asks him, “Leroy, why are you late this time?” The response was the all-time classic, “I STABBED somebody!” Sure enough, a few minutes later the police showed up, arrested him and took him to a hospital psych-ward for evaluation.
That was the last I heard of Leroy. However, Plasma Ball’s adventures continue to this day. He’s disabled now, so he doesn’t have the volume of stories he used to have, but every time I see him he’s got some other improbable story to tell. The Hell of it is that pretty much all of them are true, if sometimes chemically enhanced.
mockturtle said,
February 22, 2013 at 11:48 pm
From Lewis Carroll to C.S. Lewis. I happen to love them both! Thanks for the BBC recording. While I have the book, Mere Christianity, I had never heard his voice.
What next, Jerry Lewis? I don’t love him. Can’t stand him, in fact. :-P
karen said,
February 23, 2013 at 10:28 am
I just re-read the series of ~Narnia~. I missed ~The Horse and His Boy~… something like that- it’s the only one i don’t have. Since the movies came out i decided to see how accurate they are to the original. I thought they were true to form.
Then i thought i’d gotten my Lewis(s) mixed up- and mockT straightened that out for me.
Ice- i thought the twitterfeed Superhero went well w/your ~unemployment cape~ comment. It seems a hit w/Floridaman:0). God forbid we ever have a VT man– probably runs around in a Skidoo suit.
mockturtle said,
February 23, 2013 at 11:09 am
I have several collections of C.S. Lewis’ inspirational writings and find his combination of wit and theological wisdom very inspiring, indeed! He is the second person I would seek out in heaven. :-)
karen said,
February 23, 2013 at 5:44 pm
You wouldn’t have o seek the 1st(if Christ).
He’d find you :0).
mockturtle said,
February 23, 2013 at 6:23 pm
That’s true, Karen! :-)
karen said,
February 24, 2013 at 2:35 pm
Kngfish- how is Whiskeyface?
I feel sad about him.
kngfish said,
February 24, 2013 at 3:45 pm
Karen, Whiskeyface came back from the hospital looking (relatively) good, and his wit has returned. He bought an entire box of baklava, which he tried to share to the group, but I was the only other person who had had any! More for us…He has become a bit obsessed with Pringles(?) and his “evil brother”. So, it’s a great time for him. We watched “Lincoln” this morning, while eating Pringles for breakfast.
Icepick, these civil government horrorstories are not meant to be a competetion. Their lunacy can be enjoyed in their own right.
Some nice folks came by this morning with good coffee(!), appallingly bad pastries (of indeterminate nature!) and….socks. This was somehow connected to religion, especially the socks. Yeah, I know. Argyle was perhaps a lost tribe of Israel or Judas’s half-brother or something.
I have become the Jeopardy “ringer”. Several people come by to watch me watch Jeopardy. I do OK, but I’m not as good as they think.
This thread has become a critter of its own!
mockturtle said,
February 24, 2013 at 4:57 pm
Glad to hear that Whiskeyface is back. I guess. :-)
karen said,
February 24, 2013 at 5:53 pm
You know– maybe you are meant to be in this particular situation to actually be helping others as you help yourself. Maybe it’s not just about your moving on to a new you- it’s about brothership w/Whiskeyface and lightening the mood w/playdough veggies:0). Ah ha- God’s using you, Kngfish!!!
You have many gifts and you have a generous nature– people can learn a lot from you and maybe your unique sense of humor will boost more spirits than you could possibly know. I think that’s cool- God sure has a convoluted way of helping us along in this world…
karen said,
February 24, 2013 at 5:55 pm
ps- Lord knows i love Pringles.
They are so perfect. A tad salty, yes- but, perfect.
pps- giving up politics for Lent is not going so well. And, really- why should i stop learning world events and the truth(the whole truth)because so many really don’t care about it?
mockturtle said,
February 24, 2013 at 6:10 pm
And, at the very least, it’s material for your book! :-)
Icepick said,
February 25, 2013 at 1:51 am
Icepick, these civil government horrorstories are not meant to be a competetion. Their lunacy can be enjoyed in their own right.
Oh, I’m not thinking of it as a competition.
kngfish said,
February 25, 2013 at 12:30 pm
Karen, we even have a building here that people call “The Pringle”!
http://ennead.com/#/projects/michigan-biomedical-science-building
(this is apparently pretty common!)
God frequently uses me….for what…I’m unsure, but the old sod is laughing somewhere!
karen said,
February 25, 2013 at 9:16 pm
Kfish- my son is studying Architecture and i can’t wait to share this link w/him. I am worried that when he gets his degree he won’t find a job in his field, but he really likes it, so who am i to say he shouldn’t continue. I think he’s minoring in History- he’s a wizz @that- he has a great memory. maybe that’ll counter-balance it all out.
Really cool building, btw. Thanks for sharing “The Pringle”:0).
kngfish said,
February 28, 2013 at 11:20 am
Karen — “Architecture is frozen music” – Goethe
mockturtle said,
February 28, 2013 at 11:55 am
“Architecture is frozen music” – Goethe
Great quote! :-)