New Site Design

I learned CSS and updated my HMTL skills back in August. I decided to put my new skills to use on my own website. The new design will go up on January 1. Because of the size of the site the archives and some other parts of the site will be incomplete but I wanted to launch the new design anyway because waiting for completion would delay things unnecessarily. I will continue to transition material to the new design throughout the year.

It's not just a new design but a different way of building and updating my pages. I will stop using MicroSoft FrontPage except to use the auto thumbnail function for my clip art. So far the code is cleaner, conforms to standards and the site functions real well on my machine. We'll see what happens when it goes live.

Because of CSS, next time things will be easier when I get a whim to change my site design. Or at least in theory things will be easier.

As a result of all this transition work, I've had the opportunity to look at all my past cartoons and writing. I've kept almost everything intact despite some regrets about some of the things I wrote and drew. I did alter spelling and grammatical errors but chose not to rewrite to reflect my current sensibilities. It was very tempting but decided that it needed to remain if for no other reason to demonstrate to me my own evolution. Some of the gags and jokes made me cringe and wonder how I could have found that funny. A few instances I replaced some things with something funnier or worded it differently to make it funnier. This happened in the Sears Catalog section and Betty Crocker section. I cannot edit a cartoon very easily. I have not and will not remove any cartoons despite what I feel when I look at them now.

I've been working on this transition since August but around this time of year the process has taken on extra significance. A mundane task becomes a form of reflection.

What's that smell?

The roof is fixed. The job was completed by 3:00. Now, I need to contact a drywall person to fix a bit of the ceiling.

Found out today why Loki's farts have been unusually stinky this week. I was working in the backyard and saw Loki pick up something and chew and tear at it for a while. He would stop and bark at things and then resume his work on the object. I was afraid to get up close and find out what it was but it did stink. Walter came home and I told him about the stench in the backyard and pointed out to him the last place Loki dropped the thing. The source of the stink was the remnants of a dead squirrel.

I don't know if the squirrel dropped dead and Loki found it or if Loki captured and killed it. It had been in the backyard for a while. It would also explain the clumps of fuzz that I had picked up.

Walter disposed of the squirrel corpse in the trash can. There was no other location that would not cause a problem for neighbors and other animals. The joys of urban life.

Loki has not passed any unusually noxious gas so far this evening.

Exercise Log

This week I ran and rowed 10.6 miles, burned 1193.1 calories and weigh 177.8 pounds.

Wednesday ran 1.33 miles in 15:00
Thursday ran 3.13 miles in 35:00
Friday ran 1.32 miles in 15:00
Saturday rowed 2.67 miles in 20:00 and ran 2.15 miles in 26:37

In 2007 I ran, walked, biked and rowed a total of 811.99 miles and burned 93734.8 calories.

Next week back to regular program:
Monday - 10 minutes cycling and lower body weight training
Tuesday - 30 minute run
Wednesday - 10 minutes rowing and upper body weight training
Thursday - 30 minute run
Friday - 15 minutes cycling and lower body weight training
Saturday - 20 minutes rowing, 20 minutes cycling and 20 minutes running

In 2008 I want to do 1,000 miles worth of activity and burn 100,000 calories doing it.

The B*tch is Back!

I counted 11 cats in that panel. Five is the official number of cats that makes you a "crazy cat lady". Even though I don't own cats I could use an air freshener calendar because Loki has been a bit gassy lately.

Mary Worth returns to her full bitchy, self-centered, judgmental glory. How do you prove dog ownership over the phone?

Tomorrow, part of my roof will get torn off and repaired. The roofer left the supplies in the middle of the driveway today.

Salvador Sketchcast

Ni!

I think that would feel pretty good on the thighs. Sort of a massage. What is a sugarplum anyway? Does it resemble the thing on Stan and Harriet's plates.

Chester expression says, "Please for the love of God let it be true! I can't take living in this constantly shifting condo any more!"

How we clean at the Causey house except we have more space to stuff things into and the bulkheads have not begun to buckle.

