Scooping the Letterbox -or-Boxers 'n' Briefs

Trypto(light)phan(tastic)!

2011-11-23T17:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! And an ESPECIALLY happy holiday to my friends MushrooM and HikerGuy Ed, two wonderful people (who are not afraid of a little "Extreme Box Planting" when I am in town!)* who recently announced their engagement. Congratulations!!!!

* Extreme Box Planting = Planting at a Police Substation on 9/11.

Now, on with the bad puns...

1) Many a true word is spoken ingest.

2) Mulva?

3) Centerfooled

4) Mapless Quest

5) Whisk alarm you work

6) Board stiff

7) Orange you glad for Grumpy?

8) Seriously... watch these.

9) Breast in Show

10) Obama Lama Ding Dong

11) We all strive for a little innard piece

12) The Poemetto State

13) WOMb Clues

14) Alcohauled in for questioning

15) Even MORE Good Advice from Grumpy

16) Torpor the Mountain

17) Anticipating Precipitating

18) We have a weiner!!!

Finally, I would really like to thank everyone for the warm birthday wishes. The letterboxing community is such a wonderful and supportive group, it means a lot to me!

A Pair of Ragged Claws

2011-11-14T20:52:00.000-08:00

And you thought last week's blog was the last weak blog? Ha! This'll teach you!

Usually I spend a few paragraphs at the beginning of the blog nattering on about this or that, sometimes Letterboxing related, sometimes not. But much to my own surprise, and to your undoubted delight, I really don't have much to say this week! So enjoy the links, and the natterless intro.

1) Just when you thought I couldn't sink any lower, I do.

2) The wagers of sin...

3) Home, home on derange...

4) T-Rex and his Quote of Many Colors

5) Leaving nose stone unturned.

6) Mad's Skillz

7) Toilet Paper Roll Model

8) Let's Make Some Noisome!!

9) The Rite to Remain Silent.

10) She'll be there if fiasco to be.

11) Makes you feel good, donate?

12) Abasing With the Moon

13) Stone Mountain. At least it felt like it.

And now, our New and Improved Bonus Feature:
"Ancient Posts of Hysterical Significance"

14) Slumber Parody

15) Fool Plate

16) Because we just can't get enough Grumpy Poetry.

And that should about do it for this week.

But what is the deal with that strange title, you ask? And well you may.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Return Of The Man Called Moose

2011-11-09T18:26:00.000-08:00

It's been nearly 3 years since my last blog post. THREE YEARS!!!

You thought you were off the hook, didn't you?

You can ~~thank~~ blame Green Tortuga for that. He mentioned his idea about using the atlasquest.com domain for blogs, and I thought it was a great idea... so now I am the proud owner of "wassa.atlasquest.com" - which you are reading right now! Ain't technology amazin'?

I guess I should start, though, with a little explanation of what Boxers 'n' Briefs is all about. As most of you are probably aware, I follow the AtlasQuest message boards. Not some of them... ALL of them. There is always so much going on there, that it is really easy for people to miss interesting or important or funny or educational posts. This is the part where you, the loyal reader, jump to the conclusion that I will be an invaluable help to you in finding all those interesting and important and educational posts. And this is also where I will severely disappoint you.

Because, really, there is going to be very little rhyme or reason involved in my blog. Unless Grumpy Grinch gets linked. Then at least there will be some rhyme. But reason? I reiterate: you will be severely disappointed. But what you WILL get, usually, with no guarantees, is a bunch of links to posts, often accompanied by lowly puns, obscure references, and generally obnoxious wordplay. 'Cause that's what I do.

Now, a few disclaimers... I did over 65 of these blogs back in the day, each with a few dozen links. That's a lot of posts, and a lot of puns. So bear with me if I happen to reuse a joke or pun from the past. Also, you may notice a relatively high proportion of the links are to my own posts. There is a simple explanation for that: vanity. And finally, for this first blog (well, first in recent history), I am going to start with some really old posts. So without further ado...

1) Serpent Safari

2) Oh, The Wither Outside is Frightful...

3) The Saga of The Fearless Colon (Part I)

4) Romanas eunt domus? (extra points for recognizing the quote without using google)

5) The Saga of The Fearless Colon (Part II)

6) All Encompassing Skills

7) PLEASE tell me they were all in one car...

8) See? We're not the ONLY weird hobby...

9) We don't need no stinkin' patches! Oh wait, yes we do.

10) You'd have to drag me up the mountain.

11) A moment of silence.

12) Lots 'n' Lots

13) A little mandible labor never hurt anyone!

14) Suave and sophisticated.

15) I believe in Miracles!

16) I have asked myself this same question many, many times.

17) Fox in Shocks

18) The Saga of The Fearless Colon (Part III, Fin)

19) I really miss Pre.

20) Tweety bored

21) Don't rubber the wrong way!

That's probably enough for now, assuming your brain has not already melted. Keep an eye out for the next exciting issue (well... the next issue, anyway) of Boxers 'n' Briefs!

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Remember Me?

2009-01-20T13:00:00.000-08:00

Hey kids!

I know, I know... it's been a while! In fact, I haven't posted a regular "Boxers 'n' Briefs" since the beginning of August - 5 1/2 months ago! Since that last blog entry, there have been nearly 4,000 new members who have joined the AQ Community (3,842 to be exact). So... there are quite a few of you who have no idea what a "Boxers 'n' Briefs" is all about! You have been blissfully unaware of the horrific mental anguish I am capable of inflicting upon your erudite psyche, the dreadful damage of my dubious demented dabblings, the sheer stupidity I am capable of unflinchingly imposing upon your unsuspecting cerebrum . But no longer - you have now been infected! Bwahahahaaaa!!! errrr... but I digress...

Simply put, "Boxers 'n' Briefs" is a collection of links to various AQ Message Board posts. These posts are things that for one reason or another I found interesting/amusing/thought-provoking/ or easily-punnable. It is a very nearly random sampling of much that has occurred over the last 5 months, all cleverly disguised by bad jokes, puns, wordplay, and commentary. I hope you enjoy it (or at least survive it)!

1) Yeah, that's definitely MY kid...

2) Tattootorial.

3) Alconomics

4) Cleanink Solution

5) The (Mic)Keys to the Kingdom

6) Breaking in wind.

7) When you mix "trinket" with "jingle", you get "tinkle"!

8) Three hikes, you're out!

9) Gerrymeandering

10) Dwyle Flonking - it speaks for itself.

11) Giving a Junkie her fix.

12) This, too, shall pass.

13) Taking recycling for granite.

14) 'Skeeters never prosper.

15) Cell shocked

16) A HUGE Achievement!!!

17) Lilac Blossoms

18) Litterboxing

19) Extras! Extras! Read all about 'em!

20) Pickup schticks

21) Getting organized

22) Another wild Doncoction.

23) Adhesive jolly good fellow...

24) She never disappoints..

25) The kind of mannequin trust.

26) No soup for you!

27) Joining the Rotary Club

28) Collision, Collusion, and Confusion

29) They felon the ground

30) Something to chauffeur it.

31) Hosed Captioning

32) Hellucinating

33) Yet another use for ziplocks!

34) Whatever the market will Bear.

35) "Fun is where you find it."

36) Troll stroll goal patrol.

37) Rubber Soul

38) Why we're all here.

And that is probably WAY more than enough wassa-isms I have inflicted upon your tortured souls! So, until next time (whenever that may be)... Happy boxing!!

-wassamatta_u

P.S. If you have been linked or mentioned in this (or any other) B&B, you are eligible for the dubious distinction (emphasis on "stinct") of procuring your very own "Boxers 'n' Briefs Patch." Just AQ Mail me for instructions.

Boxers 'n' Briefs: I Lived, I Breathed

2008-09-26T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hello, Intrepid Boxers!

This isn't going to be a "normal" BnB (like ANYTHING I do is "normal"). Normal is gone, out the door. Has no meaning any more. You see, I went to the most amazing "event" of my life. I went to "Live and Breathe".

To say that it was a great experience would be like saying ArchimedesScrew is an okay carver, or that SHH kinda likes Star Wars, or that Shiloh talks a little funny - it completely falls short of the mark. I know that all of you who didn't go are probably getting a little tired of hearing everyone go on about it, and for that I do apologize. But maybe if I just outline a bit of what the weekend was like for me, you can get a feel for what a unique and bizarre and uproarious and magical time we had. Note: Forgive me if I get a few details wrong - much of the weekend was a blur...

I arrived at Portland Airport (PDX) Thursday morning, and was soon met by my wonderful hostess, Maiden, as well as Poodle Dudes, Woohoo Crew, and a very funny woman wearing a shirt with the words "HI WASSA!" emblazoned on it - whom I immediately KNEW was Ki from Spiralseekers (Hi Ki!). After throwing my prodigious luggage into the back of the LetterVan, they immediately spirited me away to one of the local Letterboxing hotspots - Ikea. We quickly snagged a couple of boxes outside the store, checked the time (Shiloh was arriving at PDX shortly after me), and decided we had time to get the box INSIDE Ikea.

Ikea Mistake #1: although Maiden is a master of directions in the woods, her internal GPS gets a bit fuzzy inside Big Box stores.

Her "shortcuts" really only allowed us to roam in endless circles more efficiently. The good news was, we kept passing by these big bins of FREE LITTLE PENCILS, and I could grab another handful and stuff them into my cargo pockets with each pass.

Ikea Mistake #2: those little pencils are SHARP when you shove your hand in your pocket.

Once we eventually extricated ourselves from the clutches of Swedish Urban Design, we hopped in the LetterVan and headed back to PDX to pick up Shiloh. Shiloh was easy to spot, due to the combination of Mountain Man facial hair and blatant "Arkansas" T-shirt. Naturally, we passed right by the first time without noticing him. Apparently the "internal GPS" has trouble at airports, too.

Let me get this out of the way right now: Shiloh and I have been communicating online for a few years now, and when L&B was first announced, we immediately decided we would be "roomies". Although no doubt he regrets that decision, I gotta say that Shi is one of the nicest, funniest, most pleasant-to-be-around people I have ever met, and it was a blast hanging out with him for the weekend. Here's to you, buddy! (Yes, he bribed me to say that with a bottle of homemade mead.)

Back to Ikea, while waiting for Sits N Knits' plane to arrive. Shiloh headed out to get the boxes while the rest of us hung back doing exchanges, and in a harbinger of how the rest of the weekend would go, while we were in the parking lot, Lord and Lady Bug approached us (having noted the stamping frenzy) for even more stamp carnage.

Back in the LetterVan, back to PDX for SnK, more hugs and exchanges and luggage, and (although we CONTEMPLATED one more swing by Ikea) off to meet some other boxers for lunch! Lunch was at a WONDERFUL little English pub somewhere in some area somewhat near somewhere. (Apparently, now MY internal GPS was a bit off as well). We met, to my total surprise and incredible delight, with Lock Wench (my gosh... THE LW!! Excitement was in the air, or at least in the beer), as well as Kreepy Kelli, Dragonrider, the Wildcats, and other boxing luminaries. More exchanges, more laughter, and MORE BEER!

Pile back in the LetterVan, off to pick up Maiden's kids from school. But wait - who is there at the school? MORE BOXERS! We waved to the lovely and Happy Papaya as well as Dorks Anonymous of demxxmen as we barreled through campus on our way to... more letterboxes! Note: in a remarkable feat of skill and cunning (and spoonfeeding) I was actually able to be a First Finder on a Portland Letterbox! Woot!

After that... more letterboxes (in particular, a puzzle clue that I had solved months before but never thought I would get the opportunity to find - the spectacular "Hoot and Cheer" by demxxmen). Then meeting up with some more letterboxers, flurries of exchanges, and (eventually) some of that world-famous PNW Night Boxing.

Eventually, it occured to us that we had not eaten. Back into the LetterVan, and off to a pizza parlor and MORE BEER! The cast of zany characters at this point included me, Maiden, Shiloh, Papaya, Tonx of demxxmen, and Kreepy Kelli. Much hilarity ensued, most of which cannot be published on a family-friendly blog, but culminated in several "emergency" calls to Dorks Anonymous informing him of the preponderance of certain phone numbers being tattooed on certain body parts of certain people... it's really best not to ask too many questions...

To the LetterVan, and crashing at dear hostess Maiden's house.

It is here I would like to point out that L&B had not even STARTED yet! Hmmm, this could be a long post...

Friday morning - L&B Day!! Shiloh and I drag ourselves into the LetterVan, while Maiden, distressingly perky for it being o early, took us to a local Fred Myers (yet another mega store) for coffee and donuts. Here, she also made us run around the store looking for the most pungent, muskiest smelling liquid we could find for a special "odor-clue" night box. Nothing like "stealth" when you are shouting across half the store "Hey, Shiloh! Come sniff this, it's really stinky!"

Finally, after snagging a couple more boxes, we arrived at Camp Adams. We were there early, since Buppsters had conscripted Shiloh and I to be "Parking Monkeys". My job, such as it was, was to greet cars as they came up the dirt road, point to the big building right in front of people's faces telling them that was where they needed to go, and making sure they knew their License Plate numbers for registration purposes. I had a blast "working", since I got a great chance to meet all the wonderful boxers from all over the country before the real madness began! I tend to get a little excited under such circumstances, and spent a good deal of this time bouncing up and down as all the famous trailnames I had been dreaming about passed through!

I realize this post is getting to be pretty long, and we are JUST starting in on the actual Live and Breathe event... so, since the rest of the weekend was a bit of a blur, and to give you, the reader, a well-deserved reprieve, let's just stick to the highlights...

- I got to meet Der Mad Stamper and Raqs Enigma. There had been much speculation that if DMS and I ever got into the same room, the universe would implode. Fortunately, this did not actually occur.

- I got to meet (insert Incredibly Long List of Trailnames here), and they were WONDERFUL!

- Letterboxing. An INCREDIBLE amount of Letterboxing, at all times of the day and night. Miles and miles of gorgeous Oregon wilderness trails, wonderfully written clues, amazing stamps by boxers from across the nation, clever hiding spots... really, no words to describe it all.

- The Campfire. The skits, songs, bagpipes, and flutes were all tremendous fun. Much to everyone's chagrin, I got to perform a "sing-along" song, as well as a new song I wrote called "The Live and Breathe Song" (catchy title, huh?) Special thanks to Light-Girl (aka Lexi-bug). Also thanks to KuKu for the use of her Magical Guitar, which amazingly didn't hit too many bad notes.

- Some people will do almost anything for a PT. Like lick a banana slug, for instance. Just sayin'.

- When you are wearing a giant pair of boxer shorts, people are hesitant to shake your hand.

- When night boxing in said giant pair of boxer shorts, be careful where you stick your flashlight. Or your head.

- When you see kitten without mittens, do an exchange RIGHT THEN, because you may not get another chance :(

- Festivus is my new favoritest holiday.

- Capperpillars are cute

- It was absolutely unbelievable the amount of work, creativity, and love of the sport (and the people) that the Committee and volunteers and helpers put into this. I am agog with gratitude.

- It IS possible to laugh for four days straight.

- Lock & Locks can fly like frisbees, but they bounce like rubber balls... sorry about that, Maiden!! Samurai Stamper made me throw it!!

- deniserows makes INCREDIBLE logbooks.

- I spent an amazing amount of time doing exchanges and visiting old and new friends, and it wasn't NEARLY enough.

- Magic happens.

- Mark Pepe said it in his blog, and I couldn't agree more... "It's All About the People!!!"

Ok, really, I must sound like I am blathering on about now. I want to thank everyone who made my L&B experience so wonderful (which would be everyone there)... and thanks for indulging me in this non-traditional Boxers 'n' Briefs.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Golden Child

2008-08-06T22:54:00.000-07:00

Hiya All!

This has NOTHING to do with Letterboxing. It has EVERYTHING to do with the fact this is my blog and I can be a proud Dad on it if I want!

My daughter Juli competes in a sport called "Acro-Gymnastics". Basically, this is like gymnastic floor routines, choreographed to music and done in pairs or trios. If you have ever been to a circus, it looks a lot like what the acrobats do there, with tumbling and throwing each other in the air and forming mind-boggling pyramids and intricately balanced columns with each other.

This last week, Juli's trio went to Des Moines, Iowa, for the Acro-Gymnastics National Competition, in the "Level 7, Women's Group age 14 and under" category.

Juli's trio won the gold medal. My daughter's trio is the NATIONAL CHAMPION.

National.

Champion.

Best in the NATION.

So, I brag. So sue me.

Ok, back to Letterboxing links.

1) Holy Maskimony

2) Death by chocolate

3) Putting the "vacate" in "vacation"

4) You're not the emboss of me!

5) Working in a Methane Athylum

6) I've got a bad feline about this...

7) Portrait of the oddest

8) Mercedes Bends (out of shape)

9) You hid the box under where?

10) Now THIS deserves a patch!

11) It made a huge methanol I got was a good transfer.

12) Delayed Late Show

13) What I Did On My Summer Vacation

14) Buffalo Sold Ya

15) Emergen-scene

16) A moment of silence, please

17) How to make a Wassa jealous.

18) Zip or dey do dat

Well, that's all I have for now! Remember, if you have been linked in this (or any previous) B'n'B, you are eligible for the dubious honor of procuring your very own Boxers 'n' Briefs patch - AQ mail me for details!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Three

2008-07-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Hey, 'Boxers! Remember me? Or has that glorious eraser "time" rubbed the foul memory of my jokes off the parchment of your soul? Well, tough... here I am again, ready to write the wrongs.

