Zen Moment of the Day

My yard can be the greatest place on earth! Apparently this Anna's Hummingbird won the fight with the other one (a fight that very nearly resulted in me being speared with one of those tiny sharp beaks!). Then it was kind enough to pose for me for a while.

Raccoon Bootcamp Begins to Pay Off

For Radish, self-defense = hostility.
*small furry mammals may have been slightly harmed during this bootcamp experience. I'm sure medical care is available, although one would hope raccoons are not the medics.

Nut, Nut, Nut, Fork!

Bootcamp Begins...and booty is stolen

Ferret and Squirrel didn't come out as menacing as I thought they should be. But I guess that's what this bootcamp is supposed to accomplish, so they have room to grow.

Two more chase stories were added to the Summer of Doors. Go check it out, awesome.

And now for a story of my own:

I really wish I'd been filming this with my camera, but by the time I realized how great that would have been, it was too late.
While reading the dedication bricks outside a historical museum yesterday, I caught sight of a small red ant dragging a yellow jacket carcass down the sidewalk. I was curious to know where he was going and how he was going to get it down a potential hole, so I watched. He dragged it half the width of the building and was just across the walk in front of the steps when he came to the newel post. Suddenly a spider darted out from under the post and grabbed the carcass. A tug-of-war ensued. For a minute it could have gone either way, but the spider won and stowed his booty under the post. The ant paced back and forth for a moment then darted under the post and took the carcass back, quickly dragging it out and trying to get away. The spider was having none of that. He came back out, and after a quick tug-of-war redux reclaimed the yellow jacket for himself. Enraged, the ant began to dismantle the spider webbing, working his way under the post and...disappeared, never to return.

It seems like there should be a moral to this story. Feel free to offer one up in the comments.

Intervention

You knew raccoons would find a way into the comic strip, didn't you?
FYI- Watch Dr. Horrible's 3 acts before Sunday night, because I think it might go away then, or you have to pay or something. I do recommend it. Thought-provoking, musical, and amusing.

The Dark Knight

I totally admit to scheduling this post in advance. But I also know it to be true.

It's almost 8 pm and I'm just now home from my day in Seattle. And it was so awesome! First of all, Amy and I inadvertently ended up first in line. Really. By accident. And I still can't believe it. Plus we'd only been waiting for about 20 minutes before they let everyone down the ramp to wait and everyone else closest in line (except the Russian guys behind us) had been there for 3 hours--I don't even know where their line was since we came in through the Science Museum. So we had the best seats in the IMAX theater just by chance. I've never been in a movie where once the movie began everyone was so dead silent. Cool. Boy that was a ride, and seriously, it is an awesome movie. I can't wait to see it again.

Then when we hit the light of day again we realized we were in the middle of the Bite of Seattle. Food everywhere. We spent the afternoon at the "Fresh Impressionists" exhibit at the art museum. Full day.

Still can't believe we were first in line. I feel like the biggest geekiest fangirl ever.

Raccoon Tree

I was going to draw a picture of what happened to me last night. I can see the picture in my head...but...I just don't have it in me tonight.
So at about 11:30 I went out into my backyard to look at Jupiter and the moon. Kinda cool, but then I heard all this rustling. I was alone, and it was dark, so for a moment I was a little freaked out. Then I realized that my cherry tree--which I was standing under--was populated with raccoons. Three teenagers and a parent, I assume (I only saw the teenagers. Maybe the parent was poised to attack from behind and I didn't notice?). I don't mind the raccoons. I don't care for them leaving parts of dead stuff in the bird bath, and sometimes they use my roof as party central (and they are loud!), but mostly we leave each other alone. I just found it a little amusing that for a few moments there I had a raccoon tree. At least they left me some cherries.

Diversion

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog debuts today. Diverting...and short.
I'm really trying hard to be in a cave regarding The Dark Knight...it's almost Friday!! I've browsed some interviews with the cast, but only lightly (can't stay away from Christian Bale). Can't. Wait.

Sidetracked

Summer of Doors Meets...

Today you get to write your own Red Radish story.

Wow, you really have to click on this one to see the implements of Insalataville warfare more clearly.

My server has been down all day. Odd how isolating that is...and also strangely off-putting. I need a life.

Can of Frustrated Worms

The door leading into my garage has always had just a latch on the inside. I decided it was finally time to replace that with a doorknob. After all, this is my only direct access to the back yard from the house, and it would be nice to be able to open the door from the outside.
1. Drilling the hole. I was drilling over a smaller existing hole from the latch: nothing for the drill to hold onto: needed more patience than I had.
2. Excavating for the strikeplate. Not my neatest work: looks like Vlad the Impaler did it.
3. As you can see, the paint is not in the best condition. Scraping, followed by plans to paint.

It has turned into the Summer of the Door. I've already painted 3 doors and replaced one set of doorknobs. This little project was supposed to be limited to doorknob-only. But no.

4. I will have to actually strip this door in order to paint and not have it peel away next winter, because otherwise it will begin to chip next week. Stripping. takes. time. And more patience. Ugh.

Tomorrow I think I will just curl up with a good book, the cats and a big cup of coffee.

And Here We Go.

While I was out today the Joker defaced every Gotham City site on the list at Why So Serious and gave away IMAX tickets to the quickest people for July 15th! Wow. Wish I'd been home for that one...but I'm still counting my minutes until next Friday. It's gonna be awesome.

...Even the Official Dark Knight site got defaced.

Radish's Summer Doldrums

By the way, I got an A in my class. Yay!

Eeyore Kicks my Butt

So between trying to clean house, insomnia, trying to rearrange my head, and catching up on the project-o-ramas, I thought I'd attempt a little exercise. Meet Eeyore, the new bike. I was going to name it Tinkerbell, because it's so pretty and blue, but Eeyore is way more my speed.
Today Eeyore and I timed how long it takes to get down to the ferry dock and back. It's mostly an incline coming home. That's why I am half-dead in this picture.

Summer Doldrums

eta: I actually just made myself a hoodie with this image over at Cafe Press. And no. I wasn't awake when this posted at 10:42. I scheduled it last night and didn't wake up until noon today. Summer doldrums indeed.

Broccoli...Has Very Big Hair.

That helmet is ... just....

...and What You Miss While in a Bubble

Here are a couple of my favorite feathered friends. I took these while hanging out at my parents' on Vashon.

Also while there, Mom and I watched the Tall Ships come in to harbor for the night before the Parade of Sail yesterday morning for the Tall Ships Festival. This was the one I most wanted to see: The HMS Bounty, built by MGM for the 1962 Mutiny on the Bounty and used again for the 1989 Treasure Island (with Christian Bale and Charleton Heston). There are other very cool replicas and vintage ships in the Festival. Kind of fun! Sorry for the haze. Our weather has been quite odd this year.

Bubble Boy...

Broccoli attempts to "solve" his problem.

Something Not (gasp!) Dark Knight Related

Sounds intriguing:
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. In 3 installments beginning July 15th. Teaser online now.

Morning Coffee with the Joker

The Joker is mulling over his recent accomplishments over at WhySoSerious.com. Just a few things left on his to do list....