tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54393482010-01-01T17:41:28.049-06:00Babblings of the Bintgoddess. As large as life, and twice as natural!Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.comBlogger584125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-25876148194313846832010-01-01T17:41:00.000-06:002010-01-01T17:41:28.056-06:00

The Bintlog is on indefinite hiatus now that I have Twitter and Facebook to complain to on a daily basis. If you want to see recent updates and photos of garden, houseplants, or dogs, please visit my gardening blog, The Garden of Live Flowers. Happy New Year. Peace.

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-37730143847843138422009-02-16T15:30:00.001-06:002009-02-16T15:32:13.008-06:00

Three weeks after beginning, am now at N-6. Yes! Yes! Yes!Other goals: whatever, who cares. N-6!!!!

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-30922729236923432002009-02-15T16:22:00.003-06:002009-02-15T16:33:25.766-06:00

If you're going to jinx someone, you might as well be thorough about it.I said recently that I was happy Foley is such a healthy dog...It's not a stuffed banana. It's a soft cast. It seems that Miss Foley has been stoically walking around on a broken leg for two or three weeks now. It's just a hairline and it had already started healing when we found it, but now that we know, it's limited

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-13773214899221542712009-02-07T21:23:00.000-06:002009-02-07T21:24:09.549-06:00

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-48541136370058558022009-01-31T09:58:00.002-06:002009-01-31T10:00:48.946-06:00

I wish I could raise money for my research by selling something like Girl Scout cookies. Hubby and I made spectacles of ourselves when the Girl Scouts came to our door the other day. I need a scam like that! Maybe I should start selling M&Ms outside Barnes and Noble like the basketball players do.In high school we sold donuts to raise money for prom. It was like printing money. I purchased

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-86413588033330752522009-01-26T09:35:00.002-06:002009-01-26T09:52:31.025-06:00

I don't make New Years resolutions anymore. I am definitely the sort to take new years, new beginnings to heart, but my years typically start in September, not January. I do like to reflect on the past year on January 1, to put it behind me if it was not so good (e.g. 2007) and to recall and reinforce the positives (e.g. last year). But empty vows to improve myself... if I really want to make

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-76807274549811481582009-01-11T21:54:00.004-06:002009-01-13T22:37:55.584-06:00

I had the television all to myself this weekend and I'm afraid I may have gone a little nuts. In the past two days, I have consumed:-Part 1 of PBS's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" (it's literature so thus excusable)-5 episodes of House-1 episode of Monk-Movie "The Queen" (boring - sometimes I forget that such things as royalty still operate in the Western world and it boggles my mind)-Movie "

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-50101493307956148972008-12-23T12:02:00.002-06:002008-12-23T12:05:35.431-06:00

"The Kit for Tween Girls. Prepare your daughter with The Dot Girl's First Period Kit. Stylish and cute. Moms and girls love it!"Argh.

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-89951117560052075592008-12-23T09:53:00.004-06:002008-12-23T12:10:29.731-06:00

A very restless dog during the night meant I got little sleep and also had completely bizarre dreams. First, I dream-watched the last few plays of the Bears game, and they lost. I woke up feeling sad that their playoff hopes are over, then thought, hey wait a minute, they *won* last night. Then, I had a long and elaborate dream about my college friends worried that I was going to commit

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-32668499596763608242008-12-12T23:03:00.003-06:002008-12-12T23:13:14.129-06:00

From Daley Plaza, today:The fractal Christmas tree. The tree is constructed from many smaller trees, each of which has tree-like branches, and so on, and so on, and so on.The Big Man himself, giving his lap a restAt the Kristkindlmarkt candy and nut shop. I did both!Overheard at Kristkindlmarkt: [scornfully] "Pretzels? Bratwurst? It's like 'Christmas comes to Germany!'" The fact that

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-53379905998957006212008-12-10T17:11:00.003-06:002008-12-10T17:24:43.280-06:00