So, what's been going on since last I wrote? Well, to put it in perspective, at the time of the last BnB, Ryan was still on his hike. McBoxer was busy pushing people's buttons on the AQ boards, and had nearly a month before his "big project debut". LTCs were just starting to take off, but there were no official trackers for them. And "pink" was becoming a way of life.

A lot has happened since then, so much so that it is rather pointless to attempt to chronicle it all. Instead, I am going to tell one little Letterboxing story, then proceed into the usual morass of disjointed linkage... only this time it will be even MORE disjointed. Tens of thousands of posts have occurred, so my "selection" will be very nearly random.

A few months ago, while Ryan was somewhere in the wilds of Florida, I took my daughter on a trip to San Luis Obispo, CA, for one of her Acro-Gymnastics competitions. For those of you who don't know it, SLO is the home stomping-grounds for our very own Green Tortuga. Now, I had never gotten a GT box, so I was really excited about this trip.

As it turned out (and as I shouldn't be surprised), I had very little time to myself to "escape" from the rigours of a competition weekend. I got about an hour the first day to get some wonderful boxes at a park that happened to be right near the hotel, and I was able to snag my first Amanda box. But no GT boxes. Drats!

As the weekend wore on, I was eventually resigned to the prospect of not achieving the GT goal. But fortune smiled on me, or at least stopped pummeling me with a blunt instrument, on Sunday afternoon. There was a break in the competition, and I decided to head out and get some Subway sandwiches for lunch, instead of the methane-burgers they were serving at the meet (notice how that isn't spelled "meat"). I hopped in my car, and headed down the road. As I was driving around SLO, getting wonderfully lost, I suddenly spied an establishment whose name was strangely familiar: "Leon's Used Books". HEY!!! There was a GT box in that place!! I parked as soon as I could, and as I was getting out of the car, it dawned on me that I didn't have ANY of my Letterboxing stuff with me! No sig stamp, no inkpads, and not even any clues. NOOOOO!!!!

Well, by this time I was determined. I recalled this box was "special" in that it didn't have a logbook - it was simply a stamp-on-a-magnet - so the lack of sig-stamp was not an issue. The lack of an inkpad, and especially the lack of the clue, however, were a little more worrisome. I searched the dark recesses of my memory (to be honest, that's pretty much all I have is dark recesses), and dredged up what few things I remembered reading about this box. It was around the corner from some topic-or-other that was vaguely intriguing to me... it was near the bottom shelf, but not the VERY bottom shelf... and it was at either the far right or far left of the shelf. I figured "how hard could it be?"... until I stepped inside. The front of the store looked like it was nothing more than a hole in the wall, but stepping inside was like the scene in "The Wizard of Oz" where Dorothy first steps into Munchkinland... the place suddenly loomed larger (and deeper) than it seemed possible from the outside.

Mildly daunted, I wandered through the stacks and shelves, looking for anything that seemed "vaguely intriguing" and had a metal shelf. Finally, while being vaguely intrigued by Photography, and running my fingers nonchalantly under a shelf, I discovered "that which I seeked." Woohoo!!! I found a GT box!

Uhhhh... well, I had the stamp. But no logbook. And no ink. Now what? No way I was giving up at this point. I searched through my pockets, to see what I had... and found my checkbook. Heck, it's paper, right? I looked closely at the stamp and noticed... it seemed to have some residue ink on it from previous stampers. I snuck back into one of the side-rooms in the bookstore, made sure I was unnoticed, and HUFFED like a madman on the stamp (I knew I would only get one shot at this), then quickly stamped it onto the back of a blank check. Ha!! I GOT it! I now have a voided check with a faint but definite impression of Green Tortuga's Bookstore stamp displayed proudly in my logbook. Persistence pays!

Ok, enough of this drivel. Time for the links!

1) Cents and Sendability

2) Of Mice and Mentions

3) Ask Dr. Science!

4) Mail enhancement.

5) They Might Be Vagrants

6) Tidal Waive

7) Beggars can't be Chaucers

8) wifeamatta_u

9) The 200,000th AQ Board Post!

10) Kids say the most incroedipal things

11) Dialogging your finds

12) Play-doo

13) Hail and high water

14) Puppy Uppers

15) Not all who Wanda are lost

16) A touching story

17) Homecoming

18) Yakking it up

19) I have to agree

20) "She did not see this as helpful"

21) Material Girl

22) A losing streak

23) Beautiful.

24) Obligatory gratuitous self-indulgence

25) Ice cream social

26) The Paper Chase

27) One cicada, two cicada, three cicada, four...

28) Tweet Feet, with pictures

29) Chick Click

30) Missed Manners

31) Returning from wench she came...

32) Gesundheit.

33) A far cry from Charlton Heston

34) You can't make this stuff up...

35) I tought I taw a Putty Tak...

Well, that's probably MORE than enough for now!!

But one last thing. In case you were wondering about the title of this blog entry, "Three"...

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Fetid, Don't Fail Me Now!

2008-03-06T22:04:00.000-08:00

I had a long day at work the other day, what with the incessant meetings and only a few chances to make use of my hand puppets while the boss was speaking. So when I got home and walked in the door (and then after picking myself up off the porch and opening the door this time before walking through), I was greeted by a horrendous smell. I mean, this was a paint-peeling stench. This was an odor obviously fermented somewhere deep in the bowels of hell and unleashed upon an unsuspecting and nasally sensitive world.

My first thought was that the dog had gotten into some bad tuna and nobody had let her outside. But after careful olfactorization and a few near-swoons, I finally determined the source of the noisome reek. A package had been delivered.

Yes, folks, that's right... I have Ryan's shoes! And they are "pristine" in the sense that they are completely unaltered from the time he took them off. They have dirt and gunk caked on them that came straight from The Swamps of Florida. If I hadn't seen it for myself, I would have SWORN that a cardboard box couldn't melt! As Ryan said in his blog: "I don't know what he'll do with them, but I sure wish I could be a fly on the wall when he opens THAT package." Believe me, Ryan, when I opened that package, there were LOTS of flies present!

So now the question arises... what to do with them? I have some ideas, but I would like to open up for suggestions. I am leaning toward some sort of money-generating thing where the proceeds would go toward AQ or a Premium Membership Scholarship or something, much like the WONDERFUL auction DebBee is holding for other Ryan paraphernalia. So send or post your thoughts, and please hurry! The cats keep trying to bury the shoes in the sandbox...

1) Cockatiels for Two.

2) Sage advice.

3) At least, you HOPE it was ink...

4) Warren peace.

5) Phases of the moon(shwr)

6) I wanda what he'll say next?

7) Letterbox recovery.

8) Things that make a wassa laugh, #1.

9) Peas on Earth, Goodwill to Man

10) Pre-pairing to box.

11) Heheheheeee.... just having a little fun... heheheee...

12) Boston T Party

13) Sumping wicked this way comes.

14) Wire we buying blades?

15) Nommercialism

16) We just call it "Pre-Speak"

17) Things that make a wassa laugh, #2.

18) Cheese Tracing? Much safer than Cheese Racing!

19) I swear I had NOTHING to do with this!

Well, that's all for now! Be sure to let me know what I should do with Ryan's Shoes! PLEASE?

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Electoral Collage

2008-02-27T23:31:00.000-08:00

For those of you hiding under a rock (or more likely a SPOR), there has been much debate and politicking going on lately in regards to the "Letterboxing President." Now, as far as I can tell, this is not for a President of Letterboxing, but more for a US President who is a Letterboxer - a sort of 3rd Party Candidate, if you will. Or if you won't.

The nominees that I am aware of (and the list seems to fluctuate... no, I will NOT make a pun out of the word "fluctuate"... this is a family friendly blog) are:

MaineKokopellian
Solar Flair
Team New Hampshire
Cyclonic
Nobody
Mr Yuk

At least, those are the ones whose posts have most cluttered... er, I mean, permeated the AQ collective subconscious.

Of course, being the attention-seeking perennial second-banana that I am, I attempted to cash in on this flurry of famousness by offering to run as Solar Flair's VP. Alas, this savvy statesman decided that my entry into the foray on his behalf would produce a marked decline in the average intelligence and maturity of the combined candidacy, and so he decided to forgo my assistance. And so, as it stands now, the kid currently has no Vices.

But enough of this cam-pain. On with the links!

1) Eau de Toilette

2) B is for Boy.

3) A chip off the ol' PZKut.

4) Eine Kleine Nachtboxing

5) And you thought MY ramblings were incoherent...

6) A pigment of her imagination.

7) It's a long way itinerary, it's a long way to go...

8) Who doesn't love a bury-'em enigma?

9) X x X = C

10) Gotta stamp 'em all.

11) Tip tips.

12) Ice Follies

13) Mummy dear rest.

14) A Tisket, A Tasket, the kids just found a... Casket?

15) Goat to the head of the class.

16) Desperately Seeking Summaries

17) Hirsute looked good on her.

18) Urine trouble now!

19) You must remember this, Eclipse is just eclipse...

20) But who could RESIST a chick like that?

21) They need to Seattle their differences.

22) Now THAT'S a useful site!

And, as always, if you were mentioned or linked in this (or any) Boxers'n'Briefs, you are eligible for the truly hideous "B'b'B Patch", made famous by...errrr... well, I'm sure SOMEBODY must have worn one sometime! Just send me an AQ mail, pointing out which blog and post made you famous, and I will send you directions on how to procure this embroidered embarrassment.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Back In The Twaddle Again

2008-02-16T18:47:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, hasn't it? Oooh, so much has happened I hardly know where to begin. But when last we punned, Christmas was upon us. Let's begin there, shall we?

We have a Christmas tradition in our house. On Christmas Eve, the kids get to open one present of their choosing. Normally, the kids (naturally) pick the biggest and least-likely-to-be-underwear present. But THIS year, they were in for a little surprise. I passed out to each of them an identical package, and set down the ground-rules: when I said "go", they were to unwrap their presents as quickly as possible, and the first one to "use" the present wins. They had no idea what I was talking about, or what "using" the present would entail, and were a little flummoxed by the fact that I had a package of my own, just like theirs. But I didn't give them a chance to question it, I just yelled "GO!"

Wrapping paper went flying, and in a few moments the kids were all staring down at their presents: unpackaged, pre-loaded Nerf Ball Guns. It took a few seconds for them to realize what they were supposed to do, but Juli (13) was the first to get the right idea, and turned and popped John (18) right between the eyes. After that, all heck broke loose, and we spent the next 45 minutes in an all-out guns blazing Nerf war extravaganza! And there is nothing like ganging up on Dad to bring the kids together as a team. Of all the wonderful presents and great times we had over Christmas, the Great Nerf War is the one they are all still talking about. Next year, though, I think I'm going to step it up a notch - paintball!

What does that story have to do with AQ, you may ask? Simple: I got the idea from a post by Florida Sunsets. It's amazing what great things come out of this community! Thanks, Florida!

As I am sure you all know, January 1st marked the start of Ryan's Florida escapades. In his absence, Ryan has graciously allowed me to watch over AQ. I started my stewardship quietly, subtly, and almost secretly, with the launching of "Wassa Quest"... though not everyone was behind me on it.

January also brought with it a very mini-meet that was big on laughs - I got to meet the infamous BigRed1. BR1 (aka "the guy who always says 'stay safe'") lowered his standards and raised his elbow with me, and I think San Jose may never be the same.

Also, I am pleased to announce that the Official Winners of the Glorious Boxers'n'Briefs Patches at this year's Mountain Mysteries Gathering were... Shoafsters & Somebunny! So there, you have been mentioned, and are now eligible to have them. How's THAT for putting the cart before the horse?

But enough ancient history... let's get down to what you REALLY came here for, shall we?

1) Vroom Service.

2) Expensive? I don't karat carves good!

3) Marry Christmas!

4) Fiskar? I hardly even know her!

5) Practice Quest

6) Ummmm... huh? Oh wait, it's pre... that explains it!

7) A little wet lie never hurt anyone...

8) It's time we had a series discussion.

9) That's what I'm torquing about.

10) Your pad or mine?

11) I gotta get me one of those.

12) When in doubt... make a list!

13) Leave it to lisascenic to find THIS one!

14) Nowhere to go but up!

15) Water these doing here?

16) It's all about being PREpared!

17) Everything You Always Wanted To Know About PZKut...* (but were afraid to ask)

18) Photographic mooseterpiece.

19) For those of you following along at home...

20) City City Game Game, we love you!

21) Doesn't the Cover Article your fancy?

22) Not stopping, just paws-ink.

23) Building instructions.

24) Ferrari action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

25) He philately refused to take an interest in rubber stamps.

26) What's worse than a bad Limerick? Two.

27) Adorable? Those kids are as skewed as can be!

28) Boys will be boys.

29) How Dewey find this one?

30) Flushed with excitement.

31) And suddenly I heard a loud Ringling in my ears...

32) I have enough trouble with the First one!

33) Sung to: My Favorite Things

34) The nice thing about "Standards" is there are so many to choose from!

35) Did I happen demention I saw him live?

36) The usual self-indulgence.

37) Isn't this guy supposed to be in the wilderness???

38) THIS is too cool...

39) Ooooh, intriguing!

And don't forget, registration is now OPEN for "We Live and Breathe Letterboxing"... sign up soon, it's going fast!!

And as usual, if you have been linked to or about in this B'n'B (or ANY B'n'B), just send me an AQ mail telling me which blog/post#, and I will send you instructions on how to obtain that most dubious of all honors, the "Boxers 'n' Briefs" patch!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: The Disney Has Landed

2007-12-20T15:53:00.000-08:00

Season's Greetings!

What a wild couple o' weeks. First off, thanks to everyone who has sent in for their B'n'B Patches - what a tremendous response! All the notes, stamps, cards, and even unexpected LTCs mean a lot, so thank you all.

We took the family to Disneyland this month... what a FANTASTIC time we had! The crowds were at a (relative) minimum, the weather (nearly) cooperated, and the kids (almost) weren't embarrassed to be seen with me!

Of course, no sooner did we get home, than a rather virulent stomach flu took each and every one of us down for a few days... so in effect, we went from the Happiest Place on Earth, to the... well, never mind.

1) Permission, should you decide to accept it...

2) They corrupt quietly around the tree...

3) There ain't nuthin' like a Dane.

4) Ask not fort whom the snow blows...

5) Persevere a year for beer? Hear hear!

6) North is where the heart is.

7) Extsnortion money.

8) Ummmmmmm, I'll have what he's having.

9) Playing connect-the-docs.

10) No, Mom, that businessman in Nigeria DOESN'T really need your help...

11) Turn North on Elm, proceed 340 paces... look on the porch of the house to your left, and there is the Letterbox you seek...

12) Rhyme AND Reason.

13) Yes, as a matter of fact, it IS a completely different language...

14) More 'Helpful Hints From Kirbert'

15) Rambling across the country and across the page... welcome home!

16) Public Service Announcement

17) And you think MY puns are groaners! (yes, I am jealous)

18) Sugar and Spice

19) Kidboxers are the bestest!

And finally, I would like to make sure everyone knows that the latest Letterpod podcast is now online... jackbear has seriously outdone himself this time, with a holiday extravaganza that is sure to make your toes tap and your eggs nog. And I just want to add... the song I sing was recorded at 2am, out in my garage, so I wouldn't wake the kids or alarm the dog... that's my story, and I'm sticking to it! No adult beverages were harmed in the making of the podcast.

Have a safe and happy holiday season, and be sure to make specific use of Boxing Day!

-wassamatta_u

P.S. As always, if you appeared in this B'n'N (or ANY one, past present or future), you are eligible for the Official B'n'B Patch... AQ Mail me for details!

Boxers 'n' Briefs: The Year of Punning Dangerously

2007-11-27T23:04:00.000-08:00

Hello, Boxers!

Hard to believe but TODAY, November 27th 2007, marks the 1 year anniversary of the very first real Boxers 'n' Briefs. I contemplated doing a bit of a retrospective, pulling out some of my favorites, but decided against it - after all, there is always so much NEW stuff happening, who has time to go back and dredge up dated humor? I will, however, point out just ONE pun that I thought was one of the best pun/post combinations I can recall off the top of my head. It occurred in the blog titled "RoboRaptor" on May 3, 2007:

16) That's why it's called "The Appellation Trail"...

I think it says something about me that this is one of my favorites... what, I don't know, but it MUST say SOMEthing!

But I digress... let us look now to the present (or at least, the past few weeks)...

1) A Salt and Blathery.

2) "Don't Fire until you see the reds of their eyes!"

3) I'm not the yeast bitter hoppy about this.

4) Sense insensibility.

5) KuKu for KoKo Pods.

6) I admit, I laughed.

7) BigRedLost!

8) Notify can help it.

9) Third shifting priorities.

10) Tanks for the memories. (Yeah, I know... overused pun)

11) Hotdogs (See comment on previous link)

12) As a roulette's usually a lot more obvious.

13) Pre-pairing for the holidays.

14) That old familial feeling.

15) Sun of Bridezilla

16) Trading places.

17) A stomp, a stump, a stamp, and a story!

18) Sneakers snicker at starter's barters.

19) Bells, Whistles, and Xyrons.

20) Way to go, Brandy! Errr, I mean Chrissy?

21) Getting coordinated

22) Tickles in the wind.

23) By popular demand.

