Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Library Book of the Week

I haven't written about the Library in awhile, have I?  Well, I do still work there, in case you were wondering.

Not long ago, I was doing my rounds. 

Being a manager, I often do rounds of the building.  We call it "securing the perimeter," because it's way funner and More Important sounding than saying, "Hey, I'm going to walk around the building for a bit."  And we do it, you know, to check on the general mood of the place, tell young boys to pull up their pants, tell people to put their sandwiches away, or whatever.

So, a couple of weeks ago, while I was "securing the perimeter," I also took a walk through the shelves.  Being that I'm the Circulation Manager, I like to check on the State of the Union, as it were.  I like to see what the shelving situation is-- how the shelves look, if there is a lot to shelve, if the books look like a mess, etc.

In my journey, I ended up in the baking and cooking section, which I often do, and I found a book called Cake Wrecks.

What is a Cake Wreck, you ask?  Well, in the first couple of pages, that question is answered:


Let me share a few pages of Cake Wrecks with you now.

So, you know how sometimes people take instructions too literally?  Like you might write a note to the person decorating your cake that says, "Write:  Best Wishes Suzanne.  Underneath that We Will Miss You."  Who knew you would end up with this cake pictured on the cover of the book:


And, imagine the note for this one. Or don't. Whatever:


There's even a whole section on Holiday cakes gone awry. Take this example:


And its caption:


Funny!  Right?

If you haven't had enough, and believe me, YOU HAVE NOT, check your local library for this book.  I guarantee you that you will laugh your butt off.

And if that's still not enough, WHICH IT WON'T BE, check out the Cake Wrecks website!

Monday, May 17, 2010

What We Did This Weekend

So the following pictures pretty much sum up our weekend, here at the Lilypad:








Do you detect a theme of sorts?  Because there is one, most definitely.

Well, seriously, what are animals supposed to do when it is beautiful, sunny, warmish and just generally gorgeous outside?  They nap and sit in open windows if they are indoor animals.  And, if they are outdoor animals, as are the Chick and I, then you lounge outside in chairs and on plaid blankets, soaking in some sunshine and chatting throughout the day.

And, maybe you get up and mow the lawn or something.  Yes, I think that happened.  Or, maybe that was a dream?  No, I think it was real.

What did you do this weekend?  Was it lovely where you live?

Friday, May 14, 2010

Flip Friday

Yes, yes, I know.

YOU ARE RELIEVED!!!

A Rather Severe Look 
for those of you who missed it 
on Wednesday.

Zoe is back from Her vacation, and that means YOU can relax and breathe a sigh of relief!!

Your work week is almost over!

Your tests at school (special shout out to Ashlyn!) are ALMOST OVER!

And now, all you need to do is watch the Friday Rabbit Movie and ride that good feeling for the rest of your day.  You can ride it right through Friday and crash it into the weekend if you want to.

Yes, you can!

Today's video features a time signature that Miss Zoe likes to chew in.  Finding music She likes to chew to can be a challenge!  It often ends up being punk, but sometimes, it is jazz that fills the bill.

Observe:

Zoe Lives Life in 9/8 Time from marcy hall on Vimeo.

NOW-- GO IN PEACE, AND HAVE A FABULOUS WEEKEND!!!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Spring Break

Zoe and I have officially decided to take a Spring Break.

The Chick is taking a break this week.  She is on Retreat here at home.  (By Retreat, we mean that she is Trying Not to Use the Computer So Much For  Week.)  And so, in honor of that, Zoe and I are going to take a wee break as well.

Mainly, it means we will skip Wednesday. 

Not To Fear!!!  We will not skip Flip Friday!  We already have a great movie planned and have the footage shot for that.

So, until Friday, gaze upon this Beauty:

Let Her Be Your Beacon Through The Darkness.  
She will get you through to Friday, I promise you.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!

SPRING BREAK HAS ARRIVED!!!!!

Friday, May 7, 2010

Flip Friday

A few days ago, I said to Zoe, "I think this week for Flip Friday, we might just do Mini Cat Movies.  What do you think of that?"

