• “The company quotes doctors and veterinarians as saying there are no health risks associated with cats and people sharing the same toilet.”
  
  
• What do Paris Hilton and Saddam Hussein have to do with pizza?
  
  
• Naked chimney diving is not a good solution for retrieving “lost” keys.
  
  
• A stage mom and a frivolous lawsuit combine to make an astounding display of greed.
  
  
• And, finally, how could I not include a link to a news story about a monkey retirement home?

Merry Christmas, y’all!

To say my Dad is a Tabasco sauce nut would be an understatement. He loves the stuff. He stocks up on it. He has a mind-boggling amount of the stuff, in a wide variety of flavors, taking up a couple of shelves in the pantry. Seriously. He has bottles and bottles on the shelves, and at the bottom, there’s an entire case of the stuff. He even has a personalized Gallon Jug of Tabasco sauce!

When I asked my mother what I should get my father for Christmas, she moaned and said, “not Tabasco sauce!”

It also seems that within the past year, my Dad’s discovered the joy of Tabasco.com. Every once in a while I get a cute e-postcard from there, sent by him.

Well, last night, I came home to find a huge (but empty) box in the entryway. When I asked Dale what had arrived, he directed me to check the kitchen. I remembered Dale telling me my Dad had sent us a ‘gift basket,’ but that was also an understatement. What I found on the counter was a sizeable galvanized steel tub overflowing with shredded paper and Tabasco insanity.

It came stocked with every flavor of Tabasco sauce made in almost ever bottle size. There’s a tiny Travel Pack of sauces with teeny bottles that hold about one shot of sauce apiece. There’s a big bag of Tabasco popcorn. There are Tabasco Slim Jims and A-1 Bold and Spicy steak sauce. There was even a bag that looked suspiciously like ground coffee. I was relieved to see that package only contained a Tabasco cheese biscuit mix.

Then I saw the bag of Tabasco Jelly Bellies.

I emailed my Dad this photo…

…and in return we got this…

which is now being referred to as the “Barrel of Hot Death.” Now what on earth can we get him to top that??

When you were a kid, did you ever take a piece of paper and fold it up into a pie-wedge shape, then cut it up with a pair of scissors? Upon unfolding the paper, you’d have a snowflake in your hand.

I’d pretty much forgotten about that until the other day when I came across a charming little flash site that lets you make digital versions of these snowflakes. Not only is Make-a-Flake a cool and fun concept, but the interface and design are charming too. Plus, you’re able to add your creation to the massive gallery, email it to your friends, download it as a .jpg file, and download it as a .eps file, so you can share and save your beautiful and unique snowflake.

This year, in addition to boxed cards, I opted to make a handful of home-made holiday cards to send out to my nearest and dearest. I first did this a couple of years ago and was quite pleased with the results. This year, I opted to try something different. I had a simple plan when I went to my nearby paper crafts store. I walked out with a different idea and a few bits to try it out. Dale and I were both VERY pleased with the new idea, so I made up as many cards as I could with the few supplies I’d bought.

Monday, after work, I went to Michael’s to buy more supplies. I didn’t go to the original place because I knew they were already out of one element. I spent 45 min in Michael’s before I found that item there, and fortunately they had plenty. They didn’t have one of the OTHER elements, so I drove to the first store and discovered they were closed already. I went home and worked on as many cards as I could.

This evening, after work, I drove to the paper craft store. I got there at 6:20 and they’d closed at 6:00. Apparently, this little independantly-owned store doesn’t give a diddly about extended holiday shopping hours. Frustrated, I went to Hobby Lobby, not even knowing if they’d have what I needed.

They had something close to what I needed, but not exactly. I got it anyway because I didn’t feel like going to Picture It four days in a row (and screw their anti-evening-shopping-hours!). I also got some jewelry-making stuff, new wire cutters (’cause Dale just ruined mine), paint supplies, a couple of gifts, and a wreath for the front door, just because I was cranky and wanted to spend money.

I’m at home and working on the cards again. Assembling these cards is nearing the ridiculous. They now involve Photoshop work, a printer, two types of paper, envelopes, adhesive, a couple of different doo-dads (the things I’ve spent the last two days trying to find), a rubber stamp, markers, a flat-head screwdriver, a thumbtack, a cork, and nailpolish. That sounds more like a scavenger hunt list than card-making supplies. At least my new idea eliminated the need for the corner hole-punch.

Well, I need to get back to work and finish up these last few cards. I’m sorry to say that not everyone on my card list will be getting one of these, because I’d have to spend a week just making cards! I’ll try to remember to post a photo in a week or two of the final cards with an explanation of how they were made, and why all those weird items were needed to make them.

I am hoping they’ll knock the socks off the recipients.