in the home stretch

In less than two weeks I will be finished with my student teaching! Now, I just have to make sure I pass my teacher-test and get a job! Hurray. :)

let me take a moment to say, "I was right!"

For years I have been saying that the law in Law and Order equals the police, and the order equals the lawyers. For years, I have been told I am wrong; I have been told that the police keep the order and the lawyers keep the law. I maintained that the police enforce the law and the lawyers enforce the order to the law. Well, ladies and gentleman, I am right! Yesterday I saw a commercial for Law and Order that identified the police as the law part of law and order. So there! This should be particularly interesting to a particular reader who was on the wrong side of this argument...

how quickly idealism fades...

After grading packets full of summaries, graphic organizers, and poster projects all night, the idea of assigning nothing but multiple choice tests has become very appealing. Creativity and alternate ways of expressing learned information are highly over-rated.

i just

• ate a gigantic bowl of chocolate ice-cream.
• found a copy of my undergrad transcript (that I thought I'd lost).
• applied for some teaching jobs.
• turned on the air conditioner. After the ice cream, this is the best decision I've made all day.
• came to terms with the fact that I do not have a head for lyrics. I had to admit this after hearing (and singing along to) Little Boxes all day only to still mess up the words when I tried to sing it on my own. It's a very short and simple song.
• wondered why a student would ask me if I am "goth." Goth, really?
• realized the bag of papers I have to grade is still in my car...
• brought up my bag of papers and remembered that at the beginning of my stew-tea I promised myself never to bring home papers to grade. So much for that.

Tomorrow is SUPER TUESDAY!

I just went to electoralcompass.com and I scored closest to Obama and furthest from Huckabee. I'm really looking forward to voting tomorrow in my bell-weather state of MO! On a similar note, I got the chance to hear Obama speak last Saturday when he was in town. It was just amazing! He was so inspiring and so hopeful. I really feel that that he can make some positive things happen for this country. I, of course, was also happy to hear his plan to retain teachers and change No Child Left Behind.

Be my Guiding Light

Student teaching is exhausting. I spend most of my time planning lessons (and trying to learn all I can about each lesson so I don't teach misinformation or look like an idiot in front of my students). But the one thing that brings a bright-spot to my day is Guiding Light. There are some pretty good story-lines at the moment, and while they are somewhat botching the romance I'm interested in, I have faith the story will go the way I want it to.

rice crispie treats

Right now I'm munching on a rice crispie treat. It is perfect - not too much marshmallow, not too little. I expect the pan to be empty in a matter of hours, not days.

This stuff's made in New York City??!....get a rope

Last weekend I visited Panda in San Antonio. We mostly just hung out and watched movies, but we also left the house so I could see the sights. I saw the Alamo, walked the River Walk, and ate a breakfast taco or two; I think I took in all that San Antonio had to offer. The churches and missions are really pretty.


As you look at the River Walk, it is hard to imagine the darkness that hovers over you: in every tree top there is a creature waiting for the opportune moment to attack! Birds. This city is filled with hundreds and hundreds of birds, ready to swoop down on you - to eat your chips and salsa, to poo in your hair, to kill you!!! While Panda and I were eating outside on the River Walk, pigeons kept landing on our table and trying to eat our food! It was crazy. Then, at night I walked outside to hear swarms of birds. It was eerie; listen:

Lastly, Panda and I also went to the movies and saw Juno. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend you go do so. It is funny and heartwarming without being sappy. It was one of those movies that just made me happy.

mmm....huckleberries

I am eating a tasty PB and Huckleberry J sandwich right now. Deeeeeelicious!

listen to what i say; it will not be wrong

I spent the last week up at the farm with my folks. As always, I took plenty of tv on dvd to keep me entertained. This is even more important during the winter months when only an insane person would go out side in the blusteringly cold town that houses our family farm than it is in during the warmer (more pleasant) months.

I took with me:
X-Files Season 2
Twin Peaks: the series
Corner Gas Season 2

Despite her best intentions, my mom ended up getting sucked into X-Files. I'm pretty sure she's a Mulder/Scully 'shipper (as all good people are).

Despite his best intentions, my dad is now hooked on Twin Peaks; he actually made me start over from the beginning of the series after seeing about 15 minutes of an episode. We watched 10 episodes, plus the pilot, in 2 days. He now has all sorts of theories about who killed Laura Palmer. He is not going to be happy when the truth comes out!

Finally, it's unanimous: my parents and two sets of aunts and uncles love Corner Gas. They were laughing so hard, and watched a couple of the episodes more than once. They all love Squishy for introducing me (and by extension, them) to this show.

how bob came to be

David Lynch tells the awesome story of how Frank DeSilva and Bob came to be...

robots vs warewolves

snow, and not just a dusting!

Finally, we some some snow here! It started snowing Friday night/Sat morning, and didn't stop until late last night/early this morning; we got 6-9 inches over the area. Since I've moved home from Montana, it seems we've never gotten enough snow to even cover all the tips of the grass, so I am very excited about this! I'm hoping for white Christmas!!

fun with clay!

When Panda was home for Thanksgiving, we got out the sculpies and made ornaments of ourselves. It was ridiculously fun; I suggest everyone do it!

thrilling!

