The Scriptorium

Closed

2009-09-04T20:05:00.004-04:00

So I'm closing up shop here for the duration. Seems I got the seven-year itch or something, and this space just isn't doing it for me any longer. I've decided to go "underground", and am starting a new blog under a pseudonym (no, not a Pseudonymph, that's someone completely different). I think I will be better able to express myself that way, and who knows what can happen when more freedom is at play? Anyway, I'll try to email those who I think will be interested with the new site address. If you don't get an email right away, it's because of one of 3 things: I haven't got around to it yet; I don't think you're interested; it just totally slipped my mind. If you are interested and you want to take the time, email me a reminder to send you the address (or leave me a comment here).

A Prayer for Father's Day

2009-06-21T19:52:00.002-04:00

One of the elder members of our church read out this prayer in service this evening:

Almighty and everlasting God, from whom cometh every perfect gift; send down upon our fathers, both here in this life and with Thee, the healthful Spirit of Thy grace. And, that it may truly please Thee, pour upon them the continual dew of Thy blessing. Grant this, O Lord, for the honor of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessings to all of you who are fathers and fathers-to-be today...

Closed for Maintenance...

2009-06-11T18:59:00.003-04:00

I've been very sporadic lately on posting here, partly due to being busy all the time, with the overtime I've been getting lately. I'm generally so tired when I get home I forget everything I wanted to write about here. Another factor is the Facebook thing. It's so much easier to write a snippet there, that I generally do that instead of log in here. Also, there's the fact that lately what I want to write about is either spiritual or political, and that's not really the tone I've set for this space. I have another, more private space where I plan to write about spiritual things (shoot me an email if you're interested in reading that and I'll send you the address), and I've been kicking around the idea of starting a political blog. Haven't done that yet, due to the aforementioned time constraints. Anyway, all that to say that I'm taking a hiatus from The Scriptorium for a while. I'll still be reading and commenting on other blogs, and hope to keep posting photos on my flickr account.

Happy Easter to all!

2009-04-11T23:14:00.002-04:00

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

2009 Lexington Tea Party

2009-03-22T11:45:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I went to the Tea Party rally/protest in downtown Lexington, to protest the current administration's spending/governing policies. It was a good chance also for me to try out my new camera. It performed even better than I had hoped. The photo above was taken from close to 50 yards away. The clarity with it is just awesome, especially compared to what I had been using. I'm looking forward to trying out the macro on it, and I know that I will be just as happy with that. The rally was very cool too, the first time I'd ever attended a political rally. Speeches, signs, costumes, and a brilliant day of sunshine for it all. I've uploaded the best of the photos onto both my Facebook page and my Flickr account...

Mission G

2009-02-23T07:24:00.002-05:00

There's a new commercial out for Gatorade that I just saw last night. I thought it was clever, so went to the website to see if there was more. Turns out, they had several in a series, which they strung together to make the following mini-feature. It's a shameless ripoff, of course, but at least it's a ripoff of one of the BEST. MOVIES. EVER. IMO...

This is how we will get our "tax break" from Obama...

2009-02-21T13:39:00.003-05:00

I decided to do a bit of comedy Photoshopping today--here are the results:

This may be the only "stimulation" coming from this new bill--don't spend it all in one place...

Gonna Have To Face It...

2009-02-07T04:42:00.002-05:00

60%

Gaaaaaaaagh! It's 4 in the freakin' morning, on a Saturday, and I can't sleep--again! So what do I do? Take an internet quiz about how addicted I am to blogging, of course... Actually, I'm a bit surprised the number wasn't higher. I think I'm gonna try to go back to sleep. In a minute. Just after I check out Facebook one more time... :}

This guy has the right idea...

2009-02-04T17:47:00.003-05:00

One of my New Year's resolutions, which I never did get around to posting here, was to more fully integrate, both in my life and on this blog, the various areas of my life--religious, political, etc. In that spirit, I share with you a video of an interview with one governor who gets it. Mark Sanford is the Governor of South Carolina, a Republican, and one of the truest conservatives on the political scene today. The video is about 11 minutes long, and details his views on the "stimulus package" currently being proposed by the Federal Government. I encourage everyone to watch this, because Gov. Sanford makes a whole lot of sense in a time of seemingly senseless politics.

Happy February!

2009-02-01T13:06:00.004-05:00

I've added more (and better) photos of the ice on my Flickr account, for those who might be interested.

It's been a very busy week this past week; those of us who were able to make it in to work got really worked hard to make up for those who couldn't. In addition, some sort of virus attacked our India facility, where all the claims go for first level processing, so we had to make up for their shortfall as well. I think they have everything fixed now, but I worked at least 9 hours of OT over the past 8 days. Should be a good paycheck, though, and I need one or two of those... I'm pretty wore out, so this will be a short post. Later...

2009-01-28T19:41:00.002-05:00

I have several posts rolling around in my head, but seemingly no time to organize my thoughts enough to post it all lately. There's the one about my New Year's resolutions, which I will still post soon, even though it's nearly February, because some of the resolutions concern how I will use this blog in future. No worries, I'll still be here, just thinking about some areas that I rarely post about in my life that I may post about more in future.

Anyway, this post is about...the weather. Exciting, huh? That's about all I can handle at present, but it has been rather more interesting around here lately, weather-wise. We've had a bit of an ice storm over the last couple of days, as you can see from the photo above and the others which I have uploaded both on my Facebook page and on my Flickr account. It was fun chipping ice off my car in order to get out and do errands (doctor, DMV, that sort of thing), but I did manage to get pretty much everything done that I really needed to do. Then I rented a couple of movies, stocked up on supplies (you know, beer and snacks :)), then settled in for the rest of the afternoon.

Funny story: I got my car all chipped out and ready to go, when one of my neighbors, who had broken his ice scraper trying to get the ice off his windows, asked if he could borrow mine. I don't really know him, but am pretty open-handed with those sort of things, so I gave it to him, said that I was on my way to a doctor's appointment, and he could leave my scraper in front of my apartment door when he was done. Eric, a young man from Cameroon, said that he didn't want to leave the scraper in the hall in case someone stole it before I got home. So he said he would keep it for me, and I should come to his apartment when I got back to retrieve it. I agreed and went on to the clinic. When I got home, I stopped downstairs at Eric's apartment to get my scraper. He had, of course, broken it. I don't know what else I expected, since he had broken his own before borrowing mine. Still, no big deal--they are not that expensive. After handing me back my broken scraper, though, he asked to come in and "hang out" for a while. I really didn't feel like being with people at the moment, and sensed that he wanted more than just to talk, so I declined. Then he asked me when we were going to go out. I'm pretty sure that I'm at least 10 years older than him, 6 inches taller than him, and outweigh him by several pounds. WTF? He was very persistent, and I just kept giving him vague declinations. Turns out, he works for the same place I do, except as a security guard on the overnight shift. When I went in to work today, I asked the day shift guard, a woman, if she knew him and her impressions of him. She basically told me that he would eventually ask me for money. Good luck with that, I haven't got any to give! :)

Maybe it's just me...

2009-01-05T22:51:00.007-05:00

Maybe it's just me, but as I was flipping through channels tonight, and stopped for a bit on Superstars of Dance, it occurred to me: is or is not Michael Flatley starting to look a bit like Liberace?

A meme for the New Year...

2009-01-03T17:34:00.017-05:00

It seems that Mr. Farty at least is ~~bugging me~~ clamoring for a new post from me, but this will have to do for now. I have plans to post my resolutions for the new year, but first I have to ~~think them up~~ do many important things around here.

So anyway, Ricardipus has posted a quite extensive meme, and I thought I'd ~~placate~~ entertain my reader(s) with that for the moment. Here's the rules: 1. Everyone uses this same list of 99 Things. 2. Feel free to add editorial comments (mine are in square brackets). 3. Change the font of each item according to the legend below. 4. That's it! Simple, really.

Things I’ve already done: boldface
Things I want to do: italics
Things I haven’t done and don’t want to: plain text

99 Things

1. started your own blog [obviously, several of them, but only keep up with this one]

2. slept under the stars [I've always had at least a tent over me]

3. played in a band [If tambourine counts, then I've played in a band. I've definitely sung in a band, though...]

4. visited Hawaii [I'd go if someone I really liked wanted to, and was prepared to foot the bill, but it's not really on my list of places I want to go...]

5. watched a meteor shower [lying in a ditch on the side of the road with about 4 guys, but that's another story...]

6. given more than you can afford to charity [generally, if I give to charity, it's "more than I can afford"...]

7. been to Disneyland/world [the "happiest place on Earth" would just make me crazy with all the people, I think...]

8. climbed a mountain [being in the mountains sounds fun; climbing one, not so much]

9. held a praying mantis

10. sang a solo [ask the Casa Girls about that one]

11. bungee jumped [no thanks]

12. visited Paris [thought about it while in London, but didn't really have the $$$]

13. watched a lightning storm at sea [sounds like fun, as long as it's not a hurricane]

14. taught yourself an art from scratch [I'm very artsy--my mom says I practically came out of the womb sewing, which sounds painful, when you think of it...]

15. adopted a child [again, something I would do for a mate, but not something I would think of on my own, unless a close friend with children died or something...]

16. had food poisoning [not diagnosed, but probably have had a mild case at one time]

17. walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty [do they still let people do that?]

18. grown your own vegetables [grew up with farming parents]

19. seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. slept on an overnight train [something romantic like the Orient Express, maybe--not the "red eye" to Milwaukee, thanks...]