Ah! It's the thing with three heads! Or the knights that say, "Ni!"

The plumber has fixed our sink. Tomorrow, the roofer comes to check out a roof leak.

Cool Video

When I visited my family yesterday, someone mentioned that Uncle Tommy had videos on YouTube. I came home last night and searched and found two videos. I also did a Google search on Tommy Crook, hoping to find a website. I did not find a good website dedicated to him but found lots of information. I knew that Uncle Tommy played jazz guitar but did not know the extent of his influence or abilities. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame this year.

He plays at the Lanna Thai Restaurant on Memorial in Tulsa, Oklahoma every Friday, 7:00 - 10:00 pm

Die, Chihuahua Lady, Die

What is going on with Mary Worth's hand in the first panel?

I'm hating Chihuahua lady more and more. First, she uses a retractable leash and then has the audacity to lecture Mary Worth about dog control. Second, I find myself defending Mary Worth and feeling sympathy toward her.

Mad props to Karen Moy for writing a character more loathsome than Mary Worth herself.

I want to see Chihuahua lady go down like Aldo Kelrast but because Chihuahua lady deserves it, Karen Moy will deny me. I want a fiery end but Karen Moy will deliver a lame segue into another plot and I will keep reading and hoping despite past experience.

I have no problems with Chihuahuas and other toy breeds. I've interacted with some very delightful small dogs and my parents own a Pomeranian. The retractable leash and the lady's attitude irritate me. I would find the attitude and leash irritating regardless of the breed of dog at the end.

While on the subject of dog behavior, I will plug this Behavior Workshop hosted by Woodstock Animal Foundation of Texas.

The Mary Worth

Oh boy, Chihuahua lady you have no idea who you are blaming. You blame the Mary Worth. The Mary Worth can turn you into dust with a withering stare and a platitude. "This is all your fault, lady!" will be your last words. You are so dead. You and your little dog, too.

On a semi-serious note, someone needs to bitch slap Chihuahua lady and stuff her retractable leash up her most convenient orifice. You can't control or protect a dog properly with a retractable leash. What kind of weakling gets tugged off balance by a f*ck!ng Chihuahua on a retractable leash!?

Chihuahua lady's behavior is causing me to feel sympathy toward Mary Worth and for that Chihuahua lady deserves to die.

Taking a second look maybe Chihuahua lady was saying "Aaugh!" because of some off panel humping. This leads me to dislike Chihuahua lady even more.

-----------------------
My website was unavailable for updating last night. It finally came back online at 8:30 am.

A little experiment

This is a little experiment to determine how long it would take to for a Ron Paul supporter to respond to this post. It would also give me some idea of how many people actually read this blog. I have received a few surprises before. For example, a post complaining about my internet service provider got the attention of someone who works for my ISP.

I intend to vote in the Republican primary but am still undecided about which one. Not completely accurate. I have decided on a couple that I won't vote for - Tom Tancredo and Alan Keyes. Sam Brownback dropped out but he was also one I did not intend to vote for.

I actually like Ron Paul - the man, most of his record and ideas. I want to see Ron Paul do well in the early primaries because I would love to see the voice of the people, if indeed the internet buzz and fundraising really does represent the majority of people, overrule the voices of the pundits. I would also love to see this early state primary business eliminated and replaced with a nationwide primary or caucus. As a compromise, every 4 years the rest of the states' residents will pretend to care about the opinions of the residents of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Back to Ron Paul. I can see myself voting for him and agreeing with most of his ideas as long as I stay away from his supporters. Paul's candidacy has attracted a variety of people and some of those people have some nutty ideas.

My impression of the general structure of a pro Ron Paul posting or video:

1. Reasonable idea
2. Reasonable idea
3. Reasonable idea
4. Batshit insane and/or stupid idea having no grounding in reality or that history has proven completely unworkable
5. Conspiracy theory
6. http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

This only applies to the longer Ron Paul posts or videos. The more succinct ones go straight to the conspiracy theory and the url. I usually go away when the stupid idea or the conspiracy theory pops up.