24) Kittens say the darnedest things.

And that'll do it for our Anniversary Issue!

Don't forget, if you appeared in this B'n'B (or ANY B'n'B over the last year) you are eligible for the EXCLUSIVE Boxers 'n' Briefs Patch! Just send me an AQ mail indicating which blog and number, and I will send you instructions on how to acquire this little slice of embroidered heaven. Until next time!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Patching Things Up

2007-11-14T09:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Boxers,
I realize I have been remiss in my synopsisizing of late, and for this I am truly sorry. How can I make it up to you? How can I patch things up? Patch... patch... that's IT! A Patch!

A one-of-a-kind (well, 200-of-a-kind, actually) Patch, available only to those whose words of wisdom have been immoralized in the virtual pages of Boxers 'n' Briefs! My gift to you, for making my "job" so much fun.

Rules: AQ mail me, indicating the BnB Title and Number where you were linked (eg: "Gather By The River", #8 would be Eidolon). I will then send you an address, and you can send me a stamped, self-addressed envelope. When the envelope is returned to you, it will contain one (1) Official B'n'B 2" x 3.5" Fully-stitched 4-color Patch, with 200 shot carbine action, a compass in the stock and a thing that tells time... well, at least it will have the patch part.

And now, what craziness has been going on over at AQ the last few weeks? Let's find out...

1) A Modest Proposal.

2) Two Halve and Two Halve Not.

3) Xylene, Xylene, Over the Blending Main...

4) I'll have what he's having.

5) Whenever he canisters things up.

6) Slow down. Take a deep breath.

7) Cache conscious.

8) Personals: SWM sequin MWC (Majorette With Chutzpah)

9) Tryin' to keep it clean here...

10) Brandy has a pun kin!

11) Abombinable.

12) Mrs. Hat tricks.

13) Active? Unavailable? Retired!

14) Guest who?

15) Canoe Two

16) Pit? Stop!

17) Remote control.

18) Is the thrill gone?

19) Saving America, one letterbox at a time.

20) Obligatory self-indulgent link.

21) Safety lesson.

22) Polar opposites attract

23) Nice grouping!

24) Be sure to rehide better than you found it.

25) "... and then I walked under a ladder, and broke a mirror, and spilled some salt..."

26) Sounds like another wonderful event!

27) A lovely tribute.

28) Now, don't everyone start panicking...

29) We'll all breathe a little easier.

That's it for the moment. Don't forget, if at ANY time I have mentioned you or your post(s) in a B'n'B, shoot me an email... you won;t be disappointed! Oh, and since you were stalwart enough to get to the bottom of the blog, here's a scan of what it looks like. Enjoy!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Logo My Ego

2007-10-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings, oh Letterboxing Friends!
It is with great pride that I unleash upon you, err, I mean present to you, the Official Boxers 'n' Briefs Logo.... drumroll please....

Well, whaddya think? If you like it, then great news! The Sprite (a regular contributor to these pages, since she is as wacky as they come) has added "Official Boxers 'n' Briefs" boxers (and shirts, and coffee mugs) to her CafePress store! Get 'em while they're hot!

1) Dangling by his participle.

2) Tricky Wiki (not a Quickie).

3) It's bark is worse than her plight.

4) Tennessee, anyone?

5) Insect aside

6) Conventional wisdom

7) Could someone please respond to the poor woman?

8) It's no coincidence that an anagram for starSAELS is "Le Rats A..." (fill in the blanks)

9) It's 'zackly the way it should be done!

10) A classy birthday

11) Phrase of the week: spontaneous catastrophic loss of molecular cohesion

12) It's no coincidence that an anagram for starSAELS is "Less Rasta"...

13) Once a boxer, always a boxer.

14) Baggers can't be choosers

15) That must itch like shell.

16) Boxing mooseadventures

17) Guaranteed to break the ice at parties

18) Lucky guess

19) Nothing left for me to say on this one.

20) 3 things you never knew about Kirbert

21) Dawg Day Afternoon

22) Seeing is retrieving.

23) The Challenge of the Century.

24) If Dr Seuss were alive, he'd be rolling over in his grave.

25) Locution, locution, locution.

26) Why we are all here.

27) Obligatory Self-Indulgent Post

I would like to note, for those of you who cringe at the thought of commercialism, that I don't make a dime off the "BnB" swag; I asked the Sprite to set it up as a favor, and she most graciously obliged! Three cheers for Virtual Friends! Coming soon: ooooh, it's a SURPRISE, but one I think you will like!!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: You See L.A.

2007-09-30T01:52:00.000-07:00

*sigh*
My son John is going to be a doctor. He has been telling us that since he was five years old. The funny thing is, he has stuck with that goal through grade school, Junior High, and High School. He has done everything to prepare himself for it; he joined the volunteer organization at a local hospital, and worked himself up to be President of it (with 200+ volunteers in the program). He has taken classes to earn his EMT license, and rode along in ambulances every chance he got. He studied hard, got good grades, and joined campus organizations that helped him develop his leadership skills.

So it was with great pride and great sadness that I helped him move into the dorms at UCLA last weekend. UCLA is an extremely difficult school to get into, but it is also one of the best pre-med schools in the state. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you ask him) it is a 6 hour drive away. I guess I should just look on the bright side, however... more trips to LA means more Letterboxes!

In other news, my fifteen seconds of fame arrived in the form of a cameo on the local television show Bay Area Backroads! I spent a wonderful day boxing and filming with lisascenic and Team Tysonosaurus last Spring (BoneDoc did her part at a different time/location - GREAT job, BoneDoc!!), and I got to be on TV for it! What could be better?

And finally, as I am sure you ALL know by now, Ryan installed The Big Update this weekend. WOW!!! Thanks, GT, for all you do... the latest features are fantastic (ESPECIALLY the Location Search... I can't tell you how impressive that is!)

Ok, here we go, the linkage...

1) A mind-bobbling concept.

2) Clover-achiever.

3) Tip a canoe, and camera too.

4) Unfounded fears.

5) Fall + Pumpkin = Squash

6) Know way, know how

7) You're supposed to be the carvER, not the carvEE...

8) A perfect day of letterboxing

9) I do transfers the old-fashioned way... iron it!

10) Measure twice, cache once.

11) A picture is worth, uh, 34 words.

12) Scratch him just right, and his leg will start thumping...

13) It just ghost to show you.

14) And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

15) Stroking and pulsing and digits, oh my!

16) Polly want a carbonate?

17) A new motherboard.

18) Tongs for the memories...

19) Hear hear.

20) Missing purse-on report.

Ok, that should do it for tonight! Now go and play on AQ, especially with the new geocoder!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Shall We Gather By The River?

2007-09-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh, what a fun weekend!!

First off, I would like to thank the Bookworms, The Gillespie Tribe, and especially the charming Baby Bookworm for organizing such a wonderful event: The American River Gathering in Sacramento, CA. The weather was perfect, the food was scrumptious, and the cooties were prevalent. Katie-bug and I travelled up Friday evening, and met up with such Letterboxing Luminaries as Princess Lea, Lisa and Robb, Doublesaj n Old Blue, and even some Right-Coasters ( < --- gratuitous harbinger) like Schizokeet, NoVA Coaster Fan, Sheba and the ineffable Cyclonic. I will leave it to Cyclonic to relate in his blog our hilarious antics that evening in the grocery store, which involved lock-n-lock knock-offs (knock-n-knocks?), pool noodles, a self-checkout station, and beer.

There were many memorable moments at the gathering; the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) beating each other with sticks in the pavilion next to us, Princess Lea's gigantic cootie, the wassa_raffle_u, and of course the friends and boxes. But perhaps one of the MOST interesting moments was at the after-gathering pizza party, where Schizokeet went up to a rather large hairy SCA re-enactor (they went to the same pizza place), and "cootied" him, saying it was "A message from Her Majesty the Queen", while we Huzzah'ed our heads off. Guess you had to be there...

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who helped and/or attended... it was a fantastic weekend!

1) Take it up with the School Board.

2) Trekkie Gal went on a date. Part 1. (Note: she has forgiven me...)

3) Trekkie Gal went on a date. Part 2. (Note: she has rescinded her forgiveness...)

4) Till death stewie part.

5) Gargoyle Girl grabs golf gold.

6) StarSAELS' Con-voluted post.

7) Google THIS!

8) A worrisome thing that leads you to fling the Clues in the Night...

9) Mind if I cut in?

10) Amanda and Costello

11) He was probably planting a micro-box.

12) A ferret to remember.

13) We LOVE to hear from Greg!

14) Yes, stats why we love him!

15) Mailstrom.

16) Cutting edge photography.

17) Hitting the nail on the head.

Well, that seems to about cover it. And don't forget...
TOMORROW, 9/19, is International Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day!!!!!

-wassamatta_arrrrrr

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Summer Like It Hot

2007-09-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

Before I say anything else, I just want to say HERE YA GO! to Big Red 1... Be safe, and be laughing!

Ok, where was I? Oh yeah... this August/September heat is really getting to me! Ah, well, Fall is just around the corner.

Last month, I took my son down to Los Angeles for the parent/student orientation at UCLA, where he will be a freshman in a few weeks (YIKES!). A couple of wonderful 'boxing things happened while I was down there that I wanted to share with you, my captive audience. First, I had the great honor and privilege to be interviewed by jackbear for the 6th Episode of the Letterpod podcast. Yes, that's me giggling like a schoolgirl (no offense star writer or kiwi foamie). It was really a blast, not only because I was able to make a fool of myself in a whole new medium, but also because I got to play with some pretty cool technology. Ya see, I was in a hotel room in LA, while jackbear was... well, actually I have no IDEA where he was, but it was east of the Mississippi. We used a cool little computer application called "gizmo" to chat over our computers, and he was able to record it directly to a file. Pretty nifty stuff!

The other fun 'boxing thing was that I got to do some fun 'boxing. I met up with the absolutely delightful Piper Paws and her son Marco Polo. My intention all along had been to get one particular box, a box I have been eyeing for months in glorious anticipation: "To The Batcave". I LOVED the Batman TV show when I was a kid, so the thought of going to the ACTUAL SPOT where they filmed the Batmobile careening out of the cave sent goosebumps up my spine.

But first, Piper Paws suggested we try out a new series called "Hollywood Forever!" Sure, I thought, why not? All I can say is: Piper Paws, you are a GENIUS. That was one of the funnest and most fascinating letterboxing excursions I have ever had. Ya see, "Hollywood Forever" is the name of a cemetery, where DOZENS of famous stars are buried. They sell a cool map at the gift shop (yes, a cemetery with a gift shop) that shows over a hundred stars' burial locations within the grounds. The hiding spots were clever, the clues interesting, the stamps spectacular, and the company entertaining... what MORE could one ask for?? A truly remarkable trip. I never DID get to the Batcave, but no regrets! I can still look forward to that one NEXT time!

Ok, enough blathering! I have a month worth of links to punnify, so let's get to it, shall we?

1) Extreme Makeodor.

2) An extremely detailed and exact account of what happens at a Gathering.

3) It's like playing "Twister" with your hands...

4) Greg was home! A wonderful account by a wonderful mom.

5) I always considered him a shady character...

6) I single the body eclectic.

7) Would that make them "Lettlettes"?

8) Useful info, but taken out of context, can be really funny...

9) Am I a little late in posting this?

10) Well listen, Gromit!

11) Dots awl there is to it!

12) Want back up? Pack up your backups and jack up your hack-ups.

13) Missionary: Impassable

14) If you don't Ox, you'll never know.

15) Apparently, not EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas...

16) Looks like a purse to me, mstrwndl...

17) Lucy would be pre-oud!

18) Ink-redible predict-ink!

19) Obligatory "Kids Say The Darndest Things" link.

20) She's like a random phrase generator... gotta love it!

21) Oh my Gordie got it right!!

22) Shameless self-promotion (both this link and the content)

23) Chestnut roasts Stone, and his hopes inspire.

24) More shameless self-indulgence.

25) So, Ryan, does this mean Premium Memberships are only $23 (hex)?

26) Ryan holds the answers in his Palm.

27) Oooh, this really is a trekkie question...

28) chadams, the ultimate con-man.

29) *sigh* Tired of these self-indulgent links yet?

30) Now he's con-spiring to con-script con-spirators amid con-stituents!

31) Ok, KuKu and Mr Yuk...

That should keep you all busy for a while, at least! Looks like there is a lot of chatter heating up on the LB-Con, which I think sounds like a FANTASTIC idea, so expect to suffer through more "con" jokes in the future... until next time, which hopefully won't be QUITE so long...

(still need a good Pepe-like tag line here... open to suggestions!)
-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: You Either Love Us or Hiatus

2007-08-04T16:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings, fellow boxers!
Once again, many factors have contributed to my little hiatus from Boxering 'n' Briefing. The most important of which, naturally, was sheer summer-induced laziness. Oh, sure, I could go on about how work has been busy, about how home projects have sucked up time, about how my devotion to literature (aka finishing that last Harry Potter) has absconded with many an otherwise free hour. But the bottom line is simply that I decided not to get stressed about self-imposed deadlines, and wanted to relax and chill a bit this summer.

But alas, the urge to pun is strong in me, and so here I am once again, ready to inflict the lowest form of humor upon you. Besides, I HAD to put out a Boxers 'n' Briefs - after all, it IS almost time for "National Underwear Day"!

1) He was Joss standing there, Whedon to buy a book!

2) Cake talk.

3) Brother Beer.

4) I just don't understand some people...

5) Grateful for a complete writeup.

6) Resisting Attemptation.

7) Why waste perfectly good camo tape?

8) I wish I'd said that!

9) An engaging smile.

10) Stairmastery.

11) Follow his directions to the letter.

12) Maybe the big stick isn't such a bad idea after all.

13) Ex-squeeze-it details.

14) Just Frodo's boxes on the mountain.

15) It's that last part that always gets me...

16) Ok, I can't come up with a G-rated comment...

17) Kilts say the darnedest things.

18) Successfully Jason down an old 'boxer.

19) I'm guessing this wasn't just a "theoretical" question.

20) There's still time to sign up!

21) There's a methane to his madness.

22) Every step counts.

23) Odor stinks you can stink!

24) It's erase to Dollar Tree!

25) Lifestyles of The Ridge and famous.

26) Postcards to the edge.

27) The Gathering wind.

28) It just wouldn't be a BnB without a Sprite Story.

29) Parental response ability.

30) Obligatory self-indulgent link.

So there you have it... until next time when guilt, free time, and warped humor conspire to inspire!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: I'm Baaaa-aaack!

2007-07-18T23:30:00.000-07:00

I know, it's been a while since the last Boxers 'n' Briefs. I took my daughters on vacation last week to the beach in Monterey (CA). What a fantastic time we had! Waking up in the morning, and wandering out on the beach. Watching the sun set over Monterey Bay while dolphins frolicked in the waves. Playing in the fantastic tide pools. We spent a VERY full day at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, where Katie finally overcame her fear of roller coasters, and rode the Giant Dipper... 3 times! We even went to the fantastic "Dennis the Menace Park" and snagged a letterbox there. Strangely, however, I didn't have the free time I thought I would to do some writing...

So here is what happened over the last two weeks...

1) Yakking of lacking in backpacking backtracking.

2) The Eastman Always Rings Twice.

3) When a buddy meets a buddy, comin' through the Ryan...

4) WHY do we encourage her???

5) Vive la difference!

6) Blessed with second site.

7) We'll know soon enough...

8) L.W., Euphonium home!

9) Has she been myspayed?

10) Some great advice.

11) Suffering series stash.

12) I love it when a plan comes together!

13) Vacating the promises.

14) Hat trick.

15) Police release me, let me go.

16) Driving my karma.

17) Urban learnin'.

18) The year in review.

19) I'M THERE!!!!

20) Amanda for all seasons.

21) Birthday shellabration.

22) Benign growth.

23) How to Cranmere boxes into a single day.

24) YA? Yeah!

25) The glass is half full, and there's room for more!

26) Don't get rattled.

27) AMEE-BUDZ

28) Boxers do the nicest things.

29) Working with Mr Yuk is a gas!

So, I suspect more than a few of you have Potter Plans tonight... happy reading!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Golden Boxers

2007-07-05T01:00:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to ME!
This is officially the 50th "Boxers 'n' Briefs" blog entry! Who knew (or wished) that I would be able to sustain such a seemingly unending barrage of bad puns, corny jokes, and obscure references, all wrapped around Atlas Quest board posts? I have read literally EVERY post on AQ since October 30, 2006 (well, to be truthful, every one since Sept 2, 2006, when I first "discovered" the boards, but Oct 30th was the launch of BnB). From my first "link" to the present, that constitutes 59,853 posts. I haven't gone back and counted how many links I have done, but I figure I average, say, 18 links per BnB, so that would be approximately 900 groaners I have subjected the Letterboxing world to. You are apparently a very patient group.

So thank you all for your support, patronage, and comments (any blogger will tell you that we LOVE the comments). Without you, this would just be me making jokes to myself... which is pretty much what I do the rest of the time in my life anyway.

1) Don't make her axe a second time.

2) Let us know when you are through hiking.

3) iPod in your general direction.

4) Log-istics.

5) He ain't heady, he's my brother.

6) Lessons found at the bottom of a glass.

7) A true gift.

8) Abbott and Costello and Yuk.

9) Pardon me Ryan, is that the chat on your to-do queue?

10) Relockation.

