Congratulations Piyumi!

Sparky's student worker from Sri Lanka got her Master's degree in chemistry today.  It's been an uphill battle for her but she hung in there and did it.  I couldn't be more proud of her.

Look what I got today

I went to a rain barrel making workshop this morning and I got this super awesome rain barrel made for us to use here at Monkey Central. The event was organized by my friend and neighbor Shameless Domestic Hussy and it was held at the First Presbyterian Church in Elizabethton, which is pastored by my friend,the man most Christian ministers love to hate, John Shuck.

Hats off to Shameless, John, and the good folks at Boone Watershed Partnership! Hats off to my $35 rain barrel!

Brunette of the week

Action News Reporter Jan Cancer

Tudor? Why, I hardly know her!

Most of you regular readers of this blog know I have little use for most of my family, with the exception of a few cousins in Michigan and my Uncle Bob and his wife, so I don't get the chance to brag on or be inordinately proud of any blood relatives. Luckily Sparky has a bunch of great nieces and a nephew I can claim as mine.

I knew Sparky's niece Virginia was a special kid the first time I met her, she was not only beautiful and polite, she also graciously laughed at my lame attempts at humor when her and her siblings let me hang out with them. The second time I spent time around her I began to see just how smart she was, she read Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes in a day and a half. When I found out she was a raging liberal who hated Bush and the wars of terror, my suspicions that she was a genius were confirmed.

Until now you've only had my word that the kid, well, she's not a kid anymore, she's a beautiful young married woman, has a brilliant mind and isn't afraid to use it. She's decided to put her brains to good use and to use her intelligence for good instead of evil. She's got a blog going which is a series of podcasts about the House of Tudor.
She breaks down books about the Tudors. She speaks about Tudor related entertainment, movies and TV shows.
And you know what? It's all interesting as hell. Maybe I'm biased, but I'm all in on this kind of stuff and Virginia does a bang up job with it. I'm a sucker for this period in history and I'll watch almost any Tudor related film and most TV shows, with the exception of the Showtime series which I find to be historically inaccurate.

If you're a history buff, or if you always wanted to know more about King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, then check out her great podcasts on Tudor Talk.

Sisters are doing it for themselves...

...and for the rest of us too. I highly recommend the following posts by some of the hippest and smartest gals on teh interwebs:

1. The rundown on Gov. Sarah Palin from HelenWheels at Just Ain't Right.
2. Diva Jood links a great site about the real McCain.
3. And you can get more of the insanely funny Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska videos here. The gal behind those great videos, Sara Benincasa, is a freakin' comedy genius and her blog is here.

That's all for now, but trust me, it's enough.