I recommend most always pretending you're not a panda.

Given what Homer Simpson found out when he was pretending to be a panda, this is sound advice.

All Your Bamboos Are Belong To Us

Weekend was good, but tiring.

The "prize play" for the swordsmanship group was a lot of fun. The rapier fighting was kind of boring. Lots of the opponents circling each other and changing the position of their weapons, then someone would make an attack and either land their blow, get countered or end up in a grapple. Thankfully there were only a couple of people in the rapier group.

The long sword (which are actually what gamer geeks think of as bastard or hand-and-a-half swords) group was huge, and lots of cool fighting, complete with some grappling, pommel blows and some unarmed strikes in addition to the actual swordplay. There were 3 female prizers. Two of them were rather tentative in their fighting, but the third was a woman who seemed to be in her 40's who looked like she was loving every minute of it and wasn't afraid to give as good as she got or throw down and grapple with men half her age.

There was also a couple of dagger matches, which were lightning quick and hard to follow at times.

The big thing though was everyone seemed to truly love what they were doing and I didn't see any cases of arrogance of poor sportsmanship. I've taken classes offered by the group at the local community college a few times, but after Saturday I'm seriously considering joining the group in earnest, even though it means getting up early on a Saturday to drive an hour into the city for classes.

ION, they're selling "Employee Appreciation Mardi Gras beads" here at work for people to give their co-workers. Does this seem wrong to anyone else?

On so freaking many levels I can't even say.

they're selling "Employee Appreciation Mardi Gras beads" here at work for people to give their co-workers.

Perhaps:

a) You work with Gus
b) They have taken tommyrot's work perspective advice

ION, they're selling "Employee Appreciation Mardi Gras beads" here at work for people to give their co-workers. Does this seem wrong to anyone else?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I hate everybody.

Present company excluded, of course.

Are the bosses riding around the hallways on colorful floats, throwing the beads to the employees?

ION, they're selling "Employee Appreciation Mardi Gras beads" here at work for people to give their co-workers.

So you just need to decide if you want to send the message that you don't appreciate your co-workers, or that you want to see their boobs.

Yep. Good plan there.

To be fair, I scored a huge amount of beads (and a Zulu coconut and a very pretty porcelain mask) at my only Mardi Gras without showing the remotest amount of mammary.

Didn't see many boobs either, or at least, not during parades.

I know someone who HATES pandas. I so want to send her that panda kindergarten link. In her view, pandas are just stupid and lazy and have evolved a supremely inefficient digestive system.