Well a few nice, cool days last week, but today the heat is brutal as ever. The forecast says its supposed to be down in the 70's most of the week - I hope they're right, it would feel good for a change. It could stay like that throughout fall and winter, and I'd be happy with the weather.
The bosses were back from their vacation at the beginning of the week. One of them says they all had a relaxing time of it... another says he needs a vacation to recuperate from the vacation, go figure.

It's been a busy week.. I pretty much always walk into a mess on Monday's. So I'm used to that.. but I've been spoiled throughout the week because they've sold so many pets, and the ferret cage has been empty nearly all week, until Friday when they also brought in 4 new cages of breeder parakeets and cocatiels. So Friday hit me unexpectedly, and so pretty much wiped out by the end of the day.
Not much besides that going on... Finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last week, now I'm on The Order of the Phoenix... I WILL be current by the end of the season, I swear.

Yesterday watched Columbus get a must-win game to keep them in, they were playing FC Dallas... one of the Crew fans was shown holding a sight that said:
F*C* Dallas.... Go Crew! very clever, I thought. :)

Has anybody been watching some of the new reality shows this summer? Tommy Lee in college? Come on... I just hope some poor guy didn't get bumped from classes cause Tommy Lee took the last available spot, geez!

Robert finally got his hands on a borrowed copy of Clerks. I've been telling him about this movie for as far back as I can remember... Gonna watch it tonight. Lol, Kevin Smith rides again.

Not much new going on today... So here's a cute little something to finish off the weekend! Cat Mishaps

Whew, it's been incredibly hot this past week. Hazy in the early morning and by 9 a.m. the humidity is already in full force. I feel right at home! The weather in KC has always been just like this, lol. But as of yesterday they were having major storms out that way, so with any luck we may be getting some of that out here too, hopefully just enough to cool things off a bit

Soccer Saturday (on ESPN 2) yesterday showed DC United totally ripping up Chivas, which they completely deserved considering how dirty they were playing... come to think of it, Chivas played just as dirty the week before. So justice was done when United beat 'em 3 - zip. Amazing though how any of the players from either team didn't collapse from the heat considering it was 120 degrees there on the field.
Also, I hear USA qualified so far for the World Cup... looking forward to hearing more about that! And Robert is anxiously awaiting the start of the Hockey season, specifically the Flyers. After a year with no Hockey, he's more than ready for seeing some action on the ice.

Life at the pet shop has been a little crazy the past week.. too many of the staff have been on vacation, so it's been a little hectic. Some are due back tomorrow, so that should provide some relief. I learned the hard way this week, never trust a rabbit... long story, won't go into it here, lol.

This fall looks promising in the way of poetry events. There's some venues here in Cherry Hill sponsored by the library, then there's an annual deal called Mid-Atlantic Poetry Festival which is a day long event not too far from here. Then I've got submissions accepted by a friend in California who has just started a poetry magazine - by the way, he's accepting submissions for the second issue. So if you're interested, please feel free to contact me here or by email and I'll give you the particulars.

Speaking of spoken word, Def Poetry just aired its season finale last Friday. I believe America's latest catch phrase ought to be... "Oh Shit, Its Russell Simmons!" Just think of how far you could take that.. T-shirts, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, SNL skits... the possibilities could be endless. I just wonder how many people around here would "get" it, and give recognition to such a t-shirt, lol...

This Morning's Commute

It was mistaken identity
when someone lost their deck of cards
from a passing back seat window.
I know because the face-up
King of Clubs scream it from the curb
each and every time I walk by.
On the way to work
mid-morning - not early, not late
a lone goose on safari overhead
honks like an overexited puppy
eager to take the lead, and landing
just in time to goad the others,
take down the trashman at the dumpster
for his several bags of goodies.
And midway again - not early, not late
but already heat stifles the living
labored breath, and I remind myself
its not so much the weather but rather
some unexpected hot air having descended;
there must be an impromptu gathering
of republicans somewhere nearby, dressed in their
feathered finery, Sunday's best on a Friday
morning.... I'm cutting corners in a
series of shortcuts for even better time
and a brief respite of cool air just past
those doors before venturing back out.

Into The Solid

We are breezing into the heart
of a season, with the sound of
flutes from the wire
as background noise.
They are drum and pipes
and I am traveling through
my comfort zone with this
earful of all that I've missed.
It's been awhile, much like
forever and a day... when I go
there, where I go I'd want to
shout phrases of meaningful
sentiment... Aequitas! Then
name my places, here and Inverness,
Culloden, the Highlands, or Belfast.
We can follow a melody into sleep,
breeze here to there and through
the solid heat of summer.

Welcome to a new month already... We are breezing into the heart of summer, and although its foggy and a little cool this morning, the moment won't last long before temps reach the 90s. So now we go past the weather report and onto the next order of the day... I found a clever way to clean my computer monitor.. go to this link, check it out. You'll love it or die laughing... or both!

-- This is VERY cute!
Clean your monitor . This is very clever! It really works!!
I noticed that my monitor was not quite as clear as when we first got it. Apparently the electrons build up on the inside of the screen with time, and the picture deteriorates. I found a free program that I used to 'clean' the inside of the screen
and the improvement was quite noticeable. I highly recommend it. If you'd like to try it, simply click on the following link.
The program is free, works automatically, and takes only about 45 seconds to do its job.
http://www.legrady.hu/sc.html