scritcha scritch
FIRST: Enter the contest, win the prestigious button.
Win the right to display the lemur and instantly become the envy of your friends and enemies. Own the lemur. Love the lemur. Be the lemur (phrase copyright boy 2, who might take it personally if we don't get more entries. That's right. Ruin a young boy's confidence in his budding artistic skills. Bitches.)
onto today's whine:
damn global warming! damn poison ivy! It's on my face, too, right next to my eyes. eeeek. I'll wait until it's entirely bothersome before calling a doctor. So far it's not bad.
Speaking of toxic vegetation, I entered the purple pen parody contest at AAR. Took about five minutes to write the thing and now when I visit the site (and I keep doing that), I am reminded that just because I wanted something to look slapdash doesn't mean it has to be done slapdash. Tchah, basic writing 101 refresher course.
Oh how I hate poison ivy**. On the plus side, the rash on my arms grosses out the boys, which is worth something.
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**kind of cool PI facts from this page where I stole the photo. (And who can resist the fascination of octopus blood pressure?):
Poison-ivy sap and its urushiol are basically harmless to everything but us. Deer, goats, horses, cattle, and many birds eat the foliage and fruits of the poison ivy plant. Flea beetles and armyworms chew their leaves, unaffected, says John Meyers of North Carolina State University. These parts are loaded with sap. Humans, though, are a different story. Eighty to 90 % of adults will get an allergic rash. All it takes is 50 micrograms (less than a grain of salt) of urushiol and at least a two-time exposure.
The human-blistering agent (urushiol) in the sap probably has no value to the plant’s survival: an accidental byproduct. Poison-ivy sap evolved as a gooey aid for injuries and a weapon against disease. The resinous sap helps heal plant wounds and may slow growth of infection-causing fungi and bacterial spores.
Win the right to display the lemur and instantly become the envy of your friends and enemies. Own the lemur. Love the lemur. Be the lemur (phrase copyright boy 2, who might take it personally if we don't get more entries. That's right. Ruin a young boy's confidence in his budding artistic skills. Bitches.)
onto today's whine:
damn global warming! damn poison ivy! It's on my face, too, right next to my eyes. eeeek. I'll wait until it's entirely bothersome before calling a doctor. So far it's not bad.Speaking of toxic vegetation, I entered the purple pen parody contest at AAR. Took about five minutes to write the thing and now when I visit the site (and I keep doing that), I am reminded that just because I wanted something to look slapdash doesn't mean it has to be done slapdash. Tchah, basic writing 101 refresher course.
Oh how I hate poison ivy**. On the plus side, the rash on my arms grosses out the boys, which is worth something.
_____________________
**kind of cool PI facts from this page where I stole the photo. (And who can resist the fascination of octopus blood pressure?):
Poison-ivy sap and its urushiol are basically harmless to everything but us. Deer, goats, horses, cattle, and many birds eat the foliage and fruits of the poison ivy plant. Flea beetles and armyworms chew their leaves, unaffected, says John Meyers of North Carolina State University. These parts are loaded with sap. Humans, though, are a different story. Eighty to 90 % of adults will get an allergic rash. All it takes is 50 micrograms (less than a grain of salt) of urushiol and at least a two-time exposure.
The human-blistering agent (urushiol) in the sap probably has no value to the plant’s survival: an accidental byproduct. Poison-ivy sap evolved as a gooey aid for injuries and a weapon against disease. The resinous sap helps heal plant wounds and may slow growth of infection-causing fungi and bacterial spores.
The last year I went to summer camp, I discovered on the first day that the Horseback Riding instructor had bugged out the night before. Being a long-time alum of the camp (six years) they put me in charge of the entire program. Slight problem--I was fourteen. (Campers paid extra for the program and the director didn't want to refund the money, which he would have had to do if he had sent the horses back.)
ReplyDeleteThird day "on the job" I went out into the field wearing a bathing suit and shorts to brush off some ponies for the next lesson. As I bent over to brush a front leg, one of the horses deposited on my bare back a slimy green wad of foliage he had decided didn't taste very good.
Premasticated poison ivy.
The rash was incredible.
And still I was conned into taking care of the six horses and running riding lessons for the rest of the session. What lovely memories....
(This is only to show that no matter how bad you may feel, I am cocksure that I can dredge up some memory of my tortured life which is worse.)
Take care of yourself. Near your eye? Youch.