Jon Stewart and the Rally to Restore Sanity

It may be too late to order a tshirt to wear to Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity, held in Washington DC on October 30, 2010. But you can always buy one to wear the rest of your life -- to commemorate the event or to wear in solidarity with the notion that we need to restore sanity to our political process.


Visit Scarebaby Design at Zazzle to purchase or for more!

Who Stole My Coffee??

I didn't think I was really addicted to coffee. Sure, my intake went from once a week to once a day, increased from one cup at a time to two, but really - that's not so much, right? I don't stop at Starbucks to buy $4 coffees (no matter how deliciously delightful), I don't *need* coffee to get up each morning... Yeah. That was until somebody stole my coffee.

I recently took a trip with my husband to Hocking Hills, and of course, I brought along a can of my favorite instant latte. That's right. I love instant coffee. :P Things were fine and dandy until we got back from vacation, and there was no coffee to be found. I couldn't believe I could possibly leave behind my precious tin of coffee. That would be akin to leaving one of my dogs behind. I searched everywhere - I rummaged through bags, the dirty clothes, places I had searched five minutes prior. It didn't matter. It was gone. I was coffee-less and miserable.

"Okay," I thought. "It'll be okay. I don't need coffee anyway. A few days without it until I can get to the grocery won't kill me."

Uh huh.

Day one wasn't so bad. I had a teensy bit left in the house, and I enjoyed it mightily with my breakfast muffin.

Day two, about mid-morning I developed a headache. As the day progressed, my eyes became squinty. Various objects started to resemble my missing container of coffee. I began to blame my corgi for stealing and hiding it. He, in turn, began chuckling behind my back, and looking entirely innocent and non-talking-dog-like whenever I turned back around. It had to stop.

I finally managed to drag myself in a zombie-ish coma to my car to take another of my dogs to class, and as I smashed the car into the wall of Tim Horton's, I stumbled from it moaning, "Coffee, coffee... corgi stole my coffee...." Luckily, the employees of Tim Horton's are professionals that recognize the symptoms of coffee withdrawal, and provided a cafe mocha stat! Relief, sweet relief. I was able to dislodge my car from their building and continue, refreshed, to dog class.

The next day, I had to suffer through another morning without coffee - but as I had an appointment in town, I knew I could stop at the store and replenish my supply. At the store, I grabbed every flavor I could reach, threw them into my cart, snickering madly at my good fortune, and checked out with the speed of a NASCAR driver. The drive home was equally as quick, though fortunately minus the wrecks and destruction. I cackled to myself as I set each tin tenderly in my cupboard, glancing and smirking at the corgi, whose short little nubs couldn't possibly reach my new supply of sweet, delicious coffee. He merely sat there, head tilted, pondering. No doubt mocking me in his little corgi mind.

As I reached for sweat pants to put on for the rest of this now glorious Friday, I spied something shiny in one of my bags on the floor in my bedroom. It was the missing tin of coffee. I sat down and laughed until I cried. And the corgi came over, grinning mischievously, and sat in my lap, demanding that I rub his ears.

$5 off Halloween Canvas Trick or Treat Bags

We all know that canvas bags are so much better for the environment than plastic ones. But there are plenty of other reasons to give your children canvas trick or treat bags for Halloween. The first one is safety. Small children, let's face it, ought not to be playing around with plastic bags at all. And even if they're old enough to be trusted with plastic, they may have younger brothers and sisters for whom a plastic bag filled with candy can be both an irresistible draw and a dangerous object.

Cheap, Sturdy, Roomy Halloween Candy Bag by HalloweenFun

The second reason is convenience. We all keep holiday lights, ornaments, decorations and such in a big box, to return to year after year. You can toss your canvas candy bags in that box, and they'll be there, ready for the kids, next year, just as cute and convenient as ever.

Cheap, Sturdy, Reusable Trick or Treat Bag by HalloweenFun

The third reason is that they're a lot more festive and fun! And they're on sale!

Cheap, Sturdy, Reusable Trick or Treat Bag by HalloweenFun

And now through October 24 get $5 off on Halloween bags at Zazzle, with coupon code SCARYSAVINGS at checkout.

Vintage Halloween Witches

Vintage art is fantastic and the holiday themes were full of delightful whimsy. I love all kinds of vintage art and thought these Halloween Witches especially nice and deserving of the time taken to restore the rich color and detail.

