Sick Days

(This is the seventh in the series Spotlight.  You may find links to the previous Spotlights in the series on the Series page.)

Spotlight

on

Sick Days

Meet my good friend

ALAN TRUITT

Known as Alantru in his posts and comments, Alan is founder and administrator of Sick Days where he chronicles the daily, tedious, a Alice-in-Wonderland adventures of the most likely and unlikely group of cubicle dwellers that you are ever likely to meet.

I’m not sure where Alan got the inspiration to people his world with puppy dogs all of obviously the same breed, but it was ingenious.  The Sad Puppy (“hang dog”) look on all their faces and the nearly identical dress speaks directly to the faceless millions who trudge everyday into office buildings and take their spaces in cushioned cages to produce drone-like work for the corporate world.

DAMN!  That was sad!

How about THIS, Alan puts a wry and humorous twist on the puppy dog corporate world and has a wit that is seldom matched in the short-attention theatre wilderness we call Blog Land.

For example his latest post is

10 Sure Signs that Downsizing is on its Way

Like everywhere, we’ve had our fair share of layoff rumours. I’ve tried not to think about it, but this week, I saw 10 sure signs that downsizing is on its way…

1. We received a memo telling us how to contact The Employee Assistance Program.

2. Every time I go to the printer to pick up an order sheet, there’s a stack of resumes in the tray.

3. Lunchroom talk has switched from “Who will win Idol” to “How much seniority I have.”

4. I asked my boss Clark about scheduling my next performance review. He laughed and punched me on the shoulder.

IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE REST OF IT, YOU WILL HAVE TO GO TO

SICK DAYS

His comment box is always overflowing.  For example, the comments on just this one post at this time numbers 106.

Get on over there.  You’ll be glad you did.

Gryphon

Ahmnodt Heare for President

(This is the sixth in the series Spotlight.  You may find links to the previous Spotlights in the series on the Series page.)

Spotlight

on

Ahmnodt Heare for President

Meet my good friend

Ahmnodt Heare

Ahmnodt Heare (say it out loud a few times, you’ll get it) is running for president of the United States.  He uses his blog for connection to his potential constituency.  It is–in effect–his campaign website.  He puts me in mind of several past great presidents of the U.S. and in light of their legacies I see no reason why his name should not be listed among theirs.

William Henry Harrison

1841

Before Harrison had been in office a month, he caught a cold that developed into pneumonia. On April 4, 1841, he died–the first President to die in office–and with him died the Whig program.

Ulysses S. Grant

1869-77

Wonderful Army General who bought about the downfall of the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War.

Grant was unable to choose good  people to work for him.  Taking bribes, peddling influence, and/or embezzling was par for his administration’s course.  His personal secretary was arrested for embezzlement.  Grant pardoned them all.  Thanks to corruption, reconstruction was a thieves’ paradise.  Gold speculation led to bank failure and a stock market crash.  He tried to provide justice for the freed slaves but drove the last nail in the coffin for the American Indian.

Skipping Harding cuz I’m Lazy

Richard M. Nixon

1969-74

Richard “Tricky Dick” was the dirtiest of them all.  He would have been the first president to be convicted in an impeachment trial if he stuck around long enough to face the music.  Harrison died–that couldn’t be helped.  Grant was a dumb drunk who had no place in the White House.  Dick Nixon broke every rule in the book including his Presidential Oath of Office, and in my opinion should have been exiled to the island of St. Helena where he could have engaged the ghost of Napoleon in midnight talks on the subject of the Price of Ambition.  He got away easy, and I still ain’t 100% positive he’s dead.

HEY!

My point is, that Ahmnodt Heare is at LEAST as qualified as any of these yahoos to be president!  From extensively reading his campaign blog I get NO clue that he is anywhere nearly as close to being a stiff, drunken fool, or a treasonous crook as these three men who DID make it to the W.H.!  So, what do you have to lose?  After all it WAS in this country that we elected a redneck intellectual who cheated on his wife in the Oval Office and didn’t even have the good taste to make it with a movie star, even–just a chubby little synchophant.  And we DID impeach HIM! (but he got away with it. . . .)

Get yourselves on over to

Ahmnodt Heare for President

and see for yourselves.

And Don’t forget when it comes election time

Vote Early and Often!

(I have no clue who is next)

Gryphon

Woman in Black

(This is the fifth in the series Spotlight.  You may find links to the previous Spotlights in the series on the Series page.)

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The Woman in Black

Meet my good friend

Woman in Black

The only name she goes by here at WordPress is Woman in Black and the only photo she offers is this alluring silhouette.  This representation alone was enough to pique my interest in her blog, but once I got inside (the blog) I discovered other reasons to hang around and eventually link her in my Word Press Blogs I Like.

The Detective in me sent me out scouring the web for an actual photo of her and after an exhausting 10 minute search on Google Images these are the choices upon which I settled.