21. had a pillow fight [duh, I'm a girl...]

22. hitch hiked [no thanks, not looking to be serial killed]

23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill [shhh, don't tell :) ]

24. built a snow fort

25. held a lamb

26. gone skinny dipping [does a hot tub count?]

27. run a marathon [boy, wouldn't that be something to see, just before they call the paramedics...]

28. ridden a gondola in Venice

29. seen a total eclipse [sun and moon]

30. watched a sunrise or sunset [both]

31. hit a home run

32. been on a cruise [would love to do an Alaskan cruise, or one of those that go around to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark]

33. seen Niagara Falls in person [as a child, don't remember much about it]

34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors [just the ones a generation or so back :) ]

35. seen an Amish community [seen Shaker communities, but not Amish]

36. taught yourself a new language [I have a bit of Spanish, but didn't teach myself, I had a teacher...]

37. had enough money to be truly satisfied [does anybody?]

38. seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. gone rock climbing [been there, not a fan]

40. seen Michelangelo’s David in person [want to with all my heart]

41. sung karaoke [love it, especially seeing the people who expect just another off-key drunk, then I open my mouth...]

42. seen Old Faithful geyser erupt in person

43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant [wish I had the money to do this, especially when I see a soldier in uniform]

44. visited Africa

45. walked on a beach by moonlight

46. been transported in an ambulance [just a broken hand in a car wreck; I was a bit embarrassed by all the attention]

47. had your portrait painted [did my self-portrait in painting class--it's not bad, but needs work.]

48. gone deep sea fishing [I'd go along for the ride, sounds like an adventure]

49. seen the Sistine Chapel in person [oh, please, please, please, may I?]

50. been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris [even though I'm a BIG 'fraidy cat with heights, I'd maybe do it for the Eiffel Tower]

51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling [I don't swim well, but think I could maybe do it with "life support"...]

52. kissed in the rain [pretty sure I have, but can't think when]

53. played in the mud [Um, a kid in Kentucky? Where else would we play?]

54. gone to a drive-in theater [there was one down the road from us]

55. been in a movie [why not, sounds like fun...]

56. visited the Great Wall of China

57. started a business [does Amway count? :) ]

58. taken a martial arts class [not really my thing]

59. visited Russia

60. served at a soup kitchen [just last weekend, in fact]

61. sold girl scout cookies [yeah, back in the days when you actually went door-to-door]

62. gone whale watching

63. gotten flowers for no reason [Surely, I must have, but can't remember when. I've given them for no reason, though..]

64. donated blood [sold plasma in college, but I don't seem to have a high enough hematacrit (?) level for them to take whole blood from me...]

65. gone sky diving [no thanks]

66. visited a Nazi concentration camp [That sounds weird to want to visit, but it's important that we remember...]

67. bounced a check

68. flown in a helicopter

69. saved a favorite childhood toy [too late for wishing now]

70. visited the Lincoln memorial [did a "drive-by" on our 1 1/2 hour whirlwind photo tour of DC--would like to do it properly, though...]

71. eaten caviar [it's not really all the hype would lead you to believe...]

72. pieced a quilt [a machine quilt, but I designed it myself...]

73. stood in Times Square

74. toured the Everglades

75. been fired from a job [a couple of times]

76. seen the changing of the guard in London

77. broken a bone [I don't recommend it...]

78. been on a speeding motorcycle [depends on your definition of "speeding", but at highway speeds,yes]

79. seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. published a book [I illustrated it, but my name is on the front cover...]

81. visited the Vatican

82. bought a brand new car [a couple of them--one only had 14 miles on it when I bought it]

83. walked in Jerusalem

84. had your picture in the newspaper [never in the police blotter, though...]

85. read the entire Bible [once, it took me three years on a "plan"]

86. visited the White House

87. killed and prepared an animal for eating [If fish counts, yes. I've been very close when it was done, though--my dad was a hunter and we often had game to eat. I could do it if I needed to, I think, especially the prep part...]

88. had chickenpox [my brother gave it to me for Christmas one year]

89. saved someone’s life [never had to, thank God]

90. sat on a jury

91. met someone famous [Jim Varney used to come to the Spencer Gifts I managed to buy gold jewelry]

92. joined a book club [could be fun, if it were the right one]

93. lost a loved one

94. had a baby [no, thanks--loooove other people's kids, though]

95. seen the Alamo in person

96. swum in the Great Salt Lake

97. been involved in a law suit [does divorce count?]

98. owned a cell phone [Hellooooo, it's 2009...]

99. been stung by a bee

So that makes 43 things that I have done, 41 things that I want to do, and 16 things that I haven't done, and don't really care if I do. By the way, if you're still reading this, consider yourself tagged...

I'm baaaaaaack...

2008-12-08T17:41:00.002-05:00

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!! I'm back, y'all! The guys at the Geek Squad, especially Blaine, are geniuseses. As it turns out, it seems the power supply IS all that was wrong with my computer and, about $200 later, I'm back in business! Now to sort through the 85 emails waiting on my server for my attention...

Waiting...

2008-12-04T17:47:00.002-05:00

So I'm still "offline" for the moment. I'm at the public library right now, with the clock ticking down on my hour of surfing delight. I have ordered the power supply for my iMac, which was a bit of a pain because I ended up having to have a friend order it for me. The guy on eBay from whom I ordered it would only take Paypal, not just a credit card, and I could not for the life of me remember my Paypal password. When I tried to get them to send me an email to change my password, it never came. So I was screwed. I have my password saved...on my desktop. Of course, if I could get to that, I wouldn't need it. I guess I'm learning all sorts of lessons, here... Anyway, the part is ordered and should be here in the next couple of days. The Geek Squad @ Best Buy says that they will install it for me, for a small fee, once I bring it to them. Now I just have to hope that all that is wrong with the computer is the power supply...

Bummer...

2008-11-25T18:27:00.002-05:00

So I think that Rik may have jinxed me :) Yesterday, we had a bit of a rainstorm, and apparently an additional power surge for good measure. I had four items plugged up to my surge protector: my computer, my speakers, my DSL modem, and one of my printers. Of those, three of them came through unscathed. Guess which one did not? That's right--the computer. Apparently, my power supply on the iMac was killed to DEATH. So, I have to either find a new power supply and get it installed, or make my way to Cincinnati, where the nearest Apple service center is located, to have it done there. All that to say, I'm gonna be very sporadic online for the next little while. If anyone really needs to get in touch with me quickly, telephone is the way to go for now. Now if I could just find some methadone for the facebook and email addictions...

My Desktop

2008-11-22T05:41:00.003-05:00

My friend Bryan has a very cool photo of the interior of Ely Cathedral as his wallpaper. He has asked those of us who read his blog to share with the world, "What's on your desktop?" Mine is above, a photo that I took of Stonehenge when I was there a couple of years ago. I like this particular shot because it's still daylight (taken about 3:30pm on January 2, 2007), but you can see the moon just above the stones. It's been my wallpaper pretty much since I came home from that trip, mostly because I've been unmotivated to change it. Maybe it's time for a change of scenery...

It's my birthday!

2008-11-18T05:30:00.000-05:00

My friend Cari, otherwise known as evilpromqueen, sent me this wee birthday wish, for my birthday, duh... Isn't it the cutest? Thanks to everyone who sent me well wishes on teh Facebook...

Barack O'Bama?

2008-11-13T18:10:00.003-05:00

Well, it seems that our new prez, Barack O'Bama (that's right) has found his Irish roots. There's even a catchy new tune about it:

I have to wonder: has Obama ever seen this movie?

Obama Campaign Aftermath

2008-11-06T18:27:00.002-05:00

A "campaign update" from The Onion, a very funny website:

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Thanks to Will for the find...

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T06:51:00.003-04:00

Happy Halloween, everyone! Make it a great one but a safe one, 'k? I will be dressing up for work today; if all goes well, photos to follow...

Alright, already! :)

2008-10-28T18:58:00.002-04:00

So it's been so long since I've last posted that I've actually got people complaining about it. I didn't even know anyone was still reading me. Good to know, actually...

Mr. Farty is helping me get back into the swing of things by tagging me for a meme: Seven Random Things About Me. I already have 100 things about me on my sidebar, but they were written about 5 years ago, so I guess they are getting a bit out of date. So here we go, after far too long an introduction:

1. My political views are generally shaped by the quote, "He who gives a man a fish, feeds him for a day; he who teaches a man to fish feeds him forever."
2. I am probably far too "artsy" to be as conservative as I am, but there you go...
3. I think that guys with bald (shaved) heads are sexy. Generally speaking...
4. I am a recovering pack rat. I am systematically trying to rid myself of the "dust catchers" in my apartment. You know, so I can go out and get some more...
5. I have a deep fascination with all things Celtic. Scotland, Ireland, Wales--that's my idea of a great 1-month holiday itinerary...
6. I used to sing backup vocals in a "rock" band. "Rock" in quotes because it was a '50's and '60's band. Not hard rock...
7. I used to be a belly dancer, for fun but not for profit. Not for lack of trying to make it profitable, mind you...

OK, there's my random 7. Now let's see who's reading this by tagging some more folks: Ricardipus, Dawn the Wrathful, Cari (on MySpace or Facebook, your choice), Rik Aitch, Aled, Liz, and Will, if for no other reason than to get him to blog about something other than politics for a change... :)

Arrr!