Little Witch Girl by Memory_Lane

Little Witch Girl by Memory_Lane

Delightful vintage art features a little Witch girl in pointed black hat and red cape with her cute black kitten.
Or Below is a fun vintage witch in fabulous pointed hat, and her little black cat. They are sitting on a crescent moon and have been carefully restored.
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Witchy Woman by Memory_Lane

Witchy Woman by Memory_Lane

Witchy Woman by Memory_Lane

These cute designs are available on too many gift items to show here, but can be seen at my Memory Lane vintage gift store.

Flying Witch by Memory_Lane
at Zazzle.

Flying Witch by Memory_Lane

Wonderful vintage Halloween design features a young girl in a Witch hat and cape while sitting on a flying broom. She holds a large carved pumpkin.
I hope you enjoyed my small sampling and I will bring you more in the near future.

Give Stickers Instead of Candy This Halloween!

Stickers make a great Halloween treat instead of candy! It's a fun alternative to the sugar overload. Stickers are also perfect as favors for a Halloween party, as cupcake flags or decoration on Halloween treat bags. Check out this super cute assortment of fun Halloween stickers.

Little Kid T-Shirts and Onesies

Little kids like to feel special. I remember when I was a wee one, my brother and I had matching "I'm the Little Sister"/"I'm the Big Brother" t-shirts, and we wore them all the time. You know, back before my brother would drag me down the stairs by my ankles or stuff me into the laundry hamper and sit on top of it. We have a lot of pictures of vacations where we proudly wore our matching tees.

It's something you've got to take advantage of, I think. I mean, once your kids get older, it's going to be a lot of "She's looking at me!" and "Stop touching me!" I also think it helps with the initial jealousy of having a new baby in the house. We've got pictures of my brother bottle feeding me, before he turned into the Evil Thing from Planet 9 Who Wanted to Torture His Little Sister Forevermore. I think that happened when I was about seven. So seven blissful years, which we all owe to "I'm the Big Brother" shirts. I bet now that $20 seems like an awesome deal, eh? ;)

T-Rex I'm the Little Brother Onesie by PatchworkPals

Apatosaurus Baby's First Christmas Onesie by PatchworkPals

H is for Hippo Baby T-Shirt by PatchworkPals

U is for Unicorn Child's T-Shirt by PatchworkPals

Zombies! Zombie T-shirts for Halloween

What's more hip than a zombie? These creatures love to feast on human brains! So for Halloween, sport an awesome zombie themed t-shirt to the office, or to open the door on unsuspecting trick or treaters!

Got Brains? Zombie Halloween Tshirts, Hoodies by HalloweenFun

Zombie Evolution Halloween Tees, Sweats by HalloweenFun

See other Zombies T-Shirts

Fun Calendar Facts and Gifts

Mankind has used the Sun, Moon, Stars and Planets to measure the passage of time through the ages. Ancient civilizations used the motion of all of these through the sky to determine the seasons, months and years. These were the precursors of our present day Calendars.

Our calendars are based on three key astronomical events... Day, Year and Month.

The Christian calendar (Gregorian calendar) is based on the motion of the earth around the sun.

The Islamic calendar is based on the motion of the moon.

the Jewish calendar combines both, in that its years are linked to the motion of the earth around the sun.

Before today’s Gregorian calendar was adopted, the older Julian calendar was used. It was very close to the actual length of the year, but as it turns out, but the Julian calendar did a slow shift off track over the following centuries.

It wasn’t until 1582, by which time Caesar’s calendar had drifted a full 10 days from it's original course, that Pope Gregory XIII (1502 - 1585) finally reformed the Julian calendar. But the "new" calendar, as we know it today, was not adopted uniformly across Europe until well into the 18th century.

The legal code of the United States does not specify an official national calendar. The use of the Gregorian calendar in the United States stems from an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1751, which specified use of the Gregorian calendar in England and its colonies.

A lot of languages, including English, use month names based on Latin.

English ........ Latin
January .........Januarius
February .......Februarius
March ...........Martius
April ............. Aprilis
May ..............Maius
June ............. Junius
July .............. Julius
August ..........Augustus
September ....September (from word septem or 7)
October ........October (from word octo or 8)
November ....November (from word novem or 9)
December .....December (from word decem or 10)

Today you will find some sort of Calendar in almost every home.

