Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Llama names, haircuts, and demos.

So, I know it hasn't been that long, but it seems like forever since I last blogged.  Lots of "on the go", lots of being away from the computer, and when I finally got TO the computer, the internet went out!  (insert eye roll here)

I still haven't been able to comment on other's blogs, I can't even "comment" on my OWN blog, to respond to those who comment.  This is really beginning to bug me.  I like commenting!  I cleaned out the cache, like several of you have mentioned... I am wondering if it's something on my computer.  Or if I have screwed up a setting I didn't notice on Blogger. Or... Something!  But I think I might have to comment on my own blog by mentioning it in the NEXT blog.  At least that's all I can think of... 

(Husband has suggested using the computer for target practice might be a tad extreme.  While I agree, it has gone from curious event to extreme annoyance, and I can NOT fathom what I have done, or not done, to make it happen!)

Blah, blah, blah. 

I know, you wanna hear about the llamas.  We have them all together, it reminds me of a middle school dance, the 2 on one side, the new 3 on the other, and they just all look at each other.  They had just a minor bit of fuss and spit when they met, but just very 'I am a llama, I spit' thing, not the potential war that could have come about.  They are all a little skittish when I feed, (which has the old ones curious, I don't normally feed in the summer, as there is lots of food, read: chest high grass, but the new ones are a bit underweight), but there was no food fights or big problems.  Llama, the old female, doesn't seem to like having them around, but she isn't fighting, she just ducks away and glares, so I figure she'll just have to get used to them. 

And they all have names now.  The chocolate colored one is Dolly.  The one with "eyeliner" is Annie (name courtesy Husband), and I finally got a pun for the last one.  Toni.  (If you don't get the pun, here is what I based it on, Tony Lama.)  Husband groaned appropriately when I told him, then said, but Tony is a boy's name. 

Tony with an i, honey.

But, Tony is a boy's name!

An i on the end makes it a girl's name, hon.

???

So, even though he is still under the impression I have given my girl llama a boy's name, all is well.  They seem to be paying attention to it, but it will take a bit before they start reacting to each name personally.

I also finally carved some time out to get a haircut.  My neck was starting to hurt, my hair had become so long!  In fact, I told my hairdresser, I needed to invest in tags and a flea dip, or get my hair cut.  I kid you not, when she finished, it looked like she had a puppy in the dustpan.

That can't be all MY hair!

You are the first customer, it's ALLLL your hair!

(Yikes!)

Right now I feel like I should be staring at my belly button, so much weight is off my neck.  So, now, hopefully, I can drive with the window open a little again, without blinding myself with random hairflap! 

I did a performance for a 7th grade class.  I had a partner, he had brought all sorts of period weaponry (which really suprised me, most schools have heart failure when I forget and leave my Leatherman visible.  This school, on the other hand, thought it was wonderful that we could show them "real" period items.)  Most of the groups were male, with just enough girls that there was the, ew, I don't wan't to muss my hair vibe, as well.  I had planned to do things a bit differently, but with the high testostrone levels, (teacher's included), we went heavy on the "look at the cutlery" stuff.  It went well, if a bit annoying to find that the school didn't tell us until we got there that our "Elizabethan" group was in classes that had studied to about, oh, 1140 AD.  (The Elizabethan era started in the 1500's.  Tiny bit of gap, that...)  I had to do some bits of "this came after", hence the 'look at the cutlery' backup.  One fun thing that came out of it, we had a "full dress" practice outfit, with padded coat and hood, gorget (neck protector), helmet (about 8-10 pounds, the kids kept wanting to know why it was so heavy.  We reminded them it was to protect the head from being cleaved by a sword... Oh...), then let them HOLD a sword, and they could have a photo taken.  NO girls wanted to be sullied with all that 'stuff'.  There was a near battle for the boys.  So, I suggested the girls try on the Queen's velvet riding coat.  Eww.

Can't win 'em all.  They seem to enjoy most of my tale telling, and were (mostly) pretty good sports about the dancing we did, so I think it went fairly well.  I just wish I could convince the teachers around this area that Middle Ages and Elizabethan were different periods.  (It would be like saying that Obama and George Washington were contemporaries, basically...) 

Eh.  Kids liked it, my partner had a blast, no one became chop suey, all is well in the land of school demos.  Even if everything before 1995 is "ooooold", according to the kids.  (And stuff after is questionable.)

(insert second eye roll here...)

6 comments:

messymimi said...

It's a shame it wasn't one of my girls there -- they both grew up around samurai swords and old Western rifles and have no "eww" reaction to weapons.

What are those history teachers thinking? They, of all people, should know better.

Hope you figure out the comment thing soon.

Samantha said...

Yeah, bit of a gap between those periods!
Hope you get back to commenting soon..we miss you!

Dreaming said...

Love the name Toni.... it's a girl's name. Years ago (in my mom's time, actually) they had a home permanent product called a Toni...so there!

I know just how you feel about the computer thing. I did the same thing...went back and looked at settings to see if I had changed something during a moment of mindlessness. Nope.. that wasn't it. Can you comment on another browser? I found I could get on with IE, but not Mozilla, for a while. That irritated me no end because I don't particularly care for IE!!
Your demo sounds fun - hopefully you can help teachers get things straight!!

Buttons Thoughts said...

I would love to see your Llamas I think they are so cute. I have been having trouble with my computer. I stopped using Chrome and am now using Mozilla again and it seems to be working fine. Since I have no idea about any of that that is all I can say. Wish I knew more. Hope you get it together soon. B

Inger said...

How fun to have llamas! One of them at the rescue next door is called Bahama Llama. I think that's such a cute name too. Good luck with the new ones. I hope they all get used to each other.

bon bon said...

toni collette?
toni morrison?
toni basil...HA! there's a pre-1995 reference for you!