Ready for more Otakon pictures?

You know you want to.

Me cosplaying a teenage boy (Hikaru from Hikaru no Go), tons of gorgeous costumes, and a loooooong kitty!

Please post comments, either on the Picasa album or here! I want to know what you think!

Speaking of lolcats

This one's for Sheila, our family Hello Kitty fan...

Behold the Hello Kitty Cat Humiliation System!

I would not do this to Ivan. Ever.


The translation from the Japanese at the bottom is to die for. (Warning: one four-letter word in comment at the end.)

lolcats help wit teh bluez

better than Prozac, less fattening than chocolate...




more lolcat posts

Otakon pictures!!

Ken took these, which is why he's not in any.

First batch of selected Otakon pictures--you know you want to see the gorgeous costumes and fun times!

Dangerous Gardening

I've learned that when pruning climbing roses, watch out for falling branches! I got scratched by a thorn.

No harm done. (Stop worrying, Mom.)


In other new-homeowner news, we (thanks to Ken's brilliant use of our garden hose and gravity) have drained the miniature garden pond (it's about the size of a plastic kiddie pool). Tonight we get to clean out the gunk left at the bottom!

More about reading and books...

In case you don't have time to read this entire article it's about how the Fairfax County school system didn't have budget money for summer school so they had students who needed to extra academic help read books that suited their reading level and interests during the summer, with occasional postcards communication with teachers. Studies have shown that the simple act of reading during the summer keeps kids from losing their reading skills and can even increase their standardized-test reading scores.

One thing I know...reading keeps my skills up and my brain working! (For those of us way beyond summer school: reading challenging books and other materials has been shown to reduce memory loss in older adults!)

Another reason to love Unshelved, the librarians' webcomic

Ever wonder why history textbooks are so boring?This comic explains

Challenged and controversial books are juicy books. Read one today!!

If you want to see what I'm reading and have read in the past year (plus some of my all-time favorites) just click on the Goodreads bar at the left and click on a book category you'd like to explore!

Finally, pics of Ralph and the kids!

Ken uploaded the pics to our computer, and I got them here with the aid of Picasa! (Thanks, Dad, for recommending Picasa--it's great!)

Just click on the picture to see more...

Ralph and the kids

We had an awesome time together in case you can't tell.