My friend posted this on my roommate's myspace page. It's pretty cool, so I thought I'd share!

drivers v. pedestrians

I lunched in the Loop today. In order to get to the resturant from my parking spot I had to cross the street, and so I used the handy-dandy crosswalk. Now, although it is my right-of-way, I did not jet into oncoming traffic, but instead edged my wait out and waited for a driver to acknowledge that I had the right-of-way and stop for me. After about 5 cars someone did. When I was about half-way across the street someone honked at me. Honked at me! I hate people who don't respect the cross-walk.

i can see clearly now

Today I bought two pairs of glasses (buy one, get one deal), and I love my frames. I love them. It took me two hours to pick them out, but in the end, the store-clerks, my friend pinkie, me, and all the customers in the store agreed that my glasses ruled. YAY! I have my eye exam on Tuesday, so I will have my new prescription in my frames soon! I haven't had new glasses in 7 years. This is quite exciting!

snow!!!

Yep, it's that time again: time for me to exclaim "hooray for snow!" Today I walked out of the high school doors where I do my practicum and I noticed joy in the form of white snow flakes falling all around me. Naturally, I yelled, "SNOW!! YAY SNOOOW! AHHHH!" It was at about the 3rd "h" in "AHHHH" that I noticed I was not alone on the sidewalk.

happy birthday, nell!

true story

I finally got my hands on this picture. When Brandi, Kelly and I went on our hike up to to Holland Falls, this is the sign that greeted us:

happy thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I wish a safe journey for those of you traveling. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday spent surrounded by loved ones and good food!

kind words

Thank you to everyone for your kind words in response to my observation. It really means a lot. I love you guys!

observations

So, today I was observed by my adviser for my practicum. Needless to say, I was worried. Although I've been observed informally by my cooperating teacher as I've taught a lesson, this was a formal observation, and it determines my grade for practicum. I was a hit! He told me I "posses the natural abilities of a teacher," and that that is the main thing he looks for because if you have that, then the rest will follow. He had all great things to say: the lesson was well organized and gave students ownership over the learning, I had control of the class, I had a good relationship with the kids, etc. In short, it was a excellent evaluation! YAY! This was really nice to hear, as was hearing from the office secretary how much they all love me in the building. I'm very excited!

lucy!

use it in a sentance, why don't ya!

lugubrious - exaggeratedly or affectedly mournful

you just don't know what you've got until it's gone...

Right now I'm teaching my class about the Bill of Rights, and so naturally we're talking a lot about what happens if you are accused of a crime, etc. It's making me miss quizzing Panda over Criminal Procedures and the like. I think someone (probably, but not necessarily, a law-school person) should have a weekly issue for us to discuss; sort of like Fishfrog's old Morality Monday, but more law specific.

It has been decided, and so it shall be. (In other words: DO IT!) :)

it does have a ribbon!

I exclaimed after reading in Stephen Colbert's new book, I am America (And You Can Too!), that it came with a ribbon place holder. That is just awesome. All books should come with ribbon place holders!

nikita and scarves

Pretty much all my spare time lately has been spent crocheting and watching La Femme Nikita. My roommate Timotio can often be heard saying, "You're sill watching this show?!" or "What are you knitting now?" (to this I reply, "I'm CROCHETING!," and he responds, "whatever." Anway, I started the show from the beginning a week or two ago, and now I"m in season 2 (I've skipped some of my least favorite episodes as I've seen them all a million times). The other night I put in a disc and crocheted this scarf as I watched Nikita and Michael kick ass. I'm pretty impressed with myself. Now...if only there were a covert anti-terrorist crocheting organization I could join...

Next up: Gloves!

it's hard not to pick favorites

I'm teaching a class this month, and I have to admit: it's hard not to pick favorites. Some of the students are just so wonderful, and others...are not.

just lovely

I've always been the sort of person who has not understood the appeal of a having certain pets. These include: bunnies (sorry, fishfrog and nell), hamsters/gerbils/guinea pigs, ferrets, hedgehogs, or birds. They eat, sleep, and live where the poo and they are boring; it's never seemed like much a life for them or for me. My roommate has two birds, and for the last two months they have done little to change my mind about the merit of having such pets. Sure, they're pretty, but they don't DO ANYTHING!

Well, all that has changed because these birds do do something. They sing. Beautifully. Sometimes I feel like I am out in the wilderness on a hike or camping trip with Panda, Fishfrog, and Nell. It is wonderful, just delightful. I am a bird convert. A convert, I tell ya!

i made this!

My moose Simon is sporting a pretty snazzy scarf, if I do say so myself!

i'd like to get my picture took

and put it in my memory book.*

Today I started making a scrapbook/photo album from my Portland/Missoula Holiday. I find the task fun, but somewhat stressful. What if I mess up? What if I RUIN it? So far I've done all my Portland pages and the first Missoula page. I'm really excited about how it is turning out! Here is the front cover I made!

*BigRiver, "Arkansas"

happy halloween!

pictures of our pumpkins (as promised):


We had a handful of trick-or-treaters tonight, but not very many. I don't think a lot of people in my neighborhood pass out candy, and we are the only ones with pumpkins that I can see. Still, the kids who came were really cute. We had pirates, witches, ballerinas, star wars thing, and even a muggle (one of the little kid's older brothers was not dressed up, but when I asked him what he was supposed to be he said he was a muggle. I gave him candy for that!)

my organized office!

The bookcase on the right is the one I just bought. You can't see it, but there is also a little cove area for Lucy's stuff.

why does organizing create such a big mess?

