Hello everyone. This is the Electronic Panther, the father of the creep and system administrator. From time to time I may hijack the blog and post my experiences with the creep. This is the first attempt at such an undertaking.



The wife and kid went to visit grandma last December. One of the stories that came from that trip was that sister-in-law brought out a rabbit at one point and the kid freaked. He grew up with a black cat and a German Shepard mutt, but the rabbit was too much for him. He cried.

So the creep and I go to Twin Cities Reptiles in St. Paul the other day. To get to the back of the store where the reptiles are, one must run a rabbit gauntlet of sorts. I forgot about the whole sister-in-law rabbit thing so we stopped to look at the rabbits. At eye-level was a very furry rabbit. I said "Hey, look at the rabbit!" His lower lip puckered and he started weeping. I have tried from time to time (for some stupid reason) to give the kid a little encouragement when he's scared of something rather than just walking away in an effort to help him confront his fears. I now think most of the time I am just causing him emotional damage. The rabbit hopped and the kid was very startled by this. Then he started full-on crying.

The damage done, we continued to the back. The kid calmed down. We saw bull snakes, lizards, anacondas (no kidding), fourteen-foot pythons, twelve-foot boa constrictors (also no kidding) and the kid enjoyed himself very much. It was a strange experience. On the way out, we stopped to say goodbye to the rabbits and the kid started crying again.

I guess all that matters is that my kid loves snakes. Or at least he hates rabbits and tolerates snakes.

The Creep has been trying really hard to communicate with us. So far proclamations of "BALL!" are stated earnestly and with much concern from all corners of the house. There is also good 'ole "Pa-Pa" and "Bye-Bye" and various incarnations of "Ma-ma-ma-ma" which, unfortunately, just means "hey you, gimme some of that". The Creep will say "Ma-ma-ma" to the mailman if it would get him a "BALL!".

Then we realized that his official 5th word is Ahooga. I might have to start trying a little harder.
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In Other Gnews: If anyone out there is a golfer or knows a golfer (you can tell because around this time of year they get really excited and talk about the weather a lot) the Electronic Panther has set up a free golf tracking stat system called Golf Gnu. It is now and will always be free, so tell the golfing cheapskates in your life about this awesome opportunity to track their rounds and handicap online.

"Hey Grissom, look over there, isn't that arterial blood spray?"


"That isn't blood Nick...

...it's carrot."

The Creep has been the subject of many a motherly dietary diatribe in recent months. He has proven himself to be quite the picky eater and had whittled down the food groups into two categories:

Veggie Booty
Everything Else

For those of you that have not experienced the Creep's favorite food, let me introduce you to Veggie Booty an interesting rice/corn snack covered with a powdered blend of Spinach, Kale, Cabbage, Carrots and Broccoli. The reason that this post is funny, and may I mention that it is never good when you have to explain the punchline, is that Veggie Booty is green.*

I have tried every fruit from kiwi to mangoes and back to bananas; I have tempted him with broccoli and corn and spinach; I give him morsels of unending delectability and questionable nutritional value like part of my cheeseburger or birthday cake. He liked the birthday cake.

I have really begun the process of weaning him in part to increase his appetite during the day. Pretty much the only time that he nurses is at night or first thing in the morning. For the most part I think that it is working, I am seeing an increased interest in granola bars and, for some strange reason, cantaloupe. There may be hope for us after all.

No matter what though, if he is sound asleep, screaming his head off, or up in the bathtub, if one of us brushes against the bag of Veggie Booty time will stop and then a quiet - but exuberant -"Oh-Hohoho" will ring out across the silence.


* DON'T PANIC! The above picture is simply a trick of the light...or maybe I doctored it! Who knows?!? But he is fine now! Really!
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In Craft Related News: I finally set up an Etsy Store with my very talented sister. Our stock is small but will be growing, right now we have three very cute Wooly Baby dolls for sale. And 'cause you know I love you, a 10% discount for all Mama Grouch readers...go check us out!

Mama Grouch's Etsy Store

We have a new server. The E.P. is very excited.

The E.P. needs to make sure the blog still works.