11) A light blue PT Bruiser.

12) Chestnut's boasting of an open fire.

13) Desperately Seeking Talent.

14) God save the Queen.

15) Pitcher pictures.

16) Statistics never lie.

17) "T" is for "Thousand"

18) FF4KK

19) The longest journey starts with the Single's Steps.

20) Basics revisited.

21) Letterboxing diplomacy.

22) Self-indulgent D&D link.

23) Not-So-Good vibrations.

Oh, and one more interesting fact... this blog entry will most likely contain my 10,000th page visit! Thanks again!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Three Is a Magic Number

2007-06-26T23:23:00.000-07:00

On June 24th, Atlas Quest officially turned three years old. Ok, chances are if you are reading this, then you already KNOW that. I mean, how could you MISS that giant cake and the festive balloonery? A lot can change in three years, but one thing has remained the same: Ryan's responsiveness and dedication to the Letterboxing Community has never wavered. (That sucking up has GOTTA be worth at least another year of green-hat!)

1) Putting the "Fun" in "Function".

2) A village, or not a village, that is the question.

3) Southern Comfort.

4) Melville had it right.

5) Giving a Ratatouille thumbs up!

6) Worth repeating: barking pogo sticks.

7) You made a copy, right?

8) Pleading know contest.

9) Our hearts and thoughts are with you.

10) The tooth(pick) is stranger than fiction.

11) Donut ask what's in it.

12) Lookin' for logs in all the wrong places...

13) I shocked the sheriff...

14) But I did not spook the Deputy.

15) A patchy Web Server.

16) Groovin' on a Sunday afternoon.

17) He has a Tennessee to exaggerate...

18) Flippin' amazing!

19) Can you handle this title?

20) We're crossing our fingers for you!!!!

21) Giving us the finger.

And once again, thanks Ryan for giving us Atlas Quest, and a reason for me to make really bad puns every week.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: SMPSLT

2007-06-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

So Many Posts, So Little Time...

1) She says ya need 'em, but I dungaree.

2) Pranks for the memories.

3) Icon picture it now.

4) Needful things to carve.

5) Suburban sprawl.

6) All it takes is a little skullduggery.

7) We all have our little hangups.

8) Rock 'n' Rock.

9) Yeah, but... the accordion?

10) Goin' Buffaloin'

11) A wonderful thing.

12) Good news, and a standing ovation.

13) The song remains insane.

14) I toddler not to touch that...

15) Another wonderful thing.

16) I Mensa say that!

17) Bean there, Done that.

18) Post "Post" post.

19) From one reptile to another.

20) As BR1 would say, "Be Safe".

21) WOOHOO!!

22) A picture window is worth a thousand words.

23) Alcohol it whatever I want!

Sorry about the lack of banter (though there are many, I suppose, that see this as "a plus"). Once the craziness of simultaneous end-of-school and end-of-quarter dies down, I hope to get back onto a more "normal" BnB schedule (like ANYTHING I write falls under the heading of "Normal".. ha!)

Have fun!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Skippy Gizzardlips

2007-06-08T23:16:00.000-07:00

Wow, a whole week has gone by since the last Boxers'n'Briefs.

It's the end of the school year, and things are rather hectic around our household. My oldest son is graduating High School, and has been accepted into pre-med at UCLA. Daughter Juli is gearing up for her Acro-Gymnastics Regional competition next weekend. Katie-bug has end-of-year activities and class performances almost every day. And in between all the hustle and bustle, there is squeezing in visits to Grandson Jordan. Whew! Thank goodness I have Atlas Quest to keep me busy...

1) Gischer Boogie On.

2) KuKuCruiting.

3) Pardon my extrusion.

4) The best laid plans of ducks and men...

5) Atlas Question

6) Chicks dig it.

7) Ethic I know the answer.

8) He has his mindset on it.

9) Cleanliness is next to globiness.

10) Don't they Everest?

11) Board of the Rings.

12) Define art of huffing.

13) If you give a spouse a cookie...

14) To certificate, with love.

15) I Love My Wife but Oh, Euclid.

16) Preview of coming attractions.

17) The last line says it all.

18) Boy, does Mr Yuk sound board.

19) Get him moth my towel!

20) Talkin' trash.

21) Hi, my name is Dorfus Chickendoodle...

22) A Historical Parispective.

Have a great weekend!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Field Tripping

2007-06-01T23:33:00.000-07:00

Today, I went on a Field Trip with Katie's 1st grade class. We went to the same park where we had the April 1st "No Fooling" Gathering (site of the infamous Wassa Gets Arrested prank).

What a fun trip! We went to the "Nature Center" there, where a Ranger introduced us to some indigenous wildlife. We got to see up close a Great Horned Owl, and a King Snake, and an Opossum (it was a pet, Shiloh, not lunch). Naturally, when she asked if anyone had any questions, my hand shot up. I wanted to know if there was any truth to the rumor that somewhere in the park was a hidden enclave of albino cannibals. The Ranger just smiled condescendingly at me, and went on to the next questions, which happened to be, in rapid succession, "What's an enclave?", "What's a cannibal?", and "What's an albino?"

I think maybe I won't be asked to chaperon again for a while.

The best part of the trip, though, was the Nature Hike. Aside from the fact that we were under constant assault from kamikaze squirrels, the kids really enjoyed the hike. But the most amazing part was that, totally unbeknownst to anyone there but Katie and me, all 73 kids, teachers, and adults came literally INCHES away from one of my very favorite letterboxes in the whole world! Without giving too much away, I have to give kudos to "dem xx men" for planting a box in such a deviously cunning spot! I was holding my breath the whole time (for several reasons, actually), hoping that nobody would stumble upon it. Then it occurred to me, that HUNDREDS of such field trips must have come through there, and the box is still safe and secure. Bravo, Dorks Anonymous and CrowGirl!

1) Beading around the bushes.

2) Squatter's rights.

3) Really getting intuit.

4) Cheer Leaders.

5) More trail magic.

6) Condolences on the loss of a boxing buddy.

7) A three hour tour... which one of you is Gilligan?

8) Maintaining the Status Quote.

9) I promised to Relay the message.

10) Jonesing for some boxing.

11) Father's Day is coming up soon...

12) Six degrees of Bacon.

13) Drexel Girls just guano have fun.

14) Osculation remuneration.

15) Answers are just a Click (and Clack) away.

16) Another noble cause.

17) Boxcar.

18) Teaching old dogs new trigs.

19) Webfoot's there, vendor need arises.

20) Planting is planting, right?

21) Stats all, folks!

Have a great weekend, everyone! And watch out for those albino cannibals...

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Gold Flinger

2007-05-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, so now that I have inflicted the "Proud Grandpa" thing on you all, time to take a step back (or is that a pace?), and do some "proud Dad" inflicting.

While Daughter Kristi was starting to settle in with new Grandson Jordan last weekend, Daughter Juli had an Acro-Gymnastics competition. Acro-gymnastics is fascinating to watch - it combines dance and choreography with acrobatic maneuvers and balancing skills. Juli is in a "Women's age 12-14 Trio" that consists of two "bases" and a "top". Juli is a base. It is exciting and a bit scary to watch your daughter doing flips and balance contortions and flinging her partner up in the air (amazingly high, I might add), and (hopefully) catching her.

This wasn't just ANY competition last weekend, though. This was the California State Championships.

They took the Gold!

Next stop: Regionals in a few weeks. Juli's level doesn't get to go to Nationals, so this is as high as it gets. But NEXT year, she will be in a group level that CAN compete at the National level... undoubtedly, you will be hearing more about that in the future!

But for now, it was an exciting week in the Letterboxing world.

1) Stamp by stamp instructions.

2) Leaving no Stone unburned.

3) Sing along with Mr Yuk: On the Big Ox Candy Mountain...

4) Ok, so MAYBE we jumped the gun on that one...

5) Hickory Trickery Dots.

6) A great suggestion for the week minded.

7) Box to the Future.

8) We are sorry for your loss, TLP.

9) Out of sight, out of mind.

10) Putting webfoot in front of the order.

11) Traversing the plantit.

12) What a PAL!

13) She is definitely high on maintenance.

14) Saving the best for last: a wonderful group effort!

Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. And don't forget to take a moment to reflect on what it is all about. Happy boxing!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Auntie Katie

2007-05-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

My first grandchild, Jordan Christopher, was born last Friday evening (5/18/07 - his Uncle Matt's birthday, too!) at 6:19pm (PST). He weighed in at 6 lb 13 oz, and was 19.75 inches long. Baby and mommy are doing absolutely fabulously! Thank you all for your kind thoughts and wishes, and for putting up with a couple of my "false alarms"!

Needless to say, Katie has taken her Aunting duties very seriously, and has been doting on Jordan every chance she gets. And, as promised, here is one of my favoritest pictures ever in the whole wide world...

And now, I suppose I had better do the usual AQ Roundup, otherwise you all will start unsubscribing to my blog! The horror... the horrorrrrr...

1) Finger tips.

2) How long until this event? Seems like Infinity!

3) The tooth shall set you free.

4) The pounds just melt away!

5) They'll be dragon these shirts all over.

6) The moors the merrier.

7) A Summery summary.

8) Enter at your own risque.

9) This themes to be of interest.

10) Myrtle, She Wrote.

And don't forget, this coming Thursday, May 24th is "International Plant a Letterbox Day"! See you on the trails!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Still Countdowning...

2007-05-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it has been almost a week, and still no sign of my grandson. My daughter gets contractions all the time, but so far nothing "productive"... you would think after six kids of my own, I would be USED to this sort of thing!

Oh well, at least I have AQ to keep me sane ( <--- feel free to insert wry comments about my supposed sanity here).

1) Is there a Doctorate in the house?

2) World Wide Webfoot

3) Good books for a good cause.

4) Enough cache to retire as a trilliumaire.

5) Postal Traumatic Stress Send-rome.

6) He was a one-eyed, one-horned, Trying Paypal Postal Meter

7) Errors with class.

8) As #6 said... BCCing you.

9) The buddy system.

10) Makes it kinda hard to find the box...

11) A reminder to be careful.

12) Oh, Everything except a Date in Kansas City.

13) When intercourse of human events... He held his truth, to be self-evident.

14) They did the DISHES??? Wanna trade kids?

15) Five down, many more to go.

16) Thin is in.

I'm still trying to figure out a good tag-line. "May all your contractions be productive" just doesn't really cut it...

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Countdown...

2007-05-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

Hello, 'boxers!
Last night, my daughter's contractions were at 8 minutes apart. Now, they are at around 5 minutes apart, though not very intense. From experience (we have 6 kids of our own), I know that this COULD be a "false alarm" - after all, her due date is still 12 days away... but I am still a bit excited and nervous about the whole thing... I'm gonna be a GRANDPA!

So, if this B'n'B cuts off unfinished halfway through, you'll know why!

1) The Big Easy PZ.

2) Do the Hokey, Pokey!

3) Alas, poor Warwick, I knew her well...

4) Simple, yet effective.

5) I don't want to know where you put the batteries in this Detector.

6) Hitcher and yon.

7) Who punched the spike?

8) Parent Training.

9) Free flowing thoughts.

10) National Lampoon's Letterboxing Vacation.

11) Mark your calendars (as if we'd let you forget)

12) Knowledge is power.

13) The response was overwhelming.

14) Did you see Rod Serling while you were out there?

15) How do you spell "precocious"?

16) Teach me to stitch, and I bind for a lifetime.

17) It's fun to take this one out of context.

Ok, that's the summaries, and my daughter is still in a holding pattern. She's resting comfortably at home, only a few minutes from the hospital, so no worries, right? RIGHT? Sheeesh, this is nerve-wracking... Have a GREAT week!!!
-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: RoboRaptor!

2007-05-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Warning: "Proud Papa" moment ahead. Avert your eyes, or skip down to the summaries if this sort of thing annoys you.

Still with me? Good! Katie-bug, my 6 year old daughter and bestest boxing buddy in the whole wide world, has been asking me for a couple of weeks now to do a carving for her. She got a Happy Meal toy she (for some strange reason) really loves - a mechanical dinosaur called "RoboRaptor."

I was gong to carve it this weekend, when I decided to let Katie carve it herself. I transferred the image to a piece of Mastercarve (nice and soft!) , and drew a couple of squares and squiggles off to the side, for her to practice on before tackling the actual image. I also gave her a latex surgeon's glove on her left hand, just in case her hand slipped (no accidents occurred, I am happy to report). When Katie was done, she was SOOOO THRILLED with what she had done... almost as thrilled as I was! Here, for my daddy-bragging purposes, is Katie's first real carving!

I am so proud of her!

And now, for the REAL reason you decided to click on this link...

1) Where can you hide a Virtual Letterbox? In a Hollow Fame!

2) Swiper no swiping!

3) Partyboxing.

4) Giving credit where credit is clues.

5) Thank goodness my wiki isn't showing any more!

6) Now THAT is dedication!

7) A happy ending!

8) Just like The Marx Brothers in "Horsefeathers"

9) A couple of wassa stories..

10) Breaking ground is hard to do.

11) With this Onion Ring, I thee wed.

12) Searching Rescue.

13) Amanda from Seattle, Washingaton.

14) Shhhhhh... don't tell BR1!

15) Don't forget your daily dose of irony.

16) That's why it's called "The Appellation Trail"...

17) Dash it all!

18) Foxes 'n' Boxes

19) Our condolences.

And that about wraps it up for now. Enjoy the upcoming weekend!

(Insert witty tag-line here. Mark Pepe has a great tag-line, "Get out there and box!"... I need something clever and boxy too...)

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Plain 'n' Simple

2007-04-27T23:23:00.000-07:00

Good (insert time of day here), 'boxers!
It's late, and I really have nothing of note to, uh, note. The ole 'say something witty' neurons don't seem to be firing off as I had hoped, so maybe I'll just give 'em a rest, and go straight to the summary. And there was much rejoicing.

1) I'll have a Scotch and Sodium, please.

2) A loss for words.

3) Icon count on Ryan!

4) For a limited time only.

5) You're not supposed to post a post dated post.

6) Teeny weeny (pre)boxes.

7) Too.... much.... information....

8) "Head North three Row-Row-Row-Your-Boats..."

9) I have to agree with chadams on the award...

10) A family after my own f... oops, I mean "heart"

11) Beading around the bush.

12) I just love the title of this post...

13) And I find the title of this post ironic.

14) What would they call it, "The HP EraserJet"?

15) The calm before the storm.

16) Do you serve Fortune Cookies with your posts?

17) Crazy is as crazy does...

And with that, I'm going to call it a (insert time of day here)!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Four Generations of Celebrations

2007-04-24T23:51:00.000-07:00

Hello, fellow boxers!
This weekend was a busy one for our family, with four generations of celebrations. First, my parents (generation one) had an anniversary party Friday night (#49... one more year and they're golden!) On Saturday, there was the baby shower for my daughter (generation three): our first grandson (generation four) is due in about four weeks! Also on Saturday was a big AcroGymnastics meet for another daughter, Juli (generation three), where her trio won their second Gold Medal of the season, with the highest score they have ever received - WOOHOO!

So what celebration did we (generation two) have? Sharks won the first round of the playoffs - sounds like a celebration to me!

1) You're on your own, buddy.

2) Bring home the Bacon.

3) Blade runner.

4) Deep in the heart of taxes.

5) They aren't "bugs", they are "undocumented features."

6) Ummm... I guess I shoulda linked to this earlier...

7) Our thoughts are with you, Dixie.

8) Great Scot!

9) Big Ox on New Math.

10) Hoosier on first?

11) Baby back ribbing.

12) That's just plane gross!

13) Wings and a prayer (they'll need it!).

14) Reading between the (side)lines.

Hope you all have a great week!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Boxers 'n' Briefs

2007-04-16T22:23:00.001-07:00

(to reiterate what I posted on AQ...)

I finally was able to upload all the pictures of the infamous "Boxers 'n' Briefs" that were presented to me on April Fools Day. The album is here. A description of how they were presented to me can be found on a previous blog entry. I would like to say once again THANK YOU to all the WONDERFUL 'boxers who participated... it means a tremendous amount to me, and I am truly touched and honored (though most would put an emphasis on the fact that I am truly touched). A special thanks to Happy Papaya, who organized the whole thing and, against all odds, kept it a secret! I apologize that my photographic skills are nowhere near those of lisascenic, and also there are a few that I may not have gotten pictures of (though this will be rectified, if I can use such a word when describing underwear, in the near future).

And now, without further ado (again, if that word can be used in conjunction with undergarments)...

1) Virtuosity.

2) Goal tending.

3) Good deeds.

4) This sounds like a scavenger hunt list.

5) Shameless self-indulgent Dungeons and Dragons link.

6) Tick Talk.

7) Heffalump is better than none...

8) Trading one ring for another.

9) "Does this stress look okay on me?"

10) An Affair to Dismember.

11) Clues optional.

12) Leading America's youth astray.

13) I've heard of this snaked Letterboxing.

14) We don't need no stinking badges...

Happy Tax Day, everyone!!! Have a great week.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Go Team!

2007-04-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

Rats! The Race is on for Lord Stanley's Cup, but the Sharks lost tonight's game. Oh well, there's only one thing to do under such circumstances... time to hit the Pub! (Rats...)

Ok, what can I say... I love hockey! Maybe next game...

1) Raisin the stakes.

2) Criminal detergent.

3) Rising from the ashes. Or at least the mud.