She stared at me with A Look.  Apparently, I didn't decipher The Look correctly.

I thought it was a look of, "OK, do whatever you want."

Now I know it was just A Look.

Up until yesterday, I was still ignorant of this fact however, so I said to the Mini Cat, "It's your movie day!!  Let's make some Mini Cat Movies!!"  I'd already made one small movie of him a couple of days ago, but I wanted one more.  I wanted a Jumping Movie.

The Chick helped with the process.  She played with the Mini Cat while I shot footage of him playing.  Movie after movie, he kept jumping and flying out of the frame.  Finally, I thought I had enough material, and we stopped filming and I came upstairs to make some movies.

I said to Zoe, "Wait until you see this Jumping Movie, Zoe.  I think You might like it."

There it was:  The Look.

I pressed on.

Needless to say, I got nothing in all those movies.  I had a lot of movies of the Mini Cat flying through the air in which all you could see was a tail tip, a set of little white toes, or, more commonly, a Blur of Nothingness.

"I guess I didn't get anything after all," I said, disappointed.

Again, The Look.

And so, I also made a Rabbit Movie.

See?  I'm not as dumb as I look.

Here are this week's Friday offerings, then.

First, the Mini Cat:

The Mini Cat Lounges from marcy hall on Vimeo.
And now, the Rabbit:

Bunny Lunch from marcy hall on Vimeo.

Enjoy your weekend!  Oh, and try to avoid The Look.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

The Whites

Sometimes, it occurs to Miss Zoe and me that though there are four cats and, currently at least, two (count them) 2 Rabbits in this house called the Lilypad, not all of these Mammals are getting equal airtime.

It actually has a lot to do with personalities, truth be told.  Get out the camera to take a picture of Lilly or the MiniCat, and all you get is posing.

Take out the camera to photograph a Rabbit, and the story is the same.  You get poses.

They sit still.

They gaze at the camera with come hither looks.

But get out the camera to photograph Scottie and/ or Miss Emmie (a.k.a. The Whites) and what do you get?  

"Ummmmmm....posing?" you ask, innocently.

And I answer, "No-- not so much."

The point of all this lead up is to say, "Yes, there really are two White Cats who live here, and though they don't pose often, sometimes they do, and this is what they look like:"

 Scottie and his Elizabethan Fluff

 Emmie in a Basket

Emmie in the Sun

Scottie asleep.  And, oh-- a MiniCat who is 
obviously only half the size 
of Scottie's Giant Cat Head

So, there you have it.  You've seen them before, and you'll see them again.  But The Whites decided it was time for a post dedicated to their own special (crazy) cuteness, and so that is what they got!

Do you have any hidden animals in your house?

Monday, May 3, 2010

A Total Cat Weekend

This past weekend was a Total Cat Weekend.

By Total Cat Weekend, I mean we did do things, but we didn't Do things.  I am sort of speaking for myself here, actually, as the Chick would argue that she did Do things, since she had a YogaDance class to teach on Saturday and because she made a poster on Sunday for new classes she is soon going to be teaching, which she then distributed.

(For those of you who live in Erie and don't know what the heck I am talking about, check out the Chick's Blog!!)

Anyhow, the rest of us did a lot of this sort of thing:  

And, this sort of thing:

And, I can't show you those pictures without showing you these Cute (and Very Lucky) Rabbit Feet:

Well, we did do some thinking, organizing and then some more thinking.

It does seem as though we are making plans.

Arts and Drafts was over, but then I got sick for a week, and then we had a week of Extreme Busy-ness that followed that.  And now that all that is over, it is time to scheme new projects that were put on the back burner.

That's right-- New Projects.

Miss Zoe is attemting to make you curious.  Is it working?

Is it?

Good!

P.S.  Zoe would like to clear up a little something: It is very unusual for Her to exhibit any sort of "cat-like" behavior (i.e. LAZINESS).  She is normally very industrious.  I mean, you think it's easy being a Star!?  But everyone deserves a sort of...SPA weekend now and then.  Thank you.