You can see my full set of characters at the 30 Characters Challenge website.

And thus, with a dapper octopus, the challenge is complete!

She was a good mother and will be missed.

Frogs make excellent steeds. Really. It’s true.

This image makes me happy. I must revisit this one in a more spectacular format, methinks. The small page in my notebook where I sketched out this guy was not nearly large enough to present him in his full glory.

My earliest memory of playing Frogger was when I was about eight or nine. We were visiting my aunt in Michigan for the summer. It was one of those typical hot and sticky Michigan days that would have been perfect for spending swimming in one of the nearby lakes. Alas, for some reason or another, I was stuck at the house. At some point my aunt let me know there were a bunch of my cousin’s old childhood toys down in the basement. After a bit of digging in the musty boxes I found a handheld video game.

Score!

It was Frogger.

Double score!

I was familiar with the game at the time, although, now I can’t remember when or where I had originally been introduced to the bouncing frog wonder. At any rate, I was terrible at the game and gave up on it fairly quickly, but it was fun while it lasted.

How about you? What classic game do you associate with your childhood and when did you first discover said game?

So should we all.

Also, this.

]]> http://www.thefuzzyslug.com/2011/03/photo-little-bigfoot-pauses-to-reflect/feed/ 0 http://www.thefuzzyslug.com/2011/03/spring/ http://www.thefuzzyslug.com/2011/03/spring/#comments Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:12:14 +0000 Natalie http://www.thefuzzyslug.com/?p=1861 Have you heard the rumor? No, not the one about the chipmunk swarms. The other one. The one about spring.

It comes.

I know, I know, it’s hard to believe. The long, cold, dark and damp winter has been upon us for so long the very idea of new growth and bright green buds has become a long forgotten childhood fable in many of our minds. But, I’m hear to tell you, the rumor is true.

I didn’t believe it myself until this morning. Even with a snow dusted yard (which in itself ranks pretty high on the weather weirdness meter for this little corner of the world), there was the unmistakable tremor of spring in the air. You could just tell that winter had finally thrown in its metaphorical hat and handed over the reins to spring.

It’s a hard thing to describe. One day some vestigial season indicator goes off in the ancient mouse-like recesses of your brain, and CLICK! it’s most definitely spring. Yessireebob. Time to come out of hibernation, start foraging for succulent green stuff, clean the winter funk out of the house, and start painting rooms ridiculously bright colors ^[1].

Either that, or my brain finally had enough of winter and decided that seasonal delusions were in order. Whichever the case, I’m glad spring is finally here, even if it is all a lie. It’s my precious precious lie.

^[1] It’s called “cool lava” and it’s a HAPPY color, OK? Don’t you judge me!

I honestly don’t remember where this phrase came from. All I know is that I found it scribbled on the back cover of my sketchbook. I took it as a hint from past me.

In which Wicket the puppy conquers the log and displays a celebratory tongue.

Our Welsh Pembroke Corgi, Wicket is nearing his one year birthday.

Best puppy ever. Really.

I was a bit worried when we got him that the floor up to the one foot level of our house would experience an untimely death by puppy teeth, but I was pleasently surprised to find that was not the case. He only nibbled on a rag rug or two (but did not destroy) at the most. House training only had a handful of accidents before he figured that one out. Training has been easy and quick. And the barking, well that only happens when evil neighbor cats and squirrels are in view or he is running after an extra fast dog at the dog park.

I’m impressed by the little big guy to say the least. (We noticed that his head is nearly the same size as my brother-in-law’s husky and his feet are the same size.) A very smart critter, he’s been picking up most new tricks and concepts within a few minutes.  However, he still has a few rough edges to work on such as recall under distractions, but I know we will get there eventually. Practice, practice.

We were originally considering a German Shepard as that was the dog breed I had grown up with and Andy was keen on something big. Unfortunately (or fortunately), we decided against this given the size of our house and yard not being adequate, in our view, for a Shepherd. I think the Corgi choice was an excellent alternative and much more suited to our setup. I know both Andy and I are very happy with the pup we ended up with (as does the cat).

In which Bilbo the cat approves of the fire and takes a moment to stare at me from across the table.

He’s a good cat, and like all good and noble hobbits felines, he prefers the company of a warm spot to rest his fuzzy feet.

When we adopted the fellow back in 2004, we were told that he was about three years of age at the time. After the first vet visit though, they suspected that he was a bit older than that. If I had to make a guess, I would say he is now at least ten if not older.

Upon a recent visit to the vet to take care of some much needed tooth cleaning, it was reveled that his liver is in trouble. We still need to do a few more tests on the poor fellow to find out exactly what’s up, but he seems in good spirit, appetite, and mood especially now that he has clean teeth. So, hopefully it’s something that can be managed or, at least, pass unnoticed by Mr. Bilbo.

In the mean time, I suspect (and hope) there are many more days of enjoying the fires and harassing the dog in his future.

For those of you not familiar with this annual effort that takes place during the eleventh month, let me direct you to their official website. A group of fellows of the manly man persuasion, or at least the virility hedge growing persuasion, gather during this month in an effort to grow facial hair worth of the term “beard”. (Ladies are more than welcome to participate too, but alas, there were no takers this year.) They do this in order to help raise awareness and donations for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (via the Ann Voegerl Memorial Breast Cancer Research Fund). I encourage anyone who enjoys boobs and the pursuit of saving them (and their caretakers) from an terrible fate, to head on over to the Beards 4 Boobs site and sponsor a beard before the end of the month.

But wait! There’s more! You see this poster (designed by moi)? Well, currently the folks at Beards 4 Boobs have a contest going on to name the beards on that very poster. (Rumor has it there will be a name those boobs contest too, so stay tuned.) There’s even FABULOUS prizes so be sure to participate.

So, please, for the love of all the lovely bosoms out there, sponsor a beard or two, won’t you?