2008-09-19T06:20:00.002-04:00

It's that time again! International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Now go out there and shiver their timbers! Arrrrrr! *cough*cough*cough*

Craig Ferguson on voting...

2008-09-11T20:01:00.004-04:00

Craig Ferguson is probably my favorite late-night talk show host, although I rarely am able to stay up late enough to watch him. Usually if I want to see him, I'll record it or look on YouTube, which is where this bit came from (by way of Will's blog), aired last night, I guess. It's a shame that we Merkans, as Mr. Farty calls us, have to be schooled by our newest citizens on how to behave...

Disclaimer: I know that some of you do not vote due to religious convictions, and I do not think that you all are morons. I get the "conscientious objector" thing. This rant of Craig's I think is more directed to those who can't be arsed to get to the polls due to apathy. Make the time this year. It's more important than ever...

What My Name Means...

2008-08-24T08:58:00.002-04:00

This is actually fairly accurate in my case, both the good and the not-so-good parts. I've never really thought of myself as "bold and daring", but I suppose for something I really want, I can be...

What Debi Means

You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row.

You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace.

People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.

You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous.

You are bold and daring. You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things.

Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

File under "Even a Blind Chicken Finds a Little Corn"...

2008-08-07T06:46:00.002-04:00

From the "even a blind chicken finds a little corn" files:

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Her best acting job ever, I'm thinking... However, I wonder if anyone bothered to tell her that the energy policy she just espoused IS ACTUALLY the policy that the "white-haired dude" wants to enact...

Funny Stuff

2008-07-26T09:11:00.002-04:00

Saw this in our local paper yesterday, and had to share it...

Insomniac Theatre, part infinitum

2008-07-24T01:04:00.004-04:00

So here I am again, up at all hours, watching YouTube. I've been to the doctor, early well, I guess it's yesterday now, and it seems that my thyroid, which has been quiet for the last three years, may be acting up again. So I wake up sometimes in the middle of the night with heart palpitations, and the only way I've found to quiet myself down and get back to sleep is to watch YouTube. Mostly Craig Ferguson bits, because I like his voice and the comedy gets my mind off, well, me. Tonight, though, I found something a bit different:

In other news, Jon Stewart is fuuuunnnnny! Here's what he has to say about Barack Obama's recent trip to the Middle East:

Gore and His Followers' True Colors

2008-07-19T07:57:00.002-04:00

This is an interesting video that shows how Al Gore and his supporters really think...

It's just good to know that they practice what they preach...riiiiight...

2008-07-10T17:30:00.002-04:00

Alan has done a meme. Alan hardly ever does a meme, so if he does one, it's usually decent. This one is, of course, so I'm doing it, too. 'Cause I'm a sheep like that...

Anyway, the instructions of the meme are as follows if you're interested...

1) Go to Wikipedia

2) In the search box, type your birth month and day but not the year.

3) List three events that happened on your birthday

4) List two important birthdays and one death

5) One holiday or observance (if any)

My birthday is November 18th, so here are my answers:

Events:
1307 - According to legend, William Tell shoots an apple off of his son's head.
1883 - American and Canadian railroads institute five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.
1978 - Jonestown incident: In Guyana, Jim Jones leads his Peoples Temple cult in a mass murder-suicide that claims 918 lives in all, 909 of them at Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo J. Ryan is assassinated by members of Peoples Temple shortly beforehand.

Two birthdays and a death:
1901 - George Gallup, American statistician and opinion pollster (d. 1984)
1968 - Owen Wilson, American actor
1962 - Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)

Observance:
Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul (Roman Catholic Calendar)

The meme is open to whoever would like to play. Just let me know if you've posted, so I can come take a look...

It is finished--finally!

2008-07-03T16:57:00.003-04:00

After much agonizing (and annoying of all my design- and web-oriented friends), my portfolio website is finally online for your viewing pleasure! I still have some tweaking in the pipeline, so to speak, but the basics are there to see. I would appreciate it if any who are so inclined would click on the banner and pay the site a visit to critique it for aesthetics, usability, and any other input that might be helpful. I'd especially like to hear from you if you use a browser other than Firefox. Also, of course, if you have any design needs (especially of the full-time employment variety), feel free to send me an email and we'll talk!

P.S.: Btw, I should mention that, should any of you wish to add a link of my site to yours, you can feel free to grab the button...

Insomniac Theatre

2008-06-23T01:36:00.003-04:00

This is where you end up when you're up at 1:30 in the morning and can't sleep. Well, it's where I end up when I'm up at 1:30 in the morning and can't sleep, anyway...

In other news, the police made an arrest in the tire slashing incident, well three arrests, I suppose, three "juveniles". The Sergeant in charge of the case asked those of us who had to replace tires to send him a copy of the receipt, since he is trying to build a case for restitution. I'll believe that I'm getting anything not when I get a check, but when it clears...

It's raining...

2008-06-17T19:26:00.003-04:00

What is it that they say? "When it rains, it pours..." Well, it's been a bit of a downpour here lately. First there was the wreck, then the missing of work (thank God for PTO) to look for a replacement car. Now, this morning I went out (a bit late) to drive to work, and found that one of the new tires on my new car was flat. I didn't think much of it--maybe I had run over something last night that I didn't realize. An irritation and an unexpected expense, nothing more. Then one of my neighbors came up to me, along with the lady who does maintenance.

"They get you, too?" they said.

"What do you mean?" I replied.

"About 20 other people had their tires cut last night, too." And that's just in the complex. Apparently, several other people in the surrounding neighborhood had the same thing happen to them. So, I called the roadside assistance people (I pay for the membership, I might as well use it...), called the police, and sat to wait. And wait. The police finally called me back and said that, since there were so many reports in the area, they didn't have the manpower to send cops out to take a report, so they were taking the reports over the phone. Nice. Then it took about 2 hours for the roadside assistance guy to get to me to change my tire for the donut. I'm pretty sure that I could have changed it myself in that amount of time. After I finally had the car in relatively drivable condition, it was off to WalMart to get a new tire. One of the neighbors said something about calling the insurance company, which I hadn't even considered, but since I just had a major claim and the deductible is more than the tire cost, I just sucked it up. Yet another hour (and $100) later, I was finally off to work. I didn't get there until nearly 1PM. Now I'm concerned that whoever did this will think it funny to come back after everyone has replaced their tires and do it again. Let's hope not...

2008-06-10T19:16:00.005-04:00

After much agonizing and shopping and finagling (and LOTS of help from Liz in the areas of bargaining and finance), I bought a "new" car Saturday to replace my old Escort--the 2002 PT Cruiser. See how shiny it is? You can see the clouds in the paint job (oooooh...) :) It was a decent deal, and within my budget (as it turns out). It's also a much cooler ride than the old car (or so I tell myself). It's got so many more bells and whistles than the old car that I've been reading the manual ever since I got it. I find a new feature that I didn't know about every day, it seems. By accidentally setting off the alarm while still at the dealership, I discovered that it has an alarm (!) and a remote start that I think must be aftermarket. That may come in handy this winter... I'll post more photos as they become available, but I wanted to at least share this little bit. Oh, it turns out that they may never find the guy who hit me--the license plate number that I gave them doesn't match the description of the truck. I'm thinking stolen license plate... That kinda sucks, but I'm just glad that I wasn't seriously injured and that the replacement process is nearly over. I still have to go back to the dealership to have them replace the battery in my keyless remote, and the taillight and turn-signal bulbs in the rear driver's side. I didn't notice they were out until I was driving that evening, since it was daylight when I bought it... I also need to remember to ask about how much spare keys cost, since I used to be notorious for leaving mine somewhere inconvenient...like in my purse...in the car...locked up for safekeeping... Hopefully, I'm over that phase now, but one can't be too careful...

Harvey Korman Dead at 81

2008-05-30T18:21:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite comic actors, Harvey Korman, died yesterday at age 81. I think that I will have to include a tribute to him in my plans for this weekend and watch two of my favorite movies, Blazing Saddles and History of the World, Part I. For your viewing enjoyment, here are a couple of clips from those movies...

Of course, some of his best work was done on the Carol Burnett Show, where he could never keep a straight face if he was doing a sketch with Tim Conway...

R.I.P., Harvey...

Carbon Belch Day

2008-05-29T22:40:00.004-04:00

Here's a cause that we can really get behind, um, so to speak...

I couldn't get it to work where clicking on the photo sends you to the site ('cause it's late and I'm tired), but click on the link to find out more...

2008-05-27T21:12:00.002-04:00

Well, it was an interesting holiday weekend. I managed to end it up in style yesterday, by being the victim of a hit-and-run "accident", by a likely drunk driver. I was driving along one of the more major thoroughfares of town, when an as yet unknown person in an old red pickup truck apparently decided that I was going too slow for his taste. I have to consider the possibility that he never really understood that I was there at all, considering his actions. I might have been going an mph or two over the speed limit, in the left-hand lane since I was passing another car, when this maniac came speeding up behind the fellow in the right-hand lane, then changed lanes and barreled up behind me, hitting me square in the back end. Not once, but twice before I could get myself out of his way and off the road. At which point, he sped off as if I had never even been there at all. I managed to get what I believe is an accurate license plate number, then called 9-1-1. The fellow that I had been passing pulled over and stayed with me until the police came to take a report. As you can see, my car is somewhat the worse for wear, but thankfully, I was spared major injury. I went to the clinic this afternoon and was pronounced "fit", except for some major soreness in the muscles of my arms and shoulders. I assume this is from clutching at the steering wheel while trying to get out of the maniac's way. The doctor at the clinic prescribed a drug called Tramadol, which name is giving me no end of amusement. I half expected an accompanying prescription for Fukitol...

