Re: Invasion of the Whistle-Pigs

Mother Method and I were at home, kippering slowly in the hot and smoke-filled house, when she directed my attention to a small animal in the backyard. I came to the window expecting to see a snowshoe hare or a squirrel. Instead, I saw something that I would have never expected to see in any [...]

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Re: Smoke Gets in Our Eyes

This July is rapidly shaping up to be one of the driest, hottest, and smokiest on record. Each day the temperatures rise into the 80 degree range which is appallingly hot for Arnor at this time of year. Most houses in Hobbiton don’t have air conditioning so that means that the interior temperature of our [...]

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Re: Heard Around Hobbiton

“I’m not a doctor, but I boink one at home.”–Wife of a doctor as relayed to me by my massage therapist
“It’s one thing to leave work dressed up. It’s another thing to jingle.”–Fellow dancer explaining why it’s difficult to come to dress rehearsal in full Middle Eastern dance costume after work

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Re: Seen on the Streets of Hobbiton

Sometimes driving the highways and byways of my town is very surreal experience. A list of things I have actually seen with my own eyes on the streets of my fair city:

A young man pedaling one bicycle while carrying another full-sized adult bike across his shoulders with the seat of the second bike balanced on [...]

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Re: Four Bucks and Rising

Sky High
Originally uploaded by dr.Ozda

My colleague, Dr. Ozda, took this picture which, more than any thousand words I could write, pretty much sums up the situation in Hobbiton. The cruel irony is that we have both an oil pipeline and a refinery just outside of town AND we’re still paying these outrageous prices. Eventually, we’re [...]

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Re: Bon Mot

It’s only fluffy rain.
–owner of a local fabric shop on the current spring snowfall taking place in Hobbiton.

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Re: We Got the Fever

Down, down in the depths of the U. of Arnor library where us loyal staffers scurry rat-like through the maze, the fever’s got us in its grip. Spring fever. Yes, our pink, twitchy noses sniff the air (pausing occasionally for a sneeze and a Kleenex). Have we gained another five minutes of daylight? Is it [...]

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Re: Ice, Ice, Baby

Originally uploaded by dr.Ozda

Day four of 40 below temperatures and blanketing ice fog: The campus shuttle bus driver tells us about a dream he had where he put wings on the bus and flew to Hawaii. The passengers agree that this is a good idea and he should find a way to outfit [...]

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Re: Bits and Pieces

If you just can’t get enough of LOL Cats–and honestly, who can?–then you’ll enjoy this slideshow on Slate.com written by Michael Agger. He talks about the LOL Cat phenomenon, interviews Cheezburger, the moderator of “I Can Haz Cheezburger”, a LOL Cat mega site, and even follows the tale of the LOLrus and his lost bucket.
Here’s [...]

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