Today I am organizing all my school stuff. I have an office, and up until now it has been filled with boxes of my school stuff, my craft stuff, and my mailing stuff. Try as I might, I could not get organized, and I finally determined the reason why was because I had no place to put anything that was in said boxes. So, last night I went to target and bought shelves. First off, let me say I cannot believe how cheap they were! Only 20bucks for a 3 shelf (fake) cherry bookcase. I was pleasantly surprised as I had intended on just buying some ultra cheap plastic shelves. Secondly, they were so easy to put together and I didn't even need a hammer. Nice.

So, now I'm organizing. I'm going through class binders and throwing out the useless information and creating new binders that are more user-friendly because they are organized by resource-type (lesson planning materials, behavior management, etc). As a result, there are papers strewn all about my room, much to Lucy's delight. I think this reminds her of Panda's final season study mess, and she likes it because she has much paper to pounce on and destroy.

are you freaking kidding me?

There is now bottled water being marketed specifically for dogs. It's called "woof-woof" water.

INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

beth orton

Listen to her, and love her. I've been listening to her all day, and I can't get enough! I thank Panda for introducing me to her on my 26th birthday when she put the song Stolen Car on my birthday mix.

bedazzle

I enjoy being bedazzled and being found to be bedazzling.

I am also fond of saying, "I am bewitched, bewildered, and bedazzled;" although, the occasion to say such a thing is rare, indeed.

pumpkins!

My room-mate and I carved pumpkins tonight! It was so much fun, and I will post pictures tomorrow (my camera batteries died, so pictures must wait). Live in anticipation!!!

cute kid story

I lunched with my old co-workers today (and yes, I said "lunched"), and my one co-worker who has a 5 year old told this story: Every day she asks her son to tell her something good about his day at school. The other day she asked him this question, and he responded by saying, "do you want the good or the accidentally bad?" Heehee. The next time I do something wrong, I'm going to refer to it as the "accidentally bad" thing I did.

it's a wonder I've made it this long

with out killing myself (accidentally, of course).

Today I almost killed myself twice. I blame my super cute Halloween slipper-socks and my stairs. The first time, I ran down my steps and when my slipper-sock covered foot hit the hardwood floor at the bottom of the stairs, it went flying up, and the rest of my body went flying backwards. Luckily, I grabbed the doorknob in time to catch myself. The second time, I ran down the steps and my slipper sock slipped and I went sliding down the steps until my bum finally stopped me. It hurt. A lot. My back still hurts actually. And yet...I'm still wearing my slipper socks. Their cute; they are red and black stripped, and they have a pumpkin on them.

one day someone will call me...

macushla - a term of endearment (from the Irish words "mo" and "cuisle" meaning "my" and "pulse" respectively).

I came across this word in a book I recently bought from the used bookstore that has a bunch of words that have all but died out from the English language. This word should not die. It is very sweet and pretty. I love it so much that I've been trying to find a way to introduce it into my daily vocabulary, but sadly I don't have a macushla to call my own. Yesterday, as I watched The Office, Micheal greeted Pam as his "macushla." Apparently, this word is also used in Million Dollar baby. Clearly it is not as uncommon as I thought, and to that I say, "horay! for it is an awesome word!"

This blog post brought to you by "she actually blogging again! day" and the book, Weird and Wonderful Words, by Erin McKean

lets face it...

I'm never going to deal with that last word box. I'm sure there are some fantastic words in there, but I'm just plum done with the word box. I'm lame. Sorry.

Instead, I will find cool words to share with you as I see fit. Take it or leave it.

duwayne wayne is alive and well

My morning was made a little brighter this Monday when I went to my school and saw this kid who was dressed just like Duwayne Wayne! It's safe to say, I'm glad I got out bed this morning.

myth!

You get to eat ice cream when you have your tonsils taken out.

Not only is it not true that you get to eat all the ice cream you want, but you cannot eat ANY ice cream. Apparently, the dairy in the ice cream leaves a coating on your throat that impedes the healing process. So, if you are going to have your tonsils out, be prepared: it's just popsicals and ice chips for you...sucker

as you wish

A few weeks ago I went camping with a few friends. We had a blast; my friends do car camping up right, and we played games, cards, boccie ball, and croquet. Yes, I said "croquet." Croquet is actually quite fun. I didn't believe it either, but it is true. I dare you not to have fun while playing croquet; I double dog dare you!

Ironically, this game of croquet came exactly one day after my dad told me he was giving our crochet set to good will. We've had a croquet set in our garage since my grandma died 7 years ago, and before that it sat in her storage room. I told my dad that I had never played and never would play croquet, so he should go ahead and give it away. Oh, how I was kicking myself the next day! You mean I had this game at my fingertips my whole life and never played it, only now (once it's been given away) to learn how wonderful it is? Luckily, when I arrived home from camping, I discovered that my dad had not yet made the trip to goodwill, so the croquet set is still safely stowed in our garage. YAY!

happy birthday!

Happy Birthday, Panda!!!

finally, the secrets of my personality are revealed!

My friend gave me a meyers-briggs test, and I came out as:

ISFJ
Introverted(56)/Sensing(1)/
Feeling(38)/Judging(78)

I am the "Protector Guardian"

This means...

