Category Archives: Randonymity

Randonymity

An announcement and a plea

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Stumbling Over Chaos will be closed Friday for the 4th of July holiday. The catstaff of Stumbling Over Chaos would be much obliged to anyone who can provide a link to a very simple side dish to go with the 4th of July main course of gluten-free “Cuban sliders” (wee hamburgers with Cuban-style seasoning). No plantains, please!

I hope you all have a great holiday/Friday!

“Mmmm… food preparation. I’m sure that tuna chunks drizzled in virgin olive oil would be the perfect side dish, Mom. They go with everything!” -Chaos

Randonymity, Reading

We all need spa days

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Tuesday was a mini-spa day for me. Over my lunch hour, I got a great pedicure. (And I’ve already almost adjusted to my “Cherry Crush” colored toenails, after two or three years of “Plum Attraction.”)

Then after work, I got a massage for the first time in over a year. Ahhh… It can be a challenge to find a massage place that doesn’t use scented products, so I was very happy when Ikisti mentioned that a place in our neighborhood should be suitable – and it was!

Of course, since Ancient Realms uses light olive oil for its massages, I had to shower the minute I arrived home because my Chaos Kitty lurves him some olive oil and I didn’t fancy being licked, gnawed, and mauled for the rest of the evening!

What sorts of things do you do for yourself when you need some pampering?

Reading Update
Beyond the Highland Mist, The Highlander’s Touch, Kiss of the Highlander, The Dark Highlander, The Immortal Highlander, and Spell of the Highlander (The Highlander Series, Books 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7) by Karen Marie Moning. *fans self* Moning writes very readable, very steamy time traveling romances.
Powers of Detection: Stories of Mystery & Fantasy edited by Dana Stabenow. This was an excellent collection of short stories combining both fantasy and mystery. It includes stories by Anne Perry, Sharon Shinn, Donna Andrews, Dana Stabenow, and even a Sookie Stackhouse story by Charlaine Harris.
Evermore: A novel of the Darkyn by Lynn Viehl. This vampire series is slowly growing on me…
Greywalker and Poltergeist (Greywalker, Books 1 & 2) by Kat Richardson. What’s not to like about a protagonist who has a pet ferret named Chaos? 🙂 This well-written paranormal/urban fantasy series (very light on the romance) is set in Seattle.
No Rest for the Witches by MaryJanice Davidson, Lori Handeland, Cheyenne McCray, and Christine Warren. No particular surprises in this collection of stores about witches and sex, erm, “love”… other than how bad McCray’s story was. Sheesh. Short, choppy, repetitive sentences – anyone at the reading level she hit would be many years too young to read the subject matter.
Personal Demon (Women of the Otherworld, Book 8 ) by Kelley Armstrong. This continues to be an extremely readable paranormal romance series. Narrators for this book are Hope and Lucas. You should definitely read the short story “Chaotic” from the Dates from Hell collection before you read this book!
Gone with the Witch (Triplet Witch Trilogy, Book 2) by Annette Blair. Oy, these are so bad. Why do I keep reading them?! Have I no shame?? Speaking of which…
Naughty Neighbor by Janet Evanovich. Yup, another one of Evanovich’s not-so-great pre-Stephanie Plum romances.
The Hollow (Sign of the Seven Trilogy, Book 2) by Nora Roberts. The trilogy continues – a bit formulaic if you’re familiar with Roberts’ other trilogies, but a good read nonetheless.

“Some of us don’t get spa days and have to make do with the materials at paw. I can tell you, I wouldn’t mind a little cup of olive oil right now…” -Chaos

Randonymity, Tales of the Neighborhood

And can you believe that it didn’t even snow?

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Do I dare admit how worried I am that so many of you thought the knitted object my 16-pound cat was playing in yesterday was thong underwear or an athletic supporter?! 😮 Ye gads! I’m sure sending knitted underwear to elephantiasis victims would be noble, but…

And boo-hiss to bloglines for taking over 12 hours to pick up yesterday’s post! 🙁 I’ll just note that Google Reader tends to pick up my posts in less than 30 minutes…

If I hadn’t gotten divorced after a year of marriage and a year of separation, today would be my 19th wedding anniversary. Yup – that boggles my mind, too.