The car may or may not be considered "totaled", as the insurance company will determine in the next couple of days. There is about $2000 worth of damage; I'm not exactly sure what the value of the car itself is, but we're cutting it close here, I'd imagine. I hope that they go on and let me fix it, since I'm not eager to go deeper into debt on a new car. Student loans still loom overhead, doncha know...

Anyway, I've taken a half-day off today, due to the pain and all the running to doctor and mechanic. We'll see if this medication does any good for the pain and give things another go tomorrow...

2008-05-20T19:40:00.003-04:00

So I went and voted today. I put on my red shirt (on purpose, 'cause I'm a registered Republican :) ) and headed down to the polling place. I had no problems, unlike some people I heard about on the call-in shows that I listen to, no one telling me that I couldn't vote because "it's a Democratic primary" (apparently at least one voter in Lexington was told that at their polling place). Once I got in the booth, I made a seriously last-minute change of plan in voting in the Presidential primary race--I voted for Mitt Romney. Now, some might call that a "wasted vote", since Mr. Romney has withdrawn from the race. I don't consider it wasted. I hope that Mr. McCain (the presumptive winner of the Republican primary) will take a good look at all the votes cast for those no longer in the race, and consider the message that we, the voters, are trying to send to him by voting for withdrawn candidates. I can't speak for all the others who did what I did (and I know that there were more of us), but I can tell you what my "message" to Mr. McCain is: "Mr. McCain, take a good, hard look at your policies and platform, and take some steps to become more of what a Republican is meant to be--conservative. Your penchant for trying to appeal to those outside of your party is costing you votes inside your party, where you may lose enough of us to lose the general election. It's not too late." /rant--for now...

In other news, some of my best friends just had their new baby, Lilly Ann. The photo above was taken yesterday, when she was about 2 hours old. She was 8 lbs. 12 oz., and just as cute as can be. Welcome to the world, Lilly Ann!

Illegal Immigrants?

2008-05-10T16:23:00.003-04:00

Spotted: Just outside our office the other day. Walking around like nothing's going on. No papers, no nothing. These foreign couples come here, have their babies, then mooch off us tax-paying Americans... :)

"The Death Spiral"

2008-04-22T06:52:00.003-04:00

It seems that I am being bombarded with request (hi, Raven ;) ) for a new post. I will, therefore, tell you about something completely inane, since for the most part that's what I do around here. Yesterday, I slipped in the shower. I had just cleaned it, and as I got in I mentally reminded myself that it was gonna be slick in there. Did myself remember this sage advice? No. I caught hold of the washcloth rack as I was going down, so that instead of cracking my skull on the side of the tub, the end result I imagine looking like one of those "death spirals" that they do on Dancing With The Stars, except without the fancy dress. And the gracefulness. There was none of that, either. Now I have this large bruise on my...hip. Yeah, my hip. Normally that wouldn't bother me. I get bruises all the time, most of which I have no idea how I got them. But this one I have to sit on all day at work, which is already a pain in my...hip. Ah, well. Such is life when one is a rare, delicate flower such as myself...

Tree in Flower

2008-04-08T19:06:00.004-04:00

On a lighter note, I took a few photos of the big tree in the middle of our parking lot at home, so that I could try and capture its lovely flowers before it rains tonight and washes them off the tree. Spring is definitely here!

The last one I took because I'm a sucker for "sun shining through the branches" type photos...

Obama and Foreign Policy

2008-04-08T18:46:00.004-04:00

I'm not sure if I've said it here or not, but I have been following the Presidential campaign with quite a bit of interest. In fact, I'm a bit of a talk radio junkie, truth be told. I listen to it most of the day on my headphones at work, and have a couple of favorite shows. I even call in or email the shows on a semi-regular basis, and the local hosts (and call screeners) know my voice by now. Anyway, I was listening today and was amazed and amused to hear that Barack Obama (whom I will not vote for) made a statement over the weekend that "foreign policy is the area where I am probably most confident that I know more and understand the world better than Senator Clinton or Senator McCain." Now, I don't have any more respect or intention to vote for Hillary than I do for Obama (and I'm not completely sure I'm even comfortable with a McCain presidency), but--really?! Obama, whose only real foreign experience includes living outside the country between the ages of 6 and 10, and having foreign relatives, thinks he knows more about foreign affairs than a veteran of a foreign war who spent 5.5 years in a POW camp, or even a former First Lady, who spent 8 years in the White House, hosting foreign diplomats and accompanying her (President!) husband on countless trips to other countries, specifically for the purpose of dealing with foreign policy matters. Oooookay...

Spring has sprung!

2008-04-07T19:33:00.004-04:00

In an attempt to taunt a couple of my British readers (and maybe a couple of Canadian ones), who are still dealing with snow, I feel that I must mention that I have officially stowed my windshield ice scraper in the trunk of my car, and have pulled out the sunshade. :P

It was a lovely day today, much too pretty to be working, but oh, well... I decided on my break to take a walk around the building, feel like I was getting some exercise for a change. I passed a younger man who was washing the windows, who stopped me with the comment, "Hey, what's going on? You're like the fourth person who has passed me, just walking. Is everyone bored in there?"

"Well, it's lovely out--why wouldn't I want to be out in it? Besides, I thought it might be a good idea to get a bit of exercise," I said, patting my belly.

The man looked at me and then said the nicest thing anyone's said to me in a while. "Girl, what are doing?" he said. "You don't need to change anything!" Well, of course I know exactly how much weight I need to lose and it is this: a lot. More than I'm willing to say on teh intarnets. But it was nice to hear, anyways. A bit of a flirt now and then is always good for the ego...

I went to Richmond to my alma mater yesterday, to the opening of the 2008 Student Art Show. Several of my classmates are still there, and it was good to see them and a few of my favorite professors again. Everyone said they missed me, which I suppose is true--it must be very quiet now that I'm gone... :) While I was there, I finally turned in my final artwork for the independent study that seemingly would never end. I still have to go and "present" it on Friday at the Undergraduate Presentation. I'm still not exactly sure what that is, but it seems that I will stand for two hours beside my project and answer any questions that arise from those who come by to view it. (The project, btw, is on illuminated manuscripts of 8th to 10th century Britain, which particularly interest me, but probably seem boring to most anyone else...) But hey, it gets me out of work for a few hours, so I'm not gonna complain too much...

2008-04-04T18:54:00.002-04:00

Ok, so Mr. Farty (where the previous rabbit trail started) wants me to try my hand at this diagramming of song lyrics. This one's probably far too easy, but it's a start...

Can you guess the song?

Pie! (chart)

2008-04-03T06:51:00.001-04:00

Found here, at the end of an internet rabbit trail...

Cake or Death...Lego Style

2008-04-01T22:21:00.002-04:00

Will has found a brilliant variation on Eddie Izzard's Cake or Death bit, done with Legos...

Judging from the choices given after the clip is over, there are loads of Eddie Izzard routines done with Legos...who knew?

I go to this cool church now...

2008-03-31T06:26:00.002-04:00

So it seems that I have become an Anglican. I've been on a bit of a spiritual journey these last few months, and this is where I've ended up. As you can see by the photo above, the clergy there are pretty cool, and are OK with my sense of humor. I think I'm gonna like it here... :)

Resumè Enhancement

2008-03-11T19:50:00.006-04:00

So I was talking to my friend Will on the phone just now, trying to see if he had a photo I could use for a small project I'm working on. (Btw, if anyone has an awesome photo of white lilies that you'd like to share, I'd be ever so grateful...) Anyway, during the course of the conversation, I went to my Flickr page and noticed that I had a FlickrMail message. I didn't even know there was such a thing as FlickrMail. So, I clicked on the message and read:

Hi Debi,
I am writing to let you know that two of your photos have been short-listed for inclusion in the third edition of our Schmap London Guide, to be published at the end of this month.
...
While we offer no payment for publication, many photographers are pleased to submit their photos, as Schmap Guides give their work recognition and wide exposure, and are free of charge to readers. Photos are published at a maximum width of 150 pixels, are clearly attributed, and link to high-resolution originals at Flickr.
Our submission deadline is Friday, June 22. If you happen to be reading this message after this date, please still click on the link above (our Schmap Guides are updated frequently - photos submitted after this deadline will be considered for later releases).
Best regards,
Luke Ritchie,
Managing Editor, Schmap Guides

Frankly, I hadn't heard of Schmap Guides until now, but when I called my friend Alan, he said that he had had one of his photos in the Ireland edition. I'm honored, of course, and excited by the possibility. If they choose my photos, it'll look great on my resumè. And right now, I feel like I need all the help I can get, as my job search seems stalled at the moment.

Oh, yeah--if you want to see which photos they are considering, they are here and here.

UPDATE: Well, now I'm just a little bit bummed--I went back and looked at the date of the FlickrMail, and that deadline is for June 22, 2007. But it's still an honor to be considered, and they may still use my photos for the next edition...

A Meme...

2008-03-07T19:40:00.014-05:00

I found a fun meme over at Mr. Farty's place. (Yeah, I have eclectic taste in blogs...) Anyway, it was a lot of fun, so I decided to do it over here. So here's the ground rules:

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDB and find a quote from each film.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the film.
5. GUESSERS: NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search functions. I mean, you can cheat if you want, but is it really that important?
6. One film guess per commenter. That way everyone gets a turn.