Suspect Number 1

Suspect Number 2

Suspect Number 3

Suspect Number 4

My bets are riding on Suspect Number 4, but there was a time in my Single Malt days when Number 2 would have been a worthy possibility on which to wager.  (an obsessive woman whom I boinked from time to time nagged me incessantly about ending sentences with prepositions and I have been a freak about it ever since.)  (But that’s not why you called.)  (Don’t you just love speaking and writing parenthetically?  I Do!)

ANYWAY!

After all this terribly tedious work of looking at women dressed (or undressed) in black I found myself no closer to OUR Woman in Black’s incontrovertible visage. (I always got good marks in diction.  )  One day I received an anonymous email leading me to a spot that purportedly held the TRUE image of the dame in question and this is what I got.

This image is highly suspect though for three reasons

1. It is uncorroborated
2. There is no evidence of black apparel, and
3. She only has ONE eye which kinda freaks me out (not as bad as Suspects 1 and 3, but still . . . )

When she found out that she was being spotlighted here, she asked me to include, and I quote

Please mention that I am devastatingly attractive in addition to being a genius (there’s cash in it for you).

She didn’t mention how much cash was involved and no actual deal was struck.  I suspect that the payment would be in British Pounds, but that would be okay because I suspect with the U.S. economy in its current state that one pound U.K. would equal about 15,000 U.S. dollars.  However, I will in lieu of monetary reimbursement settle for a post in the Aerie from this incredibly erudite and literally literate (that was a stretch but I have tough competition) woman.

W.I.B. has a very large following over in her blog of which I am extremely envious.  The largest amount of envy, however, comes as a result of her wonderful style and wit.  Every time I wander into her lair I am always queued behind a least a dozen and sometimes 20 or more other responders.  Her popularity is a thing to behold.

Speaking of “Lairs” I hear that THIS is her Daytime Lair.  I am withholding judgment.  Run over there yourself and see what you think.

By the way, Woman, ALL discos (juvenile and adult) suck and sucked.  Even though it seemed great fun at the time hindsight is simultaneously wonderful and cruel.  It was disco that turned me into a country music fan for a while before I discovered the joy of Classic Rock.  res ipso loquitor.

Well, enough of my blathering and blatant sycophancy.  Get on over to Woman in Black and see for yourself.

Gryphon

(Ahmnodt, you’re next)

The Food Here Convenience Store

(This is the fourth in the series Spotlight.  You may find links to the previous Spotlights in the series on the Series page.)

Spotlight

on

The Food Here Convenience Store

Meet my good friend

Ram Alamadingdong

The Ramstameister

He claims his name is Ram Venkatararam, but I claim that the last name is probably an alias to help him elude Homeland Security.  Plus it looks like it might take me two or three minutes of actually trying to correctly pronounce it, so I have given him a new last name of my own choosing not to mention personal amusement.

Homeland Security

Well, the question mark over the face in the photo is no longer a mystery.  After exhaustive expense and research (5 minutes on Google Images) I have uncovered the mystery man.  I have the pleasure of now revealing for all the true image of Mr. Alamadingdong.

Ram "bin-laden" Alamadingdong

I can’t remember how I met Ram.  I stumbled into his store or he climbed into my aerie . . . I am unsure.  But I am sure of the fact that my existence has basically remained the same ever since.

His humor is wry but without the seeds.

His “Food Here” site is a single theme blog set in a convenience store of which he is the sole manager.  It is the driest, most consistent, seamless humor of which I have ever had the extreme pleasure to partake.  He is crusty, narcissistic, cynical, and delightfully stupid.  The consistency of Food Here is superb.  The fact that he pulls it off on a daily basis leaves me in reverential awe.  My envy is boundless.  I always thought I was possessed of great wit, but Ram Alamadingdong makes me feel like the Village Idiot in comparison.

Gryphon in Comparison

He has a devoted following.  Why his posts don’t overflow with scores and scores of comments is beyond me, but it never fails that when I get into the convenience store that the queue is already very long to try to match wits with this one of the greats.  and every time I do, I feel like a stuttering, stammering schoolboy.  If just a little of his popularity were to rub off on me, then I would be truly blessed.

Ram, I salute you.

So, get your asses (singular or collective) over to the Food Here Convenience Store.

Woman in Black, you’re next.

gryphon

United Architects Art

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United Architects Art

Meet my good friend

Dan Mhalache

This representation of Dan is very abstract (not to mention blurred by making it bigger), but Dan is a very abstract kind of guy.  Here is a picture of Dan’s son

This is Paul and Chelsea.  Because Dan looks like Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet had a Love Child, it is difficult to tell if son Paul is doing the holding or is the one being held.  I am going on the assumption that it is Paul that is doing the holding.  It helps that in most places that “Chelsea” and “Paul” are usually considered to be female and male names, respectively.  But Dan is from Romania and one sometimes has to be careful about cultural assumptions.

Dan and I have been acquainted since early January.  he noticed some poetry and art posts that I did and came in.  He invited me to his site and I went and looked at some of the poetry and art that he was sharing on the World Wide Web.  We linked each other (in the nicest possible way) and he referred me to several sites that he liked.  Some of his friends became some of mine and they are now also linked in my sidebar.

