There is a difference between mostly dead and all dead

And my blog is just mostly dead. I attribute it to the fact that I quit my job (whoot!). Before, while at work, I could justify taking little blogging breaks, thinking, "I can do x tomorrow." Well, my tomorrows are running out! I have several open projects, and only 3 weeks now to finish them. Additionally, it is a busy time at work, with 3 different sports seasons overlapping, (one of which is our biggest sport) and I need to secure volunteers for all 5 competitions before I leave.

I am so happy to quit my job, but as happy as I am, there is some sadness too. This week, I've begun telling some of my key volunteers that I'm leaving. It's not easy, and I'm beginning to realize there are a lot of people who have been part of my life for the last 4 years that I'm likely never going to see again.

Anyway, my blogging has suffered because of this business of busyness, so sorry, dear readers. I know how much this blog means to you, how it gives you a sense of purpose, how it brightens you day. So, I will try to post more often, and because of that I offer you this Saturday post! Who knows, I may even post a couple more before the day is done!

In other news...I finally figured out how to use spell check on this thing. That is to say I did the same thing I always do (click the spell check icon), but this time it worked. Ironically, the blog spell checker told me that "blog" was misspelled, and suggested "bloc." Also a little ironic: I misspelled "misspelled." heh.

10 Radom things in my office

1. a "stress ball" in the shape of a green car from progressive
2. a picture of tadpole
3. a twin peaks pin
4. a key chain with tinkert toys attached
5. a magic eight ball
6. a wolves calendar
7. a fortune cookie that says, "sing badly, if you must, but sing"
8. a bottle of cream soda
9. a signed napkin from Chrarlie Webber (Ben from Buffy)
10. a nun-chukka bean trading card

nun-chukka bean

The Owls are not what they seem

I watched Eraserhead last night with some friends. Most of them did not like it, but one of them did and a couple of them "appreciated" parts of it. I expected no more - Eraserhead is not user-friendly. Anyway, I have had Twin Peaks on the brain a lot lately, and watching Lynch's Eraserhead with the lovable Jack Nance and the zigmatic floor has only intensified my desire to pop in my Twin Peaks season one. I also came across this video - it is a SNL parody of Twin Peaks. It may not be funny to those who don't know the show, but its worth a chuckle to those who've seen it.

Fall into Butterfinger

It is beautifully gloomy outside! I love this weather! I just love it. Fall is my favorite season: I love the gloom, I love the non-gloomy perfectly cool days, I love the changing colors, and I love Halloween. Fall is also the season I associate most closely with the Butterfinger Candy Bar. In honor of Fall (which, I realize is not here to stay yet), I ate said candy bar. It was delicous.

Word of the Week!

Thanks for all the entries!
The words: (from diconary.com)

Piqueto affect with sharp irritation and resentment, a feeling of irritation or resentment (to be in a pique)
to wound (the pride)
to excite (interest, curiosity)
to arouse emotion

Behooveto be necessary or proper for, as for moral or ethical considerations
to be worthwhile to, as for personal profit or advantage

Zigmatic
this appears not to be a word at all, or at least dictionary dot com does not have a definition for it, I will make one up:Having characteristics of David Lynch's famous black and white floor (featured in Eraserhead and Twin Peaks)

This week's word of the week winner:

Picque!

This blogpost brought to you by last week's "Wordy Wednesday"

I stared death in the face

and it ignored me to look for berries...

Word Box Aug 21-23

know it. love it. fill it.

The word box will close on Wednesday at 12noon.

good class!

I have been (very) slowly taking classes towards my initial certification and masters in teaching. During all this time and all these classes I had yet to have one that offered any instruction on teaching or discussion of practical applications for the classroom. That was...until tonight. I have to tell you, I looked at the clock a lot less in this class than any any of my other classes. Now, I'm not saying I didn't enjoy some of my other classes. My writing class (professor notwithstanding) was awesome, Free Speech was pretty cool, and the ed. phylosophy classes were interesting. Non of them, however, really prepared me for anything in the classroom. Judging by tonight, I think things are going to be different this semester, and I am so very excited!

owed an apology

check it out!

My first crochet project.

An Inconvenient Truth

On vacation I saw the documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. Run, don't walk to go see this movie. It is fantastic. Not only does it give you an great explination of global warming showing that it is an actual phenomenom not some paranoid theory of environmentalists, but it is a times funny. There is a special treat for all you Futurama fans out there. In the movie, Al Gore brings the facts of excessive CO2 use front and center. Viewers are shown not only what will happen, but what is happening because of our actions. I also liked this movie because unlike other environmental awareness projects, this did not pull at heartstrings as a means to get people to care. Instead, it layed out the facts of the matter, and people who care will hopefully be called into action while people who didn't care before will realize why they should. Go see this movie! Then, sign up for green energy (if you can afford it), change all you light bulbs to compact floresent lightbulbs, and visit the website to learn more.

Now, for all of you are going to say, "it doesn't help if only one person does it." or some other similar crap that really makes me angry, don't. True, it doesn't help enough if only one person does it, but if everyone stopped saying that and did something, then more than just one person would be doing it, wouldn't they? In order for laws and programs to change to make it easy for people to be envirionmentally responsible, people have to change their mindset and demand that programs be made to make environmentally responsilbe choices easy. Its a cycle that has to start somewhere, and once it does has the potentail to spin blissfully out of control until it becomes second nature for people to make the smart choice. So, don't do nothing because you can't do everything - do what you can and complain that you community doesn't make it easier for you do to the rest!

