Hobbies R Us

There are many hobbies that I feel I would be good at and enjoy if only I would turn off the TV long enough to learn them. Unfortunately, many of my perspective hobbies result in my spending too much money on things that end up collecting dust in my room (kayak, anyone?). I have had some luck, however, bead jewelry-making was good while it lasted, backpacking stuck, and I like to think of movie watching as a hobby.

Recently, I’ve gotten back into biking, and I love it. When I first biked, I did so for transportation, but when I moved back to St. Louis the cars, four-lane roads, and extremely long distances from place to place prompted me to hang up my bike helmet and put on my safety belt. A couple of months ago I went biking with some friends and was reminded by how much biking kicks walking’s ass. I still do not brave the St. Louis roads, but there are a lot of great trails around here that are enjoyable.

A new hobby I would like to get into is photography. I’ve always loved taking pictures. When I went to six grade camp I took an entire role of pictures of gravestones. Did I have an artistic eye that I never fostered? Was I just some freaky kid who liked gravestones a little too much? My camp consoler thought the latter, but I digress… In the hopes of cultivating this hobby, I have taken Panda’s camera (note the open and notorious way in which I possess it). I took the camera up to the farm this weekend, but because I had no manual and don't actually know how to focus, having alway has auto-focusing cameras, I shutter to think what will come back from the developers. I have a couple of friends who are awesome at photography, one of whom is in photography school, so (hint, hint) maybe he will show me some tricks of the trade.

So, those are just a couple of the many hobbies that I would like to develop. I would also like to learn to play a second chord on my guitar, be able to identify birds, and crochet. Now that my summer classes are all but over, maybe I’ll take the time to enjoy some of these hobbies. Sadly, it is much more likely that I will plop in front of the TV and just finish watching Angel on DVD.

One of my favorite Simpsons quotes

This quote is from The Simpson's first Halloween Special/ Tree House of Terror - the Raven. It is, by far, my favorite Halloween Special and one of my top Simpsons' episodes.




Bart: You know what would be scarier than nothing?
Lisa: No, what?
Bart: ANYTHING!!!


It is the delivery that makes it funny. And, boy is it ever! I also love to say "nevermore" the way Bart's raven does.

It's not TV Tuesdays, but what the hell.

New Links! - can ya dig it?

I just wanted to draw your attention to my newly added links:

• Without naming any names, you may remember a blogwagon passenger who fell off said wagon a few months ago - well he's back!
• The Hype Machine - a totally awesome music blog that my friend Casey told me about. This blog "tracks new songs posted on the best blogs about music." This morning, the first song on the list was Nuetral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane over the Sea. Now, I'm listening to Guster!
• Zach Braff's Blog - I love Zach Braff beyond what would be considered a healthy crush and, I feel that by linking to him, I am closer to him. :) I also like his taste in music and he has a "what I'm listening to now" section on his blog that I enjoy.
• Damn Interesting - This another site that Casey told me about. Here you will find articles on (damn) interesting facts and tidbits. It is awesome.
• Happy Slobs Guide to Housecleaning - I found this site on one of my "next blog" travels. She loves baking soda as much as I do and has a lot of cleaning tips!
• Wolf Sanctuary - I love the wolves and I love the Wolf Sanctuary. We should go there for a visit and learn all about how totally awesome wolves are.
• DESE - This will be of no interest to anyone but me, I imagine. It is a link to the MO Dept. of Elem & Secondary Education.

I hope you enjoy and visit these new links! Also, you should check out the old links I left on there because everything I link to is cool.

It Boggles the Mind...

Need a break from the daily grind?

Play boggle and excersise your mind!

This blog post brought to you by "Wordy Wednesdays"

Will wonders ever cease?!

I was at the bookstore today trying to get a book for my class. I did not find the book I needed, but I did find a whole book devoted to the wonderful world of baking soda! I knew it did a lot, but I did not know that it can remove crayon marks from walls, floors, chairs, etc!! This opens up a whole new world in home decorating!

Word of the Week!

Thanks for all the great words! The entries were:

• Peppercheese - I could not find a denintion of this word, but since Mster says it when she has pizza, I think it is an abbreviation of "peperonie-cheese." Mster was simply saying she wanted some pepperoni and cheese pizza – I hope you listened to her!
• Colloquial – Characteristic of or appropriate to the spoken language or to writing that seeks the effect of speech; informal. Relating to conversation; conversational.
• Concomitant - Occurring or existing concurrently.
• Concatenate – To connect of link in a series or chain; (adj) connected or linked in a series.
• Imaginariness – Having existence only in the imagination, unreal. This word can also releate to Mathematics: of, involving, or being an imaginary number.

