Using tunafish, bait traps each day to capture neighbor cats. Bring the cats in and dress them in silly clothes and photograph them and upload them to your computer and enter funny slogans for I Haz Cheezburger and other LOL cats sites. After you’ve finished a photogallery for each captured cat, drown it in your bathtub while singing and laughing. Remember, cabin fever isn’t so bad when it makes you laugh maniacally and see funny things in your head/TUBOB. More here.

DFO: Bob was kidding about drowning cats.

Question: Any other ideas re: fighting cabin fever?

Dec. 20 is a significant day in our family. Every year I’m always glad when it has ended–safely for all we know and love. As I mentioned yesterday, this is the 24th anniversary of the day we watched our house burn down. As I read the front page of today’s paper, detailing all the disasters, including two devastating fires—one the Idaho Club Lodge, the other a home north of Sandpoint—memories of our own catastrophe were all the more vivid. Knowing the community, however, the hands of generosity will be busy. An understatement! Since our fire, this day continues to make me nervous. Five years ago today, Willie rolled his grandfather’s pickup after driving it for less than two miles. It was just a month after Harold had died. Willie and his grandmother worked out a deal for him to purchase the pickup, which needed snow tires/Marianne Love, Slight Detour. More here.

Question: Is there a day of the year that you dread?

Here is what is pissing me off this morning. I have been observing, with some deep trepidation and gut curdling fear, the rapid growth of a volcanic cone on Mt. Krapatoa, our kitchen garbage can.  The proud spawn of my loins, or is that the spawn of my proud loins, are building a mountain of garbage one  pepsi can (no, we don’t recycle here as we believe recycling is the behavioral and social pre-determinants of a metal-world where robots can reproduce themselves to the endless horror of future enslaved generations) taquito box, large fountain soda cup, mess coffee filter at a time.  And yes, I have contributed to the mountain, yet I didn’t not cause the mountain’s snow crap to grow over the lip of the can, which is, of course, the demarcation point of a full to overfull TAKETHEGARBAGEOUTKID elevation/TUBOB. More here.

Question: You can brag about your kids or point out something they do that bug you, in the comments section below this post.

I’ve asked many people why they’ve chosen to stay in a particular place. Especially ones that are economically depressed. Places where making a move would improve their lives. It’s so beautiful is an answer. Or I’ve never had any desire to live any place else. What is lacking? Plain old curiosity. That’s what I don’t understand. No adventuresome spirit. When Kodak was dieing in Rochester, NY and jobs were available in operations in other cities, people would not move. I would guess it’s the same in any company town”. Like Detroit with the auto industry. Like northern Idaho with the demise of the timber industry/Dogwalk Musings. More here.

Question: Would you move from the Inland Northwest if you or your spouse had a better job offer elsewhere?

I sat shivering on a large rock in front of the Teriyaki Tiki hut, my posterior frozen to the rock’s frosty surface, the seat of my pants stuck like cheap Velcro. I was considering the irony of a sunny little Hawaiian hut serving summery BBQ take-away in the midst of a very wintery Idaho cold snap when suddenly another customer came roaring into the scene. She stepped out of her SUV like some kind of backwoods celebutant, tossed her gorgeous mane of brunette curls to and fro, stepped up to the window and from underneath a pair of huge sunglasses ordered simply “Kalua Pork. Two orders please.” I watched as she received her change and did something remarkable and amazing, something I hadn’t thought of for some stupid reason. She got back inside her nice warm, comfortable vehicle to wait for her order, lit a cigarette and turned up the radio. It was Pat Benatar singing “Love is a Battlefield”/OrangeTV. Get Out! North Idaho. More here.

Question: Which local eatery have you “discovered” as a result of reading an OrangeTV review?

have encountered a problem that I wasn’t expecting when we named Julianna. Some people pronounce it Juli-aw-na. But it’s Juli-anna. Just like it looks. Don’t get me wrong. Juliawna is a fine name, but it’s not my daughter’s name. So what do I do? So far I have let it go if it’s someone we rarely see, like the doctor. If it’s someone who we see often I just make sure to say her name correctly a few times hoping they’ll catch on. I honestly never thought there would be a problem with the pronunciation or spelling of her name. (Apparently you can spell it Juliana, too.) I hope that she doesn’t spend her life correcting people about her name. I can just see her in 15 years rolling her eyes and saying, “It’s Juli-ANNA”/A Butterfly Moment.

Question: Do people have trouble pronouncing or spelling your name?

For some people, Christmas music has the tendency to spark that corner of the mind that triggers a mild form of temporary adult onset Tourette syndrome: excessive blinking, uncontrollable twitches, and random bouts of profanity. It is these people who fear the first sound of sleigh bells and “ho ho ho.” There are those like Marcus Kellis at the UI Argonaut who complains that Christmas music is nothing more than “the same songs year after year from the same performers.” Many true music fans (and I do consider myself a true fan of music) despise Christmas music; they believe that the soundtrack to the holidays is nothing short of atrocious. I can empathize with them. During my days working at Old Navy, I dreaded the holiday shopping season. It wasn’t just the savage shoppers, slogging through tables of sweaters and rugby polos like Hurricane Santa. It was the awful Christmas music - think Bing Crosby meets the Macarena. However, aside from the holiday music torture offered by stores like Old Navy, I typically enjoy Christmas music/Nic, Rants, Raves & Random Thoughts. More here.

Question: What’s your favorite Christmas song?