MadMup.com

I’d been missing them all summer, but now they’re back. They’re so adorable, even in their grumpiness. They huddle together and cast a baleful eye on anyone who comes near. Attempts to get a reaction out of them go unnoticed. It’s impossible to not watch them, even though they don’t really do much – they’re mostly nocturnal, so daylight finds them doing as little as possible. They always bring a smile to my face, and if I’m having a rough day, I make a point of seeing them.

Students? No, no, no. Oh, my, no.

Chinchillas!

Our science lab has five of them, and they are one of the most adorable of God’s creations. They’re so very soft, and even though I’ve been told I can pick one up, I probably never will. I have an unfounded fear of being bitten. It seems likely to me that any creature I pick up will bite me, even if I’ve never observed them biting anyone else. I think I got that mindset from my cat Nutmeg…

The chinchillas were gone over the summer because they needed to be fed and cared for on a daily basis, but now they’re back and I couldn’t be happier.

The chinchillas have a new roomate this year – some sort of peacock-colored pheasant. I’ve never seen one so brightly hued. He’s housed in a cage right next to them, and I worry that his pheasant noises will keep them up during the day. Of course, they’re used to dealing with students all the time, so maybe they’ll be able to tune the pheasant out, too.

The science zoo also has a parrot, a whitish rat, at least one snake (Mitch the boa) and some fish that could very well be piranha. They all seem to be doing fine, but none of them hold my attention like the chinchillas. I’m comforted by their softness and cuddliness, even though I’m separated from them by a thick pane of glass.

Welcome back, chinchillas!

And speaking of helpless creatures who need to be constantly fed and looked after, the students come back today.

I am still alive, despite your best efforts.

I am all moved in, and will hopefully have pictures soon.

Work is crazybusy. Teachers are back in a week and a half.

My cousin is getting married this weekend in Wisconsin. Congratulations, Nicole!

In what could be the worst possible timing ever, I have started playing World of Warcraft, an MMORPG* that has me killing spiders to “level up,” a thing I just recently denounced. Ah, well.

My cats still don’t seem quite settled with the idea of living in a new place.

My office decorations at work include a statue of Ulala with two Morolians, a foam skull, and a Batman Begins poster.

My van has some sort of a tire problem that causes the van to shake. Not good.

Speaking of vans, it costs me $50 to fill the gas tank. Also not good.

I am run-down and tired 90% of the time these days. I probably should go to a doctor, but who has the time?

March of the Penguins is one of the cutest, most adorable movies you’re ever likely to see. Go check it out!

Mandy Patinkin just doesn’t get enough mentions on this blog, so here’s a shout-out. You know him best as Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride.

I haven’t had an improv gig for a while, but my last excursion was so awful that maybe that’s been a good thing. Next one’s in two weeks. Hopefully “the funny” will have returned by then.

“Apropos of Nothing” is the new “Creek of Consciousness” title, in case you’ve been following along or wondering. Now you know!

I hope you are all doing well. Say hi in the comments, why don’t you?

*MMORPG = Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game

There’s a theory I’m sure you’ve heard that says that anyone in the world can be connected to anyone else in six people or less. “Connected,” in this case, means you know someone who knows someone who knows someone. For instance, if you know me and I know Jimmy, and Jimmy knows Honkus, you are three degrees from Honkus. See how easy that is? It’s based on a play (and a movie) which I’ve never seen by a fellow named John Guare. You’ve most likely heard about the movie-based game called “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” which uses as its base the hypothesis that any actor can be connected to Kevin Bacon in six degrees or less. (For example, Jim Carrey was in The Truman Show with Laura Linney who was in Mystic River with Kevin Bacon, giving Jim Carrey a 2-degree separation.) You can try this out for yourself at The Oracle of Bacon at Virginia.

Sometimes when I’m in a classroom updating a computer, I’ll turn on the classroom TV just to have some background noise. Today, The Price Is Right came on. While they were calling the first contestants down, the second name was familiar. The TV was behind my head, so I turned and looked. There, on The Price Is Right, was my brother’s brother-in-law. No lie.

I’ve talked about Josh before. He runs TheForce.net, the biggest Star Wars fansite on the Internet. He’s met George Lucas. That puts me two degrees from George Lucas and three from such luminaries as Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Samuel L. Jackson, and Ron Howard.

His very first bid was for $1400, and the item’s actual price was $1399. Time after time he kept losing to another bidder – he even pulled the classic “one dollar” routine without success. Finally, on the very last chance, he won the bid. He ran up on stage, hugged Bob Barker…and then kissed him on the cheek. For some reason, I knew he was going to do it, but I was still a little surprised. Bob was, too. He said something like “Most of you could tell I just got hugged, but I also just got kissed. And let me tell you, Josh needs a shave.”

Unfortunately, Josh didn’t win his game (it was the “here’s three items, one has the wrong price, tell us the one and you win all three” game) and he didn’t win the wheel-spinning contest, either. Still, it was the most exciting episode of The Price Is Right I’ve ever seen. There’s something about knowing someone on the show that makes it more exciting, even if they didn’t get to play Plinko.

Even more exciting, though? Now I’m two degrees from kissing Bob Barker.