Ladlezrim: the kitchen gadget that one places the ladle on when it is not in use.

So says Calvin, who brilliantly ended our Scrabble game with this gem.

Recently we’ve started buying “Cage-Free” eggs at the grocery store. This had led me to notice that all the “organic” or “natural” or “cage-free” eggs are brown. There are also a good mix of brown eggs in with the standard eggs as well. This is new to me, as in both VA and NY, brown eggs were a bit of a rarity. The eggs for sale were almost exclusively white. In England, the eggs were almost exclusively brown - they only brought the white out around Easter. But, here in New England, apparently brown eggs are also popular.

So I said to myself today, “I wonder what the difference between brown and white eggs is?” It’s just not a question I’ve ever pursued before, so I really didn’t know. Me being me, I can’t let a matter such as this lay for long, and so I pulled up my handy-dandy web browser and did a little research.

The consensus? There is no difference other than the breed of chicken that lays the eggs. Apparently (especially with commercially produced eggs) there is no difference in taste or nutritional value. Generally speaking, brown eggs are laid by chickens with red feathers and earlobes (!), and white eggs by chickens with white feathers and earlobes. I even found one source that said there is a breed that lays blue eggs!

So, the next time you go to the grocery store, take a moment to appreciate our red-feathered chicken friends and their brown eggs, and the variety they bring to our refrigerator shelves.

Now if only we could get some of those blue eggs in the mix!

This message made possible by The American Egg Board, and brought to you in time for Easter by Mandy’s Random Brain and the Letter E.

Okay, so another one of those quizzes is circulating…this is kinda scarily right if you apply it to my conflict between my conservative upbringing and where I am now…

You’re The Giver!
by Lois Lowry
While you grew up with a sheltered childhood, you’re pretty sure everyone around you is even more sheltered. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, you were tapped on the shoulder and transported to the real world. This made you horrified by your prior upbringing and now you’re tormented by how to reconcile these two lives. Ultimately, the struggle comes down to that old free will issue. Choose wisely.

Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

I stole this from Dawn, someone I don’t know but for some reason I randomly read her blog…I thought it was kinda funny. For some reason I got a lot of the same artists in my shuffle…I do have a few others, promise!

Just hit shuffle on your iPod or iTunes and plug in the songs as the answers. No cheating!

If someone says, “Is this okay?” what do you say?
While You Were Sleeping, Casting Crowns (that sounds a little sarcastic!)

How would you describe yourself?
Whispers, Skillet (well I am a quiet kind of person)

What do you like in a guy or girl?
Comatose, Skillet (funny, but no)

How do you feel today?
Complicated, Avril Lavinge (true some days, but not today)

What is your life’s purpose?
Besaid, Nobuo Uematsu (er…I like Final Fantasy X but not THAT much!)

What is your motto?
Meant to Be, Jim Brickman (that’s interesting)

What do your friends think about you?
Aerith’s Theme, Nobuo Uematsu (I’m not sure what that means)

What do your parents think of you?
See the Glory, Steven Curtis Chapman (hmmmm…well I know they’re proud of me but I don’t know if they think I’m glorious…or maybe it’s because I’m going to seminary?)

What do you think about very often?
Adrianne, Day of Fire (I don’t know who that is, and I can’t even remember what the song is about, so er, no)

What is 2 + 2?
A Storm is Coming, Howard Shore (I always knew math was evil)

What do you think of your ex?
Suteki Da Ne, Nobuo Uematsu (meaning, isn’t it wonderful. That’d be cute except I don’t have an ex)

What do you think of the person you like?
End of the World, Kingdom Hearts Soundtrack (well, if this means I’d follow him till the end of the world, then sure)

What is your life story?
Destiny, Jim Brickman (curious…)

What do you want to be when you grow up?
No Longer, Decyfer Down (I swear, I’m not suicidal)

What do you think when you see the person you like?
The Black Gate Opens, Howard Shore (wow…um…okay…)

What will they play at your funeral?
And Now My Lifesong Sings, Casting Crowns (maybe!)

What is your hobby/interest?
Ending Theme, Nobuo Uematsu (if that means playing video games, then sure…otherwise…???)

What is your biggest fear?
Just an Itty Bitty Too Much, Kingdom Hearts Soundtrack (umm….?)

What is your biggest secret?
Hush Lil’ Baby, Jim Brickman (guess I’m not telling)

What do you think of your friends?
On Our Way, Nobuo Uematsu (okay, sure…considering I’m still making them)

This wasn’t a tag, but I’m tagging Calvin anyways.

Jim tagged me for an interesting little game…

* Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more (no cheating!)
* Find page 123
* Find the first five sentences
* Post the next three sentences
* Tag five people

The nearest book to me is my Oblivion Strategy Guide, if that counts. Okay, so page 123 is a map with descriptions of the various numbered points. The next three sentences after the first five are…

“(It has a Magicka fountain and a torture cage.) And the two northern ones have exits onto broken northbound bridges. 4. Daedric siege crawler: If it gets out the Great Gate before you can destroy the gate, kiss Bruma goodbye.”

