The Junk Drawer

Every spring a honeydew melon shows up on the roof of the university building where I work. I do not understand what’s happening here, but I’m sure students are behind it.

Is it a prank, part of a scavenger hunt or some weird tradition they keep up for the sake of tradition?

Sometimes the melon disappears suddenly. Sometimes it rots until it’s black and stinks. Sometimes it’s placed off to the side. Sometimes, like this time, it’s right in the middle.

Always I ask “why?” but I will probably never learn the reason.

And that gives me a one way ticket to Crazytown. Why? Why is it there?

Incidentally, this is the roof from where I take Windy pictures. She turns two tomorrow (!!!!!) and there will be a cake on Monday. If you work with me, come on over to my office and we’ll celebrate!*

* Tours of the Melon-Windy roof run every hour. Admission is free.

My employer has an electronic sale board where people can post items for sale or giveaway.

Here is part of a recent entry:

Laptop: SONY VAIO CS36H

I bought it this summer. It’s a pink laptop in good condition, very suitable for girls. I also bought the screen and keyboard protective film, which are free for you!

I forwarded it to my blog buddy JD at I Do Things and said “Very suitable for girls? Ya think?”

To which she replied: “Uh, yeah. Don’t see too many men walking around with a pink laptop.”

And then I confessed: “I would totally want a pink laptop! It’d make up for the Barbie Dream House I never had as a kid.”

JD should have left it at that, because I got intensely jealous when she reported “Tell me about it. Though I did have the Barbie Carousel Kitchen, which was the BOMB!”

Why was I so jealous?

I didn’t have a single Barbie or anything to put her in. I got my Barbie fix over at my best friend’s house. She had everyone and everything. The Barbie yacht, the hotel, the dream house, the cars, Ken, accessories, clothing, shoes, the works.

What did I have? A bean bag doll who slept on a fake bed I made out of cereal boxes. Her blankets were tissues. I built her furniture out of …. more cereal boxes.

But you know what? When I think back, I didn’t really need all that Barbie stuff. I was pretty happy with the homestead I crafted for my no-name brand dolls. I used my imagination, mad creative skillz and safety scissors.

So let’s hear it. Did you tend to have the latest, greatest name brand toys? Create your own stuff? Some mixture of both?

I’d love to hear about the toys you might have made yourself out of stuff lying around your house.

Sometimes the things that make the best toys were never toys to begin with!

Yeah, those would be tire tracks.

Not folded.

Not spindled.

Not bent.

Not torn.

Driven over with a two ton vehicle.

Dude, bad day?

At first I thought the envelope was special, you know, embossed with a pretty pattern of some kind. The tracks were so evenly distributed I thought my brother’s birthday gift thank you card was kinda cool.

And then I realized someone was just hatin’ on my mail.

I hope when they deliver my Ked’s bacon sneakers, they arrive in one piece.

That’s right, folks. I bought bacon sneakers.

Certainly, no one who reads my blog with any regularity will be surprised by this fact.

Fashion show to follow.

Oink.

I’d like to introduce you to a great new blogger’s network called Tribal Blogs, started by Jen of Redhead Rantings.

Jen wanted to start a new network for “writers whose outstanding blogs set them apart from the rest of the pack.” I joined a few weeks ago and I’m loving it already.

What you’ll find is a posse of awesome bloggers who take blogging seriously. They’re willing to lend you a hand, share and promote your posts, and toss ideas around that can be of use to everyone.

The network also has plenty of groups to join, even one just for men (Jen can’t even get in to see what they’re talking about, but she figures there’s a lot of belching and farting going on).

What you won’t find at Tribal Blogs are the crap blogs. You know exactly the kind of blogs I’m talking about. You probably visit them as part of other networks you belong to that require you to drop on blogs to earn credits or exposure.

Jen is careful to monitor membership and keep out blogs that aren’t updated, don’t have original material or whose authors don’t engage their readers. Here, there’s no wading through the chaff.

It’s free to join, but a premium membership is available for those who want to be listed in the Tribal Blogs toolbar. The toolbar is a great way to visit other members’ quality blogs all at once.

Come on over and check it out! You won’t be disappointed.

And thanks, Jen, for all your hard work getting Tribal Blogs off the ground. It’s an idea whose time has come.

Because I really wanted that.

Also, scoops should come with a seat belt or something. It just went sailing.

Crap.