Why my bird is the smartest budgie bird. Ever.

Well, of course Pippin's cage is palatial and not well-suited for taking outside (too bulky) so last spring, I bought a little $10 cage for taking her out on the porch. She enjoys going out when the weather is nice, and the sunshine is good for her. For the past few months, the weather hasn't been warm enough when I'm home so she hasn't been out. So...on Sunday, when I tried to put her in the little cage to go outside, she had a birdie freakout.

After trying to bribe her with her favorite food (to no avail), I took her on my shoulder and brought her over to the sliding glass door that leads to the porch. She got excited listening to the birds and feeling the sun. So...I pointed to the cage and explained to Pippin that if she wanted to go out on the porch, she would need to go in the cage. She sat on my hand and let me put her in the cage immediately and waited patiently for me to get a magazine and open the door so we could go out.

Pretty smart, huh? :)

Imaginary compatibility

Are You Compatible With The Supernatural Boys?


More on Supernatural. Created by BuddyTV

Awww...but Dean is prettier....and I think some other quiz said he would be a great tv boyfriend for me! I think the deal-breaker was that I said I didn't care about the Impala. Oh, well-- Sammy actually IS more like me, though I don't know if that really means we're more compatible. (For example, there could be excessive brooding, and if neither of us care about cars, will we have to go to Jiffy Lube?)

Anyway, Supernatural tonight was classic Supernatural! I watched it and felt productive because I just got $30 from the Nielsens Ratings people to watch tv and complete a tv diary. Cool, huh? What I watch will affect the ratings. I'm going to go feel superior now......

ETA: I keep trying to fix the quiz results, but it's just not working. The quiz said I was "not compatible" with Dean but "probably compatible" with Sam.

Funny

Go listen to this story at The Onion: Search Continues for Articulate Witness of Tragedy.

Here's what I'm watching......

*Prison Break-- I'm sad to say that I haven't been all that impressed this year. I sincerely hope this season is the last, because, really? How many prisons can these guys break out of? Also, they killed my second favorite character...and sunk my 'ship.

*House--I love Dr. House! He's ornery and unethical and self-centered...and hilarious! I don't really care about any of the other characters, but I love Dr. House.

*Brothers & Sisters-- I knew that this show could be great, and this season, it's finally getting there. As I said before, they have the dream cast for an intergenerational drama, and the writers are finally making use of the considerable talent at their disposal. One caveat-- This show seems to suffer from the same "infidelity virus" as Grey's Anatomy. It seems like half of the characters are cheating on their spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend...which gets old. As much as its depicted in tv shows and movies, I wonder if infidelity really is as prevalent as they would have us believe. My guess (or hope?) is that it's not.


*Supernatural-- I love this show. There are fleeting moments of depth, but for the most part, I agree with svmadelyn (on LJ) when she writes,

Oh, Supernatural..... You have lowered me as a person, quite possibly, and I am content to roll about in the dirt, and *thank you* for it. For you feature Sam 'stormcloud on stilts' and Dean 'good with knives, guns and his hands' Winchester (the former descriptive from some story that resonated with me that I cannot seem to recall just now, lalalala and la) and I am happy to watch you glazed eyed, in all your pretty, pretty splendor.

*Sigh* Yep.

And that's about it......

Proud to be an American (well, thankful for bathrooms, anyway)

I have not had a good week. And this morning, when it was pouring rain and I was trying to get to a conference about an hour away, I was sooo sick. (When it got to be that I was stopping every 2 miles to use a bathroom, I decided that I would not be making it to work today.) Anyhow, as miserable as I was, it reminded me that I am thankful for plentiful public bathrooms in this country! A lot of countries don't have that. Also, if you really look like you're going to vomit at any moment, pretty much every establishment will take you to their bathroom without delay. How nice of them.

Of course, I don't actually own a dog (though I'd like to)

I hate Valentines' Day. I do, however, love poetry. One of the teachers is doing a poetry unit so I gave her this poem to share with her kids on V-day:

Falling in love is like owning a dog
an epithalamion by Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com

First of all, it's a big responsibility,
especially in a city like New York.
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you're walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain't no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn't like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.

Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know Don't you ever do that again!

Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise.
It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once,
or winds around and around you
until you're all wound up and can't move.

But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.

Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.