This blog post brought to you by "Movie Mondays"

forced vacation time

This is the second time in the last month that I have had to leave work because of a power outtage. As a result, I am taking vacation time for which I have not planned. What worse is that I actually have a lot of stuff I need to get done in the office. Frankly, this sucks.

feeling better

Its all relative, I guess. I feel a hell of a lot better than I did yesterday, but I'm still not in tip-top condition. Add to that the fact that panda is on a backpacking trip with fishfrog and nell and the result is that I am both bored and jealous. I'm hoping I have enough energy to clean the apartment or crochet so this weekend isn't a whole waste.

New passenger!

There is a new passenger on the blogwagon, folks! My friend Sweet Cactus who recently moved to Arizona has started her own blog, "Arizona or bust." Help me welcome her!

My trip was totally awesome!

Despite the unexpected night's stay in Denver on the way to MT and the missing bag at the St. Louis baggage claim, I had the best time on my trip!

We started out in Glacier, which is the most beautiful place I have ever been. I've been there just twice now, but it is my favorite of all the National Parks. The first day was a bit of a bust because of my stupid airline delaying me overnight, but on the second day we got up and hiked to Avalanch Lake. It was gorgeous - I highly recommend this hike. It starts out as the Trail of the Cedars, which is an easy paved trail, and continutes on a slightly more strenuous hike until it opens up to the beautiful Avalanche Lake. The rocks all around the lake were this weird light blue-green color - very cool.

We drove the Going to the Sun Road and saw lots of wildlife: big horned sheep, mountain goats, etc and on the way back, we saw a bear! It was a black bear meandering down the road. When it saw us it detoured into the forest, but overall seemed completly unconcerned with our presence. Needless to say, this pretty much made my vacation. It was topped only by seeing the look on SP's face when I told her the tale.

Day three, we lounged, and I mean lounged, by Lake MacDonald. The next day (our last day at Glacier), we went white water rafting. The rapids were not that fierce, and we were with a family who had no idea how the hell to paddle, so it was a bit frustrating. Seriously, I do not know what this family's problem was. They did not paddle in sync - I cannot tell you how many tmes I heard paddles clang against each other. At one point, the mom completely lost all reason and started paddeling the opposit direction from everyone else. The young girl, who cold not paddle to save her life, finally decided to stop, but her dad kept yelling at her to paddle. So, clang, clang, clang went the oars once again. Idiots. Still, we were going down a river in the middle of 3 million acres of protected land, so it was pretty freaking awesome.

Then we headed to Missoula and my heart immediately felt at home. We saw a pretty cool band called the Warsaw Poland Brothers. They have a bit of ska to them and we danced some jigs and had a really awesome time. We also saw The Inconvenient Truth. Everyone should see this movie! We also went to an experimental short film fest and the first documentary was by Werner Herzog (unfortunately, I've forgotten the title).

We ate a bunch of good food, climbed the "M," met Steve Frost (one of the writers for Twin Peaks), and walked all over town - many, many times - to take in the cool chillin' atomosphere of my favorite town. Me at the top of the M:

My trip ended in Billings where the unthinkable happened - my friend Brandi beat me at Trivial Pursuit. Neither of us could recall this happening before. I'm pretty sure she cheated.

Can't Sleep

that is all.

For a Smurfing Good Time

When Panda and I were little we used to play Smurfs: Rescue in Garagmel's Castle. This was my favorite collecovision game, and one of my top 10video games ever. Others include: tetrus, super mario (the original), bomberman, donkey kong, and a few others. Still, this one holds a special place in my heart. It's smurf-errific!

The object: save Smurfet from Gargamel! One smurf travels across the land encountering fences he must jump over and bats he must duck to avoid. Finally, he makes his way to Gargmel's and jumps up on this - I think it was huge skull guarded by a spider - to to save Smurfet. If he doesn't jump in just the right spot, he dies. If he is successfull, the song "Tis a Gift to be Simple" plays and all is right with the world.

Anyway, I can't find it to play online, which is a shame, but for I did find a game that's pretty smurfy. Play Greedy's Bakery to help Greedy keep his tasty treats from splattering on the floor.

Several little things...

So, I went up to the farm this weekend with my dad and we brought back so much delicious, delicious sweet corn! Mom and I spent 5 hours canning it so it we will have the tasty goodness all year round. Three cheers for corn!

If you turn your eyes to the heavens, you may have noticed that we are currently under a new moon. This made for spectacular stargazing up at the farm. Last time I was there (also a new moon), my dad and I saw what appeared to be a falling meteorite. We watched it blaze across the dark sky for (I'm not exaggerating) over 3 minutes, but I digress... This past Sunday, so many stars were out and we actually saw the Milky Way. It was pretty awesome.

The power is back on at work! YAY! because the air conditioning is on and because I can get my stuff done before my vacation, but BOO! because I'd planned to leave work today at 11:30 to get errands done before my vacation. Now, I can't use the "it's so hot I might literally die if I stay here" excuse to leave and do my personal stuff.

I watched the Music Man for the first time last night. I can't believe I hadn't seen it before (I love musicals), but the fact remains: I hadn't. I loved it. Loved it. If you haven't seen it you should. I'm kind of on a musical kick right now, and I think tonight I'll watch Singin' in the Rain.

My friend Rachael gave me this CD by Eve Cassidy. I enjoy the whole CD, but I really love the first track, It Doesn't Matter Anymore. The song, written by Paul Anka and originally recorded by Buddy Holly is, is just beautifully sung by Eve Cassidy. I can't get it out of my head.

SUCCESS!!...sort of...

Lucy's claws aren't as short as I would like, but they are shorter than they were! The towel thing didn't work for me, so I just waited until she was napping, then made my attack. She's not very happy with me now, but she'll get over it.

Question:

If you had 10,000 to spend as you like, how would you spend it?

This blog post brought to you by "Thoughtful Thursdays"

Offering Help...I'd think twice about it

If I say I will help you do something, that means I will aid you. I will give assistance. I will add my hands to the mix in the hopes of making light work.