So here's my movie quotes. If you guess one right and I mark it, feel free to guess on another one.

1. ~~Harriet! Har-ee-et. Hard-hearted harbinger of haggis.~~ Liz So I Married An Axe Murderer

2. ~~What's a dazzling urbanite like you doing in a rustic setting like this?~~ Johnny T. Blazing Saddles

3. ~~Ladies and gentlemen, I can envision a day when the brains of brilliant men can be kept alive in the bodies of dumb people.~~ Mr. Farty The Man With Two Brains

4. ~~In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God.~~ Cari Braveheart

5. ~~The truth is bro, life's about greasing the 'do back, buddy, and wheezin' on the buff-fest, man.~~ Cari and The Dane Encino Man

6. ~~I didn't make him for you!... He carries the Charles Atlas seal of approval.~~ Brian The Rocky Horror Picture Show

7. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow. Cari Men In Black

8. ~~Allow myself to introduce... myself!~~ The Dane Austin Powers

9. ~~Uh, betray us, and I will fong you, until your insides are out, your outsides are in, your entrails will become your extrails I will w-rip... all the p... ung. Pain, lots of pain.~~ Jennifer Rollins A Knight's Tale

10. ~~I once thought I had mono for an entire year. It turned out I was just really bored.~~ The Dane Wayne's World

OK, there they are! Good luck and good guessing! :)

~~Only one more left!~~ ~~Who wants it?~~

As they say, "That's all folks!" Good job to all...

From the ministry of silly Google searches...

2008-03-03T05:30:00.003-05:00

From the ministry of silly Google searches: It seems, after checking my referrer log, that this site is the #1 Google listing for Monty Python scriptorium (well, if you're in Hungary, anyway)...

Time for a quiz :)

2008-02-27T19:27:00.000-05:00

How evil are you?

Yeah, riiiiiight...

Some housekeeping...

2008-02-27T19:18:00.002-05:00

I've done a bit of housekeeping over at the sidebar. I added some folks that needed to be recognized, taken a couple of links out that are inactive, and updated those that have moved to new digs. Hopefully everything looks better now, and makes a bit more sense. If you see a link that wasn't there the last time you checked in, visit them and say hey. I think you'll be glad you did...

2008-02-25T19:41:00.001-05:00

Here's a little something I received through my email:

The Scriptorium

2008-02-21T06:22:00.001-05:00

Which Great US President Are You Most Like?
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Dwight Eisenhower

34th President, in office from 1953-1961
Born: 1890 Died: 1969

Dwight Eisenhower

69%

Theodore Roosevelt

67%

Abraham Lincoln

64%

Franklin Roosevelt

64%

Ronald Reagan

62%

Lyndon Johnson

52%

George Washington

50%

John Kennedy

50%

Woodrow Wilson

48%

Thomas Jefferson

48%

Harry Truman

43%

It's gonna get hot in here...

2008-02-19T15:46:00.004-05:00

So, I'm very happy that there is a man in my apartment right now, with lots of tools. You see, I've been without a furnace since Saturday morning. Fortunately, the laws of physics have been on my side, since I live on the 3rd floor. My downstairs neighbor, whether he knows it or not, has been helping keep me from freezing this weekend. Actually, the landlady also provided me with an electric space heater, which I broke down and used last night. Before that, it wasn't quite cold enough, and frankly, I'm afraid of space heaters. Almost all of the stupid house fire stories we hear around here this time of year start with "faulty space heater". Anyway, I'm glad that the heater guy finally seems to have all the parts he needs (one needed to be ordered) and is making progress towards having my furnace up and running again.

In other news, Mike O. has requested to see some of my art up in here, so here's one of the illustrations for the book I designed for my final project last semester. I'll try and get some more up later, once I get everything more in order. Actually, I've made some progress in that area in the last couple of days--I took off work yesterday and today to have a 4-day weekend to catch up on some housework and stuff. I got quite a bit done, but I also had plenty of lazy time to spend watching movies. :)

2008-02-17T07:57:00.002-05:00

OK, so it's to be another quiz for now. I'm off for the next couple of days, though, so maybe I'll write something substantive then...

You are 10:02 a.m.
You are breakfasty, like a pile of pancakes on a Sunday morning that have just the right amount of syrup, so every bite is sweet perfection and not a soppy mess. You are a glass of orange juice that's cool, refreshing, and not overly pulpy. You are the time of day that's just right for turning the pages of a newspaper, flipping through channels, or clicking around online to get a sense of how the world changed during the night. You don't want to stumble sleepily through life, so you make a real effort to wake your brain up and get it thinking. You feel inspired to accomplish things (whether it's checking something off your to-do list or changing the world), but there's plenty of time for making things happen later in the day. First, pancakes.

2008-02-04T22:10:00.000-05:00

Lack of material, but at least it's not another quiz...

2008-01-20T07:03:00.000-05:00

OK, so it's quiz season, apparently. Mostly because there's not much else going on, I guess. Found this one at Will's:

45% Geek

I'm not sure whether to be happy with this result or not... :)

2008-01-11T19:59:00.000-05:00

Here's another quiz that I found just randomly while looking for a new icon for my Facebook...yeah, yeah, I know...addict...can quit anytime I want...blahblahblah... :)

Which Family Guy Character Are you?

Brian.. yes i know theres a typo...
Take this quiz!

Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

2008-01-10T06:42:00.000-05:00

It seems like forever since there's been a quiz around here. I found this one on Will Humes' blog (boy, I need to update my blogroll). I'll not take it as the definitive guide for who I should vote for, and some of the questions seem a bit skewed, but the results seem fairly accurate for me:

84% Tom Tancredo
83% Mitt Romney
79% Fred Thompson
73% John McCain
68% Mike Huckabee
67% Rudy Giuliani
61% Ron Paul
31% Hillary Clinton
31% Chris Dodd
31% Bill Richardson
29% John Edwards
25% Barack Obama
25% Joe Biden
21% Mike Gravel
12% Dennis Kucinich

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

A Small Rant on Government

2008-01-03T17:35:00.000-05:00

I have long held that the last thing we need to do as a nation is to continue to create more and more "entitlement programs" that tend to keep people in poverty rather than give them the skills and education required to get out of their situations. One of several radio talk shows I listen to is a local show called The Pulse with Leland Conway. He has written an excellent editorial for our local paper (which requires money to access archives, so I linked to the article from another source) on this very subject. I can remember some time ago visiting with some church friends from another city, who were lamenting the fact that some tax levy or other was voted down. I told them then what Conway says in his editorial--basically, that if the church (and by that I don't necessarily mean the institutions of the church, but its members severally) was doing what it should be in the way of helping those in need, whether materially or spiritually, then government would not need to get involved, and that it really isn't the government's purview to be involved in helping the poor in any case. Read the Constitution, and you will find nothing about the government's requirement to "take care of" the poor. The closest thing you might find is the bit about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I'm cool with government being involved with education, although these days they are apparently not doing as good a job with it as they once did, if you go by the verbal competence of some of the students I have come into contact with in my recent return to the college scene. The student who could complete a sentence without once saying "like" or "you know" was rare, indeed. Anyway, I'm straying from my point. Read Conway's editorial, and tell me what you think.

2007-12-25T02:22:00.000-05:00

...And something a bit more traditional.

2007-12-25T02:15:00.000-05:00

Here's a little something that I heard on the radio this evening (or this morning, if you prefer) on the way to and from Midnight Mass. It made me happy and gave me a bit of the Christmas spirit...

2007-12-13T17:21:00.000-05:00

So now I'm getting prodded in my comments to post more often. Or at all. So here I am posting. A lot of factors have contributed to my absence from the blog, procrastination being not the least of them. (In fact, procrastination is why I'm here now. I have one last paper to write for my last final tomorrow, and I'm feeling like a spoiled 6 year old, stamping my foot, and saying, "I don't wanna!") But, I gotta. At least I have to produce something to hand in tomorrow, or I won't be able to live with myself. I have even gone to Blackboard and calculated my grade in this class thus far, and what the impact would be if I turned in no paper at all, and it seems that I would still get a low B, if my calculations are correct. And I'd be OK with that. I just don't have the balls to look at my professor and say, "Sorry, I just wasn't feeling this last one."

There's also a presentation, which is designed and in the can. I can give the presentation with no problem. I'm just over the whole paper-writing thing, especially since it's a class that I consider redundant in any case. It's Art Criticism, and is basically an art history class with an English composition class thrown in for good measure. I feel that we've learned nothing in this class that was not already covered in my previous 4 art history classes, so why bother? Anyway, enough ranting, I suppose...

The big reason that I wanted to write is to let everyone know about my graduation, scheduled for Saturday, December 15th, at 3:00 PM Eastern Time. The reason that I'm so specific about the time is that, if you wish to watch me graduate (and really, who doesn't want to see that), the university is going to be streaming the ceremony on the internets! You can go to www.eku.edu on Saturday and there will be a link to a "live Windows Media stream." Unfortunately, you can only get the stream on a Windows Media Player 9 or later. Anyway, if anyone is interested, give it a shot...