Just when it was no longer fun to take shots at Sarah Palin, Gov. Rod Blagojevich came along with his "Sure, I'll appoint Candidate A to fill Obama's Senate seat but what's in it for me??" renditions caught on tape. Why couldn't he just have sex with a hooker like regular governors?? I don't know if I should be more shocked at his general sliminess or at his utter stupidity, conspiring on his

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-20500435642597703822008-12-05T11:46:00.003-06:002008-12-05T11:51:58.423-06:00

I was just a few days ago thinking how fortunate we are that Foley is so healthy and we haven't needed any trips to the vet in months and months. That was stupid of me, yes? I took her in yesterday and found that the mystery swelling in her foot is an abscess (and I have just now learned how to spell abscess) so no daycare for a while, plus antibiotics and epsom salts. We're trading off

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-28747512012523044142008-11-30T20:25:00.001-06:002008-11-30T20:27:29.820-06:00

Link from Snark: The Wonderland Expedition Kit, which combines things I adore: Victoriana and Alice in Wonderland. Ever wondered what a fetal mome rath looks like? Now you know!

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-50123768017797013702008-11-29T19:47:00.003-06:002008-11-29T20:13:16.323-06:00

Over the last few summers I've become very adept at Ninja Botany. This is when I don't quite 100% have permission to take plant samples from a site, or even if I do, I'm usually required by permit and by convention only to sample when nobody is watching. It's bad form to let people, especially kids, see you taking plants from a preserve or botanic garden because they might either a) report you

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-31130542899900049822008-11-29T13:57:00.001-06:002008-11-29T13:57:50.740-06:00

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-87932155584899276732008-11-13T13:58:00.002-06:002008-11-13T14:00:11.040-06:00

(thanks to Janice for the pic!)

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-62359942457947050042008-11-12T09:43:00.002-06:002008-11-12T09:48:30.484-06:00

The Federal Building downtown is surrounded by Homeland Security; people who work there now must show photo id just to approach the doors. A DHS war wagon lurks in the plaza by the post office. The Trib details what Michelle is wearing today. Chicago is now DC West, for better or worse."And Chicago becomes The First City. Step aside, San Francisco. Shut up, New York. The Midwest is cool now.

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-4189578372641452652008-11-10T21:51:00.001-06:002008-11-10T21:52:36.784-06:00

View of downtown from the UIC campus, tonight; the one good thing about it being dark when I leave the lab to go home

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-60995245326931501162008-11-05T18:21:00.003-06:002008-11-05T20:17:38.309-06:00

Me and 250,000 "Real Americans", Grant Park, last night.I have a lot to say but am finding it hard to write. I'm giddy and relieved and proud and hopeful. I hope the next four years live up to the promise of the last 24 hours. It's going to be an interesting journey.

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-79429436291095944502008-11-04T09:37:00.001-06:002008-11-04T09:37:57.840-06:00

It gives you the right to complain.

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-7367854074375936342008-11-02T11:33:00.003-06:002008-11-02T11:40:21.399-06:00

I'm a sucker for tree-themed anything. Thanks to the joyous timewaster that is Rock Band 2, I have been introduced to this song. It doesn't mention basswoods but they're lurking between the lines I'm sure.There is unrest in the forest,There is trouble with the trees,For the maples want more sunlightAnd the oaks ignore their pleas.The trouble with the maples,(And they're quite convinced they're

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-51734294399573085162008-10-18T18:33:00.001-05:002008-10-18T18:37:45.173-05:00

We voted today. Please take your ads off our television. Thank you.Sincerely,The McCs

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-39898468888226326822008-10-17T11:30:00.002-05:002008-10-17T11:31:58.568-05:00

Which fantasy/scifi character am I?

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-44598203811646064602008-10-17T09:17:00.000-05:002008-10-17T09:18:10.527-05:00

In the Trib:"Joe the Plumber's story has some cracks"

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439348.post-19372869004944340422008-10-11T15:41:00.001-05:002008-10-11T15:42:56.786-05:00

Just spent three hours doing hard labor in the garden. Foley ate ice cream.

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589473046882217457noreply@blogger.com0