I will not, I repeat NOT, do you work for you.

I have my own (underpaid) work to do, I don't need your project dumped in my lap!

It's going to be a sad day

I am down to only two Angel episodes left. Although, not as good as Buffy, I love this show. The first season was alright, but it had some kinks to work out. And work them out it did. Seasons 2 and 3 were pure joy. Then, it got depressing, and then a different kind of depressing sprinkled with much missed humor. Still, I love it and I will miss it when I'm done.

This blog post brought to you by "TV Tuesdays"

pointy side up

I really need to trim Lucy's nails. I've tried serval times but she won't let me. "won't let you!?" you say, "she's a cat - your cat. Just trim her nails already." Easy for you to say... but take it from me, much blood has been shed already. Now, her otter pose that I normally find so adorable just reminds me of a Get Fuzzy cartoon where Satchel doesn't want to approach Bucky because he's "pointy side up."

tongue tied

Do you ever have one of those days when your brain sends the message to your mouth to utter certain words in a certain order and your mouth jumbles the message? That was me today. All day today on the phone. I must have sounded like such an idiot, and I knew it was happening, but I couldn't stop it. So annoying.

10 Movies Better than Lord of the Rings

So, last night some of my friends were shocked to learn that I think Lord of the Rings was the biggest waste of time I've had the displeasure to sit through. In fact, one or two of them may be loath to call me friend now that they know this. Still, the fact remains: Lord of the Rings stole nine hours of my life from me, and I can't get that back! Technically, the 3 part movie did much right: many critics gave it a thumbs up, the imagery was a thing of art, the actors learned their parts well, and the music set the mood well. Because of this, I'm not going to say "Lord of the Rings is trash," but my pure emotional response was clear: Lord of the Rings is lame. It left me unsatisfied and often a little bored.

In my opinion, these ten movies are infinitely better than the Lord of the Rings movies:

1. Braveheart
2. Gone With the Wind
3. The Godfather
4. Superman 2
5. Bourne Identity
6. An Affair to Remember
   
7. French Kiss
8. Erasurehead
   
9. The Princess Bride
10. Wizzard of Oz
    

My apartment smells like bacon

Why? I do not know. I am not cooking any bacon, in fact, there is no bacon in my apartment to cook. Who is cooking bacon, and will they give me some?

Anonymous: show yourself!

Most of you know I love comments on my blog. I love silly comments, funny comments, serious comments, thoughtful comments, and I even love stupid comments. I just love comments. What I do not love is when people post as anonymous*. Why? Well, I don't know who gets the darn cookies, for one! (fortunately I do this time, but I might not have!).

So, to anonymous I say: Yes, it's your right to stay hidden, and I'd rather you post anonymously than not at all, but why not show yourself?

Now, it occurs to me that anonymous just may not realize that he can choose another name. In case you don't know, here's how you do it: When you post a comment, several choices are presented. If you don't have a blogger ID, all you have to do is pick "other" and then type any any name by which you want to be called. Call yourself scooby-doo for all I care, but call yourself something!

That is all.

*Except for in the word box. The word box is the one safehaven for anonymous posters.

stream of conciousness blog post

Man, oh man, I wish it would just pour down rain already. I can't stand the overcast sky and the spittle that it is sending our way today. Also, I am by myself at work today, which has sent my productivity down the tubes. Fortunately, I have a pile of work that is mindless enough that I can do it in front on the TV, and I will therefore be watching Guiding Light in 35 short minutes. Tonight I plan to bake cookies and watch - you guessed it- an episode of Angel. I also want to rent the first Pirates of the Carribean movie in preparation for seeing the second one, but I know I'll have to watch it while Panda is away, and I'm not sure what she's doing tonight. In other news, I heard the author of this book talking on St. Louis on the Air and now I want to read it. I wonder if the library has it...Hopefully the weather will be nicer tomorrow and I can walk to the library or bookstore and pick it up. I also need to go grocery shopping. Yesterday I went on a pitstop to the store and picked up some peaches. The last time I got peaches, I did not enjoy them, but it was primarily becuase they were not ripe enough. This time, I still did not enjoy them - they were too ripe. Peaches. They are a troublesome fruit. Stawberries, on the otherhand, are almost always good. Man, I love strawberries. Nell served stawberries last night and they were perfectly ripe. I also love watermelon, apples, oranges, pears (which, like peaches have small window of ripy-goodness), pineapple, and cantelope. I hate muss-melon -- no thankyou! Moving from thirst quenching fruit to thirst quenching water... I am supposed to drink 64oz of water a day, as we all are. Since I drink about 24oz of fluid daily (usually in soda form), this is a difficult goal for me. I have my trusty nagine bottle on my desk and I am not yet finished with my first jug. I've a long way to go. As I look at my nalgine bottle I am reminded about my Montana trip at the end of this month (there is a missoula sticker stuck to the side), and I am so very excited! Our reservation to whitewater raft in Glacier Park was just confirmed and we will go on a 1/2 ride down the river. Since it will be August, the rapids might not be as rough as they would have been earlier in the season, but I've no doubt that it's going to kick ass. Even if there were no rapids and were were just drifting down the current, the view of Glacier would be enough to satisfy me. I cannot wait! Well, I seriously doubt anyone is still reading this, and I need to return some calls before working on my pile and watching GL, so this post is over.

My Fortune

"You shouldn't overspend at the moment. Frugality is important."

Now, if that isn't a made-to-order fortune, I don't know what is. This month is sucking my bank account dry.

Christmas in July!

14 Days and Counting until La Femme Nikita Season 4 will be out on DVD!!!

This blog post brought to you by" TV Tuesdays"

Six Degrees of Separation Game

Connect these two actors in six degrees or less!