The other big reason I haven't written in a while is that I've been sick.like.dog since Thanksgiving. My respiratory system is in full revolt, even after the onslaught of the Z-Pack and various OTC meds to make it behave. I haven't felt much like doing anything...extracurricular, except just to lay about like a lump. One of my professors calls it a "stress cold", and she could be right. I'm kinda hoping so, since hopefully the stress will be over in a couple of days and I can get well. Oh, yeah, btw--would anyone like to hire me? I haven't really been doing much in the arena of looking for the job in the field, either. I hope to get to that in the next couple of days as well. Well, I guess we'll just see about that stress thing...

2007-11-12T05:49:00.000-05:00

I know that, according to the date on the poster, I'm a day late with this, but since today is the "observed" date, I wanted to go on and write a little something. I've been called a "military brat" by one of my favorite professors. It's meant in a good way, and I take it that way. I never thought that I was one, since that epithet implies (to me) that I grew up traveling from base to base. I didn't. My dad's service ended before he married my mom. But, Dad was in the Air Force, and my brother was in the Army, as was my ex (with whom I did live on base for nearly a year). All of my uncles served in Vietnam, and I do have LOTS of friends who either have served or are serving in the military. Frankly, I love to see a man in uniform. :) I have on many occasions walked up to someone in the military and thanked them for their service. It makes me tear up almost every time. So, yes, I am a proud supporter of those who choose to put their lives on the line (or at the least, on hold) to protect our freedoms. Thank you to all who have served, both past and present, and God bless you all.

2007-10-31T19:11:00.000-04:00

I only "know" Seth through reading his blog, but he is the most amazing pumpkin (and watermelon) carver I've seen. Check out his stuff here. And Happy Halloween!

2007-10-29T06:11:00.000-04:00

Saw this while cruising around on Facebook:

2007-10-26T07:03:00.000-04:00

The history of the railroads in America, according to Tom Smothers:

Thanks to Dawn, who found it just for me...

2007-10-16T16:39:00.000-04:00

The astute among you may notice that I've added a button to the sidebar over there. That's an homage to my good friend Alan Creech, who has newly embarked on a free-lance design career. He's done some free-lance work all along, but now will be doing it full-time. He's really very good, and one of my inspirations for going back to school myself. So if you have any need for design work [at least until I've graduated :) ] contact him. You won't be sorry...

2007-10-14T07:31:00.000-04:00

It's been a small while since there's been a quiz around here. This one comes by way of the Northwoods Contemplative:

You fit in with: Taoism 60% spiritual. 20% reason-oriented.
	Your ideals mostly resemble those of the Taoist faith. Spirituality is the most important thing in your life. You strive to live by all of your ideals, and live a very intellectually focused life.
Take This Quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

I'm not sure exactly how accurate this is. The description seems to fit fairly well, but I don't know much, if anything, about Taoism.

2007-10-09T14:11:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to share this photo with everyone. I had to go downtown yesterday afternoon to visit art galleries for a paper that I'm supposed to be writing right this minute. When I stepped out of my apartment building, there was this massive cloud in front of the sun, making a great composition for a photograph. These are my favorite type of cloud formations, with the sun rays shooting out all around, so of course I couldn't pass up the photo op. And of course I couldn't resist blogging about it, especially since there are oh, so many constructive things that I ought to be doing. You can see all 4 photos on my flikr page...

I also just got some really good news about some progress in my final exhibition project. One major element in my design was beginning to look undoable, due to technical difficulties, but I just got word that the snag has worked itself out, and one more hurdle is overcome. Yay! Now if I could just sit down and get the other stuff I need to do done...

2007-09-25T06:04:00.000-04:00

Here's a little tribute to Alan, on his birthday:

Have a great day, Alan! (thanks to Scaryduck for the link...)

2007-09-11T06:23:00.000-04:00

It still seems like yesterday, and still has the power to affect me. Pray for those souls and for their families, and pray for peace...

2007-08-28T05:53:00.000-04:00

And yet another personality quiz, thanks to Northwoods Contemplative, who shares the same result as me. I haven't looked at all the details of my results just yet. I'm sure it means I'm just the best thing ever (yeah, whatever...). Sorry, I'm still waking up, and trying to get moving for my 8:00 class, Design 5. Maybe more later...

2007-08-24T18:52:00.000-04:00

So it seems that all the cool kids are doing the Myers-Briggs test thingy, so of course I have to be right in there. Of course, if you read my profile, you'll know why I have to be right in there with all the cool kids... The results are pretty accurate for me, actually almost scarily so. I'm a bit bummed that "artist" or "graphic designer" are not listed as some of the career matches, but I think I'll be OK anyway...

2007-08-12T22:43:00.000-04:00

Check it out! I've been "Simpsonized"...

2007-08-11T18:46:00.000-04:00

I went to see this movie last night with my friend Toni and her two teenagers. It was this: excellent! I recommend it highly--if you are a fan of Neil Gaiman (he co-wrote the screenplay), if you like fantasy movies, or if for no other reason than to see Robert DeNiro in the role of a lifetime! He is most excellent in this role, which I can't say much about or I will ruin one of the better surprises of the movie. And I wouldn't want to make anyone mad with a spoiler... ;^) Anyway, check out the website, but I warn you, it's highly flash-intensive and therefore sort of slow, even with DSL. And go see the movie!

2007-08-11T17:35:00.000-04:00

It's been an interesting week. Since Thursday of last week, our office has been without air conditioning. This, during the hottest week so far of this year, has made truth of my joking statement that I work in a sweatshop for insurance claims. It was kinda funny--one day we have a meeting to discuss the dress code and the fact that some of the girls were rather more "casually" attired than decorum might warrant, and the next the A/C goes out and we're all wearing tank tops and shorts to keep from boiling in our cubicles. Not wanting to make all of my co-workers lose their appetites :) I didn't go quite that far--capris are as close as I get to shorts these days. We had some fans that the construction guys let us borrow while they figured it out, but between the fact that they were covered in drywall dust and the fact that multiple computers seem to be dust magnets, my allergies went absolutely nuts this week. Finally yesterday, our supervisor said that since we had all of the work in turn, we could leave "early". Seven hours is better than the ten I had planned to work, so I won't complain too much...

To make things better, last night my toilet starting acting up, and this morning it stopped up completely. Of course, you can guess what that meant--water everywhere, and not exactly the cleanest water at that, if you know what I mean... The maintenance person was really nice (as she always is). She came over and plunged out the toilet and took the towels that I had put out on the floor to soak up the water. She's going to wash them herself and bring them back to me. Very cool! The bummer thing is that the toilet still should not be used, and they can't get a plumber in until Monday. So for now, I have the key to a vacant apartment down the hall, and I have to use that toilet until after the plumber fixes mine. Fortunately, I can still use my sink and shower...

School starts in about a week, and I'm kinda glad, frankly. I feel like I have totally blown off all of my school responsibilities this summer, but really, I haven't had that many. It feels weird not having been in summer school this year... Things will be very strange this last semester. The professor that I've had for most of my classes is retired, and even though she was sometimes less than fully competent, the known is better than the unknown in some ways. The head of our department is taking over my final design class, and he is fairly universally disliked among the students who've had him for classes. Who knows though, there have been other teachers with bad reputations that I ended up doing well under. I'll reserve judgment until I have some first-hand knowledge. This next week will be devoted to getting all my ducks in a row school-wise, and hopefully getting in some organizing around the apartment.

2007-07-28T10:57:00.001-04:00

I've had this saved for a long time, but finally got around to scanning it in. This is so me...

2007-07-28T08:42:00.000-04:00

67%

Free Online Dating from Mingle²

In that vein (no pun intended), I am making plans to start another blog in addition to this one, in which I will chronicle some spiritual aspects of my life that are presently going on. As I will be using a nom-de-plume on the new blog, I will be sending the address out via email to those who may be interested. If you are interested, and I haven't sent an email to you in the next week or so, contact me and I'll send it to you. I know that this sounds like a whole bunch of unnecessary skullduggery, but it will save me some potential harrassment and drama.

2007-07-10T18:40:00.000-04:00

Imagine that--a quiz... this one's from Antony, who's always good for a quiz, when he's not being super deep and intelligent...

You Are a Mermaid

You are a total daydreamer, and people tend to think you're flakier than you actually are.
While your head is often in the clouds, you'll always come back to earth to help someone in need.
Beyond being a caring person, you are also very intelligent and rational.
You understand the connections of the universe better than almost anyone else.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

In other news, today was my 7 year anniversary at work. No one noticed... :) Also, my blog is now 5 years (and a couple of days) old. I forgot my own blogiversary!

2007-07-09T21:47:00.000-04:00

This is officially the Best Thing Ever--Star Trek Meets Monty Python. Geeky goodness oozing all over the place! Thanks to Dawn for the find...

2007-06-13T05:45:00.000-04:00

Hey, everyone, as you may know, I haven't had comments on here for over a week now. Something's going on with enetation.co.uk, the site that handles my comments. I've tried several times to go on the site this past week, only to get the message that I can't connect to the server. I have the feeling that they are gone. So, I will check on getting a new site to handle the comments. I hate that I may have lost all of them from the beginning, but that's the way it goes, I guess. For now (and maybe this will be the permanent solution), I have enabled the blogger comments box. If I can't access enetation comments after about another week, I'll let them go.

In other news, you may have noticed that I've added Facebook on my sidebar. Kyle and Alan finally talked (shamed) me into making a page. If any of you are on Facebook and I haven't added you as a friend yet, let me know and I'll take care of that... :^)

Edit: OK, so blogger comments don't seem to be working either. I'm sure I've done something wrong, but I don't have time to figure it out right now. I'll take a look tonight. At least now the site loads quicker...