Please feel free to browse this wide selection of lovely Calendars in many themes with unique art, and photography, or view others available in these stores.

Just click on the calendar images below to view the inside pages and information.

SeaLife 2011 Calendar by MuseMagic

Big Cats 2011 Calendar by MuseMagic

Primates 2011 Calendar by MuseMagic

Vintage Children Calendar 2 for 2011 by Memory_Lane

Wild West Calendar 2011 by Memory_Lane

Grandpa's Ladies 2011 Calendar by Memory_Lane

Fun Casper The Friendly Ghost Gear!

Casper The Friendly Ghost was a cartoon favorite for us when we were kids! I loved the adventures of this sweet little ghost and always wished that no one would be afraid of him! Here's the opening theme song.



Great for Halloween or anytime, personalized gear from the official Casper The Friendly Ghost shop makes a fun gift.

Domesticated Parrots? And other Myths

It annoys me no end, as a bird fancier, parront, and zoologist, when I come across the term "domesticated parrot." It's an oxymoron. There's no such thing as a domesticated parrot. Domestication requires many, many generations of breeding selectively, and most parrots today are still only a few generations removed from the wild. The closest parrot to domestication is probably the budgerigar, or budgie, or "parakeet," as we Americans ignorantly call them.

And that's another source of irritation - the parakeet. That's like going to the aquarium, and squealing, "Oh, a fish!" Parakeets are not one single species of parrot. They're actually an entire group of parrots, with long, tapering tails. Macaws are parakeets. Cockatiels are parakeets. And Budgerigars, which are the species we love to call parakeets, are also parakeets. It is slightly more correct, if you don't want to call them budgies, to at least refer to them as "American Parakeets." Even though they are an Australian species, at least that lets others know you're referring to what Americans call parakeets.

Did you know parrots do NOT have vocal chords? They are actually mimicking sounds through their trachea. And intentionally teaching a bird swear words is about as funny as tapping on aquarium glass and chanting, "here fishy, fishy, fishy."

Bird seed is actually a really crappy diet for parrots. Most parrots naturally eat vegetables, fruits, and leaves, in much larger quantities than seeds. The seeds found in bird mixes are usually not even what the bird would find in the wild. Seeds are extremely high in fat, which is great for a wild bird that is extremely active and spends a lot of time flying. Not so great for your bird in its cage, that doesn't spend much time hunting for food or flying around. Fatty liver continues to be a great health concern in captive parrots.

Scorpio Birthday Gifts

Scorpio is the eighth astrological sign in the Zodiac, originating from the constellation of Scorpius. Most astrologers today consider Scorpio to begin September 23 and run until November 22. That means that now is a great time to buy gifts for Scorpios! The Scorpio personality is loyal, passionate, and observant, but can also be jealous, obsessive and manipulative. Scorpio is a water sign and is ruled by Mars and Pluto.

Great gifts for Scorpios would be a t-shirt that says Peace Love Scorpio, or anything to do with Mars.

I'm Huge on Mars Martian Humor by AstroBaby


Peace Love Scorpio Zodiac Design by AstroBaby


Dust Storm on Mars Cards and Postcards by AstroBaby

Unique Fall Embroidery

Wonderful Embroidery gift ideas with Autumn themes. Elegant floral designs, Halloween fun, and much more. I have a small selection here for you to browse and many more choices in my store in my Halloween and Autumn sections. All apparel available in multiple color, size and styles.

Elegant swirls, acorns and fall leaves.

Autumn Elegance by Embroidery4U

Fun trio of witches with text saying Black Hat Society.

Black Hat Society by Embroidery4U

Cool Skull art theme

Skull Art 2 by Embroidery4U

Pretty fall leaves, acorns and swirls on this embroidered hat. Other colors available.

Fall Leaf Filigree by Embroidery4U

Here are a couple of delightful Scarecrow designs offered on many apparel items.

Fall Scarecrow by Embroidery4U

Spooky Scarecrow by Embroidery4U

Two unique fantasy designs with lovely fairys sitting beneath autumn trees.

Fairy Tree by Embroidery4U

Masquerade Fae and Owl friend.

Masquerade Fae by Embroidery4U