Okay, so that was interesting. I’m tagging Florrie, Diana, Jess, none of whom will probably do this, and I don’t know who else to tag…

On Tuesday I temporarily acquired a pet ladybug. When I saw one climbing up the filing cabinet next to my desk, I promptly turned a small, clear, plastic storage device into a ladybug home complete with air holes, and captured it.

My new ladybug friend lived on the top of my filing cabinet for a day and a half before I released him back into the wild (if the bushes outside our apartment by the parking lot can be called the wild). In that time, I made several observations:

1) As soon as I captured him, he immediately made a small mess inside the container. I initially thought it was, ah, ladybug excrement, but after some research online I discovered that when scared or threatened, ladybugs release a small amount of smelly liquid from their legs to deter predators. After finding that out, I felt rather sorry for my poor, frightened ladybug.

2) Ladybugs appear to “wash” their faces and even shells with their legs. I say this only because as I was observing the ladybug at several points, I noticed that he was moving his front legs in a manner that looked like a cat giving itself a bath. He also rubbed his back legs together. Now, I didn’t research this particular activity, so for all I know he was itching himself or making some ladybug noise outside of my range of hearing. Nevertheless, it was a rather endearing activity.

3) At one point, the ladybug attempted to squeeze itself out of one of the air holes I made. Since I’m a smart person, I didn’t make the air holes large enough for the ladybug to fit through. That didn’t stop him from trying however, and he managed his tiny head and two front legs before giving up and retreating back into his temporary prison.

4) On advice from a website on keeping ladybugs as temporary pets, I dribbled some water down one of the air holes so my friend had something to drink. 10 minutes later, I found him at the side of the little pool. Drinking, perhaps? The water was all gone within hours, whether to the ladybugs stomach or evaporation, I guess I’ll never know.

5) I read that ladybugs play dead when they are threatened, and once I came in to the room to find him indeed looking quite dead: unmoving even at a tap on the container, and his legs carefully hidden under his shell like a turtle so that he rested flush on the ground. Not fooled, I turned the container upside down, and instantaneously two little legs shot out from under the shell to grasp hold tighter. He, however, remained firmly attached to what was now his ceiling. Dead? I don’t think so.

Upon completion of my ladybug observation, I bequeathed the name Hermiod (after an Asgard from Stargate: Atlantis) on the tiny creature, and put him back outside with a sad farewell. Never had I realized how many details the life of such a small, insignificant creature could offer if one could only be prevailed upon to take the time to stop and watch for a day, or two.

Goodbye, my ladybug friend. May the rest of your days be free from predators and full of aphids to eat!

Today is the real Groundhog Day. Do you know why? Because today I saw a groundhog (two, in fact) for the first time this year! Yes that’s right, the groundhogs have come out of their snug little hibernating hidey-holes! I am so excited, because this means that spring has actually come at last to us winter beladen folks in the northeast! Woohoo! THREE CHEERS FOR GROUNDHOGS!!!!!!

Calvin and I frequently go grocery shopping together - most of the time, actually. It’s quite nice, because the time most people spend plucking various mundane items off of shelves and tossing them into their carts, we can have lovely conversations with each other. Well, Tuesday night, here we are, finishing up our grocery list in the freezer aisle, and I’m staring aimlessly into the frozen dinners chatting about some odd topic that escapes my mind now , when suddenly, I turn to Calvin and say quite loudly and happily, “He’ll think you’re such a pagan!” Except, to my great astonishment, Calvin is no longer standing next to me! Instead, there is a short, balding old man with tufts of brownish greying hair, with a quite bewildered look on his face, and he’s staring straight at me! So here we are, the balding old man and I, staring at each other, and I, not knowing what else to do, burst out laughing, and say (naturally!), “Well not you, of course!”

The old man stares at me for a moment, cracks a wide grin, and stumbles off in the opposite direction muttering something under his breath. So of course I dash off to find Calvin, relate the whole event to him, and scold him for disappearing under my nose. After all, it’s dangerous! With the content of our conversations, who knows what might come out of my mouth to some poor unsuspecting stranger!?

Today I discovered while watching Raiders of the Lost Ark that Indiana Jones received his Ph.D from the University of Chicago! Can you believe it? That makes two of my favorite fictional characters who studied at the University of Chicago: first Daniel Jackson of Stargate fame, and now Indiana Jones! Unbelievable. Well now I just have to go there.

That’s just great, if I have to tell them why I want to study for my doctoral work at their school, I can tell them, “Well, I’m just following in the footsteps of my heroes, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Dr. Indiana Jones….”

I’m sure they’ll be very impressed.

Today, I would like you all to meet my pink plastic octopus, who is named Octy Hammond. I gave him his first name, Octy, because - well, I suppose it’s rather obvious, isn’t it? It’s short for Octopus. And his middle name is fondly after General Hammond from Star Gate SG1, who is quite bald, just like Octy Hammond.

Octy Hammond is a quiet little thing. He doesn’t move around, say much (in fact, he doesn’t say anything at all!), or really…do much of anything that I can tell. Unless he does it when I’m not looking. Which sometimes I pretend that he does, just for fun. Sometimes I pretend he says things too.

Kinda reminds me of God a little, sometimes…