In a shocking twist, we actually had nice weather this past weekend. True, we did have a ginormous thunderstorm Saturday night, but no trees blew over on my condo, no tornado or flooding left me homeless, and no hail damage was added to my car.

During the lovely day on Saturday, I spent some time wandering around the neighborhood. Not that my picture is perfectly straight, but can you see the crazy leaning light pole of Pisa action going on there?! Here’s hoping the power wires keep the pole upright.

Is it just the Twin Cities that have these giant Adirondack chairs around? I’ll have to share some pictures of the others I see regularly.

This mobile is in front of the same building as the “Three Bears” chairs above.

I think May’s favorite part of the weekend was any time we weren’t having thunder and lightning…

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Mayhem

Randonymity, Tales of the Neighborhood

Lols and hail and prizes, oh my!

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Thanks to furiousball for the great lolcats caption for yesterday’s picture – head on over to lolcats and vote for Mayhem!

I have a great weakness for bags. Sometimes they work out for me, but usually they don’t. In order to not ultimately end up buried in bags I’ve only used once or twice, I’ve added a For Sale page. Check it out! (Update: Bag sales are pending – thanks for your interest!)

You’ve probably heard about the crazy weather we’ve been having here in Minnesota for the past several weeks. On May 31, we had several bouts of crazy, damaging hail. Since then, I’ve seen cars that now have the surface texture of golf balls. My car only got a few hail dents, for which I consider myself quite fortunate – maybe now I’ll stop cursing that messy tree I park under?!

Anyway, my insurance agent mentioned that I would be contacted by the “Catastrophe Team.” Just a few short hours later, I saw this (although not my insurance company) set up in a parking lot in one of the harder hit areas:

My goodness, I won a few more contests! First, I was one of the lucky winners of Karen’s birthday haiku contest. Did Karen do a great job nailing my interests or what?! Thank you, Karen!

“Oh no, wee black kitties trapped in plastic!” -Mayhem

The wee black kitty magnets were rescued from their plastic peril, but were immediately imperiled again as Chaos wandered by.

*dum de dum de dum* -Chaos

“Big kitty, be careful!” -Mayhem

I also won Kerry’s bird naming contest by… not naming her birds. *blink blink* Kerry let me choose from a gorgeous array of sock yarn – this particular skein (STR in “Lagoon”) will make perfect socks for a family member who loves STR socks… Thanks, Kerry!

“Big kitty, can you smell it? This yarn has been near birds! Maybe there’s a bird hiding in it…” -Mayhem

“Has anyone ever mentioned that you’re a bit excitable, Mayhem?” -Chaos

Randonymity

Do you think it’s safe to put away my wool socks for the season?

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I already did one end-of-season ceremonial sock washing in early May, but I’ve worn many pairs of wool socks since then. Maybe I’ll have better luck now that we’re a third of the way through June… Of course, the high today is only supposed to be 71°F, with a flood watch through Thursday afternoon. Hmm.

“I play a very important role in the sock washing process.” -Mayhem

“What do you mean, in my dreams, big kitty?!?” -Mayhem

“Mom, lying on the wet socks before you can hang them up is important, right? Right?!!” -Mayhem

Contests, Randonymity, Reading

This, that, and the other thing

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Karen’s celebrating her birthday with a haiku contest (it must be haiku contest week, eh?) – leave her a birthday haiku comment by midnight CDT, May 30, and you could win some yarn TBD.

Julie’s celebrating her quitting smoking anniversary with a contest. Leave her a comment by June 2 about something you’ve accomplished that you didn’t think you could, and you might win some Socks That Rock or Spunky Eclectic yarn!

Go vote for Pam’s dress over at Kaboodle and let her know that you did so – you could win a $20 WoolGirl gift certificate!