Edit the 2nd: Alan is a genius, if I haven't already said so. He's now got me all commentified...

2007-06-10T12:13:00.000-04:00

And yet another quiz! Someday, I'll post something substantive here...

You Are Fairly Skeptical

You're not the type of person who will fall for anything...
But you do keep your mind open to all sorts of possibilities.
You figure that anything could be true. After all, the world is a strange place.
However, you're going to need some convincing before you can believe in aliens or reincarnation!

How Skeptical Are You?

2007-06-07T21:11:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago, Alan posted one of these, so being the social lemming that I am, I decided that I must have one as well. This site, in addition to being one of those sites where you can research your geneaology, has a neat widget that scans a photo of your face and tells you what famous people have facial similarities to yours. The first collage is using a photo from about 5 or 6 years ago, and the second one is using a photo taken while on my trip to London. I think I made out pretty well, even though I don't know who a couple of them are...

2007-05-27T13:57:00.000-04:00

I've just finally got round to watching a film that I've been meaning to watch for some time now. I wanted to watch it before I posted it here, to make sure that it lived up to the recommendations that I have been hearing about it. It's called "The Great Global Warming Swindle", and it's a documentary that was made in the UK and shown on the BBC. It's an hour and 15 minutes long, so it's taken me a while to have that kind of time to sit in front of my computer. I recommend watching it before cementing your views on global warming. The movie simply shows that the debate on global warming is by no means over.

2007-05-19T08:41:00.000-04:00

I did say that it was quiz season, didn't I?

You Are a Beagle Puppy

Cheerful, energetic, and happy go lucky.
And you're sense of smell is absolutely amazing!

What Breed of Puppy Are You?

Thanks to Dawn, who is in the midst right now of what she and Ricardipus are billing as the smallest blogmeet ever...

2007-05-17T06:09:00.000-04:00

It's quiz season again...

You're Thailand!

Calmer and more staunchly independent than almost all those around you,
you have a long history of rising above adversity. Recent adversity has led to
questions about your sexual promiscuity and the threat of disease, but you still manage
to attract a number of tourists and admirers. And despite any setbacks, you can
really cook a good meal whenever it's called for. Good enough to make people
cry.

Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

Thanks, Antony...

2007-05-15T21:05:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back...

Sorry it's been so long. Thanks to the two or three who have still been checking the site to see if there's anything new. It's been the most hectic semester I've endured so far, even with only three classes, but I can now call it officially over. Finals were last week, and I got my grades yesterday--2 A's and 1 B, in my Dreamweaver/Flash class. That B was a real blessing, since I was expecting a C. I plan to post some of the animations that I did in Flash, as soon as I figure out how. Anyone have any suggestions? I also (finally) got a grade for my study abroad class, an A. I'm rather upset with the teacher of that class, since I still have not had any feedback or correspondence whatever from her, even though I sent a self-addressed stamped mailer with my final stuff so that she could send it back to me with no troubles. I'm sorry, it's just rude.

Anyway, on a somewhat brighter note, it appears that Antony has had enough of my enforced silence here, and has tagged me for his idea of a meme. :^) I say that somewhat tongue-in-cheek, because leave it to him to be tagged himself and then alter the rules for his own ends. That's no way to be a monk, me boy... :^D The upshot is that I should post seven random things about me. So, here we go...

1. I am a big fan of etymology, and subscribe to an email service that sends me a word a day. It's called, A Word A Day. You can sign up very easily and become a linguaphile yourself if you like...

2. As a followup to #1, I have a favorite amongst the words that have been sent to me via AWAD over the past several years. It's petrichor (PET-ri-kuhr). It means, "The pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell," and comes from petro- (rock), from Greek petros (stone) + ichor (the fluid that is supposed to flow in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology.) I just think it's great that there's a word for that, and love the origin of it.

3. The longer I live as a (albeit amateur) political person, I realize that I'm becoming more and more Libertarian in my worldview. I'm still registered as a Republican, but feel that both of the two major parties are far too interested in policing our private lives (although in somewhat different directions), and both are drifting away from the Constitution. I doubt that there is any political party that I totally agree with in every area, but the Libertarians probably come the closest.

4. I don't believe in global warming. Maybe I believe in climate change, although I'm not completely convinced. I definitely don't think Al Gore could tell global warming from the gas coming from, well, whichever end of him you wish to finish that sentence with. There are too many well-respected scientists who disagree with the prevailing doom-and-gloomers to call human-caused global warming anything more than a theory. Sorry.

5. Although it may seem a bit paradoxical, I do consider myself a bit of a conservationist. Just because global warming as it is touted may be a flawed theory, doesn't mean that I think we should just trash the planet. God is pleased when we live as simply as possible, I believe. I am open to the possibility of buying a hybrid car when the time comes to let my old one go, and our final project in the Flash class, for which we got to choose our subject, was on biodiesel. This conservationist attitude of mine probably has more to do with my budding Libertarianism than any tree-hugging tendencies. It just makes sense to be as independent from the oil-producing countries as possible, especially in this day and age.

6. I am probably one of only a handful of native central Kentuckians who is definitely NOT a fan of University of KY basketball. In fact, I sometimes call myself the UK anti-fan. The specific reasons are lost to the dimness of time, but I have just never fallen for the hype. I'm especially not impressed with the fact that, although there are many really good academic programs at UK, you never seem to hear about them because all anyone talks about is that stupid game with the round orange ball... March is the worst month of the year for me...

7. I told Alan the other day that, if anything happened to our little community (church), that I would probably look into becoming a Catholic. He's been a terrible :^) influence on me... (Don't get too excited, Antony. We're not going anywhere as far as I know...)

So, anyway, there's my list of 7 random things. Now I'm supposed to tag someone (actually 7 someones, but I don't know that many who would respond). I'll tag two, just to see if they are still reading--Kyle, because I'm interested in his randomness, and Ricardipus, 'cause he's got nothing else going on right now...

2007-03-28T06:05:00.000-04:00

So here's another quiz, from Antony. I have a list of really deep stuff to post, really I do, but it seems that I never can find time to get it up here. This stuff is just copy and paste... Anyway, enjoy the quiz...

You Are a Visual Learner

You tend to remember what you see, and you have a good eye for aesthetics.
You excel at art, design, and computer programming.
You would be an excellent film director - or the next Bill Gates!

What's Your Learning Style?

Maybe the next Steve Jobs, but everyone knows that Bill Gates is the Devil... :^)

2007-03-12T05:35:00.000-04:00

Yay! More quizzes!

You Belong in 1968

If you scored...

1950 - 1959: You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

1960 - 1969: You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too.

1970 - 1979: Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all!

1980 - 1989: Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

1990 - 1999: With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!

What Year Do You Belong In?

That one's pretty accurate. I'm not so sure about this next one, though...

You Are a Boston Terrier Puppy

Aggressive, wild, and rambunctious.
Deep down, you're just a cuddle monster.

What Breed of Puppy Are You?

In other news, there are more photos up on the flickr page, of Bath and Stonehenge. My paper for the trip needs to be done by Thursday, so I can get it sent out to be in the teacher's office in Nashville by Monday. Wish me luck--I haven't started writing yet! In a minute, in a minute...

2007-03-08T06:49:00.000-05:00

Well, it seems that Antony is at it again, with the quizzes that point out my foibles. Yeah, I know I don't have to take them and find out my shortcomings, but seriously, who can resist a dose of that? :^D

You Are 66% Perfectionist

You are a true perfectionist. You are both demanding of yourself and others.
While it's great to have goals and standards, they don't need to be sky high!

Are You a Perfectionist?

Hey, I'm pretty sure that that's a lot better score than I would've gotten several years ago... And, dude, I wish my belly looked like the one in that picture... :^}

2007-03-04T06:45:00.000-05:00

OK, so Antony is not just all about quizzes. He's a very deep thinker, deeper than I can understand sometimes. That being said, this will be two posts in a row where I post a quiz that I got from over at his place. :^) Here it is:

Your Dominant Intelligence is Spatial Intelligence

You've got a good sense of space and how the world around you looks.
You can close your eyes and "see" images. You have innate artistic talent.
An eye for color and shapes, you're also a natural designer.
Since you think in pictures, visual aids and demonstrations help you learn best.

You would make a good navigator, sculptor, visual artist, inventor, architect, interior designer, or engineer.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

In other news, I got a new "toy" yesterday. For quite a while I've been wanting a printer that will print oversize documents, and I have a project due in a couple of weeks that it was gonna be tough to get to school to print, so I decided that now is the time. Isn't it a beaut? And it was about $100 cheaper than the other printer that I was considering, so I feel like I got a bargain. For those who want to check out the specs, it's the HP Deskjet 9800.

2007-02-13T06:05:00.000-05:00

Yay! I'm back online! For a couple of days there, Blogger had denied me access to my account because they thought that I might be a spam blog. I suppose it was because there are only about three people that I regularly link to in posts. and the "spambot" thought that I was spamming to send people to those blogs. Anyway, everything seems to be fixed now, so I can carry on...

In other news, I put up some more of the London photos on my flickr account. I'm still not quite half done uploading them, but as I get time to do so, I will continue until they're done. Alan showed me a cool tool at the flickr site, the flickr Uploadr, that should help me git'r done faster.

And finally, A Quiz!

