The Simpson Blog

Congratulations to my little sister and her husband on the arrival of their new son Callum!

Backyard clothesline is a go , originally uploaded by BigAssSuperBlog . We're now cool like the rest of the kids on the block by adding a clothesline to the backyard. Energy savings, here we come! The clothesline stuff came in a kit, which came out cheaper than buying the pulleys, cable, hooks, winch and spacer separately. Then again, the ladder was, what, $149, but we needed one anyway. And it was half-price at Canadian Tire. Seriously, it's a badass ladder!

The side garden: a challenge Originally uploaded by BigAssSuperBlog For a proper point-by-point explanation of this picture, please click on it. You'll end up at my Flickr site, where notes are overlaid.

Death beneath the arbour Originally uploaded by BigAssSuperBlog This downed birds' nest and smashed egg was found underneath the arbour in our backyard. Unclear whether it was the wind, a cat, gravity, or some combination thereof, but it's kind of sad!

Even though it's May 21, this seems to be the night the June Bugs have awakened. I was just outside (just before 11pm), and they were all over the place, bumping into our siding and ... yuck, bumping into me. There were four of them at the foot of the side door alone. And there was a poor wayward bumblebee, crawling along the ground, buzzing, looking lost. As much as I have respect for all the creatures of creation, and don't wish suffering upon any being ... um, these things are just GROSS.

I've read some articles in the PF blogosphere about people who preach frugality, but have gaps in their spending where they buy seemingly stupid things. Some people get a kick out of "outing" these people as frugal frauds. I saw another post at Get Rich Slowly titled The Lure of SkyMall, about being tempted by the gadgets in the airplane catalogue. Well, here's a post of mine, and you can read it as confessional or boasting. Me, I don't care. I bought some crazy crap recently at thinkgeek.com . And I'm not ashamed. Purchase One was the Annoy-a-tron 2.0. (Pictured here.) It's a credit card-sized circuit board that makes annoying noises at random intervals. It has magnets for hiding. It has a switch to toggle among six sound choices: beep, 12 kHz electronic noise sound, 15kHz, cricket, doorbell, and alternating between all sounds. I set it on 'cricket' last week and annoyed some coworkers. It was fun. Purchase Two was Tengu, a USB-powered

I'm super-duper sore today after spending most of yesterday downtown at the Blue Nose Marathon. I ran the 5k for the third year in a row, and killed my previous times! In 2007, I finished in 38:55.9. Last year, I finished in 41:14.8. This year, I finished in 37:36.4. That's 3:37.6 faster than last year, and 1:18.6 faster than 2007. This, despite having done little to no training this year. So, I guess I have more in me than I thought I did! I did work a little bit with the Couch to 5k Podcasts, and that helped me adjust my stride and pacing. My friend Greg, who recently left the radio station to move back to his home town with his wife and daughter, was running his first marathon ever. And he did a tremendous job! He didn't just finish -- he got a good time! Way to go, Greggy! And there are other wins around the loop ... my sister and her hubby just sold their first home, bought a new one, and they're having their second baby by the end of the month. Wow!