Kerry needs help naming her new pair of parakeets. The contest runs until the parakeets are named. The prize itself is also unnamed, but Kerry promises it will be good.

Please send good vibes to Not An Artist’s kitty Guinness, who is not doing well right now.

Reading Update
Bitten, Stolen, and Dime Store Magic (Women of the Otherworld, Books 1-3) by Kelley Armstrong. This is an extremely well-written and involving series. The first two books are told from the perspective of werewolf Elena and the third book is told by witch Paige.
Many Bloody Returns: Tales of Birthdays with Bite edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner. If you’re a fan of Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Kelley Armstrong, P. N. Elrod, Rachel Caine, Tanya Huff, or Tate Hallaway, you’ll find a new short story you’ll enjoy!
If Angels Burn: A Novel of the Darkyn by Lynn Viehl. Huh. Not quite sure what I think about Viehl’s stuff. I’ll get back to you on it.
Under Cover by MaryJanice Davidson. Steamy fluff set in the Twin Cities. The book is broken into three sections, each featuring a different main character, but all spun off of the same main event.
Hot Stuff by Janet Evanovich and Leanne Banks. As usual, Evanovich’s non-Stephanie Plum stuff is merely mediocre.
The Kitchen Witch and My Favorite Witch (The Accidental Witch, Books 1-2) by Annette Blair.These are sweetly enjoyable romances, light on the paranormal.
Romancing the Dead (Garnet Lacey, Book 3) by Tate Hallaway. Madison witch Garnet’s vampire fiance is missing…

Good Timing Update
Last Monday when I finally got home from work, I found a prize package from Cathy-Cate in the mail! Talk about good timing. (However, good timing for receiving a package does not necessarily translate to good timing for taking pictures; that’s my story for why these are exceptionally crappy photos and I’m sticking to it.) I now own a gorgeous skein of Wollmeise (I didn’t have any!), along with some tasty treats, a handy stained glass style notebook, a great black kitten card, a knitaholic magnet,and some shea butter lotion. Oh yeah, and something that Chaos obviously loved and obscured.

*nom nom nom nom nom* -Chaos

Yes, ’tis sad but true – Chaos cannot control himself around soaps containing natural oils and slowly licks such soaps into oblivion. This leads to some rather complicated soap storage strategies.

“What sort of delectable kitty treat do you have there, big kitty?” -Mayhem

“Back off, May. No soap for you!” -Chaos

No soap for you, either, Chaos!

“Alas. That was some darn tasty soap!” -Chaos

When thwarted re: the soap, May made off with the yarnaholic magnet and the photoshoot came to a screeching halt.

“Refrigerator magnet! Mine mine mine mine mine.” -Mayhem

Randonymity

More purr-sonalities

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Thanks for the great comments yesterday about the “feline-alities,” with apologies to Mel for posting that word again – I’m not sure you’ll appreciate today’s terminology, either! 😉 Just in case you dog owners were feeling neglected, never fear – the “canine-ality” test was first.

Several of you noted (either in comments or emails later) that the neurotic cat purrsonalities were woefully neglected. Catherine’s comment reminded me that Jeanne once pegged Chaos as a Terrorist. Too true. His perfect purrsonality type would be Anxious Terrorist, with a dash of Mama’s Boy thrown in for good measure. And really, who wouldn’t pick that purrsonality type from the shelter?! 😉

“Who are you calling a terrorist, Mom?! Perhaps you’d like to reconsider that statement?” -Chaos

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how ready I am for this (US) long holiday weekend… although I had no idea it was Memorial Weekend until, um, Wednesday of this week… Anyway! I’m not going to post on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Randonymity

Oh oh…

23 Comments

Remember the six bibs I knit a few weeks ago? Turns out I got bad information about the gender of one of the two babies and now need to crank out a couple of new bibs lickity split. Later!

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear the ‘B’ word. Lalalalala…” -Mayhem