tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2537317547847285702024-02-21T05:18:17.368-05:00The SprenkliestEveryone else has a blog; why not me?
Featuring a fun cast of characters: Sydney, Dad, Jessie, Frank, and Andy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger309125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-85272998551324958942010-08-01T09:51:00.003-04:002010-08-01T09:57:32.021-04:00A Story from Sydney's ReturnDad reminded me of the night Sydney returned after being missing for more than 48 hours. I had gone to sleep, but Dad stayed up. It was 2 a.m., and Sydney came to the back patio door, which is near Dad's computer. Sydney yelled to be let in, and Dad couldn't believe that it was really her that time because he had heard her before but she wasn't really there.<br /><br />Dad knocked on my bedroom door.<br /><br />Dad: Do you want to see a hungry cat eat?<br />Me, waking up slowly: Huh?<br />Dad: Do you want to see a hungry cat eat?<br />Me: Is it Sydney?<br /><br />Dad thought that was a funny question. I was going to be really annoyed if he was waking me up to show me a YouTube video. I shouldn't be responsible for what I say when being woken up.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-86070392269054700342009-12-31T11:59:00.002-05:002009-12-31T12:13:29.165-05:00Explaining the CardI got a few questions about our card--if it is PhotoShopped. Nope, it's all real.<br /><br />We went to the <a href="http://www.naturalbridgezoo.com/">Natural Bridge Zoo</a> in early September, and they had 2 tiger cubs, both female. One was a rare white tiger; the other an extremely rare "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_tabby">Golden Tabby</a>". As you see, we had our picture taken with the white tiger.<br /><br />The baby tigers are pampered during this time, so they love to get their pictures taken. The white tiger cub was eager to jump in our laps to get the bottle. She put her paw on Frank's hand, and it wasn't much smaller. She wasn't very soft, which surprised me. Her fur was kind of wiry. It was quite an experience that lasted about 30 seconds!<br /><br />The site now only mentions the white tiger. I wonder what happened to the Golden Tabby cub. Since the Golden Tabby was so rare, I wouldn't be surprised if they sold it to a larger zoo or something like that.<br /><br />I need to bug Frank to post his movies of the tigers getting baths. They complained less than Sydney does when she gets a bath.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-81389646063706579802009-12-24T16:28:00.002-05:002009-12-24T16:29:48.305-05:00Merry Christmas!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbhZsYcZYqLPF0VFAjs7qMmoJl4bMU4IIJCYt11lilBX7nbxiVsDEz3-bEsiTQBzFaYQbVbya3doyourckQpAYHXOAy5mKDejWKo-cDUez9fDuQ7X8V9-QHwxuAXRIm9c1J-92JE-RUS2J/s1600-h/christmas_card2009.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 309px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbhZsYcZYqLPF0VFAjs7qMmoJl4bMU4IIJCYt11lilBX7nbxiVsDEz3-bEsiTQBzFaYQbVbya3doyourckQpAYHXOAy5mKDejWKo-cDUez9fDuQ7X8V9-QHwxuAXRIm9c1J-92JE-RUS2J/s400/christmas_card2009.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418918001996637922" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-68340413057776068822009-12-03T10:33:00.001-05:002009-12-03T10:34:50.004-05:00Where Does the Cat Go?<a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/slideshow/geek-life/hands-on/kookoo-the-gpsenabled-kitty">Using GPS to Monitor Your Cat Slideshow/Video</a><br /><br />The video is a little long, but it appealed to my geeky side, which rarely shows itself.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-76838009042757745442009-09-25T09:00:00.002-04:002009-09-25T09:15:50.146-04:00Special Guest Star Appearance(It's a dream note, but I'll keep it short.)<br /><br />Isn't it fun when your dream features someone you haven't seen in a really long time. For example, you're on a subway, and you're trying to dodge some creep who is hitting on you, and you run into XXX, who you haven't see since you graduated from college 10 years ago. The dream audience cheers and whistles as the special guest comes on screen and your guest has to pause a bit until the cheers die down.<br /><br />Later, you exchange phone numbers because he doesn't want you to get lost on the subway. But it takes forever because you can't find his phone number on the phone screen he shows you and when you do find it, you can't copy it because the numbers keep changing. (Your brain can't fake a number? Or just can't remember a number long enough?) You're frustrated and you start to realize that it is a dream and begin to wake up.<br /><br />But, it was good to see XXX. He hasn't changed a bit in 10 years.<br /><br />The end. See, that wasn't too bad.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-75785283144512515122009-08-23T18:37:00.001-04:002009-08-23T18:39:32.928-04:00Oxymoron?I read an ad in <span style="font-style:italic;">Glamour</span> that says "state-of-the-art, vintage technology."<br /><br />I guess that's possible if the state of the art hasn't changed, but...<br /><br />Is this an oxymoron? Or, does it just not make sense?