Just because Michael Chertoff bears a resemblence to Vladimir Lenin does not make Chertoff a Bolshevik or Neo-Con. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQxB5VKWlfg

I've mentioned Ron Paul six times. I understand that is the magic number to that causes a supporter to appear.

Let the experiment begin.

Mary Worth, the dog yeller

The Mary Worth method of dog training: pull back the leash sharply, make karate chop motions in the air, hunch over and yell, No!

The chihuahua and Mary Worth's leisure suit match!

Giant rat found in 'lost world'

I hope the scientists call it a "Rous" - Rodent of Unusual Size

Exercise Log

Last week I biked, ran, rowed and walked 20.78 miles, burned 1,280.9 calories and weigh 175 pounds.

Monday: Bike - 15 minutes, 2.47 miles
Tuesday: Run - 35 minutes, 3.03 miles
Wednesday: Elliptical machine - 15 minutes, 1.11 miles
Friday: Bike - 20 minutes, 4.19 miles
Saturday: Row - 20 minutes, 2.7 miles; Bike - 25 minutes, 5.35 miles; Run - 25 minutes, 1.93 miles

This week:
Monday and Friday: Elliptical machine and upper body weight training
Tuesday and Thursday: 30 minute run
Wednesday: Bike and lower body weight training
Saturday: 20 minutes each - rowing, bike and running

I registered for the 3M Half Marathon in Austin. This will be my second half marathon. The only thing I really liked about school was getting new school supplies. Each runner receives a bag of 3M products; 3M manufactures a lot of school and office supplies. I'm gonna do it for the Post-it Notes and Scotch tape.

Say Ho Ho Ho to my little friend...

An image from the ChicagoTribune.com's Scared of Santa photo gallery:
Sort of looks like Al Pacino.

This photo also came from the Chicago Tribune Scared of Santa gallery but it had nothing to do with Santa. Just a nice picture of one of Chicago's equine officers in the Christmas spirit.

Zippy the Pinhead explains Mary Worth and Beetle Bailey better than I could. I love how the title ties in with the current Mary Worth storyline.

Like, engage, dude.

An image for the cooler temperatures: I got this from some one's Flickr photostream but I don't remember the user name or the location. Good Photoshop work. The image made me laugh.

Curtis' younger brother makes a cameo appearance in Family Circus.

I don't get the joke. I want to get it. Somebody help me, please.

Loki woke me up last night so that I would let him out. He grabbed one of the legs of my pajama pants and pulled in an effort to make me go to the back door faster. This only resulted in a half-asleep Linda attempting to walk off balance. I walked into the hallway wall. When Loki, 75 pounds of Bullmastiff/ Pit Bull mix with the head the size of a regulation volleyball, has to go out at night he has to carry something outside with him. A stuffed animal, a toy or in the case of last night, a towel that was on the kitchen floor. He has attempted to drag his bed outside if he could not find anything else. I draw the line there. He has to drag this stuff out but does not feel the need to take anything back inside. At 6:30 this morning, I traipsed barefooted across a cold, wet backyard to retrieve the towel he dragged out. I don't understand the reason for Loki's behavior but I find it sort of amusing.

During the winter break, I will make a trip in the backyard and pick up all the stuff Loki has dragged out and wash what I can. It will all end up in the backyard eventually.

Ooo! Shiny Object!

YouTube, the shiny object that diverts my attention.

The Causey Family Newsletter: Read Linda's blog. Hey, it's mostly other people's comics and ads!

At church, the subject of reading "Ulysses" came up. It was something a lot of us suffered through (my high school English teacher's Joyce weapon of choice was "The Dead") but not nearly as much as a former Board President. Because of his blindness, he had to listen to records of James Mason reading "Ulysses". That pretty much put suffering through James Joyce in perspective.

Mary Worth has contracted an unusual strain of Asberger's. She won't make eye contact with books or animals. Chester's original dialogue - WTF!

