Rowdy Dawg!

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our newest roommate, Rowdy! He's a 3 year old hound mix (looks like coonhound to me) with a friendly smile and one handsome mug!

VELOCIDOLPHIN!!

A magical thing happens when Vickie and Jen put their heads together... ideas beyond your wildest imagination are born!

On this particular day, they were enjoying some glorious weather on the back porch with Celeste the spider. Jen was swinging in the hammock and Vickie was reclining in a comfy chair. They tossed Celeste back and forth while listening to the velociraptors rustling in the woods. "What could be more terrifying than a velociraptor?" Vickie wondered aloud. 

"I don't know. Velociraptors are pretty scary," Jen replied as she tossed Celeste over to Vickie. Pausing, an idea suddenly came to Vickie. 

She held up Celeste and said, "VelociSPIDER!"

"Doo-doo! I would NOT want to run into one of THOSE!" said Jen as she caught Celeste, imagining her combined with the rogue raptors still hunting around Lake Johnson. "I'm definitely gonna have to draw that though."

The next day...

"So, I was talking to Paul earlier, and told him about the velocispider," Vickie explained as she walked in the door and kicked off her flip-flops. "He thought it was pretty scary, but then he kicked it up a notch.... velociDOLPHIN!!"

"Oh MAN! I DEFINITELY have to draw that!!"

"Yeah, I mean we're talking a super smart dinosaur and a super smart marine mammal! That would be the most terrifying thing EVER!!"

And the rest is history. Eventually, the velocispider will join this group, but here are two ridiculously awesome and horrifying velocidolphins!

SHEEPERNAUT!!

One of our more ridiculous stories and this blog's namesake, it is my pleasure to present to you... *drum roll pleeeeasse*...... the Sheepernaut! 

Our daily TV-watching lineup showcases some prime American entertainment, including shows like Cash Cab, Spongebob Squarepants, Jeopardy, Wipeout, AFV, and more. Though the time we spend on the couch is always highly productive, we have discovered that some of our greatest inspiration comes from the one and only Jeff Corwin. One day we were enjoying "The Experience", as die-hard fans call it, and Jeff was helping to tag bighorn sheep. He gave his usual spiel about the animals, their habitat, behaviors, did a silly voice, and proceeded to explain how they were planning to contain and tag them for study. We were more listening than watching at this point (multi-tasking is common during our chill sessions), when Jeff commented, "...the sheep are not sedated....", whereupon Vickie was overtaken with uncontrollable laughter. I was taken aback, unsure of what nonsense had just infiltrated Vickie's brain. Amidst the snickering, she was finally able to utter the word 'sheepernaut'. In an instant I knew what had happened. The image of a sheep in a spacesuit floated into my head, and I too dissolved into a fit of laughter. Ever since that fateful day, any extended silence has inevitably been broken with the silliness of the sheepernaut.

This image was simply ball-point pen meets a notepad in the kitchen, but soon and very soon there will be a sheepernaut, in full color and glory, worthy of your desktop (and possibly a T-shirt or two). Keep your eyes on the skies!

Camping is in-tents because...

In the beginning...

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, the paths of four young adventurers crossed, and a grand and glorious friendship was begun. Two knew each others' antics well, and two would soon find that their nonsense would combine seamlessly with the Floridians' to form a ridiculousness which would stand the test of time.

Times were good. The four spent their weeks toiling away, quieting the cries of children and taking on the most extreme challenges that nature had to offer. And on the weekends, they rested... wrestling, playing in the rain, having sand fights, and generally enjoying each others' company. For three months they went on in this fashion. Sunny days brought merriment, and starry nights brought adventure, and the four knew that what they had was indeed special.

In the following years, the distance between them fluctuated. Two returned annually to the place where it all began, growing more and more alike with each passing summer. Two took on other challenges, still keeping in touch (sometimes not all that consistently) and ultimately returning to the mountains to be reunited with their favorite companions. They had the makings of lifelong compadres, and, as they approached a new milestone in their lives, changes would come that would bring them even closer.

Times were changing. Two were pursuing degrees in two different states, and two had finally reached the culmination of their academic careers and were poised to take on the challenges of the real world. The latter had the world before them... a feeling of great freedom, and yet there was little prospect for employment in a time of some hardship and trepidation. And what was worse, they were being drawn away from each other. "If only we could band together and support each other somehow," they thought. And suddenly, it was as if all was made clear! They would become roommates!

What started as a crazy idea, entertained solely for the sake of hypothetical entertainment, soon became a reality. One found a job in Raleigh, and the other made plans to follow her there. Before they knew it they were sitting on the couch watching TV together, wondering why it had taken them so long to come up with such an ingenious idea. But this was just the beginning. Slowly, they began to notice a strange connection... two minds, perceptive and brimming with balderdash and useless knowledge, combining to create the most ridiculous nonsense imaginable. 

Now it is my pleasure to present to you the blog of Vickie and Jen... the two roommates from Raleigh. Here you will enter the world of their amalgamated madness, their integrated intelligence and assimilated astuteness. It is my hope that you shall find amusement in their shenanigans. Can they provide you with some diversion when you're feeling a little glum? I hope you'll answer....

Yes, please.