4) This Bill represents Civic Doody.

5) B-b-b-b-b-ad to the bone.

6) Playing the front nine links.

7) A little extra padding.

8) Big Ox-ymorons.

9) Approving ground.

10) Do you do this with Camo Tapers?

11) More Big Ox-ymorons.

12) Eine Kleine Nacht-Boxing

13) She's hypo-energetic.

14) I don't know what it means, but I enjoyed reading it.

And that about sums it up for the week. At least in my twisted little world. Enjoy the weekend, and don't look back! You know what they say... hindsight is 50/50. Or something like that.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Easter Punny

2007-04-09T22:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the thing is, I don't really have any interesting anecdotes for tonight. I already regaled you with April Fools exploits, and enthralled you with my Denver trip. This last weekend was my wife's birthday on Saturday... one would suspect some sort of shenanigans would ensue, but really it was rather pleasant and subdued. All six kids (and their Significant Others) showed up on Easter, so it was noisy and boisterous and crowded and lots of fun, but nothing really unusual or noteworthy occurred... so I guess the best thing to do is get on with the important stuff...

1) The fleadom to go anywhere.

2) Married in sprite of herself.

3) Get your act together.

4) He should at LEAST get a free pencil or something...

5) Definitely a seedy operation.

6) They carved out my heart and they stamped that sucker flat.

7) There's a pony in here somewhere...

8) I get all blurry just reading about reading about it.

9) Come Monday, Italy all right. (<--- Bonus Points for naming the artist)

10) You either love us or hiatus.

11) Does that make him a Yuklet Easter Punny?

12) What do big white bears get from sitting on the ice?

Hope you all have a fun and wonderful week!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Showing Their True Color(ado)s.

2007-04-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Scenic Denver!

Ok, actually, I am no longer IN scenic Denver, but a was just a few short hours ago. Although, those "short" hours turned out to be rather "long" (more on that later).

I was in Denver for a business trip, and figured it would be a good chance to meet up with some Mile High 'boxers. After a flurry of emails, preboxed chose for our meeting a place called "My Brother's Bar." So I drove to the address she gave me, and there is no sign out front. Nothing. Just a door, and a few people milling about. I go in, and the place is packed. And loud. And dimly lit. And perfect. It turns out that this bar was once a hangout for Jack Kerouac, and the place was just dripping with "personality". I glanced around, not sure who I was looking for, and a rather surly looking waiter approached me, and asked if I would like to be seated. I said I was looking for someone, and he said "Oh, are you Mark?" and proceeded to pretend to do armpit farts. He went on to explain, while I was guffawing, that he had no idea why he was doing this, but that the people at the back table had told him to.

I went back there, and joined preboxed and murmur, as well as some other local boxers, Natural Woman and Tie-Dye Gal. We did exchanges, solved PTs, passed cooties, ordered some beer and food, and generally had a wonderful time! After a while, preboxed and I went out to do a little evening/night boxing - I couldn't have asked for a better evening! So thank you all for a great evening, and it was a pleasure meeting you all! And there - I TOLD you if you bought me a beer, I would mention you in Boxers 'n' Briefs!

1) We altoid with the idea of using mint tins.

2) Letterdetoxing.

3) Maintaining the status quo.

4) Hokey Smokeys!

5) Take this job and love it!

6) Pilling me softly with his swabs.

7) Choosing just the right word.

8) Congratulations!!!!

9) We wanna see the video!!

10) THIS is what it is all about.

11) Checking up by checking off.

12) A different kind of proposal.

13) Snaking around.

14) 476 posts later, GT decides on a word.

15) Spam scam.

My flight home from Denver was a nightmare. The flight was booked solid, and I got a middle seat. Now, I am not a small guy, but the guys on both seats next to me MADE me look like a small guy. I had to cross my arms across my chest the whole way home, because they had various parts "spilling over" the armrests. And I swear, one of the guys had eaten Mexican food earlier that didn't agree with him.

But I am home now, back to my family, and all is once again right with the world.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Link-a-Rama

2007-04-03T23:46:00.000-07:00

All links, no chatter. Except this. And that. Oops.

1) Your pad or mine?

2) A virtuallist.

3) It's important to have priorities.

4) Mass hysteria.

5) Sponge dye square pads.

6) What'd you learn in school today? Sharing...

7) Dam* Snarkys

8) Poetry in emotion.

9) From AQ "Best Practices": Include actual content in your post.

10) How to make a wassa laugh.

11) Rouge warrior.

12) The Scientific Method.

13) Everyone loves clowns and balloons.

14) The Pirate Moving.

15) Shoulda stuck to armpit-farting...

16) Make sure they build in hidey-holes for letterboxes...

17) Lock 'n Load up.

18) Tweaking my nibs.

19) Where Dewey plant them?

20) Patience is a virtue.

21) Gouge potato.

22) The care and feeding of L'nLs.

23) A Spritely Success!

24) Warning: self-indulgent gratuitous linkage ahead.
a) From Happy Papaya.
b) From Art Gekko.
c) From Webfoot.
d) From Trekkie Gal.
Thank you all so VERY much.

25) Upping the stats.

26) A summary within a summary.

27) A grave question.

I think that is enough links to keep you all busy for a while! Meanwhile, I am in Denver now, where the weather is beeee-yooootiful... now if I can only get out of meetings long enough to snag some boxes! (So much for "no chatter"... *sigh*)

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Hook, Line, and Stinker

2007-04-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh... where to begin? For those of you who don't know, there was a Gathering in San Jose, CA this last weekend... on April 1st, to be exact... called the "No Fooling Gathering." It was absolutely incredible. Renee/3CatFam did a SPECTACULAR job of organizing the event, which had 85+ people show up. There were so many highlights it is impossible to list, but since this is MY blog, I am going to concentrate on a few things that were memorable to me... in titular order (note: that means I am listing them in the order in which I referred to them in the TITLE of the blog... get your minds out of the gutter!).

The Hook:
We pulled a prank. A good one. A great one, in fact. Now, before I go any further (and many of you already know just how further I am willing to go!), I want to make it perfectly clear: this was all DemXXMen's fault. Their idea. And there is no way we could have pulled it off without them. Hats off to you, DA and CrowGirl (DemXXMen)! So here's how it went down.

A few minues after the "Group Photo", a rookie Police Officer wandered up to the picnic area, carrying a letterbox. He asked to speak to "whoever is in charge." This of course, was Renee of 3CatFam. I called (loudly so all could hear) to Renee, and told her to bring her permits. Renee approached the Officer, and she immediately started showing him the permits and paperwork. The Officer showed her the letterbox, and told her it was illegal to leave these in the park, and he quoted several Penal Codes. He told her that they all needed to be removed or that she would be cited. At this point, I recognized the letterbox as being one of mine. "Hey, that's mine!" I said, and approached the Officer, reaching for the box. He would not give it to me, claiming he needed to confiscate it as evidence. "But it's my box! I would like it back." "No, sir." "That is MY PROPERTY!" "Sir, back down or I will have to arrest you."

During this exchange, Renee kept pleading with me "Wassa, it's ok... wassa, really, let it go... wassa, just do as he says...it's just a letterbox..." I, of course, pushed on, reaching for the letterbox. At this point, the Officer quickly and professionally cuffed my hand, swung me around, and cuffed my other hand behind my back, in the blink of an eye. He then said "Please get on your knees, sir, and remain quiet." This time, I did what he asked. Renee looked on aghast.

The Officer then turned to Renee, and said "Ma'am, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cite you." He reached for his clipboard, grabbed a citation off it, and handed it to her. Strangely, there was a small piece of rubber folded up inside the citation when she took it. The Officer then added, "And by the way, ma'am... you've just been cootied."

It took a few seconds for the realization to sink in, but the eventual look of shock and relief on Renee's face was priceless. The "Rookie Cop" was my 18 year old son, John (no, he is not an Officer, he is still in High School.. but he pulled it off amazingly.) I truly believe this holds the record for the World's Most Elaborate Cootie Passing. Thank you, Renee, for being such a wonderful sport, and I actually am looking forward to the inevitable retribution.

The Line:
I really thought the day couldn't get any better... all these fabulous letterboxers, all the wonderful exchanges and new boxes and friends and food and the Prank worked SOOOOO well... I was in heaven. And then the day, amazingly, got even better.

lisascenic brought out a large cardboard box, and gave it to me. I thought it was a box of Postals that she had brought down from her jaunt up to Portland. Except, strangely, hanging out of the box was a sort of "tab" on a rope that said "Pull Me." What the...??? Well, I pulled. And pulled. And pulled some more. And the clothesline kept coming. And attached to this line... were boxers and briefs! My wonderful, wonderful friend Happy Papaya had spent months arranging with letterboxers throughout the country, this special "tribute" to the work I do on this blog. It was awe inspiring, and extremely touching... I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! But, being me, I chose "laugh"... a LOT! So to all you who participated, THANK YOU! I am honored and blessed to have such wonderful friends. And once I get back from Denver (business trip, leaving in a few hours, get to do a little boxing and exchanging there w/ preboxed and murmur and anyone else, woohoo!), I will be taking pictures of each pair of boxers and briefs, and creating a photo album so EVERYONE can see just how wonderfully CREATIVE and FUNNY these 'boxers are!

The Stinker:
Katie-bug and I had a wonderful time with our new cootie. Not just any old shove-it-in-an-open-backpack kind of cootie, mind you. This one was a real stinker. It is called The Whoopie Cootie. First, let me tell you about the most amazing, incredible, fantastic invention I think I have ever stumbled across, something so awesomely spectacular that it puts most other modern inventions to shame. That's right... The Self-Inflating Whoopie Cushion! BRILLIANT! The one down side to standard Whoopie Cushions is trying to inflate them and be discreet.. no problem here!

Anyway, our Whoopie Cootie is an orange Self-Inflating Whoopie Cushion, which just HAPPENS to be the same color as Orange PZKut. On the bottom of the cushion, we super-glued a stamp. The funny thing about this cootie, is not JUST that to get it you have to get "whoopied", but in order to stamp it into your logbook, you have to press down on the cushion, thus releasing the Humorous Noises. And since most people press repeatedly while stamping to get a good impression, you end up forcing people to make a sort of "poot..poot...poot...pooooot" sound. Laughter ensues, every single time. Needless to say, Katie-bug and her friends had a wonderful time Cootieing everyone they could with it!

So there you have it... a quick summary of a FANTASTIC Letterboxing event. I can't tell you enough what a perfect job Renee and 3CatFam did on this (and it is not JUST because I am trying to suck up after what we did to her)! Thank you to them, and to ALL the wonderful Letterboxers (and related Noxers) who came and made this event so special. Be sure to check out the Photo Album for more fun.

I know, I know... you got down here to the end, and were expecting the usual "Links." That is the only reason you read this far, undoubtedly. However, I need to get ready for my trip, and there are a LOT of links that have built up over the last week... so, if the High-Speed Internet in the hotel is working as it should tonight, I will hopefully follow up with a separate links-only BnB. Thanks AGAIN to the April Fools, and to all those that participated in the Boxers'n'Briefs box.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: My Wiki, Wiki Ways

2007-03-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, there is a new feature on Atlas Quest: Wikiboxing. For those of you unfamiliar with what a "wiki" is, Webster's (the Dictionary, NOT the 80's TV show (note that this reference is located on Wikipedia (in programming, this is called "recursion")) defines a wiki as: "a collaborative Web site set up to allow user editing and adding of content." We on Atlas Quest define it as: "Ryan is too lazy to keep a proper FAQ up to date."

Ok, for those of you who would make the mistake of taking me seriously, I am just good-naturedly teasing Ryan. The combination of the wiki and the AQ community is a wonderful, natural progression toward ever-increasing dissemination of information and know-how. There is so much great knowledge to be shared by your fellow 'boxers, and the wiki is where it can be stored and accessed much more conveniently (and permanently) than on the Message Boards. A big round of applause for the Great Green One!

And now, we have a full weeky of catching up to do!

1) Random information.

2) Thank your bookie.

3) Whine in doubt, throw it out.

4) Diamonds are a girl's Best Friend (Part I)

5) Whether it's PLBs or Kids, five is a handful!

6) Crews control.

7) Another example of "recursion".

8) Tapetorial.

9) Toad Hello.

10) A few blatantly self-indulgent D&D posts... here, here, and here.

11) Atta boy, Lightning Bolt!

12) V is for Victory!

13) A birthday Gisch.

14) AZ You Like It.

15) Waxing philosophical.

16) Wiki rah-rah. (I don't know what it means, but it SOUNDS funny!)

17) It's time to Gekkoing.

18) A wonderful footnote.

19) Directions directions.

20) I laughed out loud.

21) Loverboxing.

22) Oh I Wish I Were An Oscar Carving Winner...

23) Diamonds are a girl's Best Friend (Part II)

Have a wonderful wiki, everyone!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Short and Sweet...

2007-03-19T21:24:00.000-07:00

(Ahem.... clearing throat...)
In the key of "C", all together now:

Happy (Papaya) Birthday to you,
Happy (Papaya) Birthday to you,
Happy (Papaya) Birthday, dear, uhhh. Happy Papaya.....
Happy (Papaya) Birthday to yoooooouuuuuuuuuuu!

1) Dot's all, folks!

2) Just slip it in the Post Orifice...

3) Hey you kids! Don't put your lips on that! (Extra Credit for recognizing the misquote)

4) If I had a hammer...

5) Split decision.

6) Everything old is new again.

7) Sage advice... don't let their name fool you!

8) Worth checking out if you have kids.

9) Papaya's PZ Primer.

10) Anyone for a Salmon Wrap?

11) Ok, this one made me laugh.

12) Winner of the "Cleverest Clues" award goes (once again) to... Maiden1974!

13) Cryin' Ryan.

14) Flinging Compliments.

And don't forget, only a few days left to plant your Toad Hollow boxes! I spoke with Ralph Morrison this last week, letting him know how the Letterboxing Community had taken to Toad Hollow like, well, a Toad to a Hollow. He was thrilled, and said to pass along a big thank you to you all. Consider yourselves "Encouraged"!!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: The Gathering Storm

2007-03-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

Hello to all you LBers who aren't at a gathering this weekend (both of you!).

Seems like there are a LOT of them going on, both this weekend and in the next few weekends to come. I guess that makes sense - combine an Irish/Traditionally Alcohol-Imbued Holiday with the Advent of Spring, throw in a few Letterboxers antsy to get out and about, and the results are bound to be Gatherings! So to all of you lucky enough to be mixing and mingling with kindred spirits, lift a glass for me... and to the rest of us home-bound with sick kids (like me) or tied down with work or just too far away, remember that St Patrick's Day is the PERFECT day to be Green with Envy!

And one more thing - this IS the middle of "Toad Hollow" week, so don't forget to do a little planting to help lift the spirits of those who might need it, or thank those who have lifted yours. Enjoy!

1) Salmon-chanted Evening...

2) Elementary, my dear.

3) Accounting your chicks before they're hatched.

4) Waxhaw, waxoff.

5) Beachin', man!

6) This'll do in a pinch.

7) Good news from Texas!

8) deniserecycles.

9) Did you get a First Finder's Certificate?

10) Postal regulations.

11) Blotchy me, baby!

12) Virtual hugs are on their way...

13) The Lick of the Irish.

Happy St Patrick's Day, Happy Toad Hollow Week, Happy Gatherings, and Happy Boxing, everyone!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Better Late Than Never?

2007-03-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

Greetings, oh Intrepid Boxers!

My apologies for "missing" last Friday's B'n'B. This last weekend, my 13 year old daughter competed in her very first Acro-Gymnastics Meet. It was about a two hour drive from home, so we decided to stay the weekend there. Silly me, I made the assumption that the hotel would have Internet access... that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

Also, don't forget that this Wednesday, March 14th, is the start of "Toad Hollow Week." Get out there and plant a box in appreciation or encouragement of someone or someplace that is special to you, or introduce a "deserving" person to letterboxing, or just take a friend out to lunch, and let them know that they are special. Don't let an excuse like this to do something nice pass you by!

On a sadder note, Ryan has set up a Tribute page for Kilroy's mother, momcatmay, who recently passed away. Please leave your thoughts, wishes, tributes, and remembrances here.

Ok, we have a lot of ground to cover, so let's get started, shall we?

1) Who knew that "planting" could be applied to things other than Plastic Boxes?

2) Technically, Legos are really just tiny little Plastic Boxes, right?

3) I was just thanking about you...

4) Coldfinger.

5) Wii will, wii will, rock you!

6) A hole water shakin' going on.

7) The absolute, undeniably very lastest post on this subject forever and ever...

8) And now, an important message from The Sprite...

9) Bright plastic packages, hidden by springs, these are a few of my favorite things!

10) Unabashed self-indulgent post.

11) Stalking stuffers.

12) A lesson in advanced thermodynamics.

13) Obi-Wan in a million.

14) 'Til decals come home.

15) They need the OTHER kind of "B'n'B"...

16) Hot diggity dogs!

17) "Ice Counts."

18) More Icecapades.

19) Zen and the Art of Letterbox Maintenance.

20) And I thought it was just a Dinah Shore song... (well, it IS!)

21) Congratulations Booknut and YankeechicK !!

22) I am NOT going to try and type that name!

And that was the week (and weekend) in a nutshell!