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-34679894634278331402009-08-05T10:22:00.002-04:002009-08-05T10:24:08.296-04:00Carbon Footprint Calculator<a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/static/carbon-calculator-2009">Carbon Footprint Calculator</a> -- from IEEE, not sponsored by someone selling carbon offsets. I haven't played yet because I don't have access to my electric bills, but I will.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-10939200682172973542009-06-26T16:28:00.001-04:002009-06-26T16:29:43.230-04:00How My Boyfriend Shows He Likes MeAn email from Frank: "Did you leave yet? I have a table reserved at Friendly's for 7:30."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-33537418646689070982009-06-26T08:25:00.000-04:002009-06-26T08:26:13.302-04:00The Start of a ListPairs of famous people who died on the same day, from Dad:<br /><br />John Adams and Thomas Jefferson<br />Jim Henson and Sammy Davis, Jr<br />Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie<br />Farrah Fawcett and Michael JacksonUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-78545460163590075552009-06-25T19:55:00.003-04:002009-06-25T20:11:15.547-04:00Today's RantAt a recent research group gathering, several people didn't know who David Lee Roth was. Not that I'm biggest fan, but I know who he is. I joked that I was going to have a series of lectures on pop culture. Today, I explained that David Lee Roth is the lead singer of Van Halen. The response: "Who is Van Halen?" The top songs I came up with by Van Halen were "Jump" and "Right Now". Emily piped up, "You Really Got Me." <br /><br />What? That's not Van Halen. It took me awhile to come up with The Kinks as the originator of that song. (I'm disappointed in myself too.) I didn't know (or at least remember) that Van Halen had a cover of the Kinks' song. Emily insisted that the Van Halen version was the famous one. What?!? I'm not sure how to measure that, but it just seems wrong to call that song a Van Halen song.<br /><br />I was searching for the lyrics to a Christmas song on the Web, and the first page that came up was one that was titled "Hanson Lyrics". Sigh.<br /><br />Emily said that she likes some remakes better than the original. I suggested Madonna's "American Pie", which Emily claimed she had never heard. YouTube to the rescue, and she was scarred for life.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-64634516939739419042009-06-25T19:47:00.003-04:002009-06-25T23:16:26.811-04:00Transformers SequelA while ago, I saw the trailer for the Transformers sequel with a friend. The trailer started with Shia going to college and the Transformer said something mildly amusing. And then the action starts. My friend was a little disappointed in the movie. He thought it was going to be a buddy comedy: Shia goes to college with his robot friend and hilarity ensues. Maybe that can be the next sequel.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-48676937431584114032009-06-15T22:27:00.000-04:002009-06-15T22:28:10.095-04:00Yea, Get Fuzzy!<a href="http://comics.com/get_fuzzy/2009-06-14/">Get Fuzzy Made Me Laugh</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-82619931415245163362009-06-02T22:13:00.002-04:002009-06-02T22:22:44.455-04:00Sneak AttackFrank and I explored a local park last weekend. We took a little path along the river. There were stacks of hay on the trail. I'm not sure for what. Frank was walking in front of me. Suddenly, he gasps and spins, which makes me gasp and jump backwards. It was a squirrel. A squirrel. It was behind a hay stack, eating something and didn't seem to notice or care that we were coming. The squirrel ran up a tree next to the path.<br /><br />I teased Frank, "A squirrel?" He said, "It was going to kill us."<br /><br />On the way back, Frank made a bunch of noise so the squirrel knew we were coming. I reminded him that squirrel wasn't afraid of us, and we knew where the squirrel was this time.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-68297729406337847112009-05-24T21:07:00.003-04:002009-05-24T21:10:09.350-04:00In the FamilyMy dad's cousin Julie had a birthday party for her mom, my dad's Aunt Norma. Aunt Norma turned 80! My sister is a big fan of Aunt Norma, so she was bummed she couldn't attend. (Jessie lives in Der Fatherland, Germany.) Dad told Aunt Norma that Jessie would have attended if she had more notice (so it was Julie's fault that Jessie didn't attend). Aunt Norma said, "80 years wasn't enough notice?" oooo, burn! Aunt Norma's last name may be Wise but she's all Sprenkle.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-28508543205170264792009-05-15T08:48:00.003-04:002009-05-15T09:30:45.420-04:00Unuseful TranslationWhen I'm going to need to have to translate this?<br /><br />Spanish: Tu gato parece muy alegre.<br /><br />English: Your cat seems very happy.<br /><br /><br />Transparent Language doesn't know my cat at all.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-57694672747244485282009-04-15T21:15:00.002-04:002009-04-15T21:27:31.981-04:00Can It Be True?