It’s been a beautiful Spring day, even if I have spent the majority of it outside picking up fallen branches knocked down by last Thursday night’s storms. After four hours of that, well, I’m too pooped to blog.

So why not play Word Fugue®, that addictive word association game I love to start whenever I’ve got nothing better to write. (Besides, it’s been almost two months since our last round and some of you have been nagging me via email to hurry up and start another game.)

If you’ve never played Word Fugue® before, here are the rules:

1. I start it off with a word.

2. You look at the most recently posted comment.

3. You leave ONE word that comes to mind upon reading the most recent comment.

4. You may play as many times as you like, but you may not use the same word twice.

5. The game continues until comments are closed.

Ready?

Here’s the word:

Tornado

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Thanks to Anwyn for sending the link to this photo which just begs for a caption, doesn’t it?

Leave yours below in the comment section, and feel free to enter as often as you like. (But do strive to be clever, funny and original, won’t you?)

My favorite three captions will be announced… whenever I damn well feel like it.

Maybe I should warn Anwyn to set her tea down before watching.

Nah.

Over the past year, I’ve taken hundreds of photos: garden shots and travel pics, photos of my husband, my kid, my cats and my house. For a time there I’d even taken to food photography, capturing nicely plated examples of different recipes I’ve come up with.

But I haven’t held an actual photograph in my hand for almost a decade. I blame our digital camera and DVDs for that. It’s just too easy to copy pictures from the camera to a folder on my hard drive where they languish, all but forgotten. I haven’t even uploaded them to a photo sharing site because, well, I’m lazy.

I know I’m not alone, either. A friend recently told me she’d once taken a cute picture of her new puppy snuggled up with her son for a nap. He was 3 at the time. He just turned 11 last week. Unfortunately, she’d copied it onto her hard drive without naming the file, and she just didn’t feel like scrolling through the 19,000 or so images for that one year alone to find the thing.

Boy, do I sympathize.

This year I’m recommending photo gifts for Moms on Mother’s Day. Believe it or not, most Moms do not want another bottle of overly-scented, skin-drying bubble bath. We don’t want drugstore perfume, either, and unless we’re going bald due to hormonal or chemotherapy reasons, we really don’t need yet another scarf.

But something useful that also lets us show off our kids, like photo cards? That’s always appreciated. So would the time alone to actually write nice notes on those cards, come to think of it.

They’re coming next year!

I hate waiting.

It’s gorgeous outside, albeit a bit brisk. After days of clouds, fog and rain, I honestly don’t remember the last time we had blue skies and sunshine. So why am I not outside? Because my little boy is coming down with a cold, and something tells me that I’d be a bad Mommy if I left him cooped up alone indoors.

Sounds like a good day to play Word Fugue, if you ask me. If you’ve never played before, here are the rules:

1. I start it off with a word.

2. You look at the most recently posted comment.

3. You leave ONE word that comes to mind upon reading the most recent comment.

4. You may play as many times as you like, but you may not use the same word twice.

5. The game continues until comments are closed.

Ready?

Here’s the word:

Sunny

Your turn!

Photo credit: Reuters

Winners announced Monday.

(Thanks to Jeff for suggesting this one!)

I wish I could remember who first told me about Scrabulous, because I’d like to go find him/her and slap them silly for getting me hooked on yet another game.

Not that I’m any good at it: I’ve been playing the robot mostly and that sucker cheats. Which is why I decided to invite Kim to play an email game of Scrabulous, because at least that way I’ll know who I’m swearing at.

Meanwhile, as I was browsing Google’s images I saw a link informing me of a new feature, and I wish I hadn’t clicked it. I’ve been hooked on playing the Google image labeler game ever since. Not that it’s really a game so much as Google pressing people into free labor by pairing them up randomly and showing them a series of images they need to create tags for within 2 minutes, with points awarded every time the players come up with a matching pair of tags.

No, it won’t get you a fat check from Google, or even restore your PageRank. It’s still fun… plus it helps improve Google image searches, which means you might just be doing yourself a huge favor while playing.

Ever have one of those weeks when you glance at the calendar and wonder if you’ve gone insane because it can’t possibly be only Wednesday! I’m having one of those. So when someone wished me “Happy Hump Day” today I nodded and smirked, but only because I feel like Father Time has somehow screwed me this week.

Next time I’m making him buy me drinks first.

At any rate, since American Idol is still a couple of hours away and I have absolutely nothing witty, snarky or otherwise Venomous to say, this seems like a good time to play Word Fugue®. (C’mon, admit it: you’ve been waiting for this all week, too.)

If you’ve never played before, here are the rules:

1. I start it off with a word.

2. You look at the most recently posted comment.

3. You leave ONE word that comes to mind upon reading the most recent comment.

4. You may play as many times as you like, but you may not use the same word twice.

5. The game continues until comments are closed.

Ready?

Here’s the word:

Hump

Your turn!

The “I Like Big Butts And I Cannot Lie” Caption Contest is over. The winners are:

First place: The Maximum Leader with “So, do you swing?”

Second place: DrunkBunny with “Try me, baby. You know what they say. Once you go Barack, you never go back!”

Runner-up: Timmer with “So…is Chelsea dating?”

