Stomped Monster

It's winter. AGAIN??!

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:02:00 +0000

So, this morning it snowed for the first time this season in Dayton. This means all the idiots got the secret moron signal and immediately jumped into their cars before the roads could be salted. The traffic reports were grim.

This morning I broke into Winter in the usual way, kicked off by me stepping into the snow with suede slippers on and cursing.

The rearing of Dayton's ugly winter head means 20 minutes bundling the children every time I decide to walk out of the house. If I dare let them leave their coats in the car before dashing into the mall, I'll get at least 16 dirty looks from other parents in the parking lot before hitting the department store doors. They never once offer to carry my children's coats around the mall for a few hours, though. Whatever happened to coat checks?

On the upside, I really love holiday tunes, and the local station is belting them out non-stop. It's the MOST wonderful time of the year.

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Make Halloween Jewelry

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:20:00 +0000

The shapes and colors of Halloween are hard to resist in jewelry form. Learn how to create creepy spiders, cutesy ghosts and more with these complete photo tutorials.

Halloween Jewelry Projects

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Review of Kings Island Halloween Haunt and RIP Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:17:00 +0000

Just now getting around to publishing a review of the Halloween Haunt and RIP Tour over at Kings Island this season.

Kings Island Halloween Haunt 2009 Review

RIP Tour Review

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R.I.P. Kodak Easyshare

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:47:00 +0000

My camera died today. I'm sad. How's that for a blog post?

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Fireworks Photos... Finally.

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:19:00 +0000

Click photos to enlarge...Which one is your favorite?

Captain Crunch:

Tentacles:

Autographed Hairball:

Jaws:

Weeping Willow:

click photos to enlarge...

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Plarn: Plastic Yarn

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:32:00 +0000

Granny Square Plarn

This weekend I recycled 50 plastic bags with my bare hands. I made them into bracelets, wristbands and of course...back into bags!

This was made possible because I had whipped up some 'plarn', or 'plastic bag yarn'. Plarn is made by shredding plastic bags into strips that are easily joined to create an entire ball of recycled material ready for crochet and knit projects.

Plarn Creations and Instructions

Click “Comments” at the top of the post to share your thoughts.

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More Wordless

Sushi Night

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:06:00 +0000

I love making sushi for my family!

I made inarizushi no moto (tofu pouches) and put tuna in a few because I had some tuna left over.

The floret looking things are kind of an open-faced onigiri with tuna and whipped creamed cheese that had chives.

The smallish rolls have tuna, celery and whipped chive creamed cheese. The larger ones have fresh green beans from my garden and double layers of tuna.

Yum.

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This 4th of July is for DIY

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:42:00 +0000

It's the land of the free clothes and the home of the brave fashion statements. Show your spirit and pride with these 4th of July projects.

4th of July Sparkle

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Rain the Insult Comic Cat meets Triumph the Insult Comic Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:59:00 +0000

He tasted like Halloween.

Clockwise from top: Beth, Meadow, Eric, Robert, Triumph, Rain

This guy is always up Triumph's ass. I got back to business, painting my own face.

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Phish Renamed to Sea Kitten?

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:34:00 +0000

Ashley Byrne, a PETA senior campaigner based in Washington, D.C. remarks that “Hooking a fish through the mouth and dragging it out of the water is really the same as hooking a dog through the mouth and dragging him behind your car.”

Of course, if you named that yummy tilapia 'Scruffy', then no one would dare slap it on a plate, right? This is the line of thinking that lead PETA to request that the band Phish change it's name to the more snuggly alternative: 'Sea Kitten'.

READ MORE...

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Kidz Jam on The Tonight Show

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:04:00 +0000

Six years ago it was me and a few buddies with an EZ-Up and some craft glue. Now we're on the Tonight Show! Royally roasted by Triumph himself.
(I'm in there for a split second in my striped skirt.)

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CoCo Christopher

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:07:00 +0000

CoCo Christopher with Tom Hanks on the Tonight Show with CoCo Christopher:

And yea, Tom Hanks decreed, 'Thou shalt be called 'CoCo Christopher.' And so Coco 'Conan' Christopher came into being. Long live CoCo!

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Found Baby Bunnies in My Yard

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:53:00 +0000

The other day, I thought that Zoe was trying to eat Gizmo again. It turns out that they found a nest of baby bunnies.

Stupid mommy bunnies like to poop out babies right in the MIDDLE of my yard. 10 steps in front of the backdoor, right in the path of the dog run.

It's a wonder there are any bunnies in the world at all. Apparently bunnies dig these little 4" holes and do this all the time. Just plop the bunnies in and cover them with grass clippings and hair to keep them warm.

I had to do something, because either the dogs were going to make a beeline for the bunnies and eat them the next time I let them out, or one of my kids was going to step in this hole and be traumatized for life when they feel the crunch of 5 baby bunnies and pull out a bloody shoe.