<a href="http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/04/15/greg-paulus-visits-ann-arbor-may-transfer-to-michigan-for-footb/">Greg Paulus Visits Ann Arbor, May Transfer to Michigan for Football</a><br /><br />I agree with my dad's take on the story, but he also backs up his thoughts: "I had heard that there was a chance that Greg Paulus would be drafted as a quarterback. That seemed unlikely when I heard it, and I think it's a story because it makes a good story. I doubt that the NCAA will let him play college football. I remember Art Schlichter who was a quarterback at Ohio State and with the Colts. At some point, he decided to go back to college and play basketball. The NCAA said he had already used his eligibility."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-88599918378195003982009-03-20T21:05:00.000-04:002009-03-20T21:06:00.845-04:00Relationship RevelationTonight, I found out that Frank doesn't like Oreos. He claims they are his least favorite cookies. This may be a relationship breaker. I'm pretty sure that's one of the first questions they ask at eHarmony to determine cookie compatibility.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-59780910790195557512009-03-19T22:19:00.002-04:002009-03-19T22:22:25.749-04:00My Pick for Best Quote of the NCAA Tournament"This is the guy who has to get it done for Binghamton. He’s their CPU if this is a computer…. He’s the operating system…. He’s the processing unit, the one that makes everything happen."<br />-- Clark Kellogg on Emanuel MaybenUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-74158944416427584242009-03-12T23:39:00.000-04:002009-03-12T23:40:49.016-04:00Like Roommate, Like RoommateSydney and I are so much alike. We both are competitive and hate to lose. When we sense that we're losing, we grab our opponent and bite.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-47154352498454604672009-02-28T16:12:00.004-05:002009-02-28T16:22:17.230-05:00New Poster in My Bedroom<img src="http://media1.break.com/dnet/media/2009/2/87%20Steve%20Martin%20Ironing%20a%20Kitten.jpg"><br /><strong>Steve Martin Ironing a Kitten</strong>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-11234245515695851962009-02-23T23:13:00.002-05:002009-02-23T23:16:59.570-05:00A New OneDad reports<br /><br /><blockquote>I started taking a grammar course. Since it's such a chore to try to take these courses, I decided to skip the instruction and just take the tests. The first test was on sentence fragments and subject/verb agreement. I only got 1 question wrong. There was a hypothetical question about a guy taking a grammar course and the results he might expect. There were 5 answers, and there could be more than 1 answer. One went something like, "His colleagues may appreciate his effort." I was torn, but since it said may, I picked it, but the computer told me I was wrong. That's a bit disappointing. "No way will his coworkers appreciate his effort. Doing well in this course is like wetting your pants while wearing a dark suit: You get a warm feeling, but nobody notices." Well, it didn't say that exactly.</blockquote><br /><br />I have heard many of Dad's lines many, many times. (Like that my mom and dad considered combining their last names to "Stinkle", but he can't remember why they decided against it.) This one about the warm feeling, I don't remember hearing before.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-60062484736440369952009-02-10T20:45:00.001-05:002009-02-10T20:46:52.905-05:00Surprising stories behind 20 Muppet charactersI'm not sure the stories are so surprising. I liked the story about Bert and Ernie best. Boring can be interesting?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/02/10/mf.muppet.favorites.stories/index.html?eref=rss_us">The Story</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-88354285263324913322009-02-01T20:45:00.000-05:002009-02-01T20:46:19.798-05:00My Fight Cat<img src="http://www.cs.wlu.edu/~sprenkle/personal/Syd-EntertainmentCenter/Syd-EntertainmentCenter-Images/11.jpg">Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-8094958795194974812009-01-29T19:53:00.002-05:002009-01-29T19:57:56.269-05:00Jeopardy!I nearly swept the Double <i>Jeopardy!</i> category of Classic TV Drama Episodes. The TV dramas were <i>Bonanza</i>, <i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i>, <i>CSI</i>, <i>Dynasty</i> (the one I missed), and <i>China Beach</i>. The <i>China Beach</i> one surprised me; I don't think I've ever seen that episode. No one else got it or <i>CSI</i>. Nerds.<br /><br />I also swept the Prime Numbers category, but it was ridiculously easy. The last one was "81, 85, 89". If you couldn't figure out that you have to pick which is the prime number, well, I can't help you. If it was "81, 87, 89", that would have been a better challenge. You shouldn't have one that ends in 5 and one that adds up to 9.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253731754784728570.post-90499282845993921022009-01-27T10:35:00.002-05:002009-01-27T10:36:31.489-05:00Discover The Power of CarrotsLink thanks to (blamed on?) Jessie: <a href="http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/today.html">Carrots in Today's World</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0