Oh, and by the way... my daughter took the Gold Medal in her Division! WOOHOO!!! Proud Papa here.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Temptress in a Teapot

2007-03-05T20:46:00.000-08:00

To appreciate the title of this blog, you need to start with the post by Lock Wench regarding people who disregard the requests of the planters for WOM boxes, and in particular with her "Adult Themed" boxes. (Disclosure: I am the PROUD "owner" of one of these treasures; a tasteful yet playfully executed "pinup girl" stamp that is an absolute delight.) As one could perhaps predict, there ensued a lively discussion (follow the thread if you wish).

And then it happened: Gischer Gryffindors called the brouhaha a "Temptress in a Teapot". This was by far the BEST pun I have heard all week. Kudos to Carianna of the GG. You win the "Neat Punmanship Award"!

And now, the rest of the weekend...

1) Getting into a bind with a bookie.

2) Gettin' siggy with it.

3) The shirt hit the fans.

4) To gnome me is to love me.

5) It's a Floor wax AND a Desert topping!

6) I'd like to thank the members of the Academy...

7) Pay pals.

8) A com post.

9) Getting into a bit of hot water. But with a happy ending.

10) Be adult, not a dolt.

11) The sheet hits the fan. <--- Recycling jokes: it's good for the environment.

12) Take my wife... please!

13) Inky dinky do's (and don'ts)...

Oh, and by the way... my girls and I had a FANTASTIC time in the snow this weekend - the weather was perfect, and I had no trouble at all defrosting my nubbins. Have a great week!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: The Briefest of Briefs

2007-03-02T21:07:00.000-08:00

Dang! Where does the time go?

I am scurrying around, trying to get ready for the weekend; I'm taking my girls (and their friend) up to the snow. Ok, I know most of you out there have more of the white stuff than you know what to do with, but us Coastal Californians have to make an excursion if we want to freeze our nubbins. So... let me make these briefs brief...

1) Piddler on the Roof.

2) All this and boxing too!

3) Dr. Pepper picked a park and pickled players.

4) Yukking it up. (That's 4 in a row, dray!)

5) Practices make perfect.

6) Follow these instructions, and it'll go without a hitch.

7) Can anyone explain this title to me?

8) Sharpiemulsified.

9) That's just sick. And here's how you can tell.

10) A friend in need...

11) A clue! A clue!

12) A clean park is a happy park!

13) I've been framed, I tell ya!

14) A little acknowledge goes a long way.

15) When in the course of human event stamps...

16) It has often been said I do the work of three men...

And now, I gotta finish packing... enjoy the weekend, everyone! And remember: the Toad Hollow Week of Encouragement is coming up, March 14th-21st.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Opening a Can of Earworms

2007-02-26T20:52:00.000-08:00

Earworm: a term for a song stuck in one's head, particularly an annoying one.

It's all your fault, Ish.

It all started innocently enough, last week, when chadams gave a less-than-glowing review of a Guns n Roses song. Naturally, with the AQ crowd involved, the conversation spiraled downward into a morass of musical mediocrity. And then, in a stunning blow to mental freedom, Ish posted the lyrics to "The Llama Song." And as if this wasn't bad enough, I found this Flash Video...

Ish, I shall have my revenge. Somehow. Somewhere. But it shall be mine.

1) I'll have your spam, I love it!

2) Add a pinch of Sharpie, for seasoning.

3) Portrait of the Avatar as a Young Stamp.

4) Can you make the Crew cut?

5) This is why I will forgive chadams for starting the "bad song" thing.

6) Papaya Flips.

7) Cootiequette.

8) Academy Rewards.

9) For Premium Members: a cool new project!

10) Whose woods these are I think I know,
But dang! These clues confuse me so!

11) Carving out a new life.

12) My kind of drink!

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go listen to incessant refrains of "It's a Small World" to get this Llama thing out of my head...

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Work, work, work, work, work...

2007-02-24T00:05:00.000-08:00

Being a dad can be hard work.

Case in point: my daughter Juli turned 13 this week. As a present for this momentous occasion, I am with her and some friends at a hotel (where I am typing this), where we spent several hours swimming in the very warm indoor pool. Then, back to the room for some movies, a very funny game of Pictionary, and enough junk food to fill a 7-11. We drew straws, my wife and I, to see who would have to oversee this excursion: I lost. heheheheeeee....

Sometimes, it's good to lose.

1) To see, or not to see; that is the question.

2) Transatlantic Transplanted Planter.

3) I'll trade this Barry Bonds for a Paul Gauguin...

4) LTC: Love Those Cards!

5) Go with the Flo(rida).

6) Bye George!

7) Blocking tackled.

8) Now we know Ryan's weak spot...

9) When Steve Jobs posts on AQ.

10) Last one in the pool is a rotten egg!

11) Map Quest.

12) No need to get hostel!

13) Baubles, Bangles, and Bright Shiny Beads.

14) But moooooom! It wasn't my fault!

And on that note, I need to go stop a pillow fight... or at least show them how to do it right!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Setting a Bad President

2007-02-20T22:18:00.000-08:00

Good Evening, boxers!
I apologize for being late(r than usual) with this blog entry. President's Day hit, and, well, I guess I was too busy doing Holiday-y things instead (and YES, that means Letterboxing!)

SO as a Special Treat for being so patient (as if you had a choice), I hereby reward you by SKIPPING all the usual introductory ramblings (such as this), and going straight into the compendium...

1) Kim and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week. We truly hope it gets better!

2) Nitrocat and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad ditch.

3) Sweet'n'Sour and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad scratch. (See any patterns forming?)

4) D&D: short for "Dung and Drag", right?

5) Since I am posting this, does it become "WOB"?

6) Budding artists.

7) Is that a PT in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

8) Shameless plug...

9) DSS report. So many posts, so little time. Sounds like it was a GREAT event, though - hats off to Lock Wench!

10) Watch out or Webfoot will rough you up a bit...

11) Take off, eh!

12) Virtual history lesson.

13) 300.

14) Now, kids, a "Cootie Club" is NOT a weapon...

15) An apple a day.

16) Power to the People! (Note: Premium Membership link)

17) Cootie Call (hey, sitzmak had the perfect title already, what am I supposed to do?)

18) No Cootie Left Behind.

19) Did someone get any videos of this?

20) Tutor the Turtle. He needs help.

And finally, I want to wrap up with something non-AQ board related. I recently found out that our very own Shiloh once had a part in a Music Video! Check it out: play the video, and at timestamp 03:14, there is a closeup of shiloh! Woohoo!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: We Toad the Line

2007-02-16T22:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know you are probably getting tired of all the "toad" jokes. But a really cool thing happened this week, and I wanted to make sure it didn't go unheralded. You see, it ISN'T JUST ME that thinks this whole "Encouragement" thing is a good idea (if you don't know what I am talking about, see my previous Toad Hollow posts). D5 Mama of Dunhom5 has taken it one step further, and is actually DOING something with the concept! So, Three Cheers for D5 Mama, and 42 (and counting) Cheers for all those wonderful Letterboxers who are willing to take the time and energy out of their busy schedules to make someone feel a little better.

I am so proud to be part of this community.

But I know why you're here... you want the rundown on all the stuff you may have missed over the week, without having to slog through 7395 posts (not an actual number). (Ok, it IS an actual number, but not THE actual number.) (If I wasn't so lazy, I might go back and figure out the actual number, but I am, so I won't.) (So there.)

1) We want... information... (bonus points for identifying the quote )

2) P. O., Canada!

3) The Shipping News.

4) Stone Soup For the Letterboxing Soul

5) A Modest Proposal.

6) Letterboxers are a Romantic bunch.

7) It's Valen-Time!

8) Now look what you've started, Sprite!

9) Public Service Announcement, from Auntie Biotic

10) She's yarning for perfection.

11) Strike One for Ryan: Lohan Outside.

12) Strike Two for Ryan: Better luck to Morro?

13) A very close call.

14) If you haven't got your stealth, you haven't got anything.

15) Find a happy place... find a happy place...

16) Virtually astounding!

17) Nice recovery.

18) The Tortoise and the Hair.

19) How to be subjective.

20) Cacheing in on her experience.

So... there ya go!

Oh, and by the way... since my last blog, there were actually 1,151 AQ Board posts. So there.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: I Toad You So!

2007-02-12T20:15:00.000-08:00

It arrived! Woohoo!

I received a packet of "goodies" from Ralph Morrison. For those of you who don't remember, Mr. Morrison is the man who "invented" The Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement, that I blathered on about seemingly incessantly a week or two ago. Ok, so, I am continuing with the blatherations.

The packet contains articles about the Toad Hollow phenomenon, several handouts from various Toad Hollow workshops, various renditions of the Toad Hollow logo (more on that later), and - this is sooooo cool - a Toad Hollow song! Sung to the tune of "Clementine".. all together now!

O Toad Hollow,
O Toad Hollow,
Where adventure does begin,
You'll be glad you came to visit,
You'll want to come for sure again.

Walk a Trail,
Hear a Story,
Watch the craftsmen at their best,
Then check the Mill out,
Buy some flour,
In memory of the Storyfest!

And now, about the logo...
I would like to scan the logo and post it online (once I get permission from Mr Morrison, of course). What I would like to do is have as many of you wonderful Letterboxers out there as possible, make a Toad Hollow Stamp, and plant it for Toad Hollow Week of Encouragement (March 14-21). Plant is somewhere special to you, someplace where you can encourage and thank others for their work, or where someone has encouraged you... or someplace as a "tribute" to someone special. It's a wonderful sentiment, and I think Letterboxers are uniquely qualified to "spread the word"!

And once again, I would like to thank Leabhar and Nitrocat. I can't say that enough!

And now, the weekend in review:

1) Mayo always receive good news.

2) A Marvy-less idea!

3) The Moors the Merrier.

4) Did you mich the last gathering? Don't Michigan!

5) Because this is my blog, and the Dungeons&Dragons ring is a blast!

6) Owl in the family.

7) A little enthusiasm goes a long way!

8) Rock n Rock boxes.

9) Some good advice.

10) Save the Stumphouse, Save the World.

11) I've been wedding for this issue of "Batman" to come out!

12) Nickels and Bones.

Have a great week, everyone! And I hope all you New Yawkers have a GREAT time at Desperately Seeking Sun this weekend! Keep an eye out for my box, will ya?

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: I've Been Googled!

2007-02-09T23:15:00.000-08:00

It happened. The inevitable. They forced me into it, I had no choice. I went kicking and screaming, but went nonetheless.

This blog has now been googlized. Google bought Blogger, the blog hosting service, and has been TRYING to convince me for a few months to switch over. But like a piece of Orange Grade B PZKut, I gently resisted. And then, tonight, as I sallied fifth (a fifth is better than a forth), to impart my impartial impertinence upon you, my avid readers, I was blocked. I was not allowed to do anything until I switched from the Blogger engine to the Google engine. Oh, I know you probably can't tell. Frankly, as I enter this entry, I can't really tell the difference either. But I know, deep down inside... I know. Will it look different? Will it act different? Will I suddenly be wittier, cleverer, cogenter, and more letterboxerer? I don't know. But if I am, you can blame google.

And here we go...

1) Starting out with a bit of good news.

2) I haven't been prepositioned in years.

3) A binding resolution.

4) Now all we need is a Theme Song...

5) A little strapped for Cash.

6) Missouri loves company.

7) If Altoid you once, altoid you a million times... USE COMMON SENSE!

8) Boxing Barracuda, Birthday Boy.

9) Ryan is inviting trouble again.

10) A Tisket, a tasket, I really want a basket!

11) This week's self-indulgent link.

12) I think they're shovelling more than snow, here...

13) Polly want a tracker?

14) I'm gonna washer that man right out of my lair.

15) Let the Games begin!

16) Pungent Bob on Purity. Can you say "irony"?

17) Portrait by the Artist as a Young Duckling.

18) Ahhhh... so THAT'S what she meant...

Ok, so... did you notice a difference? Did google improve my performance? Or was it the same old schlock that you have come to know and ... well, come to know.

Hope you all have a boxful weekend. See ya on Monday!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Post Superbowl... Sounds Like a Cereal!

2007-02-05T21:26:00.000-08:00

Good (insert time of day here), Fellow Boxers!
Hope you had a wonderful weekend. I am guessing that a lot of people actually got out to DO some boxing this weekend, because it seemed as if the Boards were a bit quieter than most weekends. Or maybe it's just me. Or maybe it's because of something else... was there some special Sporting Event this weekend? Hmmm....

I did a lot of carving this weekend, and am about to embark on a very unusual Postal Ring: Dungeons and Dragons. I have linked to this before, so it's not really news, but I AM very excited. I know almost NOTHING about D&D, and so can honestly claim complete ignorance as an excuse for all the stupid things I do. C'mon! How often do you get THAT privilege? Woohoo! The PLB equivalent of "Get out of Jail Free"!

Anyway, on with the weekend:

1) Moby Richard III

2) Cran-iversary Party

3) The Write Stuff

4) Dungeons and Draggings.

5) Sprite is worried about "looking weird"???

6) She's older, so ladder go first.

7) It's neither working nor shopping, and yet it's a Workshop.

8) Accuse? Gesundheit!

9) Things are lurking good!

10) Simple, succinct, and to the Pointer... err, Airedale...

11) Do Be a Newbie.

12) Mystery mystery.

And that's a wrap. Until later this week, have a good, uh, week!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: A Tale of Leabhar, Nitrocat, and a Very Amazing Man

2007-02-02T19:23:00.000-08:00

Wow.

Let me repeat that, because I can't think of anything else that so succinctly sums it up: wow.

The unthinkable has happened: I am at a loss for words! Why am I suddenly just reduced to a whimpering, blathering idiot? Because of two wonderful ladies and one amazing man. Let me 'splain.

Last Boxers'n'Briefs, I offered up a challenge: whoever was first to sate my curiosity by telling me about the "Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement" would win the world-acclaimed dubious honor of being, uh, honored in the blog. *Leabhar* and *Nitrocat*, those googling goddesses, those search-engine sirens, those masters of mustering mysteries, came through with flying colors. Now, before I share their wonderful stories, let me ALSO offer my heartfelt thanks and kudos to all the others that whiled away many a good hour in this quest... Galaxy4, TrekkieGal, kascadekat, and others whose efforts remained anonymous; your efforts were not in vain. And Now, the Rest of the Story...

I got an email from *Nitrocat*, giving me the name, address and phone number of a gentleman named Ralph Morrison, Director, Toad Hollow, in Michigan. *Nitrocat* then CALLED the number, to get more information, but got no answer. And yes, brownielocks (galaxy4), it was the same person YOU came up with. Then, shortly afterward, *Leabhar* sent me an email giving the same contact information, but in addition, found his webpage, and offered this:

Mr. Morrison portrays (among other personas) a rabbi specializing in biblical stories, and a peddler from rural 1950s Michigan, residing in the mythical Toad Hollow "where you imagination comes alive, your dreams come true, and old fashioned values are honored."

*Leabhar* then emailed Mr Morrison, to get more information. It was at this point that I declared, on the last blog, *Leabhar* as the "winner". But did it end there? NO! I subsequently got another email from *Nitrocat*, and it said:

I just talked to Ralph, the sponsor of Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement. This story gets wilder by the minute, but here it is: 20 (or so) years ago, Ralph was teaching a class in MI on storytelling. Someone named Eunice moved to MI from Toad Hollow school. Ralph was entranced with the name and tried to find out about the school and Toad Hollow...long story....he eventually found some info. The school was gone, but there was still a cemetery there, so he and his wife and artist son drove there to see it. On the way he had his artist son draw a logo for Toad Hollow. And by coincidence, when they got there, the logo matched the logo at the cemetery. When he got home, he was given a chance to purchase from the county "Scott's Mill" to form a park. Many volunteers with little money turned a dilapidated park into a non-profit living history park with complete 1800s town, including working grist mill, museum, library... all dismantled from other locations, moved to the park, and reassembled. They started doing volunteer workshops in the community teaching writing, storytelling blacksmithing, sheep sheering and other early American Arts.The volunteers wanted to know what more they could do to encourage people so they started working on a personal level with cards, meals and other things to become involved in other people's lives. Then someone suggested that it be "official" on the calendar and the rest is...you know. The sad part is that once the county realized what they had missed, they took the park away, but not before the "voluntoads" (as they call themselves) dismantled and donated the structures and things to other organizations doing similar work. So all the county got back was the park. Ralph and the voluntoads still continue to do their workshops and other things, but they are a little more low profile now. As Ralph said, "The county can't take that away. Because Toad Hollow is really in your heart."

You can't make stuff like this up!

And still, did it end there? A RESOUNDING NO!

Because *Leabhar* then sent me yet ANOTHER email, and this time, she ALSO had talked to the wonderfully garrulous Mr Morrison. To wit:

I just got off the phone with him (Mr Morrison), he reiterated everything that he told Nitrocat, and I got a little additional information as well. Toad Hollow still functions as a non-profit organization, though on a low-keyed basis, and the former park volunteers are still conducting their workshops and classes and service events. A lot of them seem to focus on getting inner-city kids out to the country, and teaching hand crafts and skills. In addition to the two days we're already mentioned, there is a whole Toad Hollow WEEK of encouragement, March 14-21.

Not only that, *Leabhar* was able to find an ACTUAL PICTURE of the original Toad Hollow Cemetery that inspired it all!!

Surely, you must be thinking, this is where it ended. WRONG AGAIN!