Johnny Knoxville and Shirley McLaine

The person to connect them first in the fewest degrees gets home-made cookies! Contest ends Wednesday at 10a.m.; cookies will be delivered by Friday evening.

This blog post brought to you by "Movie Mondays"

Fresh Air

Listen to this Terry Gross interview with Jane Mayer regarding her New Yorker article about David Addington, called "David Addington and 'Hidden Power'". The amount of power this guy seems to have is more than just a little scary. It's a very interesting interview.

Also, I think Jane Mayer sounds almost exactly like Laura Linney.

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!

Eureka!

I've been bitching a moaning about iTunes playlists becuase there was no way I could see to arrange the songs in the order I wanted. Pretty lame when your trying to make a mix. Well, I don't know if something was clicked that shouldn't have been all the other billion times I tried to move songs around, but by golly, it's working now! Yeah!!

I love having the week off!

I took the week off work this week because I'd planned to drive my friend to Arizona and then fly back on Sunday. Unfortunately, reality hit when I looked up air fare for a one way ticket from Pheonix. Still, I'm off work and I am loving it!! I haven't done anything major, but I've spent most of the day today in the Bread Co putting more music on Cooper and when the rian stops I'll head home to (hopefully) do some housework before heading out to swing dancing tonight. Tomorrow: a bike ride! Can I just never go back to work?

10 things I hate

...a negative nilly's take on the ol' "10 things I love" list

people talking during movies/tv shows

being "spoiled"

people who are "too cool" to have a good time

name dropping

the sound of the alarm clock

people who "don't watch t.v." and think they are superior because of it

filing

doing laundry

taking out the trash

changing lightbulbs

I don't like it.

Why don't the words "bear" and "fear" rhyme? The look like they should, but by golly, they do not!

I'm hot on your heels

Yep, I'm a runner. Actually I hate running, but desperately want to learn to love it, so while I was on the treadmill training my legs to go up hill in anticipation for my summer trip to Missoula where my college buds and I will hike to the M on Mt Sentinel, I switched up my routine and jogged a little. For four very long minutes. I tell ya this much: running is more of a work out than walking or biking.

Meanwhile, I am very excited about my trip in July! I have been back to Missoula in 2 years and it is just about my favorite place to be. We are also going camping in Glacier for 3 nights. I am a little worried about bears since we will be in Griz Country, but Glacier is the most beautiful place I've ever been, so I'm just going to take a heathy amount of bear fear with me on my trip and call it good.

Planting Flowers

Yesterday my co-worker and I went to Lowe's to make a new key for our office. The key ended up not working, but the day was not a total loss becuase I got some flowers! They are daisies - my favorite . I have some simple white daisies, and some yellow and pink daisies. I just finished planting them in a pot, they have really brighted up my office! I hope this is an indication of a great summer!

Six Degrees of Separation Game

Connect these two actors in 6 degrees or less:

Bradley Whitford and Jane Kaczmarek

This blog post is brought to you by "Movie Mondays"

If you can't save yourself, warn others!

Going to the movies can often end in despare and heartach if the movie is bad enough. Have you ever walked out of a theater becuase a movie was so bad? I have not, although there were two movies that I would have left during the middle of had I not been with other people.
Jurassic Park: Lost World
Mr. Wrong

Both terrible, terrible movies. And both with actors I love: Alessandro Nivola in JP:LW and Ellen in Mr. Wrong. Do not see these movies! I saw them many many years ago, and I'm still not quite over the trauma they caused.

This blog post brought to you by "Movie Mondays"

Backpacking

SP and I went backpacking this weekend at Hawn State Park and hiked the 10 mile loop trail. Supposedly easier than the trek we made last month, this trail kicked my ass. The views and cascading creeks made it all worthwhile, however, and this is a hike everyone should take. The trail takes you through pine forests, over boulders and through knee high water. It's pretty much totally awesome.

Our campsite was nestled at the V of two streams, so we were almost completely surrounded by the gurgling of the water as it flowed into a small swimming hole at the tip of the V. It was gorgeous! We saw lots of snakes (big! and fortunately not at our campsite), salamanders, and butterflys as we tromped along the path.

Swamped, yet unmotivated

That's me today. I'm at work all alone. It's gloomy outside. I have a "to do" box instead of a pile, and yet.... I am blogging.

yuck - why is that?

Have you ever noticed that every once and a while you will find yourself writing with a really smelly sharpie? I write with sharpies a lot in my line of work, and usually the smell does not bother me because it rarely lingers. Today, however, I wrote with a sharpie and the page with the markings still has the strong and distinct aroma of yucky permanent marker smell. It's been a half an hour since I wrote with the marker! Why is that?

Magic Eight Ball...

Magic eight ball, magic eight ball, will my friend Poxy ever get to Arizona?

"YES"

Well, it's taken Poxy a few extra days to get loaded up and move herself and her two dogs to the Grand Canyon State, but she called today and thinks today is the day. Magic Eight Ball seems to think so too, so good luck Poxy! And, to help you fit in, here is some usless information about your new home:

state bird

Cactus Wren

state reptile

Arizona Ridgenose Rattlesnake

state amphibian

Arizona Tree Frog

state flower

Saguaro Catus Blossom

Have fun in the Pheonix, Poxy!!!

I'm all kinds of handy

For months now, our shower sprays out what could be described as a trickle of water falling out of our faucet. Tonight I took matters in my own hands, grabbed a wrench, and I changed the shower head. The result: SUCCESS!! We now have normal water pressure in our shower! YAY! I don't think I'll quit my day job to become a plummer just yet, but I'm pretty proud of myself.

It's the small things in life...

I hate finals

The finals I'm referring to are not mine, but the law students'. Here it is, Sunday night and I'm all by my lonesome. SP has been in marathon study sessions for a couple of weeks now. Not only do I not see her, but I don't see anyone else either, and it is a total drag. Alright, I'm done complaining.

