As a distraction, I thought I’d introduce you to the kitties that inhabit my apartment. Who tend to sleep A LOT.

This is Chase, one of the absolute sweetest, & possibly dumbest, kitties you’ll ever meet. He’s oh-so-cuddly, without being needy or annoying.

Wilson! He’s very bend-y. Also incredibly sweet, but he’ll only cuddle on his own terms – which makes it a wonderful treat when he decides to jump on the couch with you. (Oy, look at all that hair!)

Squeaker, who is technically my other half’s kitty. She’s the old girl who sleeps 27 hours a day, but ironically, is usually wide awake for all my photographs.

Have pictures of your own kitties? Have an adorable sleeping kitty saved on your hard drive? Upload them somewhere (I suggest Tiny Pic) & post ‘em in the comments! I think we could all use a distraction from all the bad news lately, eh?

“If you cannot understand my argument, and declare ‘It’s Greek to me,’ you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish is farther to the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool’s paradise – why, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare; if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then – to give the devil his due – if the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head), you are quoting Shakespeare; even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if you wish I was dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or blinking idiot, then – by Jove! it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare.”
Bernard Levin in The History of English by McCrum, et al

Also: The Shakespearean Insult Generator!

Did you know that you can raise butterflies anywhere? I had no idea this was possible until I was in graduate school. Apparently many libraries do this each summer – how fun! But you can easily do it in your own home, office, classroom – wherever you’d like. Although it’s a great way to teach kids about the life cycle, it’s also a unique way to have some fun this summer. & what a great conversation starter – I mean, how many people do you know are growing butterflies in their living room? Place it somewhere prominent, & have a blast!

Although you can purchase butterfly kits from various companies, all you really need is a large jar & a steady supply of milkweed.

Step One: Prepare the perfect home.
A large, clear jar is just the place to raise your future butterfly. The bigger the better, so if you’ve hung onto that gallon pickle jar, you can put it to good use now! Place a stick or two inside, lengthwise, so the caterpillar (& later the newborn butterfly) has something to crawl on. Cover the jar in screen or cheesecloth (both available in craft stores) & secure with a rubber band. Don’t put the lid on, even if you do pop holes in the top – it won’t provide adequate ventilation, & the caterpillar can cut itself on the sharp edges. Ouch!

Step Two: Secure a source of food.
Milkweed leaves are the life source of the butterfly – eggs are laid on them & caterpillars gnosh on them each day. You’ll need a steady supply of them to feed your caterpillar, so either find a nearby plant or plant one in your yard! You can get free seeds here, although your local garden center may have plants for you to purchase. Personally, I recommend planting some in your yard – you’ll have a steady stream of butterflies each year!

If, however, you’re lucky enough to have a field or forest within walking distance, there’s no need to spend the cash. Milkweed grows everywhere, & there are over 100 varieties in North America! There’s a photo guide here to help you identify the plants.

Step Three: Locate caterpillar eggs.
Monarchs generally lay one egg per milkweed plant, so it’s time to start exploring! Watch for butterflies landing on milkweed; it’s a good sign one has been laid!

Once you locate an egg, carefully remove the entire leaf & place it in your jar. It takes about 3-5 days for the caterpillar larva to emerge. Each day, make sure the leaf hasn’t dried out – if so, place a new leaf in the jar so the little guy will have something to eat when he appears!

Step Four: Don’t forget to feed your new friend!!
Place a few fresh leaves in the jar every day for your caterpillar. It’s extremely important that they’re fresh, as the longer the leaves are away from the plant, the drier they become, & thus less nutritious for your caterpillar. If you must gather some a few days in advance, place in a plastic bag in your refrigeration for no more than two days.

In about two weeks, the caterpillar will begin the transformation into a beautiful butterfly. This site has great pictures to illustrate the steps he’ll take in order to do this!

Step Five: Release the emerged butterfly into the wild!
Once your newborn has emerged from the chrysalis, bid him farewell & release him into the wide world. Celebrate this glorious ocassion with something wondrous, & be sure to take pictures of his first flight!

Other butterfly raising resources:
- Glorious Butterfly (lots of amazing pictures!)
- Butterfly School
- Monarch Watch
- The Butterfly Farm
- WWF: Monarch

Photoshoot by Mike Owen; high resolution images available here.

Don’t panic! I’m not playing a joke on you today – although hopefully you’ve remembered what today is, & not fallen for too many zany antics. Today is a day for laughter & silliness & practical jokes, but did you know that we don’t quite know where this tradition came from?

According the the Museum of Hoaxes, as far back as 1708 someone sent a letter to a British magazine asking this very same question:

“Whence proceeds the custom of making April Fools?”

Long before this, the custom was well-established – but we really aren’t sure why. The calendar change theory seems plausible (when the week of the New Year used to start between March 25th and April 1st, but was obviously changed to be January 1st – & so those who still celebrated it the old way were “fools.”) until you really dig into history. That change didn’t occur in France until 1564, & there are possible references to this infamous date as far back as Chaucer in the 1300s! Check out all the origin information at the Museum of Hoaxes, by far the best place to find out everything about April Fools.

This site also chronicles all hoaxes they can locate in the April Fool’s Day Database, & offers a countdown of the Top 100 April Fool’s Jokes of All Time. I cannot believe some of the stuff that’s been done! Here are some of my favorites:

The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest, 1957: The respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied, “place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”

The Left-Handed Whopper, 1998: Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a “Left-Handed Whopper” specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, “many others requested their own ‘right handed’ version.”

World to End Tomorrow: On March 31, 1940 the Franklin Institute issued a press release stating that the world would end the next day. The release was picked up by radio station KYW which broadcast the following message: “Your worst fears that the world will end are confirmed by astronomers of Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. Scientists predict that the world will end at 3 P.M. Eastern Standard Time tomorrow. This is no April Fool joke. Confirmation can be obtained from Wagner Schlesinger, director of the Fels Planetarium of this city.” The public reaction was immediate. Local authorities were flooded with frantic phone calls. The panic only subsided after the Franklin Institute assured people that it had made no such prediction. The prankster responsible for the press release turned out to be William Castellini, the Institute’s press agent. He had intended to use the fake release to publicize an April 1st lecture at the institute titled “How Will the World End?” Soon afterwards, the Institute dismissed Castellini.

Don’t Disturb the Squirrels, 1993: Westdeutsche Rundfunk, a German radio station, announced that officials in Cologne had just passed an unusual new city regulation. Joggers going through the park would be required to pace themselves to go no faster than six mph. Any faster, it was felt, would unnecessarily disturb the squirrels who were in the middle of their mating season.

Spend some time looking through this amazing site today – you’ll shock your co-workers with your laughter!

In this day & age where everyone loves comics (you can’t deny it!) & we don’t even question paying $9 to see the latest movie incarnation, this is fantastic way to waste away an afternoon. Once you’re done playing with the generator, you’re taken to a screen that looks like the cover of a comic book. They determine your ultra-amazing super-name based on the accessories you’ve chosen, & voila! Your alter-ego has been born!

You can save the image (as a .jpg) to your hard drive, or just print it out to hang on your wall.

I dare you to tell me I’m not badass.

I want to see what you create! Go forth & create thyself in the form of a masked avenger – you can use TinyPic to host your image & post the link in the comments. Let your imagination run wild!