This week's word of the week is:

Colloquial!!!

In my class we are currently exploring the theories of different learning styles put forth by Dr. Sternberg and Dr. Gardner. Dr. Gardner is the man behind the well known 7 multiple intellegences, but I find his articles and books difficult for the layperson to read. Dr. Sternberg, however, who discusses his theory of "successfull intellegence" through outlining what he calls "analytical, practical, and creative intellegences" writes much more colloquially. Through his writings, he opens a conversation with the reader to foster greater communication and learning.

This blog post brought to you by "Wordy Wednesdays" and Dictionary.com

Today's Fortune

Stop surfing the Web and get to work!

Touche, fortune. Touche.

Word Box

I've brought the word box out of retirement! So, fill it to the brim and on Wednesday at 2:00p.m. I will announce the Word of the Week! The word box will close at 10a.m. on Wednesday. Happy wording!

For Fishfrog

Panda and I went backpacking not too long ago and on our journey we came across this fungus. It was bright orange and very wierd looking. It would be really cool if someone could identify it for us. Someone who loves the magical world of fungi.

Firefly

My DVDs of Firefly finally came from Netflix! I have been anxious to watch Firefly ever since I saw Serenity last summer, but I have a lot in my Netflix que (namely Angel), so its taken me a while to get the DVDs. Anyway...I watched discs one and two last Friday.


The best thing about the show is that it stars the incredibly hot and sexy Nathan Fillion. I love Nathan Fillion so much. I loved him on One Life to Live, Two Guys and a Girl, Buffy, and I love him on Firefly. What I do not love is the sound on the Firefly discs; it is really poor. I have to use the subtitles so I can figure out what the hell anyone is saying. Other than that, I could not be happier with my rentals. The show is funny and action packed. There are also no ugly aliens (at least not yet) which is a big reason form my resistance to sci-fi stuff. This show is more like a western that planet hops.

This blog post brought to you by "TV Tuesdays"

Quiz Time!

What X-Men Character are you?

Take the quiz and see! I am:

Storm!

You are very strong and very protective of those you love. You are in tune with nature and are very concerned with justice and humanity. Unfortunately, certain apprehensions and fears are very hard for you to overcome, and can often inhibit you when most need to be strong.

The Juice that puts all other juices to shame

Dole's Pine-Orange-Bannana.

Drink it.

Ellen-O-meter

Most of you know I love Ellen. I love her sitcom, I love her stand-up, I love her talk show. I even love her Mama. I also love Ellen becuase she makes me love other people with her mad interviewing skills and gernal atmoshphere of awesomeness that surrounds the show. I am often blown away by a guest's preformance. This brings us to what I call the Ellen-O-meter. If someone rates high, I will probably love them forever. How much I adore any given actor pretty much lives and dies by their preformance on Ellen.

Here are just a few of the people who have hit it out of the park on the Ellen-O-meter:

Martin Sheen
Vin Diesel (that was a suprise. I fully expected to FF through his interview)
Fred Savage
Dustin Hoffman
Tom Cruise - he is back in my favor now- that is the power of Ellen!
Micheal Keaton
Lauren Graham
The Rock

This blog post brought to you by "TV Tuesdays: Early Edition"

Pandora is failing me

Some have heard me rave about the site Pandora. Its a great site that makes personal radio stations for you, and it is usually great. Today, however it is playing me mostly crappy songs. I am a bit annoyed. On the otherhand, it may not be Pandora so much as it is the fact that I am back at work, and therefore surly. Serioulsy, I really enjoy NOT working. I didn't get the "I'm so bored" funk that strikes so many after a week of freedom from schedules and deadlines- no, I loved every second of it. Every single second. Now, I'm stuck here with a stack of paperwork and pandora playing crappy songs.

Swing Dancing is FUN!

I went swing dancing with some new friends last night and it was so!much!fun! Last week I went salsa dancing, but this way better. The place we went was very odd, however, because although it is advertised as a swing night (and they offer lessons earlier in the evening), the music they played was not swing music. It was a mix of 80s, hip-hop, pop, etc. Very wierd. Still, I got to dance and was twirlled and spinned all around. It was cool. I highly recommend it!