The primary desire of the Protector Guardian is to be of service to others, but here "service" means not so much furnishing others with the necessities of life (the Provider's concern), as guarding others against life's pitfalls and perils, that is, seeing to their safety and security. There is a large proportion of Protectors in the population, perhaps as much as ten percent. And a good thing, because they are steadfast in their protecting, and seem fulfilled in the degree they can insure the safekeeping of those in their family, their circle of friends, or their place of business.

Protectors find great satisfaction in assisting the downtrodden and can deal with disability and neediness in others better than any other type. They go about their task of caretaking modestly, unassumingly, and because of this their efforts are not sometimes fully appreciated. They are not as outgoing and talkative as the Providers, except with close friends and relatives. With these they can chat tirelessly about the ups and downs in their lives, moving (like all the Guardians) from topic to topic as they talk over their everyday concerns. However, their shyness with strangers is often misjudged as stiffness, even coldness, when in truth these Protectors are warm-hearted and sympathetic, giving happily of themselves to those in need.

Their quietness ought really to be seen as an expression, not of coldness, but of their sincerity and seriousness of purpose. Like all the Guardians, Protectors have a highly developed puritan work ethic, which tells them that work is good, and that play must be earned-if indulged in at all. The least hedonic of all types, Protectors are willing to work long, long hours doing all the thankless jobs the other types seem content to ignore. Thoroughness and frugality are also virtues for Protectors. When they undertake a task, they will complete it if at all humanly possible; and they know the value of material resources and abhor the squandering or misuse of these resources. Protectors are quite content to work alone; indeed, they may experience some discomfort when placed in positions of authority, and may try to do everything themselves rather than insist that others do their jobs.

With their extraordinary commitment to security, and with their unusual talent for executing routines, Protectors do well in many careers that have to do with conservation: curators, private secretaries, librarians, middle-managers, police officers, and especially general medical practitioners. To be sure, the hospital is a natural haven for them; it is home to the family doctor, preserver of life and limb, and to the registered nurse, or licensed practical nurse, truly the angels of mercy. The insurance industry is also a good fit for Protectors. To save, to put something aside against an unpredictable future, to prepare for emergencies-these are important actions to Protectors, who as insurance agents want to see their clients in good hands, sheltered and protected.

President George HW Bush and Mother Teresa are examples of Protector Guardian style.

Take it!

word box

The word box will be open until Tuesday at 10a.m.
Happy Wording!

lucy and the dogs

Lucy and I have moved into our new digs, and all in all we like it. But...Lucy met the dogs today, and let me tell ya, it did not go over well. Sounds of hissing and growling could be heard throughout the land, and much blood was shed. Well, only my blood, but still. The problem was simple: the puppy is huge and wanted to play with Lucy. Lucy was completely freaked out. She did well once we were both on the couch and I could shoo away the dogs, so I am hoping she grows to deal with them as it is much nicer for me to enjoy the amenities of the main floor without worrying that I am neglecting my kitty upstairs.

The picture of the mountain goat is just for your enjoyment; there are no mountain goats in my house.

silly grocer

Today I went to the grocery store, and I handed the bagger my tote and mesh bags. I said, "the mesh bags hold a surprising amount of stuff, so you can fill them up." We proceeded to have a conversation about how much they could hold wherein I relayed to the bagger that I used to put all my groceries in two mesh bags and walk four blocks home. "The bags never broke?," she asked. I replied that they had not, and that they could hold quite a bit of weight.

After all that, the bagger still did not want to fill up the bags to the brim, and whipped out some plastic bad boys. I had to intervene (nicely), and low and behold, everything fit in my three bags. I didn't even have that much stuff; I can't imagine why she thought I needed more bags.

Anyway, I really am not going for "world's most boring blog," but bear with me, I did have a fainting spell yesterday. :) No, really I'm just trying to get back in the habit of blogging regularly so my devoted readers are not left hanging.

today, a pretty good day

I got up, pet Lucy, and headed to my parents where Gridiron Gang was on the Tivo. As I watched it, I pretended I was climbing the M, but really I was on the treadmill. While the scenery was not as pretty (The Rock not withstanding), the air conditioning was appreciated. Then, I headed to the tennis courts. I miss my tennis instructor, but it wasn't too hot in the park; there was plenty of shade. Also, I got called to sub, and I'm looking forward to being back in the schools and laughing at (err, with) the kids. Tonight I have class, and hopefully the professor will let me add in even though the class is full.

Tomorrow: Cheerios's for breakfast!

even cooler

I have every episode of Flight of the Conchords on tape. How? On Demand, baby. On Demand. If you have Cable on Demand and you are not using it, you are a fool.

seriously cool

My dad upgraded his TiVo and now has the ability to record two shows at once! I thought TiVo was wonderful before, but this (this!) is amazing. Flight of the Conchords conflicts with Big Love? No problem; you can TiVo them both! Amazing.

i'm not a fuddy-duddy, but...

I abhor the use of the word piss and/or pissed to refer to the act of urination; I find it vulgar.

a good pair of pants is hard to find

A while back perma mentioned (I think it was perma; I remember talking about this with perma) a guy who sued his dry cleaner that mistakenly turned all of his long pants in to shorts. The amount of money for which he sued was exorbitant (perma may be able to fill in the details). I mention this because in yesterday's paper there was a follow-up blurb about a judge who was suing his dry cleaner over a lost pair of pants. At first I thought this was the same case of which perma spoke, but I think it is another, a DIFFERENT, law suit about pants.

