July 12, 2002. My little chicken drawings have got nothing on the real thing! See for yourself.

On the left, Gert is modeling this jaunty little chapeau, and that's Henny Penny on the right. Apparently these chickens are very good at sharing. I can't tell if their downward expressions are sheer embarrassment, or if they've employed some affected model gaze. That little bow in the back is just killing me.

Thank you Lori and Sean! I'm glad to see you're already using your new digital camera to bring important information to the masses.

July 11, 2002. I'm slowly (finally) filling in the holes on the Dinner page. Here's the recipe for Robyn's Vegetable Lasagna.

When you're making a shrimp recipe, is there really any reason at all to leave the tails on? I mean, if I'm making shrimp, and the recipe says, "Peel shrimp, but leave tails intact," there's just no way I'm leaving the tails on. It's much easier to take them off before cooking them, and it's a total pain to take them off while you're eating them. But is there an actual reason to leave them on? Dave thought it was because it looked more gourmet, or maybe because it made the shrimp look bigger. I don't mind if my shrimp look small and non-gourmet. I just want to know if there are some special flavor crystals in the tail or something, and I've been unwittingly serving extra-bland tail-less shrimp. Tell me if you know the answer to this.

And while we're on the subject of things I've been wanting to know more about lately, does anyone know what the deal is with that crystal cat litter? It's supposed to be the best cat litter ever, but I tried it, and it received a round of thumbs (and paws) down from me and the cats. You can't clean it as easily as you can clumping cat litter, and the cats started leaving presents next to the litter box rather than in it. The only advantage (and the main reason I got it) was that the cats didn't track litter everywhere. But then, maybe they weren't tracking litter because they weren't going into the box nearly as often. But if someone uses this litter and loves it, and knows the trick of how to easily clean out your box, let me know.

July 9, 2002. My online friend Lori O'Brien has just started trying to knit socks. So far she's done the toe of a sock, but it wasn't quite working out the way she thought it should be, so she cast off, and now has this lonely little sock toe. Lori O'Brien also has a chicken. Lori is someone who thinks like me, so of course I completely understand why she decided to put the sock toe on the chicken's head, like a little hat. (If I remember correctly, the chicken is named Gert, which is a really wonderful name for a chicken.) Lori has taken some pictures for me of the chicken with her little knit cap, but I guess Gert always moves too quickly for a clear photo. While we wait for Lori to get a proper photo of the behatted Gert, here are some drawings of what I imagine it all looks like.

That drawing on the right is supposed to be Gert all gussied up with her hat and purse, ready to take on the town. Instead it looks like Depressed Construction Worker Gert off to another miserable day on the job, lunchbox under wing.

Today I learned that I can only draw chickens from the side.

July 7, 2002. It's been a really lovely weekend here, weather-wise, especially after the horrible heat and humidity of last week. Dave and I went on a nice long walk this morning, had a bagel and coffee cake at our favorite little breakfast shop (where they inexplicably, suddenly, moved the bathroom, and everyone kept opening the storage closet and looking confused), and stopped by the new South Portland Bug Light Liberty Ship Memorial. There's a lot of interesting information at this new memorial, but unfortunately the memorial itself is horribly ugly, doesn't quite look done, and is covered in rust. They just finished, so I'm wondering if it's some kind of rust-for-authenticity's-sake.

Yesterday I felt all energized with the return of decent weather, and decided to make meringues and sorbet for dessert. I probably didn't need to know how easy it is to make meringue. Easy! And so good. I put a few mini chocolate chips in. Then I made fresh strawberry lime sorbet in our ice cream maker (thanks, Mom!). It was all really yummy. I put the sorbet on top of the meringues, and if I'd added a few blueberries, it would have looked very patriotic.

My local grocery store has suddenly changed their receipt format, and I'm so excited about the new look. (No, I don't want to hear about how I should maybe get some more hobbies, if I'm excited about grocery receipts.) They're dividing your grocery items into categories, so you can see how much you spend on each category. Here, I'll show you:

I just think it's really cool to be able to see what percentage of your overall grocery bill is spent on produce or on, say, snack food items. Or beverages. And if you're really geeked on this, like me, you can make your own little pie chart (note: this is the only time I've made a pie chart, and I'm doing it for website instructional purposes...I have no plans on making a pie chart every time I go to the store).

Another note: for some reason, the whole wheat tortillas I bought were considered "cheese shop," which sort of explains that large cheese percentage. Today I've also learned that Excel graphics don't import into Dreamweaver very well.