Dan DOES like to provide links.  Oh yes indeed!  When you become acquainted with him, which I assume you will, be prepared for him to give you LOTS of helpful references.  He is a veritable purveyor of hyperlinkivity.

So go to United Architects Art.

Do it today.

(but stick around here for a little while first.  I gots lots of cool stuff you haven’t seen yet.  really I do . . . )

HEY DAN!  I STILL can’t find those bridges!

Ram, you’re next.

gryphon

New Friend

New link here and in “Word Press Blogs I Like”. (sidebar)

Ahmnodt Heare for President

(“I’m not here” . . . took me a little while to get it . . . )

As a side note.

There will be a new post in my “Spotlight” series before close of business.

kennedy’s run

Spotlight

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kennedy’s run

Meet my good friend

kennedy

kennedy in his finest hour

I realize that this is a highly idealized representation.  It’s not even a photo.  But you have to realize that kennedy is a very idealistic kind of guy.  That’s why I (and so should you) like him so much.

nahhhhh, just kidding, you irascible old communist socialist you!    This is REALLY him.

Caught on security camera at Victoria's Secret

That photo is kinda fuzzy and makes him look like a suspected terrorist, but HEY!  It was the best I could do with a thumbnail.  I expanded it even further at first but the distortion frightened me and I was afraid of traumatizing little children and heterosexual women.

I have known kennedy for a little over a month now.  I dropped into his blog and liked what I saw, and I think you will too.  A post of his inspired me to do a post of my own on a topic of his and we came close to having a rocky start to our relationship.  But we kissed and made up and all is peachy now.

His blog definitely concentrates on topics of political importance.  He does an occasional “other” but if you want to read some political commentary especially with a left of center slant, then Kennedy’s Run is just the place for you.

He’s a good friend, even if he is a Pinko.  I reccomend his site to you and yours.

Hey Ken, I didn’t let Brad jump ahead of you.  Really!  He got his own post first because he figured out that I had five toes on my foot.  That’s a good enough reason, right?

Dan, you’re next.

gryphon

OH!  I Forgot!  He’s from England.  Please don’t hold it against him.  thanks.

Dummies of the Year

Spotlight

on

Dummies of the Year

Meet my good friend

Unknown Nobody

Just Kidding!

That’s not him.  But it is a photo he has used in his blog.

No, Unknown Nobody is a much more visually pleasing individual, here now is how he represents himself to us here at WordPress

Better?  That’s what I thought . . .

Unknown has been here since January 3, 2009, where I show his first post on that date as Colts Pass on Third and Two.  Several of his posts have been sports related but of late they have been more in tune with popular culture with a even mixture between pop culture and political culture.

In his own words;

This site reports on the dumb things that people do. I should make it clear that people are not dumb but we can do dumb things from time to time. Almost every post is meant for interaction. Just because I think something is dumb doesn’t mean you will also. That’s okay, just give me your two cents. Sometimes I just leave it up to you to decide what is dumb. I hope you enjoy the short reports on half-baked decisions and thank you for stopping by.

He is a great wit, highlighting the “Dumbness” that surrounds us on an every day basis in the world of news and public relations.  He is also a good wordpress friend.

Although he started here after I did, he is much more tech savvy than I am.  he has helped me immensely with some of the technical aspects of my own blog, including but not limited to showing me how to do a Page Navigation widget in my sidebar when I found myself in love with a style that didn’t include page navigation.

He comes into my blog whenever I post something new and always has something witty or meaningful to say depending on the circumstance.

I reccomend Dummies of the Yearfor any blogroll.

If you don’t go, who will be the bigger dummy?

gryphon

Go there now! 

Introduction to “Spotlight”

This is to introduce a new series I promised some time back.  It will be called “Spotlight” and will feature other blogs here at WordPress.

The blogs that I am choosing to spotlight belong to bloggers with whom I have come in contact since my membership began in November ‘08.  They are, invariably, persons who I greatly respect for their creativity, insight, wit and wisdom.  I value them as WordPress friends and visit their blogs on a regular basis.  You should hurry over to their blogs as well.

In this series I will give a summary of their blogs and tell you what it is exactly about them that inspires my admiration.  I will provide various links that will direct you to their blogs.  You may also find links to them in my sidebar widget “Word Press Blogs I Like.”  Although not everyone in the sidebar widget will be featured in a “Spotlight” everyone who gets a Spotlight post can be found there.

If you wish to be included in this series and are not already a resident of “Word Press Blogs I Like,” there is something you can do to increase your chances of this happening.

It’s pretty simple–visit some of my posts and leave a substantial comment.  It doesn’t have to agree with me or even be complimentary but it MUST be respectful.  I have promised before and I say again that if you do this one thing then I will pay YOU a visit and do my best to reciprocate.  I can’t promise that I will like every blog I visit, but I can promise that I will give it every chance and that I am a friendly, fair, and non-judgemental person.  So that means you have a good chance to get in my “Word Press Blogs . . .” list.  From there, it’s a short step into the spotlight.

See you soon.

The first in the series coming within the next few hours will be on

Dummies of the Year.

g