This judge is suing his dry cleaners because they lost his special-first-day-on-the-bench pants, and is asking for 67 million dollars for, "10 years of weekend car rentals so he can transport his dry cleaning to another store," according to this article.

The case went to trial, and according to this article, the shop has returned the correct pair of pants to the plaintiff, but he refuses to accept them. The plaintiff maintains that he was not satisfied with his dry cleaning experience, and entered a picture of the "satisfaction guaranteed" sign into trial. The CNN article is kind of funny, these being the highlights:

In closing arguments, defense attorney Christopher Manning said .... "Does the sign read: 'If you are not satisfied with our service, you, the customer, can ask for whatever you want, including $67 million, and you will receive it?" he asked, Reuters reported.

and,

Although he is representing himself, Pearson seeks millions of dollars in
attorney fees and millions more in punitive damages for what he believes is
fraudulent advertising under the law. He says he will donate some of any
judgment to a consumer education fund.

Apparently, the judge of this suit dismissed it, but the plaintiff (Pearson) is appealing. This is one crazy world we live in, folks.

hooray!

It is hard to believe, but everything save my bedding and toiletries are packed. The movers come bright and early in the morning, and I am expecting to be wowed by their ability to move my stuff in a jiff. Hooray for movers!

I'm moving in with my friend R; she has generously offered for me to rent the upstairs/attic room in her house. While I'm sad to be parting ways with Panda, I am excited about my new living arrangements. Most of my furniture fits in my "flat," and what little doesn't can be stored. Flat: that's what I'm calling it from here on out because it makes me smile to do so. R (who I will now call "roomie" until such time as I find a better nickname for her) is one of the most fun people I know. We were friends in jr high, and after a 14 year hiatus, we've became fast friends once again. Hooray for friends!

my sunglasses are supercool

I have irrefutable proof:

1. A drunk homeless person in Missoula told me so even after I wouldn't give her a dollar so she could buy a pint.

2. The guy at Goodwill told me so even after I gave him a bag that had both clothes and non-clothes in it.

If I hadn't already packed my USB cord, I would post a picture of my supercool sunglasses for you to see. As it is, you're just going to have trust that I'm telling the truth.

heh

Both lovers and haters of the PC/Mac commercials may enjoy this:

thoughts on moving

The one benefit to moving is that it gives a person the chance to re-evaluate all the stuff in her life, and forces her to downsize. Not only does this help the person declutter, but it also provides a boom! for Goodwill.

As far as I can tell that is the only benefit to moving. Everything else about it sucks.

wow

I'm watching Celebrity Jeopardy with Martin Short, Joely Fisher, and an annoying comedian named Mario (who I believe was on Sex and the City). I always thought the SnL skit about celebrity Jeopardy was a bit over the top, but I no longer think that. Here is an example from today's show:

The answer:
of the three branches of government, the one including the supreme court

NO ONE BUZZED IN!

The correct question is, of course:
What is the judicial branch?

I can't believe no one even buzzed in to guess! They should have known the answer, but even if they didn't they (should have) had a 1 in 3 chance of getting it right! Wow, I say. Wow.

fun in glacier

Last week, Bird and I went camping in Glacier for a few days. Upon arrival, we set up camp and headed out for a hike. The hike was in Griz Country, so I was on alert. Fortunately, we did not come across any bears on the trail, although there was a tree stump that put a good scare in us. When we got back to camp, we noticed a bunch of people crowded around our campsite. They couldn't all be gathered for a deer, could they? No. Oh no. They were crowded around for a bear. Yep, that's right. A bear was milling around my tent and the tents of the people in the next site over. By the time Bird and I got to our site, the bear had moved off into the woods, away from all the people and commotion. I caught a glimpse of him, and he appeared big. Of course, any bear near your tent will appear big.

The Forest Ranger came and shoo-ed him off. Apparently, the bear was a sub-adult black bear. He comes around this camp ground often, but has never gotten into people food/trash or bothered anyone. Surprisingly, I was not freaked out, and felt confident I would sleep through the night.

As I was cleaning up dinner, I told Bird that the ranger said to wash our dishes at our site, but to use the dump-sink for our drippings. I told her this as I was heating water in our chili bowl so I could better clean it. The bowl sat atop my trusty pocket-rocket stove, and as I'm saying "we just have to be sure not to spill any of our drippings," what do I do? Why I knock over the bowl of chili water all over the table and ground. Seriously. Now, for those of you who have witnessed my klutziness, this may come as no surprise. It did not seem to faze Bird. I, however, was freaking out that there was now chili all over the ground of our campsite. A campsite visited by a bear not 2 hours earlier! I thought about moving camp, but instead just removed any dirt that was anywhere near the spillage, and called it good. Needless to say, the bear did not come back to eat the chili or me.

The next day we saw another bear (on the side of the road on our way to a hike). Bears are awesome, but I'd rather they not be near my tent.

word of the week!

We had some good words this week! Thanks to everyone who submitted a word or two. Normally I delve into the provenance of words, but as I am using a computer at the local coffee shop, and there are other patrons waiting to use the computer, I wasn't able to do that. Still, I think I have enough information to pick the best word out of the bunch!