Look for another caption contest tomorrow!

This contest brought to you by:
Advanced Writing Solution for Professional Results . Limited Time Offer! Get Now!

(Photo credit: AFP)

Your challenge: tell us what Obama is saying.

Winners announced Tuesday!

I’m nodding off already, and it’s only 9 p.m. Seems like that makes this a perfect night to play Word Fugue, the fun little word association game that’s just so gosh darn revealing. If you’ve never played before, here are the rules:

1. I start it off with a word.

2. You look at the most recently posted comment.

3. You leave ONE word that comes to mind upon reading the most recent comment.

4. You may play as many times as you like, but you may not use the same word twice.

5. The game continues until comments are closed.

Ready?

Here’s the word:

pooped

Over at Aggies’s Diary of a Pink and Brown Wedding (which has since evolved into a diary about everything), I saw one of those corny “What does your name say about you” things. Her name is Mary Agatha and, naturally (or so I figured), the quiz told her all sorts of nice, rosy things about her personality.

But what would it do with a name like ‘Venomous Kate’, I wondered, half-expecting to smoke their server as it looped through ways to handle a moniker like that.

Now I don’t know what to make of it.

What ‘Venomous Kate’ Means

You are very hyper. You never slow down, even when it’s killing you. You’re the type of person who can be a workaholic during the day… and still have the energy to party all night. Your energy is definitely a magnet for those around you. People are addicted to your vibe.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.

You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don’t have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you’ll knock down anyone who gets in your way!

You are a very lucky person. Things just always seem to go your way. And because you’re so lucky, you don’t really have a lot of worries. You just hope for the best in life. You’re sometimes a little guilty of being greedy. Spread your luck around a little to people who need it.

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.

You don’t always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don’t have as much going for them as you do.

You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life. You are also a keeper of knowledge - meaning you don’t spill secrets or spread gossip.

People sometimes think you’re snobby or aloof, but you’re just too deep in thought to pay attention to them.

You are usually the best at everything … you strive for perfection.

You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic “Type A” personality.

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You’re most comfortable when you’re far away from home.

You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

Ever get the feeling that some of these quiz-writers are trying to get into your pants?

So, What’s Your Name’s Hidden Meaning?

I’ve got a headache. My back hurts. I have a pimple on my chin that’s killing me. I only got four hours of sleep last night and I’m so stressed out that my right eye is starting to twitch. Lovely, that.

Also, I’m a bit grumpy.

So I’m thinking about having a martini and following the instructions on my bottle of aspirin which direct me to keep away from small children.

That means tonight’s a good time for another round of Word Fugue, the fun and revealing word-association game that originated here at EV. If you’ve never played it before the rules are simple.

1. I start it off with a word.

2. You look at the most recently posted comment.

3. You leave ONE word that comes to mind upon reading the most recent comment.

4. You may play as many times as you like, but you may not use the same word twice.

5. The game continues until comments are closed.

Ready?

Here’s the word:

Chilled

Your turn!

The winners of the “Fill in the Bubble” Caption Contest are:

First place, Craig with “You know, now that I think about it, that Karl Rove is one good-looking man.”

Second place, WG with “It’s a small world after all…it’s a small… Aw, crap, an ear worm.”

Honorable mention, Chuck Foxtrot with “House Intelligence Committee…riiiiight.”

Is it just me, or is 2008 off to crappy start? First I had the stomach flu, then the in-laws arrived, then Huckabee won the Iowa Republican caucus which means — if things don’t change — we may be looking at yet another four years of a President who believes he has a hotline to God that entitles him to believe he knows best. Greaaaaaat.

The only bright spot? Britney’s suicide attempt. Yeah, I know, how snarky. But let’s face it: unlike the Huckabee victory, we all knew it Brit’s breakdown was coming. Plus, I won a bet with VH that she’d actually try it. (He tends to think too highly of girls who go panty free in public as I well know, but don’t ask why.)

So, I figure it’s time to play Word Fugue, that addictive little word association game that originated here at EV. If you’ve never played it before, here are the rules:

1. I start it off with a word.

2. You look at the most recently posted comment.

3. You leave ONE word that comes to mind upon reading the most recent comment. No chit chat!

4. You may play as many times as you like, but you may not use the same word twice.

5. The game continues until comments are closed.

Ready?

Here’s the word:

Breakdown

Your turn!

We’re going to do things a little differently this time with this photo of CIA Director Michael Hayden listening to questions during a hearing before the House Intelligence Committee.

Tell me… what’s in his thought bubble?

(Winners announced Sunday)

The Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Caption Contest is over. The winners (who were selected because they didn’t go for the obvious caption) are:

First place, WG, with “If you don’t vote for me, I’ll stnad up here and keep going ‘Skwishyahead! Skwishyahead!’”

Second place, Jim, with “I don’t publish a list of all my contributors because the stack of questionable ones would be this think.”

Runner Up, Kimsch with “And when I am president, I promise that this will mean 2-1/2 inches and not the 12 inches that men have been telling us it is all this time.”

Look for another contest later today!

“I know a rocket launcher might seem excessive, but people tend to listen when you point it at them.”

- Michael Abrams

Winners announced Tuesday!