Animal Portrait on Bed

Sometimes the animals just want to take a photo. In this case, Mister John walked into the bedroom and they all just organized themselves quite well. In the back left going clockwise are Ella the Moo Cow, Elly Phant, Clifford the Big Red Dog (duh!), and Papa and Mama Bugg all snuggled romantically. Yes, a good day for a group portrait.

Change of Time Great for Rabbits

With the earlier changing of time this year, the bunnies get to bounce about the back yard until 7p.m. in March! I'm not sure if they're acutely aware of such things but they will notice that I get home earlier (relative to their day) and allow them to run about for a good two hours a night at least for the next six months.

"Finally we get to hop about, eat grass, and mock Cherry Bugg," said Ruby Jane. She then ran off and jumped through the air before giving up on these hijinks and flopping under a tree. "But I'd rather relax," she ironically added as she was relaxing in her cage for the entire day.

"I don't like this one bit," said a rose bush. "Now my fellow flowers and I have to be wary of these monsters for the next six months. It will be the death of me!"

Sunday with the Rabbits

While Miss Jill was away -- typically staying away from the bunnies -- Mister John vainly attempted to use the good camera to take some photos of the bunnies in action (or inaction, as the case may be). Sadly, his camera shooting is fair at best. The deleted photo of Gidget was much too bright as he needs how to figure out how to: a) zoom, b) use light better. For those of you NOT in the know, Gidget (aka the Surfwagon) was the previously used Volvo purchased by John and Jill Erb. Gidget has run quite well since her purchase in October. But Gidget shall get her own blog entry later: this one is for the bunnies.

The trio of terror were out and about in the backyard. That means Phillip, Ruby Jane, and Root Beer Float were outside. Typically Cherry Bugg has Saturdays to herself and these three have Sundays. It goes back to Sunday being Jane's day. And by decree, even after her passing, her husband has first right of hopping on Sunday.

This means that they sprint about the back yard for a good fifteen minutes at the start of their day. Then a few hours of idling. Typically, they'll just sit under a tree and either read poetry or eat it if it's tasty enough. Phillip goes up and down to his cage often to use the privy. Meanwhile Cherry Bugg just sits there and stares at them like an angry teenager who was grounded for not doing their homework and sticking their tongue out at other people.

Finally, Chip sits in the den pondering his existence as well. He spends much of the day sitting in his cage and staring at the wall. According to Chip, that is how Socrates became so wise. Just staring at the wall. Upon being told about Plato and his discourse about the man in the cave, Chip replied, "Huh?" That's ok, Chippers. One Greek philosopher at a time.

Chip Gets a Bath

Saturdays tend to be clean up days around the house. The typical mayhem of the work week ends and we look around and see all that needs to be cleaned. And that also applies to the bunnies! Chip usually has the run of the den and sometimes he too (much like the infamous Stinky Butt, aka Cherry Bugg) has a dirty bottom. Must be a family trait. For we all recall that Miss Bugg was a famed potty sitter. If I even so much asked her to move out of her potty, she looked indignantly at me and thumped in her potty. Not always a good picture. But that was Miss Bugg for you.

So today I decided to give little Chippers a bath. He had never had one before and you could tell. As soon as Chip was in the sink, he wanted out. Immediately those little claws were a-scraping. But the poor guy was in dire need of cleaning. Typically if a bunny has a mate (either like Phillip and Jane, Flowers and Miss Bugg, or Ruby Jane and Root Beer Float), their mate helps them with cleaning. If a rabbit does not have a mate like Chip, then there is no one to clean him. Alas, poor Cherry Bugg, she alloweth no one to come within ten feet of her lest she biteth them on the arse. So she gets a bath every few months.


Now poor Chip finally got washed down and then I put him in a big Dodger beach towel (and you thought there were no good uses for Dodger beach towels... ha!). He's currently drying off and hopefully we will think again about having a dirty bottom.

Brown Bear Sighting in Southern California!

Yes, we all thought that the bears were extinct in this part of the state. Nothing quite ironic like driving up to Big Bear and seeing nothing but squirrels and maybe the occasional misplaced blue jay. But in our back yard, we caught a brown bear in one of our cages. And in taking a picture of her, she hopped out, growled, thumped (or something like that), and wandered off to eat dead leaves. Maybe berries.