The words:

• celerity (n) rapidity of motion or action
• exanimate (adj) lacking animation; being or appearing lifeless
• fulminate (v) to utter or send out with denunciation; to send forth censures or invectives
  (n) an often explosive salt (as mercury fulminate) containing the group −CNO
• idiopathic (adj) arising spontaneously or from an obscure or unknown cause; peculiar to the individual
• librate (v) determine the weight of; vibrate before coming to a total rest
• patulous (adj) spreading widely from a center
• scholium (n) a marginal annotation or comment (as on the text of a classic by an early grammarian); a remark or observation subjoined but not essential to a demonstration or a train of reasoning
• solipsism (n) a theory holding that the self can know nothing but its own modifications and that the self is the only existent thing; also : extreme egocentrism

And the word of the week is:

solipsism!

This blog post brought to you by a bleated Wordy Wednesday and Merriam Webster online.

Word Box!

It's time, once again, for the...

The word box will be open until Tuesday, July 17 at 10 a.m.
Happy Wording!

pet peeve(s)

People who water their lawns
People who water their lawns during the day
People who water their lawns during the hottest part if the day

Holland Falls Hike

Pictures, I say! Pictures! Here are a few pictures from a hike I went on yesterday up to Holland Falls:

I met a new friend along the way. It always surprises me how non-pulsed these mule deers are at my presence; it's a good thing I don't have a hunting rifle.

This is a picture of Holland Lake. The mountains pictured are the Mission Mountains: the most magnificent mountains I've ever seen. I still remember the first time I laid eyes on them. I had gone home with a friend who lived on the Flathead Indian Reservation for Thanksgiving my freshman year. We drove in at night so I did not see the mountains upon my arrival, but I woke up in the morning and outside the huge bay window were this majestic mountains. It was breath-taking.

Here are the falls. Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of the falls that doesn't also picture either me or Brandi.

This little guy is about 1 foot away from me and Brandi. He and a friend wanted a bit of our apples, and they would not leave us alone. They actually did come up by our feet, and they were fast little critters! People should not feed critters because THIS is what happens.

Rain Rain Go Away!

For those of you who are regular readers, or who know me in real life (wait...those would be the same people), you know I love rainy days and thunderstorms. Well, not this summer I don't! I've got trails to hike and tennis to learn! It has not stopped pouring down rain all day and it is FREEZING. Luckily, the drizzle did not become full-fledged rain until after Bird and I hiked the "M," but I've spent the rest of the day bundled up with my crochet hook in (freezing) hand. Oh how I wish I'd made myself some gloves!

All settled!

After several days on the road and almost a week visiting good friends, Bird and I arrived in Missoula to find that the room we had rented out for the summer (and put all of our belongings we couldn't live without for 2 months in) had been re-rented out from under us! Nothing like realizing you are homeless after 9 hours on the road! Horrah!

Long story short: the college kid we were renting from is a piece of crapola, and (we think) gave our room away to a freind of a friend. He moved our stuff out to the garage and said "sorry, I didn't know you were taking the room." Um...what? We said we were taking it, we talked to your roomate, we moved our stuff in (as per his okay), and said we'd be moving in on the first. What's not to know?

Luckily, we found a place with 2 rooms (bonus!) that is downtown right around the corner from my favorite burrito place (bonus!) and in walk/biking distance from everywhere we want to go (bonus!). The new place is not well kept (dirty hippies), but we basically have the upstairs (w/ a half bath) to ourselves, so we can keep our area clean.

So far, we've gotten setteled, watch Bird's tennis teammates compete (and win all their games), walked a lot, biked a lot, and eaten a ton. Good times. Tomorrow morning, we hike the M! YAY!.

So, that's the update on me!

Welcome Perma!

And the Anti-blog comes around; I could not be happier! Welcome to the blogwagon, Perma! :) Hopefully this will new addition to the blogwagon will rejuvinate the rest of us slackers! I know I'll have some Missoula stories to share soon!

To all my good friends, I miss you!

Haha, this takes me back...

Reese is my favorite

From Malcolm in the Middle when Lois is yelling at Reese for hiding his parent-teacher conference notice:

Reese: Mom, Mr. Woodword is totally out to get me!
Lois: Every teacher since kindergarten has been out to get you.
Reese: I know, and it upsets me, too.

And another one bites the dust

Another show I enjoy, that is. Not only has the new Andy Richter show been cancelled, but so has Drive. You all know how much I love Nathan Fillion, so I'm sure you can imagine how upset I am about this. I also genuinely enjoyed the show, and feel that it was not (after only 3 episodes) given time to find its stride and audience. I'm annoyed.

On the plus side, I think Two Guys and Girl has finally come out on DVD...maybe. I found this, but when I look on amazon or other stores like that, I find nothing about this DVD, so I'm not sure if this is bootleg (it looks like it was commercially made) or what. Two Guys and a Girl is hilarious. Panda will roll her eyes as she reads this. I could say it is a guilty pleasure show of mine, but truth be told, I feel no guilt about loving this show. Not one twinge. I just love it. It delights me.

In other Fillion news...he has a movie coming out (a romantic comedy) called Waitress. Rotten Tomatoes is giving it a fresh rating 91%! (admittedly, there are not many reviews in yet, but so far so good).