Because I was SO inspired by the wonderful volunteerism and community spirit that Mr Morrison inspired, that I decided to call him myself. Well, actually I called him "Ralph", not "myself", but you know what I mean! I spent nearly an hour on the phone with him, and in addition to hearing more about Toad Hollow and the above stories from him , I was also able to tell Ralph about letterboxing, AtlasQuest, and the fabulous and eclectic "community" that has gathered electronically to share the obsession(s).

Ahhhh.. that MUST be all there is to it. Well, I HOPE not. For you see, as *Leabhar* mentioned, March 14-21 is the Toad Hollow WEEK of Encoragement. Let's try to do a little of what Mr Morrison has achieved and inspired, and show our Encouragement for the people around us. Take a moment to make a card for a friend, carve a stamp and dedicate it to a teacher, or just take a buddy to lunch. Let someone know you APPRECIATE and ENCOURAGE them for who they are, because THAT, my friends, is EXACTLY what the Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement is all about.

Mr Morrison has promised to send me more information and pictures, etc., of Toad Hollow and the organization's activities, and I will certainly share here when they arrive. In the meantime, I want to know if there are any letterboxers reading this who are from the Kalamazoo MI area, and if so, would they be willing to help me organize a Letterbox series in the area dedicated to this wonderful Volunteer and his Voluntoads? You can certainly bet that when I get the actual logo from Mr Morrison, I'll be carving away!

By the way, any inaccuracies in the above stories are most certainly my own, as I am not a very good note-taker while jabbering on the phone. Ralph, if you are reading this (I told him this is where the sudden flurry of phone calls originated - it's all my fault!), forgive me any misstatements!

Thank you *Leabhar* and *Nitrocat*.

Ha! I made you read through all that before we got to what you REALLY wanted to see... the Weekly Summary!

1) Duct, Duct, Goose!

2) The Officer let it slide.

3) Flow, flow, flow your Thoughts, Gently 'cross the screen...

4) Wink Rules!

5) Preative Writing.

6) Don't worry, he doesn't read THIS either!

7) Syntaxes Hold'Em

8) Musee des Bow Arts

9) Half-pint halfback?

10) MO UR Complete!

11) And they call ME a dip!

12) If nothing else, The Land Pirates have Character!

13) I'm ready for my closeup now, Mr DeMille...

14) Congratulations! How'd Jamaica cry?

15) Once again, making the rest of us poor slobs look bad.

16) A bird in the hand is... gross.

17) Things you never knew you needed to know...

18) Ryan gets board so easily.

And... that's it! I know, I know... it was a loooong post. But did I mention how excited I am about the whole Toad Hollow thing? How PROUD I am of *Leabhar* and *Nitrocat*? And how I am looking forward to bludgeoning you electronically over the head with all this again on March 14-21, when I try to drum up some Letterboxing Enthusiasm for Toad Hollow Week of Encouragement? This is NOT the last of it, count on that!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Toad Hollow Redux

2007-01-29T23:39:00.000-08:00

I am shocked. Simply shocked.

Letterboxers are the most ingenious, creative, savvy, downright clever people I know. So how come NONE of us is able to figure out the origins and true meaning of the "Toad Hollow Day of Appreciation"? Ok, ok, I know several of you have put forth various related links and surmisals, and for those I truly am grateful. But nothing so far has been a definitive answer. You can visit the Toad Hollow Tunnel in Davis, CA (thanks Ballantine Buddies and 3Ms). You can get a Toad Hollow Day of Appreciation Coffee Mug (thanks Bookworm). You can even get Toad Hollow Wines (which, incidentally, are produced by Robin Williams' brother Todd). But NOTHING we, the collective LB Community, has come up with REALLY tells us about this most elusive ersatz holiday. So the challenge remains open. And to sweeten the proverbial pot just a bit, I offer this: The first person who can tell me what it is, where it came from, and can back it up with a web link (or other such proof), will have an entire BnB dedicated to them. This means that the Title, and EVERY LINK (or Caption) will somehow relate to them. Wanna see just how many bad puns I can make with your name? Then FIND ME THAT LINK!

Hmmm... can you say "obsessed"?

1) Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh... be vewy vewy qwuiet...

2) "Courtesy Check on register 5..."

3) Leading them back from Wench they came...

4) Life... don't talk to me about life...

5) If you're Happy and you know it, stab your hand!

6) Yet another creative use for Duct Tape. (Red Green would be proud!)

7) Do do that "To-Do" that you do so well.

8) Cache me if you can.

9) Those who forget History are doomed to replant it.

10) A picture is worth a thousand posts.

11) As Dr. Seuss would say: Box o' Socks Restocks Iraq.

12) Down and out.

13) Feel the looooove!!!

14) Weight Watchers.

15) Reserve-war dogs.

16) Sounds like a plan!

17) See? I'm not the ONLY one who makes bad puns!

Toad Hollow. Think Toad Hollow. Release me from the ravages of this insidious burning curiosity.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: What the Heck IS It?

2007-01-26T20:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday, Letterboxers!
Ok, since I didn't really have a good title or intro for today's BnB, I thought I would take the easy way out. I looked up one of those "Unusual Holidays" calendars, to see what sort of silliness today held, and see what I could do with it. Imagine my surprise when I saw that today, January 26th, is the... are you ready for this?... "Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement".

Say it out loud, I dare you... Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement. Okay, it definitely meets my criteria for "humorous sounding." But...what IS it? What does it mean? What are we celebrating, and HOW? Google time!

But alas... after several pages of entries, I found MANY references to the fact that today IS "Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement," but no actual explanation of WHY Toad Hollow and WHAT we are to Encourage. Can somebody PLEASE help me? I need to know. If ANYBODY out there can tell me what this holiday is all about (or can make something up that sounds plausible, I'm not picky), then please let me know! Leave a message on the blog, AQ mail me, or post on whatever turns out to be the appropriate AQ Board. My sanity is in your hands. Such as it is.

And now, the week:

1) It's almost like a Random Word Generator!

2) Lady and the Tramper.

3) Sew what? <----- winner of this week's "lamest pun" award

4) The Treachery of Stamped Images

5) I can neither confirm nor deny...

6) The Sprite on a Soapbox (what MORE do you need to know?)

7) Now YOU can have a Silent Partner.

8) A Star is born. Well, carved, actually.

9) Wait a minute... can we go back to that "moose" part again?

10) Monkey see, monkey do... but which is the monkey?

11) Supplies in demand

12) The official policy is that there is no official policy...

13) Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

14) This kid has his priorities straight.

15) Our thoughts an prayers for you, teekasue.

And that pretty much wraps up the week. Except for the "Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement" part, of course...

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: A Bad Case of the Mondays

2007-01-22T21:05:00.000-08:00

Greetings, AQties!

It's Monday Night. I have been in meetings all day, I am behind on getting a PLB out, I have several due next week that I haven't even started, my washing machine flooded my garage, and my dog is whining at me because she wants a walk. And yet... I'm in a good mood! Why? Because I had a fantastic time letterboxing this weekend, that's why! Funny how a great weekend can spill into what would be an otherwise dreary Monday.

Speaking of Dreary, here's the weekend summary!

1) I Drew a Blank on this mystery.

2) Easy PZ.

3) Magic: The Gathering.

4) Wooden you want to try this?

5) Lift and Separate

6) Boxing with Kid Gloves.

7) Ya gotta henta to her...

8) This week's winner of the "How did they get from here to there?" thread.

9) Gathering ye rosebuds while ye may...

10) A dream is a wish your heart makes.

11) Letterboxing can be Educational!

12) !spmats ruoy em dneS

13) Ok, this has to be my favorite post of the weekend...

14) You ask. GT delivers.

15) It wequires total concentwation...

16) Smile!

17) And finally... my gratuitous obligatory self-indulgent post link. Sprite and Highlander are hosting a "Dungeons and Dragons" Postal Ring, and part of the fun is participants posting "backstories" for their characters. I'm not in the ring, but thought I might join in the fun anyway...

That about wraps it up for the wrapping it up. Have a fun week!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Introducing GQ!

2007-01-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

Hello, Fellow Boxers!
I usually try to keep the B'n'B in relatively chronological order, but I must make an exception this week. Big news, my friends, big news indeed: GQ has arrived! GQ, that cutting edge vehicle of all that is chic and trendy; GQ, that leading bellwether of modern society; GQ, that top spot to spot top plots! Wait, did you think GQ meant "Gentlemen's Quarterly"? No, I meant the other, more important GQ: GooberQuest! Ok, so it's actually called "RyansATotalGoober", but I think "GooberQuest" has a nice ring to it...

And now, the usual drek:

1) Arboreal Tutorial.

2) Arterial Material.

3) You can count on it.

4) Smooth moves.

5) Welcome to the bulc!

6) Carving Medium , Well Done

7) "I'll have what SHE'S having..."

8) This post started by far the most active thread of the week.

9) This, too, shall pass.

10) I feel strangely compelled to link to this one. Why am I not surprised it's the Sprite again?

11) Knolls well that ends well.

12) A very worthy cause.

13) That's another fine mesh you've gotten me into!

14) A Capital Excursion!

15) Wanna buy a bag of leaves?

16) If ArtGekko invites you over for omelettes... RUN!

17) Flattery will get you everywhere.

18) PSAs give you a lift...

19) If ArtGekko invites you over for stew... RUN!

20) Calling all carvers...

21) Ask a silly question, get a very funny answer.

And that will do it for this week. Hope you have a productive, constructive, and rewarding weekend, but if not... hope you get out boxing!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Patches and Pooches

2007-01-15T23:10:00.000-08:00

It seems like there were two topics this weekend: Quilting and Dogs. Originally, I had titled this blog "Who Let the Dogs Out." Then, I considered "Quilt While You're Ahead". Or "Letterbarking". But none of those really sang out to me.

And then a GREAT title came along... "Patches and Pooches." Brilliant! Absolutely perfect! Witty, concise, covers the topics, alliterative, and has the word "poo" buried in it.. what more could I want! But I have to be honest... I didn't think of it! Yes, the winner of the "Please Help Wassamatta_U Come Up With A Good Punny Title This Week Because He Is Stuck" contest is: Happy Papaya! Woohoo! She wins! And what does she win? Ummmm... Well, she gets Full Credit for Coming Up With It.

Ok, there. I filled enough space before the actual stuff you want to see: the summary.

1) A Bee-utiful Gathering.

2) And then, ervetchick started something...

3) deniserows ponders the deep mysteries of the Universe.

4) What's in a name?

5) "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, shall keep us from our appointed rounds."

6) And then, Yorkshire Tortoise started something else...

7) The projected winner of the next goobernatorial race...

8) Pied Piper comes by the addiction honestly.

9) It started innocently enough; a simple plea for letterboxes. Then, as if by magic, it ended up here...

10) I'd walk a mile for a camo.

11) Marking the grade.

12) Handling a touchy situation...

13) Sticker where the sun don't shine.

14) Why Ryan is a computer geek...

15) It's always fun to report Good News.

16) Order now and get the Ginzu Knife Set!

17) Rest-area hyst-eria.

18) Finally, Ask and Ye Shall Receive.

And that pretty much wraps it up for the MLK Weekend! Hope you all stay warm and cozy, and have plenty of chances to generate mastercarvebits, PZZits, pinkstuff-flakes, Speedbarf, schnibbles, PZDander, bouncing chads, schnards, BOBs, spleege, or my personal favorite: carving barf - "carf".

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: (Insert Witty Title Here)

2007-01-13T00:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday, AQ Fiends! (yes, Fiends, not Friends)(well, Friends also, but I just wanted to point out that it wasn't a typo)(Fiends wasn't a typo, I mean)(Like, I intentionally typed Fiends instead of Friends)(But I guess you knew that).

It's been another interesting week in the World of AtlasQuest. Things happened. People posted stuff. Other people responded. Sometimes, people posted stuff and responded to themselves (you know who you are). Hmmmm... maybe "interesting week" is a bit of a stretch... well, let's have a look, shall we, and reserve judgement until the end.

1) Snowperstitions

2) Papaya gets right to the point.

3) This week's AQ SpokesModel: LockWench!

4) Because a mime is a terrible thing to waste.

5) Sprite rules!

6) I'd like to thank the members of the Academy...

7) You are travelling through another dimension. A dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of cereal.

8) Keeping us all in stitches.

9) Absorbing the local atmosphere.

10) I forgot my ink; could you please hand me that squid?

11) The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

12) This week's tongue-twister: Knit Wit's Tips and Tricks.

13) Another one bites the dust.

14) This one is NOT for the follicly challenged...

15) How many adjectives can we fit in one post?

16) And to wrap it up, my own personal sales-pitch for AQ Premium Membership. It's my blog, I can point to my own posts if I want, so neener neener neener.

Well, seems as if it WAS an interesting week, after all! Hope you all have a fun and box-filled weekend!

-wassamatta_u

P.S. Hi, star writer! Hope you and your mom are having a WONDERFUL time in DC! I have been reading your mom's blog, and it sounds like you are! Congratulations.

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Fourteenth Night

2007-01-09T00:20:00.000-08:00

Hello, Letterboxers! It seemed a bit early after my last post to have blogged on Friday, so I decided to wait until after the weekend, and really build up your appetite for my briefs. (That didn't come out so good, did it?)

Really, the week/weekend could be summarized as such:

A significant number of AQ posts in anticipation of this last weekend's "Twelfth Night" gathering in Asheville, NC.

A brief and eerie silence (no Dixie).

And finally, a deluge of posts about what a wonderful Gathering it was.

BUT, for those foolish enough to crave MORE in the way of summarization (seems rather oxymoronic: "Expanded Summaries"), here we go! Starting with last Wednesday...

1) You've got to know when to hold 'em,

2) Know when to fold 'em...

3) Know when to walk away,

4) And know when to run!

5) If it's Tuesday, this must be Brussels...

6) You say you want a resolution?

7) Button, button, who's got the button?

8) As the Watchmaker asked the Policeman: "What makes a Coptic?"

9) Orange you glad to be in SoCal? (I can't believe I stooped this low...)

10) Breaking the mold.

11) And now, a message from our sponsor.

12) Big Boxing.

13) But WAIT! How much would you expect to pay for all this?...

14) No comprende.

15) That's an order!

16) Our thoughts are with you, AMEEBZ.

17) If you sinew must pay the price!

18) Cache and Carry.

19) "Is Homeschoolmommy having a Gathering?" "I dunno... Alaska!"

20) The depths some Boxers will go to...

21) Ok, now this is just kinda creepy.

22) And to wrap it up... more GREAT news! Congratulations!!!!

I would like to point out (to those that do NOT follow the North Carolina board) that, even far away here in California, I had a BLAST reading about the Asheville gathering. I felt a part of it; there was so much enthisiasm and sheer delight, both leading up to the event and afterwards. I didn't include many links to it here because, well, there was just too much! But if anyone wants to live vicariously through the virtual mayhem that those NCers seem to thrive on, check out the "Letterboxing North Carolina" board... I promise you won't be disappointed!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: There's No Lang Syne Like an Auld Lang Syne...

2007-01-02T23:34:00.000-08:00

I had planned on doing some sort of "yearly retrospective" for 2006, a sort of year-in-review kind of thing. But it occured to me that we need to be looking FORWARD, not backward; and that the bright future of Letterboxing lies not in the dull depths of the quickly withering past, but in the glowing, gleaming horizon spreading before us, ripe with promise and potential. Ok, ok, I was too lazy. Sheesh. But what I WILL do is tell ya what you missed while you were hung over.

1) Is it just me, or do you find it somewhat disconcerting that a link for "Field Guides" is given by someone named "Pied Piper"?

2) Good advice, Mookie; I think the last line should apply to the whole thread!

3) 5000 words.

4) Who wants to tackle this question?

5) An interesting use of the word "minimalist"...

6) I mentor do that!

7) Postal reminiscences. Say THAT 3 times fast.

8) Etiquette? I hardly even know it!

9) Get your kicks.

10) I bet they used a Lock-n-Lock!

11) So soon, it seems, the theme's scene's screen's been seen.

12) Wasn't that a Marx Brothers movie?

13) Nobody wants a soggy papaya.

14) And finally: we are all thankful you're okay, moonduck.

By the way, 2006 was the year I became an active member of the AQ community! Why, it wasn't too long ago that I made my very first AQ post. And some of those early posts are still as relevant today. Hope you all have a WONDERFUL 2007, and thank you all for making me feel welcome in this crazy community we call AQ.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Post Holiday Posts

2006-12-29T23:34:00.000-08:00

Hello, one and all! It's been a full week (or, in my case, a fool week) since last I blogged at you. I apologize for the delay, but let me just say that DESPITE the fact that I had to work way too much this week, we had a FANTASTIC Christmas and an amazingly wonderful week. My daughter and bestest-boxing-buddie Katie-bug and I put together a special Letterbox for my (*gasp*) non-boxing wife, in a blatant attempt to convince her to join us on "the Dark Side". Whether the ploy works or not remains to be seen, but Mom was certainly moved by the effort. Plus, bonus points for having a Letterbox in the middle of the Christmas Tree Mom loves staring at, without her noticing it there...

So, I'm going to keep this list relatively short (I hope), and hope to get back on schedule next week. Yeah, right....

1) Reaching Critical Mess.

2) You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.

3) I think preboxed hit the eggnog a little too hard...

4) Rehide and go seek.

5) The whole Kitten caboodle.

6) If you're just reading this now, you missed it.