Google told me that if you take them inside, they have a low rate of survival. Plus bottle-feeding a bunch of bunnies sounds like a 6 week pain in my ass. The only thing I could do is fashion a cage for them that the bunny mom could get in, but the dogs couldn't get into.

I cut the cage from my garden fence, which I had constructed to keep the bunnies out of my garden. Somewhere Momma Bunny is laughing her ass off at me.

I stuck a sweater on it so that the rain wouldn't fill up the hole and drown them. Again, HOW are bunnies not extinct? Imagine sticking a newborn in a dirt hole and covering it up with hay and hair. Google says the mom comes back only for about 5 minutes in the middle of the night to feed them.

The babies try to jump and make noise whenever you move the covering off of them. Each day so far they aren't squeaking for food, so I think she's still checking in.

I will update if they are eaten by snakes or grow into something cute.

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Caterpillar Tent

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:38:00 +0000

Set up our monster caterpillar tent today in anticipation of Bonnaroo in 11 days. It took me close to an hour to get it up, so I took prideful photos. I also found a 'HOT' sticker circa Spring Hookahville 2007(?), so...score.

Mostly set this up because Heather was asking me what company made it and I couldn't remember. She's one of the major players in an initiative to get me outside more often.

Tis huge.

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Pedo Capcha:

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:48:00 +0000

On Stumbleupon this morning when it attempted to tell me how Michael Jackson arranges his home videos:

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Haiku You

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:16:00 +0000

Wrong to make fun of / Midgets with sausage fingers / If they are assholes?

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Mr. T is a Zombie

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:58:00 +0000

Mr. T was made up like a zombie at MARCon 2009 by the Columbus Zombie Walk folks. They took video! He shows up about halfway through and I'm there for a second taking pics:

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Photos from MARCon 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Costume Photos: Zombies, Darth Vader, Dr. Who and More.

Just photos of us:

My debut on MST3K.

I didn't know he was doing this.

Nerds at a convention.

I turned and his tongue almost went in my eye.

I good photo sometime.

Can you find Waldo?
More costume photos from MARCon 44.

www.wordlesswednesday.com

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81st Menzies Capcha

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:19:00 +0000

I celebrated my 81st menses by saying 'menses' eighty one times.

For the men in the audience, menses is pronounced 'menzies'. It's what old ladies used to say before they went through 'the change'. Nothin like listening to grandma tell you all about the menses. Facebook agrees. But in a jazzy 'Menzies!' (do jazz hands) kind of way.

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How-To Tie Dye

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:15:00 +0000

Learn How-to tie dye with this step-by-step tutorial at about.com

How To Tie Dye

Get help with your tie dye project in the forum.

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Baldwin Capcha

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:43:00 +0000

On Facebook:

My bet is that Steven is the scented Baldwin.

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Something to Be Watching

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Thu, 14 May 2009 08:32:00 +0000

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New Home Office!

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:26:00 +0000

It's a corner office, 'cause I'm President.

For Mothers Day, I was blessed with a home office area. Since I started to work from home, I've been working in the kitchen, livingroom and all sorts of other way-too-public spots. I think every room in the house had a length of measuring tape, scissors and a notepad in it.

We went to Ikea and bought everything we needed. A desk/cubby combo, a zig-zag shelf, a thing that hangs on the wall with buckets for pencils/scissors, a magnet board, a rice paper lamp, a pink swivel chair, folder organizers, and a butt cushion for the chair. Even got a lucky bamboo for required desk foliage. It's really incredible to get everything in one day like that. Yes, we applied for an Ikea card that day. O.o

Gizmo took my cushion:

He sits in a cubby right by my desk. The cubby shelf is big enough to divide the bedroom in half. Technically my office is still the bedroom. I'm not complaining, though. If I need a nap, I don't have far to go. This carries the danger of napping instead of working, though...

I keep telling the hobo's to stay out, but they wander in, anyway.

We also got a sheer curtain to section the front of the office from the rest of the bedroom.

Now I have a place for my calendar, pencils and Garfield comics. Best Mothers Day ever.

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Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Mon, 11 May 2009 22:19:00 +0000

Me & Mr. T with the SpongeBounce

Testing the webcam when I gots me laptop.

Me & a Lang.

I had really long hair.

In Kentucky they have certain regulations.

Me and Cap'n.

Birthday hat.

Only worked a Ren Faire once. For life experience. OKay?!?!

I'm a pro at face painting.

Me and my sis walking the streets in Troy.

Psycho press photo with short hair.

Me in the upstairs living room.

In front of the falls where we're getting hitched in October.

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While working on a change purse tutorial...

noreply@blogger.com (Rain Blanken) — Wed, 06 May 2009 22:34:00 +0000

I'm showing you that you need to open the zipper before you stitch the other side. What did you think I meant? Jeez.

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