Drive

There is a new show of FOX. Beware of the previews that make it out to be the cheesiest show on televison. The show is Drive, and it premiered Sunday night (regular night Mondays). I have to admit to only tuning in because it stars Nathan Fillion, but I was pleasently suprised. The premis is that all these people are involved in an illegal road race to win 32million dollars. Some people did not choose to be in the race, like Fillion's character who's wife was kidnapped and he has to win the race to win her back. I highly recommend tuning in next Monday.

This blog post brought to you by "TV Tuesdays"

This is not dinner

Diet Rootbeer
Peanut M&Ms
A handful of pretzal sticks

As much as I love all of the above items, a good dinner they do not make.

The Cutting Edge

I just recently re-watched one of my favorite movies from my young adult years: The Cutting Edge. This is a romantic comedy set against the back-drop of the wonderful world of competitive figure skating. I have to be honest, I was a bit concerned that the movie would not have stood the test of time, but I could not have been more wrong. I just love it! While watching it I said, "They just don't make movies like they used to." This prompted a response from Panda, "They don't make 12 year old girls like they used to." Sad, but true.

This blog post brought to you by "Movie Mondays"

Cozy Crazy!

Some of you may know my iPod, Cooper, was recently stolen. There is some question over whether the thief was after Cooper or the awesome iPod Cozy it was nestled in (made by Nell). Well, after a couple of weeks of missing Cooper, I decided to turn my camera fund into an iPod fund. Meanwhile, I also decided to make myself and a couple of friends a cozy, so this weekend I went to town. Here is what I've made so far:

Ten things I love

Yes, it is time once again for an installment of "ten things I love"

singing in the car

pinnapple

my reef flip-flops

striking matches

Lucy

a clean house

contact lenses

the Diane Rehm Show

Agatha Christie books

getting a letter in the mail

this must not be my week

for going to the bookstore.

Tonight, on my way home from finalizing my group project, I swung by my local Borders. There are a handful of books on education that I've been wanting to get my hands on, and I thought that I'd buy one tonight. Borders had none of them. While I'll admit that a couple of the books are less well known and may not be in stores with a small education section, the other one, Mosaic of Thought, should have been in stock. I am disappointed. I was pretty disappointed all-round in the selection of books they did have, and in end the end I left empty handed.

Must I help you? I'd really rather not.

Having some much needed school work to do today, I packed up my trusty school bag and headed to good old University Name campus; my first stop was at the bookstore to pick up a textbook. One thing I've noticed over the years is that the two people who work in my university's bookstore are not helpful in slightest. Not only are they not helpful, but they seem genuinely put-out by the mere notion that they should be helpful. Today as I struggled to find what I needed, one clerk came up to me and asked, "Are you finding everything?" as she walked past me. She did not even pause to hear my answer; if she had, she would have heard me say "No, actually, I'm not." Although that had never happened to me before, I have heard the heavy sigh of annoyance anytime I approach one of these clerks with a question. They work in a bookstore, shouldn't they want to help people find books?

blah blah blah, this is an outrage

I didn't think it was possible, but I it finally happened: I've burnt out on on-line personality quizzes. Just a few short weeks ago I would have jumped at the chance for the computer gods to tell me "what X-Men character are you?" or "What alcholic beverage are you?" After a few weeks of joining a certain website that innudated me with quiz after quiz; however, I've maxed out on the very thing that used to brighten an otherwise boring day! I answer each question as if on auto-pilot, and I am no longer delighted to see the answer that pops up when I hit the "All Done!" button. It is a sad day, a sad day, indeed.

Word of the Week!

The word box was open for a short time only, but we have some good words! Two stood out, to me, as the front-runners, but ultimately I could only pick one as the Word of the Week! Take a look at the words:

Inchoate (noun)
- being only partly in existence or operation

Syllogism (noun)
1. a deductive scheme of a formal argument consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusion (as in "every virtue is laudable; kindness is a virtue; therefore kindness is laudable")
2. a subtle, specious, or crafty argument
3. deductive reasoning

Prosody (noun)
1. the study of versification; especially : the systematic study of metrical structure
2. a particular system, theory, or style of versification
3. the rhythmic and intonational aspect of language

Quotidian (adj)
- occurring every day

Ubiquitous (adj)
- existing or being everywhere at the same time : constantly encountered

Aphasia (noun)
- loss or impairment of the power to use or comprehend words usually resulting from brain damage



And this week's Word of the Week is:

Ubiquitous!

Use it wisely.

Word Box!

The word box will be open until 11a.m. Wednesday, March 14th.
Happy Wording!

If I had a scanner

(to the tune of Peter, Paul, and Mary's If I had a Hammer)

If I had a scanner
I'd scanner in the morning
I'd scanner in the evening
all over this blog
I'd scanner in pictures!
I'd scanner in doodles!
I'd scanner in the love between warm fuzzies and my readers
all over this blog...

Movie Quote Game!

In which totally awesome movie would you find this quote:

You and your stupid pellet gun!

Today's blog post is brought to you by "Movie Mondays"

I'm in the mood

Nothing gets me in the mood to write a paper quite like the aroma of cinnamon and the sounds of the Rudy soundtrack in the air. The Last of the Mohicans soundtrack will do the trick as well, but sadly I lent that CD out and never got it back. This really takes me back to undergrad when I would lock myself in my dorm room (later apt bedroom) for weekends at a time to write papers. Good times.