I am really happy because my favorite band, They Might Be Giants (also known as the best band ever), will be here in St. Louis on May 6th. I cannot wait! Can.Not.Wait. They come at the perfect time - finals will be over and my 4 events at work will be totally wrapped up.

randomly in my head this afternoon...

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear

Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair

Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy

Was he?

Good luck on finals!

I know many of my loyal readers are in the middle of finals and to them I offer Lucky Finals Cow:

Good Luck!

My biggest pet peave

"funner" and "funnest"

These are not words, yet so many people say them. Everytime I hear them it is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Just say funner out loud - listen to yourself - hear how ridiculous you sound! ugh!

Examples what you can say:
Work is not fun.
You know what would be more fun than working? Anything.
White water rafting is the most fun!

This blog post brought to you in part by "Wordy Wednesdays"

I've said it before, and I'll say it again

Soap is the best show ever. I'm on season 4 right now, and although this season is not my favorite, it is still hilarious. Joe Mantegna, who I love, just showed up in an episode. Such a good show. I will keep saying this until the day I die.

Thoughtful Thursday poses a question....

An annual event is held, well annually. Volunteers run this event. Sponsors give money to the event. Often sponsors are volunteers. Historically, sponsors who volunteer have had a job of high importance (running a portion of the event). Over the years, some sponsors have sponsored less and volunteered more, and a few to the point of not donating any money, but instead are providing quality volunteers for the portion they are running. Because those who used to raise money don't now, new sponsors are on board giving lots and lots and lots of money. These sponsors also want to volunteer, and want a job of high importance (running the event with new quality volunteers that they bring).

Now, all events are covered. Although there are new sponsors, there are no new events. What do you do?

1. Give the new sponsor a less prominant (though no less important) job? This could result in the new sponsor becoming bored, feling underapreciated, etc and so he may not bring in as much money next year. The new sponsor also can see what other sponsors get to do.
2. Give the new sponsor the ex-sponsor's volunteers job? Though not giving money, the ex-sponsor still volunteers and runs the event well with his group of volunteers.
~~working together is not an option -- this are big-wig important people who like to be in charge~~

Either way, you are going to step on someone's toes. What should you do?

I know what I think, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Six Degrees of Separation Game- TV Style

Going through Television, connect these two actors in Six Degrees or less!

Stockard Channing and Michael J. Fox

The game ends Wednesday at 9 a.m. The person to connect these actors in the fewest turns the fastest using ONLY television credits will recieve bubbles.

IMPORTANT:
Television credits mean T.V. shows or movies made for T.V.
Games Shows/reality shows are not allowed.
One-time guest spots are not allowed, but recurring character guest spots are fine.

Happy Easter!

Farmers' Markets - YUM!

I love going to farmers' markets. You wouldn't necessarily know this by my actions. In truth, I rarely go to farmers' markets for my produce. But I should. And you should too. The reasons seem pretty obvious to me. Here are a few, although no doubt there are more.

• supporting local farmers
• produce is fresher and often tastes better!
• often cheaper than what's sold in the store
• you can support farmers who are transitioning to organic farming

Not to mention it is a fun day outside where you are brought together with your community.

Kirkwood Farmers' Market

There are several great farmers' markets in St. Louis: and therefore no reason for St. Louisians not to go.

Soulard Farmers Market
7th Street and Lafayette Avenue, St. Louis / 314.622.4180
Year round, Wed. to Fri. – 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Sat. – 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Clayton Farmers’ Market
Corner of Maryland and North Central avenues, Clayton / 314.645.5807
May 22 to Oct. 30, Sat. – 8 a.m. to noon

Kirkwood Farmers’ Market
East Argonne Drive and Taylor Avenue, Kirkwood / 314.822.0084
Thru Sept. 25, Thu. and Fri. – 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat. – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Many merchants are also open seven days a week.

Maplewood Farmers’ Market
Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest Ave, Maplewood / 314.645.5807
May 19 to Oct. 27, Wed. – 4 to 7 p.m.

Central West End Farmers’ Market
Next to St. Louis Bread Company on Maryland Plaza, St. Louis / 314.361.2850
May 1 to Sept. 25, Sat. – 8 a.m. to noon
(very small - new and just getting started)

This blog post brought to you by "Earth Friendly Fridays"

I am the picture of professionalism

I went to walgreens to purchase some flip-flops to wear, rolled my pants up to my knees and changed from wearing a tank-top with a button down over it to just a tank-top. It is so freaking hot!

I'm begning to think they did turn on the heat. 2 hours to go...

I guess I should just be glad the heat isn't on

Normally I bitch and moan becuase it's so freakin' cold in my office. Not today. No, sir. Today I'm bitching and moaning becuase the air conditionor is broken, there is no breeze coming through the windows, and I'm stuck here for another 4 hours.

Wordy Wednesday

SP and I watched some Veronica Mars season one the other night and in honor of all the TV Tuesdays I've neglected and the Wordy Wenseday that is today, I thought I'd share this quote from the show.

Assistant Principal Clemmons: Logan, can I have a word?
Logan: Anthropomorphic. All yours, big boy.

hee! I wonder if I will find this blatent disrespect towards school officials this funny once I'm a teacher. Probably, as long as its not directed at me.

anthropomorphic: suggesting human characteristics for animals or inanimate things

Philosophy of Special Agent Dale Cooper

Fellas, coincidence and fate figure largely in our lives.

etiquette hats at dinner table origins

Someone got to my blog by googleing "etiquette hats at dinner table origins" I've no doubt they were disappointed when the arrived at a "happy birthday nell" post where warmfuzzies were wearing hats and a post about passing to the right.