You Can Change Your Life

You've probably already improved your life a great deal, and you're no stranger to change.
You're able to make very difficult changes in your life. It's all about state of mind.
And even if you have some trouble changing, you're smart enough to get support or take a different approach.
So go ahead and dare to make things better. You know you can do it!

Can You Change Your Life?

Thanks, Antony for feeding the addiction...

2007-02-06T19:28:00.000-05:00

As you might be able to tell, there's been some more changing going on around here. Alan has talking me into getting a RSS feed, so now all you guys who just sit around with bated breath waiting for me to post something will know as soon as I do. I'm still not exactly sure how RSS feeds work, but hey, I'm not real sure how gravity works a lot of the time, so I'm OK with that. I'll catch up to the learning curve eventually.

Also new is that I have loaded up some more London photos on the flikr page. I'm still only up to the first few days of the trip. At this rate you may be able to see all of them by May... Anyway, enjoy the ones that are up, and I promise to be more diligent about trying to get the rest of them up there. I suppose I should go study now...

2007-01-28T09:04:00.000-05:00

I've been busy this morning! As you should be able to see at right, I've finally uploaded some of the London photos to my flikr account. The ones I've uploaded so far represent only the first couple of days in London. Eventually I'll get all of them up, but I think I'll take a break for now and do homework or housework, or just have some coffee to keep the shivering at bay. It's much colder here today! *looks out window for first time today* And it appears to be snowing. I know that'll make Alan happy, at least...

2007-01-18T18:16:00.000-05:00

Well, I've done it. I went over to the dark side. I am now on "new" blogger. We'll see if it's new and improved blogger...

By the way, in case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm back from London and back at school for a new semester. London was awesome, and I think I've bored everyone around here with my pictures and stories. All that remains is to bore you all as well. :^) When I got home, I uploaded all the photos I'd taken into iPhoto, then deleted the really bad ones--blurry, took one of the sidewalk, etc. Raw photos, there were around 1200 of them. After editing, there were 900 left. I had the 230 or so best ones printed to show around to everyone. I plan to set up a flickr account to show all of the photos. I need to get to that sometime this weekend, I guess...

I have three classes this semester, in addition to getting the final project done for the study abroad thing. I am taking Sculpture I, Design IV (systems design--it has to do with packaging and branding, I think), and Web, in which I will learn Dreamweaver and Flash. We've already started learning Dreamweaver, and I just downloaded both programs onto my computer. I hope that this class will be easier than some of the others I've taken--my hope is that my blogging experience will come into play with HTML and such. We'll see... Sculpture is intimidating me a bit, since I'm really becoming a 2D kind of girl. We had to do workup sketches of what we wanted to do in our 1st sculpture, which will be made of plaster over a wire mesh form. We had to show what all sides of the piece would look like. Now, I'm pretty good at drawing pretty much anything I can see, but making up something out of whole cloth and showing what all sides will look like is something that sort of stumps me. Fortunately, I have a very good relationship with the teacher. He's one of the "old guard"; in fact, I had him for a drawing class the last time I was at EKU, about 25 years ago. His son now teaches in the art department as well.

Speaking of new things in the art department, one of my teachers has announced her retirement after who knows how many years. She's the head of the graphic design department, and the bane of most of our existence. She's actually pretty nice outside of class, but not so much in class. While none of us are really sorry to see her go, I think that we all hope that she will have a good life outside of academia. She says she plans to become one of those eBay sellers, and she will probably make a mint at that.

I promise that there will be stories of my time in London later, but I've told them so many times in the "real world" now that I need a bit of a break from that for a few days. Soon, very soon...

2006-12-31T17:57:00.000-05:00

Hello, all! Here I am, in merry olde England, blogging on New Year's Eve. How cool is that?! It's a bit before 11PM here, and I'm in my "travel buddy", Emily's, room, using her laptop. We've been so busy since we got here on Wednesday that I haven't had a chance to find an internet cafe to blog. We've been to the British Museum and several other museums, and yesterday we went to Canterbury and Dover. I got to say the Lord's Prayer in Canterbury Cathedral! In Dover, we went down into the secret tunnels used during WWII. I must tell one cute story about our time in Dover Castle. Just as we were leaving, a big rain storm came up, so we were hurrying to get to the bus. On our way down to the bus, a woman with two small boys were coming up to visit the castle. The boys were about 4 and 7 years old. The 4 year old had a foam rubber sword and was charging up the path to the castle as if he were attacking it. I got into "position" with my imaginary sword and we traded a few "blows", then I pretended to have been mortally wounded by him. He thought this was great fun. Then the older boy, who was wearing his very proper little suit, came up me and said, "Hello, my name is the Doctor." I said, "Well, hello, Doctor, my name is Debi." The mother then told the boy to ask me where I was from, at which time I told him I was from America. He said, "Oh, that's a planet that's disappearing." The mother and I laughed and I said, "Oh, a political hack!" He was so cute!

In a couple of days, we'll be going to Stonehenge and Bath, and later to Stratford and Warwick Castle. Of course, there are all the other museums and a couple of plays. Spamalot is playing here, and Emily's roommate and her classmates are going to see it tomorrow. I wanted to try to go on my own to see it, but it's not looking good for finding a ticket in my price range. We saw Much Ado About Nothing the other night and it was fantastic. We plan to see Coram Boy, which I know nothing about, and Evita before we leave, and there are lots of other activities planned as well.

Well, I should get off here and start the countdown to the New Year. Cheers, all!

2006-12-21T18:18:00.000-05:00

OK, I guess I'm ready to tackle Antony's challenge now, so here it is:

Ten Things I Love That Begin With "A"

Keep in mind that "love" is a pretty strong word for some of these things, but there are ten, they do all begin with "A", and they are things that I am "into", at the very least. OK, disclaimers over...

1. Alan and the Creeches.
OK, these guys I love. Over the years, they have often been closer to me than my "real" family. I've watched the kids grow up (have known 2 of them since the very moment they were born), and Alan and Liz have been brother and sister to me as well as spiritual counselors. My life would be very much the less if they were not a part of it, and I am blessed to know them.

2. Art.
Well, duh. Actually, this one was a gimme from Antony, but it's true nonetheless. I love art. Whether I am creating it or experiencing art that someone else has created, there is a spiritual component to works of art that speaks to my spirit in a way that nothing else can. I have often said that going back to school for an art degree has been my salvation, mentally speaking anyway. I was going to list a favorite style, but every time I settle on one, my mind says, "But what about this style?" I'm very eclectic in my tastes, and can appreciate any type of art that is done well.

3. Adobe Creative Suite.
In getting the link for this one, I notice that they've upgraded, again. I do love this software, which is fortunate since it's the backbone of what I plan to do for a living, but daggonit, I wish they wouldn't plan the obsolescence quite so diligently...

4. Accents.
I love to listen to people with accents that differ from mine. It's just so interesting to know that people can speak a common language in so many different ways. It makes me want to know more about the person, how they grew up, what their culture is like.

5. Ale-8-One.
This is a local soft drink, made in Winchester, my "hometown". If you lived there, and didn't drink Ale-8 (or "L8", as it ends up being pronounced), sumpin's wrong witcha. Also known as "Winchester swamp water", although it's not advertised that way for some reason, Ale-8 is a sort of high-powered ginger ale, and very refreshing on a hot day. And, it's part of my heritage, I guess...

6. American Idol.
Actually, I'm just kind of a reality show junkie in general, but American Idol and Survivor are the ones I hate to miss. I love to watch the transformation over the period of the show (especially with someone like Clay Aiken), to see someone go from being more or less an amateur to being a real professional. Plus, who can really hate Simon Cowell? :^)

7. Austin Powers (and any other movie with Mike Myers...)
I know it's juvenile, but OMG they are just so funny! Really, my favorite Mike Myers movie is probably So I Married an Axe Murderer, but that doesn't start with an "A", does it?

8. Audiobooks.
I'm not sure I could get through my work day without these! Since processing dental claims (what I do right now) is a somewhat mindless task, if I don't have either the radio or an audiobook playing in my headphones, the minutes would absolutely drag by. Plus, I usually get books from the library that will either teach me something or that are titles that I've always wanted to read but never had the time. I've caught up on a lot of the classics this way!

9. Anchoress.
I just love this word, and I like the concept (except for those who wall themselves up to die and all...). The basic concept of an anchorite, as I understand it, is one who is attached to a monastic setting, yet lives off on their own in seclusion. This seems to be where I am at present. I am a committed part of my community, yet I am content to live alone for now. My little apartment seems more and more like a hermitage, although even it is far larger than the beehive huts of the anchorites of Ireland. But it is a refuge of sorts, a lair that I can come to and be in solitude. Or goof off, as the case may be... :^)

10. Last but not least, I suppose I would be remiss if I didn't include my friend Antony in this list of "A's". I have actually met him and his wife in real life, and they are just as they seem from his blog. Check out his attic, as well. A great, spiritual guy with a lot to say and a great way of saying it. And he roasts a mean coffee bean, too!

Well, I think that's it. Ten things that I "love" that start with "A". Not profound, necessarily, but hey, if you're looking for profound, you may be in the wrong place, anyway. :^) If you want to play, leave me a comment and I'll assign you a letter. Then let me know when you've got it up. Ta!

2006-12-21T07:17:00.000-05:00

So here's a lovely sight for you all to contemplate during the Season of Our Lord's Birth(TM)... This is a house down the street from where I live. Can you imagine the amount of money that went into all this crap? At least they don't have to shovel snow, that is if we ever get any this year...