What sort of hybrid is the bear/ kangaroo offspring? Does he have a pouch or any other kangaroo characteristics? Where did his mom's tail go? Did the couple use a surrogate female bear?
Hey, Beavis! Bare ass on the funny pages!

My teacher says STFU a lot

... because you are a loud mouth that doesn't know when to shut the hell up and your teacher is not allowed to say "shut your f*ck!ng pie hole for once this millennium" on school grounds or at a school function.

Some people yell at the TV, I yell at the funnies. I also realize my life is quite easy if I can expend energy getting worked up about the funnies.

Then out of nowhere comes laugh out loud funny from Tumbleweeds. Tumbleweeds!?! One of the primary components of humor is the unexpected and the unexpected can shake a person up that the only reaction is to laugh.

A funny thing to put in my obituary: She died while laughing at a Marmaduke comic.

The Armored Lifestyle

I think this is totally cool. My dog would look great in this.

Be sure to check out this while on the site.

Creepy

I find this Momma comic strip creepy. As I thought about this Momma comic strip, the fact that I spent time thinking about Momma caused a small part of me to die, not with a scream and a fight but a resigned whimper. I would curse Mell Lazarus but because of the clouds and Monday, I cannot muster the strength.

I suspect the little bits of selves that Mell Lazarus kills with his comic strip sustains his life beyond his allotted years. Somehow Mell Lazarus has developed the technology to capture those little bits of self for his own use. Multiply the number of papers and the number of readers plus the online readers and it is like receiving a single penny from everyone in the world. (Someone else can delve into the implications and irony of Mell's last name.)

Momma, Cathy and other crappy comic strips that still take up space in the newspapers - proof that the invisible hand of the market does not work.

Exercise Log

I haven't posted an exercise log in a while but I've been exercising. I took a week off to rest after the marathon but after that I got back into it.

So far this year I've ran, walked, and biked 779.3 miles and burned 90811.7 calories. I will be short of my 1,000 mile goal. This will be the least amount of miles ran and calories burned since I've been keeping track (2004).

This week I ran, biked, walked and rowed 19.92 miles, burned 1,649 calories and weigh 174 pounds. I'm dropping some weight again after being on a plateau for several weeks.

Monday: 15 minutes on the elliptical machine - 1.03 miles/ weight training focusing on the upper body
Tuesday: 2.98 miles in 35:00
Wednesday: 15 minutes on the bike - 3.22 miles/ weight training focusing on the lower body
Thursday: 3.03 miles in 35:00
Friday: 15 minutes on the elliptical machine - .61 miles/ weight training - upper body
Saturday: 20 minutes on rowing machine - 2.51 miles; 25 minutes on the bike - 4.65 miles; 25 minutes running - 1.89 miles

Next week's plan
Monday: bike and lower body weight training
Tuesday: 30 minute run
Wednesday: elliptical machine and upper body weight training
Thursday - meeting
Friday: bike and lower body weight training
Saturday: 20 minutes each on rowing machine, bike and treadmill

Fannie Mae --- snicker

Glad to know that I'm not the only one who giggles at the mention of "Fannie Mae".

More information about empathy can be found on the Internet.

Mary Worth has love but not enough to spring for the good dog food. This labor of love hurting your back! That is only the 10, maybe 15 pound bag of crappy store brand dog food! Aldo would have gladly helped you with the groceries but you killed him. Karmic payback, bitch! I hope Chester's rightful owners are found soon before he suffers the effects of that cheap-ass economy dog food. C'mon, Mary you have the money to give Chester better food. Maybe Mary is being kind by feeding Chester crappy economy dog food. The human food in Mary Worth, as drawn by Giella, does not appear very edible.

and speaking of the pompatus of love.

What's more fun?

Two slide presentation themed comics. These appeared back to back on my Chron.com comics page.