Always wanting to please, I thought I'd look up the answer to this web-surfer's question. Unfortunately, I'm only taking a mini-break at work and do not have time to do this. So, on second thought I'm just going guess at who/why this person googled the query.

I imagine he is a smart, but unruly student who refused to take off his hat at during school lunch and one of two things happened:
1. theteacher on duty assigned him the task of writing a paper on ettiquete - specifically: dinner table etiquette and the wearing of hats.
2. the student set out out to show that he was unjustly punished (given detention or mocked in front of his peers) by trying to prove that it is perfectly acceptable etiquette to wear a hat at the dinner table.

Do you have any guesses about this mystery googler?

Spring has Sprung

I just ripped down the last remaining snowflake hanging on my office window. Spring is here - the snowflakes must go.

Today

It is gorgeous outside! A little windy perhaps, but otherwise: gorgeous. Unfortunately I am stuck inside staring at this computer. Who came up with this thing called "work." They were not very smart.

Movie Quote Game!

In what totally awesome movie would you find this quote:

Well, "sorry" doesn't put the Triscuit crackers in my stomach now, does it?

Bonus points* if you can tell me who says it and at least one other movie/show/etc that the actor is in.

*bonus points are cannot be used as tender or to redeam prizes. They are for self-satisfacation only

This blog post, and many others, have been brought to you by "Movie Mondays'

Oh green candy, why do you do this to me?

A couple of weeks ago I bought some gummy bears specifically for the lime candy flavor inside. I quickly unsealed the bag and reached for a green gummy bear. To my horror the gummy bear was not lime flavored! It was crappy green apple. Disgusting!

Still in search for candy lime flavored goodness, I bought a roll of lifesavors . As the roll dropped with a clunk to the bottom of the machine, I eagerly reached in and pulled out my prize. I opened the pack, disgarding the orange, red, and purple lifesavors -- Purple? Wait, since when is there purple? It was then that I looked at the outside of the wrapper "new flavors!" it read. My heart sank, and even as I lifted up the green lifesavor to my lips, I knew. It would not be candy lime flavored. The disgusting flavor of green-apple was poison to my tastebuds. It was then that I decided drastic measures must be taken.

It is time for the Lime Candy Revolution! This crappy green-apple crap is taking over green candy everywhere and it must stop! Oh, the attack on lime flavor was a sneaky one. Slowly, green-apple flavor started to replace lime-flavor - almost so you barely noticed or thought your mind was just playing tricks on you. That was the beauty of the plan. Although Jelly Beans are a candy lime flavor hold out, it is only a matter of time before they, too, are in green-apple's clutches. We cannot have children on Easter morning bite into a green jelly bean and be hit with the revolting taste of candy green-apple. Easter is a day of celebration, not of tears! Action must be taken!

I encourage you to join the Lime Candy Revolution! Refuse to buy candies that have replaced lime with green-apple or write your candy makers! The madness must stop!

Arfanser, where are you?

For the last couple of days, I have not been able to access Arfanser's site. What is going on? Where did your blog go???

Movie Quote Game

okay, this one may be difficult, but I have faith that someone will guess this movie.

In what movie would you find this quote:

you're nothing but a gutless wonder!

This blog post brought to you by "Movie Mondays"

Way to go!

Last night my friend Billy took me to a photo exhibit at our University. He is a photographer -quite a good one. Four of his photographs were submitted and four picked to be on display. I am very excited for him. One of the pictures was taken atop my building. All his photographs were beautiful and I think he is going to be more well known than not in years to come. Yay Billy! :)

If you are going to provide service

then provide it!

In the basement of our building we have a coin machine. This comes in handy for doing laundry. Or, more accurately it would if the machine was ever full of change. Tonight I am trying to do laundry - the whole sha-bang: clothes, bedcothes, rugs, etc. An endeaver this ambitious takes many many quarters. So, I make sure I have plenty of ones and fives and I haul my laundry basket down to the basement. I put in a five and quarters spill into the coincup. I feel as though I've won at the slots. I then put in my one - nothing. The machine takes my money and spits it out. I try another. Same result. I guess I should be happy for the $5 in quarters it gave me, and if this was the only time it'd happend I just think "bad luck for me today," but the machine is constantly out of quarters. The apartment building charges 1.75 (in quarters) for their laundry and has a coin machine, so I must assume they realize their tenants need quarters. Why - why! do they not keep it full? It is so frustrating!

Most Awesome Thing Ever!

Last night I saw the most awesome thing ever. A "more you know..." psa with The Office's Rainn Willson about the dangers of Bears. Go to The Office to watch this one and more (there are a bunch). HI-freakin'-larious!

Pet Peeve: The CC Power Trip

If you are going to write someone an accusatory e-mail and "cc" that person’s supervisor, her supervisor, and a third interested party, then you should also "cc" all those people when you write back to that someone to apologize because you were totally wrong in your accusations.

Thanks for the well wishes

Thanks for the well wishes. I am feeling a bit better and my paper is resembling something that could possibly-in-the-near-future be a paper worth turning in.

Nonsensical Ramblings of a Sick Person

Feeling ill last night, I decided to take my temperature, and to my dismay I had a fever. I cannot remember the last time I've had a fever, so this was a bit unnerving and uncomfortable for me. SP showed her nurturing side and gave me some medicine and water to bring down said fever and to help me feel better. It helped the matter, but didn't fix it. This morning I again woke with fever, sore throat and cough. I couldn't get into my doctor, so off to Urgent Care I hurried.

The staff at Urgent Care were extremely friendly, but I was there for four hours! Four hours, and all told I spent only 35 minutes talking to anyone. Still, it was less time than I would have spent at the ER and my insurance covers it (unlike if I have to be rushed to the hospital next door to my house, but that is another boring story).