Rumor has it there is also a panda bear lurking in the back yard but there have been no sightings of that. But I will let you know as soon as anything is spotted.

Planning for Rabbit Liberation Day!

It's less than a month until one of the biggest days on the calendar: Rabbit Liberation Day. On that day, rabbits of the world unite and break their chains of bondage and servitude. They hop proudly and independently and eat carrots throughout the world.

This event used to be led by the "Easter Bunny" but truth be told, that bunny was a sell-out to the cause. He was voted out in an election over ten years ago and there has been an amalgam of bunny leaders ever since. Root Beer Float and Ruby Jane, for instance, are the local chapter representatives in charge of food and drink. Cherry Bugg is in charge of security. Prince Phillip is in charge of decorations. Little Chip might just be there to look cute. Personally, I thought that was Miss Jill's job.

Chip Bitten on Lip; Hops on Miss Jill's Head

Poor little Chip got into a scrape this week. While he claims that his aunt Cherry Bugg (Stinky Butt, he calls her) scratched him, it was more likely that his bigger sister Root Beer Float got him.

On our way over to the vet for the minor checkup, he didn't want any part of the carrying case and decided to hop on Jill's head and then settled on the back of her shoulders. He particularly like the fluffy hood to Miss Jill's green jacket. He stayed there for the rest of the drive to and from the vet's office.

Maybe Miss Jill wants to be like that typical crazy person at Venice Beach who walks around with a parrot or an iguana on their shoulder. It's bunny-on-the-head lady!

Coach Erb Leads Team to Lots of Medals

Mister John, aka Coach Erb, helped lead the Mary Star Academic Decathlon team to many medals earlier this month. His first team won 18 individual medals as well as bronze medals for Super Quiz and overall. The second team won 15 individual medals as well as silver medals for Super Quiz and overall. This was the largest medal haul yet for Mary Star. Woot!

There would be pictures of the team but those really aren't allowed without parental consent so here's a great picture of Coach Erb in action, walking along the floor before the event. He didn't know that Miss Jill, aka the Speech Coach was secretly taking pictures from the sidelines.

While each student received a minimum of two medals (two received SEVEN), Coach Erb only receives plaques for team success. Luckily for him, he received four this year to match the four from the previous year. Who says plaque is bad for you? He thinks not!

After the event, Coach Erb said, "I'd like to thank my students, my Speech Coach, but most importantly, I would like to thank my rabbits for allowing me to spend some time with my students and not just feeding them carrots."

Some Pictures from the Monterey Coast

Miss Jill and I made our way to the Central Coast in order to buy Monty, a new (to us) car. This is a 2007 Volvo S80, again pictures upcoming, and as we acquainted ourselves with the new car, we drove up and down the coast and took many beautiful pictures of the scenery.


The surf was quite high last weekend as it topped out at almost 20 feet. Luckily we were high upon the palisades and rocks above to take these pictures.

Later on we did hit one more mission. Well, we visited it; if we hit it, then our new car would have been most displeased. I'm not sure where we our on our "Mission Count" but Carmel is one of the missions which looks quite kept up. Coincidence that it's in a very exclusive neighborhood? Hmm...

Anyway, it's back to my judicious reading of Derrida for my class next week. Nothing quite says excitement like reading Différance.

John Spotted in Monterey, Later Trapped in Can

Twas an interesting weekend for Mister John as he and Miss Jill went to pick up a new car (pictures coming soon, we promise). On the way, they visited the sweeping coastal landscape of Monterey Bay where the surf reached an incredible 15-18 feet this weekend. Surf's up, indeed.

On the way this scenic photo of the shoreline was taken just north of Big Sur. There are many other pictures which will be added in the next few days. What the viewer cannot see is the steep cliff about three feet away from Mr. John. He was just itching to get outta there as soon as the picture was taken. Wuss? Maybe... but he does look out for number one: Miss Jill.

On the right hand side, utter catastrophe. Mr. John was walking through one of the buildings down in the former Cannery Row section in Monterey when he unwittingly became trapped in a sardine can. Luckily for him, it was just him and not dozens of his fishy friends. On that note, TV Turtle did tag along for the ride this vacation. And as all you casual and die-hard bloggers know, TV (Theodore Victory) Turtle LOVES fish. He had a fish-filled weekend and we made we left the windows in the back of the car open because he smelled... well, fishy.

Flip flop. See ya.