Granny gets all Zen on Billy's ass.
What's more fun than watching a bunch of little kids stuttering off-key through the holiday classics? Wrist slashing, fingernail removal, water boarding, watching a PowerPoint presentation presented by someone who just reads the damn slides, bikini waxing, listening to Mannheim Steamroller's non-Christmas music,

reading Mary Worth comics, writing little critiques of Mary Worth comics on an obscure blog, reading other blogs that skewer Mary Worth, making YouTube videos of Mary Worth, watching live action productions of Mary Worth comics, trying to figure out the floor plan of spaces in Mary Worth comics, and this list could go on.

One of several Christmas annoyances: Sleigh only has one syllable. Remember that when singing, Jingle Bells. It is even more annoying when children sing sleigh as a two syllable word.

Back to Mary Worth - only one fish on the wall but bigger. Are the fish eating each other? Maybe the fish triggers a secret door in the wall. The couple from yesterday knew about it and now the waiter heads for the wall.

Let Me Tell You Something...

Let me tell you something - five words that I dread. These five words usually proceeds a statement so stupid that my higher brain functions must shut down in self defense. I can function for several hours on just my limbic system and that part of the brain that makes sure that I don't eliminate in my pants.

"Let me tell you something..." is used by a person who refuses to acknowledge that their beliefs or ideas are flat wrong. No amount of evidence can persuade them so "Let me tell you something..." is whipped out to let the other know that they are not as smart as they think they are and that it is rude to flaunt one's knowledge, intelligence and education. Using reason and intelligence in front of people is rude because it makes them feel stupid. Nobody likes to feel stupid, especially the stupid.

Let me tell you something, I'm perfectly happy in my ignorance and I do not appreciate your attempts, no matter how well intentioned, to pull me out of my bliss and force me to examine my beliefs. No, those exact words do not follow "let me tell you something" but that's the meaning regardless of the actual words.

All the background people in Mary Worth are desperate to leave the Bum Boat quickly. The couple in the second panel is going to walk through the wall in order to get the hell out.

Responsibilities!?

Several months ago, this same man tried to talk Mary Worth into accompanying him to Cambodia and Vietnam. She cited responsibilities (meddling) for her refusal to follow Dr. Jeff. Mary's responsibilities were not important enough to walk away from when Dr. Jeff wanted her to follow him but now these responsibilities are too great to allow pet ownership. We have the makings of a They'll Do It Every Time panel.

Why does the Bum Boat logo look like a coat hanger? The fish on the wall multiply. By the time this conversation ends the wall will be completely covered in stuffed fish.

Tuna Casserole is an Ambigous Concept

Especially the way Mary Worth makes it.

Figuring out the seating arrangement in this restaurant makes for quite an intellectually challenging puzzle.

Now to make another phone call to Ipower to find out why my site is down. Grr.

Final Day of Radio M*A*S*H

Final count: 4,600 children.

Santa Claus visits the toy tent.

Volunteers from Anco Insurance filling the last order. This last order had 1,100 children on its list.

Last toy purchase at Wal-Mart.

Children dancing.

The Police Department's Blue Santa Program received the rest of the toy donations. Between Radio M*A*S*H and Blue Santa over 5,000 children will have a happy holiday.

Thanks everybody!

Radio M*A*S*H - Day Three

Got toys for over 1,000 children today. Have a little over 1,100 children left. We hope to have all the orders completed by dinner time on Sunday. We battened down the hatches because rain is expected tomorrow.
A child from Carver Elementary will be receiving a giant crocodile for Christmas.

Why does everything have to be pink?

Volunteers from A&M Consolidated High School FFA filling orders. Bryan High School Air Force JROTC, Girl Scouts, TAMU students, Bryan Bombshells, Boy Scouts, a 12 year old boys' baseball team, families and others whose affiliation I did not catch also helped in many ways.


A troop of Cub Scouts dropping off toy donations.


Texas Army National Guard with some heavy equipment and climbing wall on display. I was tempted to give the wall a try but never got around to it.


Texas Army National Guard recruits.
A Gremlin in the parking lot.

One of the radio station people took a picture of me imitating an expression on a doll that was donated. The doll had a very scary grimace on its face.

The pictures are getting fewer and fewer during each passing day. Tomorrow, I might have one or two photos.