(Thanks, Diane.)

We're not the only ones who know what a female Soloman Island Eclectus looks like.

Needs work on the beak.

(Thanks, Ms. Althouse.)

That little boy has beets on his plate.

(I love pickled beets, and I never think to buy them. Both my grandmothers canned them.)

I wonder if Batman won that battle, too?

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Since I'm all butch, let's talk about my new kitchen knife.

I now have one of these, on Chef Tony's recommendation, supplemented by good opinions from Cook's Illustrated.

Mine came from Amazon, at just below $22, last week.

It's a light knife for its size, but with a sharper blade out of the box than the expensive Henckels set we bought years ago. The Calphalon was a good looking knife, and sharpened all right, but was some heavy over time.

If you'd like to try a large knife, it's a good way to go.

And as I'm so masculine, I used the Dremel to widen the the upper portion of the slot in our wooden knife block to accommodate its width.

Yeah, yeah, I'm gnarly.

I've been picking up books by Ed Gorman at the library.

The ones I've read are in the mystery/crime genre. His books are unapologetically short, good reads.

But I bring him up because his blog offers plenty of recommendations of television shows, films and books by other authors that he likes.

The political novel, Sleeping Dogs, on the home page of his site intrigues me.

Now that's interesting.

How did they ever come up with that analysis?

(Thanks, Tim Blair, who comes up 73% female.)

UPDATE: Maybe I was stuck in a time warp. Now they're saying my blog has a 58% probability of being written by a woman. That sounds about right. If you hadn't seen this before, it was estimated at 93% male written.

For the bird watchers who come here:

Bird Dance-Off videos from birdchannel.com

A little off-color Christmas humor from Mostly Cajun.

I am still a member of the Nail-Patella Syndrome message board. Amidst a lot of serious talk about DIY dialysis and surgeries to help children walk, a young woman was inquiring about a cosmetic fix for her legs. She doesn't like having ugly legs. Who does?

But it brought to mind this old song, which I posted to the board:



Lyman said he doesn't remember it. I said I do, because I've always had skinny legs.

He says I'm paranoid.

The maker told me some people use these as placecard holders for holiday parties, then "happies" for the guests when they leave.

Silly turkeys. Kids would love them.

Happy Halloween!

Our very own Phil Spector done dark.

The treat is oyster Rockefeller soup from Artist's Palate.

Dummy.

I looked at this headline and thought, well, Lousiana has the Sugar Bowl, and Florida has the Orange Bowl, and Dallas has the Cotton Bowl, so what does El Paso, Texas, have to do with spaghetti?

This.

Let's talk glamour.

Yesterday Lyman disconnected the toilet seat in the master bath and took it to LCR.

The old American Standard seat is available, but we need to match "1962 beige." We dashed back over with 15 minutes to spare to pick a color.

While they have plenty of options, beige is a booger to match.

"Boo."

Sometimes Louisiana Amendments just look a little weird. We have a whole list for every major election.

Scroll down to number 6 and tell me someone isn't looking for some favors.

That's beyond weird. That's ugly. Or "explain me different."

For a little entertainment, how about some upside-down dogs?

Is anything too silly for the Internet?

(Thanks, Big Arm Woman.)

If Sarah Palin does have to give all her clothes back after the election, concerned citizens should take up a collection to keep that red suit and those boots for her. (See picture 10.)

Five thousand women are going to buy that ensemble and not come near looking as good as she does in it.

The recipe for eggless Caesar dressing that we served last night came from a little magazine called "Diabetes & You" from Walgreen's pharmacy. None of us is diabetic, but the dressing is plenty tasty:

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 anchovy fillets, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Whisk together lemon juice, anchovies, garlic and mustard in a large bowl; slowly whisk in oil. Stir in cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add lettuce, toss and serve.

We had spare cheese to grate over and the pepper mill at the ready for anyone who wanted more.

This will go onto the Christmas brunch menu, along with the sweet potato bread pudding. This bread pudding is much lighter than many, more like a custard.

Big birthday celebration today -- my brother turned 64.

Tonight's menu: Osso Buco Milanese, linguine marinara, Caesar salad, and sweet potato bread pudding with rum sauce.

At his last weigh-in in Jackson, Charles was up to 169.2 pounds, up from 140 when he was released from the nursing home in June.

He walks with a cane. He signed a lease for a different house today, one that doesn't have such a long flight of steps to the entry, and will resume his own life on November 1.

My Dustbuster died.

So on to the Internet for some research. After reading about a thousand reviews, I decided on one of these, based mainly on information here.

I bought it at Sears, where the price was $59.99. KMart has the Shark SV736 at $39.99, but carpet and upholstery are not the main culprits around here. Bird area and bathrooms, the office and kitchen are the places that need the frequent quick swipe.

The main complaint I'm reading about hand-held vacs now is that the batteries don't last long. After a year or so, the batteries won't recharge. This B&D has a two year warranty, so wish me luck.

Just testing this morning. Will it suck up mosquitos and fruitflies?