From rad to bad in seconds

When I was in Arizona I bought this totally rad clock:


Last night I wound it up and excitedly set the alarm just before hopping into bed. Ten minutes later I was trying to dismantle the damn thing so the ticking would STOP! I couldn't, so I put it in the living room. Now, it's behind my head, ticking its incessant tick-tock-tick-tock. I may kill someone.

Preheat the oven!

You may think you can get away with not pre-heating the oven. Take it from me: you can't.

Oh how the mighty have fallen

I am (of course) speaking of the once hilarious, but now unrecognizable and unwatchable show called Scrubs. It can no longer be classified as a sitcom as the situations the characters find themselves in are no longer funny, but are in fact simply depressing and lame.

Secret Desire

I have a secret desire to kick someone's ass. I am thinking of no one in particular, and if the opportunity to get into an actual fight presented itself, I would probably change my mind. But speaking hypothetically, I have a strong desire to kick a little ass. Maybe even give a black-eye or two. ...It's always the "sweet" ones that are the most disturbed.

I've been neglectful

Wow, has it really been 2 weeks since I've posted? Man! What have I been doing? Well, quite a bit of school work and a whole lot of nothing are the answer to that question. I had a ton of fun in Arizona, however. Irene and I hiked up Camelback. It was really steep - so steep that in some parts we had to use a pole to climb up. It was gorgeous and exhiliarating. We did not, however, make it to the top of Camelback. Hopefully we will next time! The rest of the trip was spent hanging out with Cactus and Irene. We went out to the bars, stayed in and watched T.V. and we even played bingo! Bingo is a ton of fun; if you haven't played it you should.

So Long Homies

I was going to say what I said to my boss on my last day of work, which was, "SO LONG SUCKKAS!," but decided against it. My boss found it funny. Why am I saying "So long," you ask? Well, I'm heading to Arizona in the morning to visit Sweet Cactus and my friend Irene. I'm SOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!! I won't be back for a few days, so I leave you with a Friday Five to tide you over.

Friday Five:
1. Do you sing in the shower?
2. Do you read the paper on-line or on paper?
3. Who was your 3rd grade teacher?
4. Did you tight-roll your jeans?
5. What are your feelings about the side pony-tail?

This blog post brought to you by "Friday Five Fridays: early edition"

Three Things I Love

I Love:

the Cool Runnings soundtrack
the X-Files
the b-day mixes my friend Casey makes for me

This blogpost brought to you by "Things I Love Thursdays"

Word of the Week@

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Word Box! Here are the words:

Gossamer – a film of cobwebs floating in air in clam clear weather; something light, delicate, or insubstantial; from goose summer

Contumacious – stubbornly disobedient

Shrift – a remission of sins pronounced by a priest in an sacrament of reconsiliation
Short shrift - barely adequate time for confession before execution; little or no attention or consideration ; quick work

Prodigal –characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure, recklessly spendthrift


Welter – write, toss: to rise and fall or toss about in or with waves; to become deeply sunk, soaked, or involved; to be in turmoil.

And the winner is:

Welter!!

Congratulations, FishFrog! Your word was the word of the week! Use it wisely and often.

Friday Five!!

1. What book are you reading (for fun)?
2. What is the last TV show you watched?
3. Do you have cable?
4. Do you have a library card?
5. Swiss or Pepper Jack?

Six Degrees Winner!

Way to go, FishFrog! You connected Michael J. Fox in just 3 little steps. What kind of candy bar would you like?

Here's you he did it:

1. MJ Fox to Julie Bowen (Boston Legal)
2. Bowen to Maura Tierney (ER)
3. Maura Tierney to Dave Foely (Newsradio)

Props also need to be given to Panda for connecting the two actors in 0 degrees. Sadly, she gets no candy bar and all the glory rightfully goes to FishFrog because Panda was too slow in posting her response. Still, I say "kudos!"

Word Box!

A friend of mine sent me a quiz called "what slanguage do you speak?" The quiz was lame, so I will not post my answers here, but one question asked me to identify what a timbit is. I got a kick out of that, and it reminded me to open the word box!The word box will be open until Monday, February 12, 2007.

Happy Wording!

This blog post brought to you by "Wordy Wednesdays"

PSA

I did not post a Movie Monday yesterday, but Panda posted about a movie we watched the other day. If you hadn't noticed she'd updated, you should go check it out.

This blog post brought to you by "Movie Mondays"

Six Degrees of Speration (TV Style)

Connect these two actors in 6 degrees or less:

Michael J. Fox and Dave Foley

The game ends Thursday at 10 a.m. The person to connect these actors in the fewest turns the fastest using ONLY television credits will recieve a candy bar of their choice.

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.
The Rules

This blog post is brought to you by "TV Tuesdays"

Friday Five!!

1. What is your favorite kind of cake?
2. Dogs or Cats?
3. Romantic Comedy or Drama?
4. Do you like monkeys?
5. Name the last movie you saw?

Thought-less Thursday

While I'm not going to actually turn Thursdays into Thought-less Thursdays, as FishFrog suggests, something happend today that perfectly falls under this theme, so I feel the need to post it.

Today I was in the computer lab , hard at work on this webquest lesson I have to make for my technology class, and there was this chick sitting in front of me. All was quiet and then I heard a song blaring. I looked up to expecting to find the girl scrambling to find the volume switch or the plug in for the headphones, but instead, I saw her bobbing her head - with the headphones on- merrily listening to her song. It was so loud! Why would you blast music in a school computer lab! I was so irritated.