The people at Urgent care are all very nice, and so I hate to say anything bad about it. I was, afterall, given drugs that promise to make me feel better.

The upside to my 4 hour stint in Urgent Care is that I made great headway in reading Life of Pi. It has really picked up speed, and as SP and fomerSquishy have mentioned, it is a book worth reading.

Being sick has also really put a damper on my ability to finish may paper that I need to mail to my professor ASAP . Procrastination has never gotten the best of me like this before. Time is a formidable foe - I just hope it doesn't win this round!

Standing the Test of Time

I love the oldies and I'm not afraid to say it! In highschool the oldies station was number 1 on my "preset" and I listened to it every day on my way home from school. I just can't get enough of them. Well, with my new iPOD I find that I listen to the radio less and less when I'm in my car, and I miss my oldies. So, the other night I put some of my favorite olidies on Cooper. I got some Peter Paul and Mary, some Hermen's Hermits, and some Turtles. I also put on a few songs by the totally awesome Sam Cooke. All of his songs are great, but a couple of my favorites are Another Saturday Night, Only Sixteen and Cupid. He has alot of other popular songs (Chain Gang, Wonderful World, Twistin' the Night Away....). If you don't have music by him, you are missing out. NPR has had several stories about him, and if you haven't heard them I suggest you check them out. The link takes you to one story, and you can acces the others from there.

What is so great about Wednesdays @ 8:00?

Before this week my Wednesday 8:00 timeslot was already over booked. Lost and Veronica Mars both come on at this time. Veronica Mars reruns on Saturdays, so major scheduling problems were avoided. Now, I find that Gilmore Girls has moved from Tuesdays at 7p.m. to this Wednesday times slot. What the hell? Lost, well lost out. There is no contest between that over hyped show in which nothing happens, often not even a new episode and my G-girls. Now, I find thatoriginal recipe Law & Order is also moving to Wednesdays at 8a.m. Why are the TV gods doing this to me?

The Phrase in Question

The only thing that can get me out of my cold prickly slump is a Wordy Wednesday. Let’s try an installment of "The Phrase in Question" on for size today.

Once in a Blue Moon

Meaning: Happens on rare occasions; not common.
Example: I’ll have a hankering to watch a science fiction movie once in a blue moon.
Provenance: Several - see below

• Most commonly, a blue moon means: the second full moon that fall in the same calendar month. It is very rare for a blue moon to occur – they only happen about once every 2 ½ years, hence the phrase.
  
• Dating back further to the 1800s, the Maine Farmers Almanac, and the Christian Ecclesiastical Calendar, a blue moon can also mean the third moon in a season that has four full moons. Each month has a full moon making a grand total of 12 moons a year, but some years there are thirteen moons causing one season to have an extra (4th) moon. The third moon is called the "blue moon." It was important for the Ecclesiastical calendar that they keep track of the extra moon so they could "skip it" in their worship calendar. Otherwise, everything would get off track.
  
• The trend of calling the moon blue dates back to a 1528 proverb. "If they say the moon is blue,We must believe that it is true." Apparently, it meant that something was absurd because it’s absurd to call the moon blue, or something…This excites me not at all, but it might strike someone’s fancy.
  
• On occasion, the moon has appeared blue to sky gazers because of volcanic eruptions or forest fires. According to the website, The key to a blue moon is having in the air lots of particles slightly wider than the wavelength of red light (0.7 micron)--and no other sizes present. This is rare, but can happen (1883 Indonesian volcano Krakatoa eruption). To read more about this phenomenon, go here.

This blog post has been brought to you by "Wordy Wednesdays"

At the end of my rope

We are currently gearing up for our biggest event all year here at work – things are very busy around the office. So why, then, am I blogging? How do I have time to do this? I’ll tell you: I am waiting… waiting for other people to get me information that I need to do the next task on my very long list of tasks. Being an impatient person, this is driving me crazy.

This week, I am waiting for volunteer lists and requests from my committee member to come in so I can finish assigning volunteer jobs to our devoted workers. I then need to make sign-in sheets, instruction cards, mail out specific information about the day, etc. So, do I have volunteer lists? No. Do I have volunteer requests? No. I have sent reminder e-mails, left voice messages, and sent more reminder e-mails and still I wait. Do you know when this information was due to me? The end of February. Yes, that is correct – a month ago! How can people be so inconsiderate? Short of driving to their homes/offices and demanding the information I need at knife-point, I do not know what to do! I am so frustrated!

Although I know it will all come together (it always does), I need to have all this set so I can move on to one of the other umpteen million things we have to do to get ready for this event.

Under the Wire...

It's still Monday, so there is still time for a movie quote. In what movie would you find this quote:

I win! I always win. Is there no one on this planet to even challenge me?!!

This blog post brought to you by "Movie Mondays."

A Great Book

Some of you may know that I took a creative writing/comp class this term. I enjoy writing and editing work in a writing workshop format, so I looked forward to this class. My group was great to work with and we all grew as writers over the eight week course. My professor, however, left little to be desired. He is the sort of professor that reads his own works aloud to the class so we can “oooh” and “awww” at his genius, who asks a question so that he can to hear himself answer it, and who skims the stories you hand in instead of actually critiquing them. I did not especially care for my professor's teaching style, but I don't think he was a bad guy and he clearly loves the craft of writing; he simply did not live up to my expectations.

Still, I enjoyed the class and spent a great deal more time on it than I have in any other class in my Masters Program to date. On the last day of class, he read to us, not one of his pieces, but a wonderful book by Sharon Creech called Love That Dog. The intended audience is children aged 8-12, but I think it can be appreciated by anyone, certainly by anyone with a love for reading, writing, poetry and/or dogs. If you go to Sharon Creech's website you can read a chapter of the short book or hear an excerpt read. I highly recommend it, or better yet - go to the library/bookstore and read it. Better still, go the library/bookstore and have someone read it to you. It is a short book and one that is meant to be read aloud.