7) An assortment of fine LB-themed holiday gifts, for your perusal.

8) Awwwww, rats!

9) Amazingly, one of the busiest threads of the week...

10) The winner of the "most controversial thread" award for the week undoubtedly goes to the "adult icon/censorship" discussion. Rather than post them all, I will just pick one post from it at random...

11) Tales of the Mighty Quinn.

12) How do you like THEM apples?

13) Sometimes, we actually discuss Letterboxing topics!

14) The Letterboxing equivalent of "The Darwin Awards"... DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS!

15) Blatant plug for a REALLY cool clue...

16) Apparently, preboxed had enough eggnog to last the whole week...

17) How to be a Good LB Citizen.

And, that pretty much brings us up to the present. The "time"-type of present, not the "gift"-type of present, because that was earlier in the week, so that is the past. The "time"-type of past... well, you get the idea.

Have a WONDERFUL and SAFE New Years, everyone!!!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: 'Twas the Week Before Christmas

2006-12-22T15:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays, Questors d' Atlas.

First off, I would like to thank everyone for their kind and encouraging words (both public and private) regarding this blog. Just remember - it's your own darn fault!

What a wild, wacky, wonderful, and wishful week. The spirit of the holidays infuses each and every post, imparting the joy and glee that are inherent in this most miraculous of seasons. I get paid by the word.

1) That's NEWBYISH, not NEBBISHY...

2) He ain't heavy, he's my Postal.

3) 'Twas the Blight before Christmas...

4) Do yourself a favor, and read this.

5) An amacing rescue.

6) At the finer hostelries, they put a mint on your pillow...

7) Role call!

8) If at first you don't succeed, cry, cry again.

9) Giving the topic shirt shrift.

10) Nature-al born talent!

11) A pleasant experience... with needles?

12) It's hard to keep abreast of modern fashion.

13) You GO, girl! A true "star".

14) The BEST part of AQ is the support of the community.

15) Ask, and ye shall receive.

16) Once again, 3Ms steals all the good lines! (ya SURE ya don't want a job?)

17) Something for Papa-Papaya. (hard to stop, huh?)

18) Why was the book crossing the road?

19) Ryan wants extra credit.

20) Christmisanthropy Carols.

21) The results are in: don't rock the vote.

22) Tiptoe Through the New Crypts....

22) "Head due south 875,674 paces..."

That's it for now. I still have some shopping to do, so I guess I'd better head out to the maul. Hope everyone has a wonderful, fantastic, box-laden holiday! Monday's summary will probably be a day or two late (if at all), but I'll be thinking about you all!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: The Elephant in the Parlor

2006-12-18T14:23:00.000-08:00

And a gracious good Monday to you all!
It was a really, really, slow weekend on AQ. Nothing exciting. Nope, nothing at all *whistle whistle*... Almost seems a waste of electrons to post a blog entry today. Boooring, uneventful, blah.

I think there were, what, maybe 6 or 7 posts total all weekend? Well, if you leave out one teeny tiny insignificant thread and its subthreads, anyway.

*sigh* ... I'm not going to get away with this, am I?

Ok, let's just get this over with. While there were no true "start" and "end" points, I think it is fair to say that the two most decisive posts in "The Great Debate" were this and this, which to ME at least really represented the start and end. I know there were MANY heartfelt and passionate pleas/responses/posts from "both sides" in between, as well as some other side-issues, but really, it is more that I feel compelled to wade through a second time. I just want to say, it took a LOT of guts for BOTH of them to post what they did, and, even though it is ABSOLUTELY NONE of my businesss, I want to plead with both Ryan and Funhog - please don't let a long-standing and wonderful friendship be tarnished over disagreements on web features. It isn't worth it. But I know you probably know that already, and I am just wasting space reiterating it. Well, let's face it - pretty much everything I write is a waste of space, so there should be no surprise there!

Ok, on to the remainder of the weekend!!!!

1) Read it or not, here I come!

2) "Great" in every sense of the word.

3) I can't seem to get this box out of my head!

4) For the true Letterbox Connoisseur... scented stamps!

5) You know you're in trouble when your "compass" has two little balls you try to get into the clown's eyes...

6) Please try to keep your Alt under Control...

7) Acetone, leave your name, number, and a brief message....

8) And Monday struck, and Green Tortuga made my job more difficult. That's okay, you can STILL get to "All Messages" from the "Boards" menu, but I felt like I didn't do my fair share of complaining this weekend...

See? I TOLD you that there wasn't really much happening this weekend!

But a reminder: VOTE! Ryan has given us the opportunity to be heard. Take advantage of it!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Beware the Ides of December!

2006-12-15T23:47:00.000-08:00

Hey, all! Been a busy week, both on the boards and off. It's kinda late, so I think I will skip over the Witty Banter (though many would say I do this EVERY time), and get to the Gist of the List...

1) This stuff belongs in a LandPhil

2) All the News That Fits We Print

3) You Win, Shiloh!

4) She had more grandkids than boogers!

5) "May I mambo dogface to the banana patch?"

6) Who ever herd of such a thing?

7) We LOVE Happy Endings!

8) Win, Place, or Show Them All

9) I'll get to it Posthaste

10) Lock and Load Up

11) Trade Secrets

12) Tie Me Letterbox Down, Sport

13) I am rubber, you are glue...

14) Name all the Presidents that begin with P...

15) Some topics are just destined for The Glue Factory...

16) Did I mention we LOVE Happy Endings?

17) How Waffle!

18) Using your head by using a stick...

19) I'll give it My Best...

20) We've got ya covered...

Thus ends yet another sneak peek at the tweaked week. Join us again next time for more Abstract Thinking!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: All Quiet On The Weekend Front (II)

2006-12-12T06:15:00.000-08:00

Hello, intrepid denizens of the murky AQ depths! Time once again to gird your virtual loins and venture forth seeking action, adventure, and concise summaries of all that has occured.

Our apologies for the lateness of this entry. We've been having personal problems with our pronouns, and you should SEE the way our participles have been dangling! Not to mention, our grammar came to visit.

But enough of this falderal... on with the nonsense!

1) A Happy Ending.

2) Forget Reorganizing, try Downsizing!

3) HCS Seeks LMS; Must Enjoy Movies, Sunsets, and Lying Around in the Forest...

4) She Sees PZs At the Stampeaz...

5) Don't yank my chain, burp it instead!

6) Tracking trackers and the trackers who track them... (Hey, 3Ms, wanna job?)

7) I call her "linksascenic"...

8) WARNING: This post may contain content. Proceed at your own risk.

9) But TG, what was a kid doing in the Discovery Channel online store?

10) "I'll have your Spam, I LOVE it!"

11) Throw another logbook on the fire...

12) Ask a silly equestrian, get a silly answer...

13) So WHY am I doing this blog again?

14) Take one down, pass it around...

15) Land Lock-n-Locked...

16) Or is it Locks-n-Locks?

17) When a bloggy meets a bloggy, comin' through the Ryan... (ok, so you've probably seen this already, but it's a cool story and a great title).

18) And finally... This post earned me my second Red Star. Seems eerily appropriate.

Still seems like a lot for a "slow" weekend, huh? I call it "Job Security." Until next time!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: The Weak in Review

2006-12-08T17:20:00.000-08:00

Hello, fellow boxers! Time once again for you to waste a few precious minutes and an inordinate number of brain cells in this week's AQ Review. It's been an interesting week (in much the same way that kidneystones are "interesting"), so fasten your seatbelts and keep your arms and legs inside the blog as we plummet, screaming, into the depths of AQ...

1) But does it match my outfit?

2) speedsquare reminds us it's a jungle out there... or a forest, or something...

3) Jimi Hendrix... Dinosaurs... X-Men... Spitting... this thread has it all!

4) Hide it better than you found it.

5) But... these go to eleven...

6) Ok, stabbing your thumb is bad enough, but this is just nuts!

7) Does anyone wonder why Alaska HSM doesn't ask ME to write an article?

8) This week's winner of the "It Went Downhill FAST From Here" award...

9) TMI...

10) Just make sure you spell "Chic Fashion" correctly...

11) A Placer after my own heart!

12) "Mommy, why are all the cows facing North?"

13) Ryan is compensating.

14) Our thoughts and wishes are with you, purpleintexKim.

15) Good Things come in Small Letterboxes.

16) Just think of it as a "drive-by"...

17) CCLB is out of her gourd!

18) And finally, because everyone needs a place to hang their chad...

YOU DID IT! You survived YET ANOTHER installment of my blog. Fear not, however, for perhaps next week, victory shall be mine! Bwahahahhaahaaaaaa!!!!

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Friday, Saturday, and Someday

2006-12-04T15:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday! How's that for an oxymoron?
Once again, we shall attempt to enlighten your load by delivering unto you an encapsulated version of all that has passed on the AQ Message Boards over the weekend. Okay, maybe not ALL that has passed, but certainly enough of it to make you wish you had never clicked on the link to this page.

1) Iraq and Roll! BigRedOne brings Extreme Letterboxing to the, uh, well, extreme!

2) A Spirited Discussion... actually, this thread, as with MOST AQ threads, took on multiple threadlets (ok, it's my blog, I can make up words if I want!). The "High Road" was a discussion of Events and Planning and Notifications and...Zzzzzzzzzz... The "Low Road", as diverted by WINK and S&H, delved more into specific aspects of a good gathering.

3) AHSM wanted to change her AQ preferences. Sounds simple enough, right? Ahhh, but what ensued was Ryan delving into a programming morass of hitherto unheard of proportions. Well, ok, maybe that is overstating it a bit...

4) The future is now! Or, at least, in 43 minutes...

5) And of course, Dear Dixie had to make SURE we all knew what was coming, despite the BIG RED LETTERS on the screen... and again, and again, and again...

6) The best laid plans 'o tortugas and men...

7) Talk about a cake-walk!

8) Postal Traumatic Stress.

9) A Lesson in "How to Make Every Other Male Look Inadequate". A heartfelt blessing on you both!

10) Try to show a little enthusiasm, will ya, teekasue?

11) I couldn't (or at least, shouldn't) come up with a better title than this: Exploding Rings!

12) Lisascenic trolls the web, searching out ways to make me feel inadequate... that's TWICE this weekend!

13) A little compuntition is a good thing!

14) MountainScorpia's Motto: Strike while the irony's hot.

15) A little distance goes a long way.

16) Let's see... traipsing around in the underbrush looking for Tupperware... the answer is, "Yes, Kirbert."

And then it was Monday. Have a great week, try to stay warm, and I want you all to STOP MAKING ME FEEL INADEQUATE. No pressure.

-wassamatta_u

Boxers 'n' Briefs: Wintery/Summary

2006-12-01T12:38:00.000-08:00

Greetings, oh Gluttons for Punishment! Once again we shall delve into the twisted fabric of the AQ Message Boards and unravel the warped threads. (Wow, there was an analogy that went farther than I thought it could!)

This "Friday" edition of everyone's favorite Blog-that-summarizes-a-major-letterboxing-site's-message-boards will cover threads from last Monday until now (11/27/2006 - 12/01/2006). Look for another summary on Monday, which will cover the weekend. It might not BE there, but you should still LOOK for it - after all, the fun is in the search, not the finding, right? Isn't that what everyone tells you when you've spent 2 hours looking for a piece of Tupperware in a forest that has long since been devoured by curious racoons? The Tupperware, not the forest... although you never know with those crafty racoons. But I digress. Where were we? Oh yeah... Monday... weekend... look.

So here we go... everything you missed, or should have...

1) I don't understand why there is so much controversy over the Phillipine Precision Aerial Demonstration Team... but a good half the posts on Monday were discussing them.

2) In Logs we trust; all others play cache.

3) To Infinity, and Beyond! A good deed should never go unnoticed.

4) Trekkie Gal was tired of being Turkey Gal, and requested a change of scenery. Hey, presto! The Great Green one delivers (yet again). The usual "didya see the xxx do yyy?" ensued, though few were sucked into this particular vortex of gullibility.

5) A Kut Above, or a Kut Below? In either case, there'e some Kost Kutting...

6) Blatant Self-Promotion. And, to set the record straight, I wasn't having trouble deciding on a name... in the old Rocky-and-Bullwinkle tradition, if one Punny Title is good, two are Better!

7) No joke - be careful out there!

8) Houston, we have a problem...

9) Next thing you know, someone will try hollowing out Tupperware to put a book inside it!

10) Hiking up your shorts. Oh, wait... short hikes... sorry...

11) If we mix this thread and this thread, we get... "Homage du Frommage"

12) Moody Cootie Feudy. Keep your Cootie Brood Subdued near Prude.

13) Spirits, in every sense of the word.

14) A list just isn't a list without a cute Kid Quote... or two...

15) "A Moving Experience"... jeez, like THAT wasn't an obvious title... and More Moving Experiences...

16) We've all been there... congratulations, Electric City Four!

17) There ARE other ways to increase the number of letterboxers, outside of articles in "Family Fun" magazine...

18) The week after Thanksgiving, you expect leftovers...

19) You've Got Mail - Ryan is Sleepless in Seattle... hey... both those starred Meg "Ryan"! Sheesh, that's a stretch even for me!

20) Pssssst... what did you get for Question #6???

21) Everything in moderation... is anyone else scared that CQ is a moderator? Like, he has shown SO much moderation with his cooties...

22) "Mom, I'm board!"

23) Global Propositioning Systems.

24) NaNoWriMo? Nah, No wri mo...

25) There is no number 25. Well, there is a NUMBER 25, but there is no real entry for it.

That's probably enough to keep you all busy for a while... Have a GREAT weekend, enjoy whatever weather you are having, and check back on Monday for the Weekend Roundup!

-wassamatta_u

Turkey Trots

2006-11-27T00:32:00.000-08:00

Welcome, fellow LBers, to the first of my official "summarizations"! I think a lot of you have been otherwise occupied this last long weekend, and have been unable to follow the Atlas Quest message boards to the full extent you may be used to. Perhaps that should be "fool extent", but no matter. Help in on the way! I have taken it upon myself to supply you with a summary of what I consider to be the more important/interesting/self-serving threads over the last four days, for your edification and pleasure. Without further ado then, here is "The Official Thanksgiving Weekend Atlas Quest Message Board Summary"!

1) Dixie really started it all, with a thread called "Gobble Gobble", starting out as a heartfelt (or gibletfelt, whichever your preference) wish of fortune and happiness on this festive holiday, but which deteriorated quickly into a discussion of "gruel"... those who are surprised by this turn should leave now.

2) Little Foxes shared an amusing anecdote about a young'un who came up with the perfect title for a Letterboxing book. Kids say the darndest things...

3) A thread was opened regarding the newest scourge to assault the otherwise pristine and genteel sport of Letterboxing. This nemesis is called TerrorCaching, a sport in which hapless rubber stamps are sacrificed to the unyielding gods of Happy Meal Toys. Oh, wait, did I read that wrong? Terracaching? A more sophisticated and friendly form of Geocaching? As Emily Litella used to say... never mind...

4) A thread regarding the unimaginable DANGERS that may befall you while letterboxing.

5) Ok, so this one started a while ago... but the "Two Guys" series continued unabashed for the entire weekend (though, it certainly DESERVED to be bashed). No, it isn't something bad you did in a past life to deserve this, it is just one of those unfortunate things, like mosquitoes or poison ivy. Don't blame me. Ummm... ok, actually, I guess you CAN blame me...

6) What do you give the man who has everything, except all the incredibly essential and vital items necessary for a successful career in Letterboxing? Just ask MO UR4Me.

7) Apparently, a lot of people had Lucky Charms for Thanksgiving Dinner, because there was a huge surge in the references to "Blue Diamonds".

8) Opinions are like Digital Cameras... everyone has one. Did I get that quote right?

9) Stargazer wanted to make a game out of a Letterbox. Apparently, we're game for this game. Although, after a long hike, I am usually more game than I like to admit.

10) Dr Phil invoked the ire of many an LBer, and as usual, a vibrant and edifying conversation ensued. On the Message Boards, NOT on Dr Phil. He just sucked.

11) The age-old question of Image Transfers came up. The answers were thoughtful and intelligent.

12) Dear Dixie had a question regarding marking boxes as "retired". In the process of this discussion we were reminded of several facts specifically cogent to Letterboxing: "missing means you don't know where the flippin thing is", "the opposite of active is INACTIVE", "If you don't know where the flippin thing is, the status should be 'Unknown'", "if you KNOW...it's not UN-known", and "you can call it whatever you want in the privacy of your own home."

13) To log or not to log, that is the question. Apparently, the answer involves several dozen responses.

14) Tortuga... Turtle... slow? But wait! What does a turtle do when it sees a bug?

15) Geocachers... friend or foe?

16) Ways to tell if you are a letterboxer... 'nuff said.

And then it was Monday. Have a great post-long-weekend week, everyone!

-wassamatta_u

What's All This, Then?

2006-10-30T22:37:00.000-08:00

Welcome to "Scooping the Letterbox"!

This blog is a summary of all the important/interesting/amusing things going on at Atlas Quest, most notably in the Atlas Quest Message Boards. I hope to publish every week, but actual mileage may vary. I am not STARTING this quite yet - I am just preparing for when I can really devote the proper time necessary to fully exploit, er, explore the inner workings of the Atlas Quest Message Boards. Ten minutes is hard to come by!

For now, I will just copy the post that started this whole thing .

-wassamatta_u