Jeremy Northam

I love Jeremy Northam. After looking at his filmography, I realized that I have not seen very many movies with him in them, and need to add some to my movie que. The following, however, are good movies that I have seen with him and that he is sexy in. I highly recommend checking them out.


Emma - He plays Mr. Knightley. After watching this movie with a bunch of friends in college, my friend Kelly spoke for us all when she said, "Everyone needs a Mr. Knightley for her very own." Although (admittedly) he is no Mr. Darcy, he comes as close a second as anyone has a right to do.

The Winslow Boy - He plays the a lawyer in a movie set in England in the early 20th centery. The Winslow family's youngest son is expelled from boarding school - why I can't remember. Anwya, the trial, etc is the back drop for the story, but the real story is in the family and his falling in love with the daughter. I really like this movie - it is sweet.

The Net- Not the best movie ever made, but it lands Jeremy Northam on the "Sexy Psyco" list.

He's also in Gosford Park. A moive I was not fond of, but many people like.

Where the Truth Lies

Last night Panda and I rented Where the Truth Lies staring Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon. The basic story is that Colin and Kevin's character's (Vince and Lenny), an entertainment duo from the 50s – think Martin and Lewis, are on top until a the dead body of a girl is found soaking in their hotel suit's bathtub. Fifteen years later, the mystery is still unsolved, so a young journalist, obsessed with the duo since childhood, gets a book deal and sets out to solve the puzzle.

This movie was a complete and total let down. In the end, we found our selves bored by the uncovered truth. Not only was the movie a crescendo with no real climax, but we felt it was confused about where it was trying to go - making us confused and annoyed in the process. Several times during the movie, parallels were drawn between the young journalist and the woman who was killed in the fifties, but those parallels went nowhere, and in the end seemed pointless.

In the end, we just didn't care and wished we'd gotten Junebug instead.

This blog post brought to you by "Movie Mondays"

So satisfying

Today at work I made my daily "to do" list. Usually I have one or two things left on the list by day's end, but not today! No, today I completed everything on my list. It is a really satisfying feeling!

fuzzy origins

For my class,I have to write a paper about my name: its origins/meaning and how it does or does not fit me.

We are supposed to use our full name, but my last name, Fuzzy, has no origins that I can find. See, when my ancestors came over to this country Fuzzy was not their name, so it is pretty much made up, and although other people have my last name, their not really part of my heritage making me less than motivated to search for the meaning behind the name.

I also can't find much about what our name pre-Fuzzy meant, probably because I'm unsure how it was spelled and it seems to be somewhat uncommon. So, instead, I am either taking the meanings of the first names of either Bridet and Michael (the first of our line of Fuzzy's to come over to the US of A, or I'm going to take the names of my mom, g-mom, great g-mom, all they way up to my great great g-mom Bridget and describe what those names mean and how they do or do not make up me. The wierd thing about that is that I'm following the paternal line, but the wives who married them - I guess that's cool becuase each of those women have added to the Fuzzy line. I don't know... we'll see how it turns out!

Learn something new every day

So, I logged on to iTunes to download the totally awesome song "Travelin' Thru" by the equally awesome Dolly Parton (which is currently a free download), when I clicked on the "beta" recommendations. I thought this was just a list of songs that iTunes spotlights. No - it is a list of songs just for me! I might have been tipped off by the words, "just for you!" next to the "beta" sign, but since I've only just started browsing and purchasing from the iTunes store, tonight was the first I noticed. Anyway, iTunes now has recommendations of songs I might like based on said purchases. And you know what? They are pretty much on-target. Unfortunatly, my last $.99 in my iTunes account was spent on Kansas's song "Dust in the Wind" so I couldn't take them up on any of their suggestions. Not unfortuante is that I did purchase "Dust in the Wind," which is a great song.
Highlander: The Series fans may remember it from when Tess died on the show. Following her death, the song was played often - usually while Duncan was depressed over the death of his love. Since I never loved Tess, I was happy enough to see her go, but even more happy to hear this song. I love Highlander and I love this song.

Classic Movies of My Generation

These are the movies from my childhood that are Classics and should be seen be seen by any self-respecing child of the 80s/early 90s. This not just list of my favorite movies, although I do love all these as I watched them time and time again growing up. In fact some of my favorite childhood movies (Men at Work, The Pirate Movie) did not make the cut because although they are AWEsome with a capital AWE, they are not classics.

Movies on my Classic's List:
Summer School
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
War Games
Clue
Breakfast Club
Adventures in Babysitting
The Princess Bride

I like to vacuum, I like to boogie

The vacuum I purchased shortly after Panda and I moved into our carpet covered apartment kicked the bucket. First the fancy tools stopped sucking up crumbs and cat hair off the couch, and very recently the actual vacuum took to laughing meniacally as I tried in vein to vacuum any speck of dirt or dust, no matter how small. I will not stand for a vacuum that does not work, so last weekend, after reading dozens of epininos and customer ratings (dozens of them!), I decided on the Bissell Lift-off. I've never had a Bissell, but the complaints that people had about it were minor (too heavey - suck it up people, it's not a riding vacuum) and Target was having a sale.

The verdict: It works wonders! I vacuumed our supposedly clean carpet and would have been disgusted by all that the new vacuum sucked up if I had been so impressed. It is awesome, and our carpet has sping to it once again. I love it! love it! love it! love it!

Crap-assed CD players

Today I'm working on the most mundane of my job duties, so I thought I'd pop in the Slater Kinney mix FishFrog so selflessly made for me. Unfortunatley, my crappy CD player will not recognize the CD. I am bummed.